🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1990Dec7.103652.17887@cck.cov.ac.uk> csg019@cck.cov.ac.uk (-~=Zaphod=~-) writes:
>In article <MT87692.90Nov30211512@uikku.tut.fi> mt87692@tut.fi (Mikko Tsokkinen) writes:
>>
>> 90% of all games I have ever seen for amiga doesn't run with faster
>>processors because the disk loader and other waiting is badly written. 
>>They use wait loops like this:
>>
>>wait	move.l	#2000,d0
>>	dbra.s	d0,wait
>>
>>And this the absolutely same code as comes from c-compiler when you use similar
>>wait tactics. It seems too hard for 90% of programmers (on any language) to
>>use CIA timers. On the other hand the assembler programs are more likely to
>>crash because most of c-programs are written using the OS and the waiting is
>>done using the OS functions (this can done as easily with assembler).
>
>Good point, but using different wait techniques won't help with disk speed,
>this is becuase as far as i know (correct me if i'm wrong!) the disk DMA
>speed is still the same, so you will still have to wait the same time for
>the disk block to load on all config's.

Yes, but that's the problem.  The disk controller isn't running that wait
loop.  The CPU is.  And on a faster machine it is going to finish that loop
all that much faster.  Thus, the company's mumbo-jumbo piece of crud loader
thinks the drive has finished loading whatever it needed and goes on to the
next step when, in fact, the drive has not finished.

-=> CAW

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Christopher A. Wichura               |Real programmers don't play tennis, or
caw@miroc.chi.il.us  (my amiga)      |any other sport that requires you to
u12401@uicvm.uic.edu (school account)|change clothes.  Mountain climbing is
                                     |OK, and real programmers wear their
Please! Do not send mail to my school|climbing boots to work in case a
account unless mail to miroc bounces.|mountain should suddenly spring up in
I often do not check uicvm.uic.edu   |the middle of the machine room.
for periods in excess of a week.     |                        --Unix Fortune
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