My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

About BasiliskII, a 68k Mac emulator for Windows, MacOSX, and Linux that can run System 7.x through MacOS 8.1.

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cooz
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My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by cooz »

Hi

I have BasiliskII for Windows most recent build (29-05-2021) and when I play a game, which I have tried 3 different games, the sound works perfectly fine but after a few minutes the in game sound cuts out. Then if I try quit it freezes the window which I need to use task manager to close it down. I have tried previous versions and no luck. Does anybody have a workaround for this issue?

Thanking you in advance.
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Cat_7
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

I have no idea what might be wrong here.
Without knowing which games exhibit this behaviour, it is impossible to reproduce your issue.

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Cat_7
ussohio
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by ussohio »

cooz - I have the same problem on two Windows 10 machines (one desktop, one laptop, vastly different hardware). My problem is intermittent - most of the time the sound works just fine. However, about 1/4 of the time the sound dies a couple of minutes into the game and I have to do a task manager / force quit to recover. Failure seems to correlate with 1) how many sounds are being played at the same time, and 2) the CPU load on my machine at the time (higher CPU load=greater chance of failure).

Have you tried experimenting with the sound_buffer setting in the preferences file? I'm experimenting with that, with no clear results yet.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

If Sound Manager extension is installed in MacOS, try disabling that extension using the Extension Manager control panel, then stop and start BasiliskII again.
cooz
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by cooz »

ussohio wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:32 pm cooz - I have the same problem on two Windows 10 machines (one desktop, one laptop, vastly different hardware). My problem is intermittent - most of the time the sound works just fine. However, about 1/4 of the time the sound dies a couple of minutes into the game and I have to do a task manager / force quit to recover. Failure seems to correlate with 1) how many sounds are being played at the same time, and 2) the CPU load on my machine at the time (higher CPU load=greater chance of failure).

Have you tried experimenting with the sound_buffer setting in the preferences file? I'm experimenting with that, with no clear results yet.
ussohio - I have tried but no luck yet either. I have noticed that the 2013 version (BasiliskII for Windows 06-05-2013) plays 1 of my 3 games with sound and does not cut out, the other 2 though do not even play any sound. Quite frustrating!
cooz
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by cooz »

Ronald P. Regensburg wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:00 pm If Sound Manager extension is installed in MacOS, try disabling that extension using the Extension Manager control panel, then stop and start BasiliskII again.
There is no Sound Manager extension in the 'Extensions Manager'. I have noticed that the 2013 version (BasiliskII for Windows 06-05-2013) plays 1 of my 3 games with sound and does not cut out, the other 2 though do not even play any sound. I have tried all versions with no luck, I might just have to deal with it I guess.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by ussohio »

A little context - I'm running System 7.5.5, and don't have a Sound Manager extension. I'm using the Quadra, Centris 610,650,800 ROM file (checksum F1ACAD13).

I *always* get sound to start. It sometimes dies after a couple of minutes. cooz - have you tried different ROM files? That's next on my list.

After spending a few days fooling around with the sound_buffer setting, everything but 0 seems to make the failure happen more often. Perhaps the sound buffer needs to be larger on specific hardware?
cooz
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by cooz »

ussohio wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 4:17 pm A little context - I'm running System 7.5.5, and don't have a Sound Manager extension. I'm using the Quadra, Centris 610,650,800 ROM file (checksum F1ACAD13).

I *always* get sound to start. It sometimes dies after a couple of minutes. cooz - have you tried different ROM files? That's next on my list.

After spending a few days fooling around with the sound_buffer setting, everything but 0 seems to make the failure happen more often. Perhaps the sound buffer needs to be larger on specific hardware?
I have tried over 10-15 different ROM's no luck on my end. If you get anything to work let me know, I will do the same.
cooz
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by cooz »

ussohio wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 4:17 pm A little context - I'm running System 7.5.5, and don't have a Sound Manager extension. I'm using the Quadra, Centris 610,650,800 ROM file (checksum F1ACAD13).

I *always* get sound to start. It sometimes dies after a couple of minutes. cooz - have you tried different ROM files? That's next on my list.

After spending a few days fooling around with the sound_buffer setting, everything but 0 seems to make the failure happen more often. Perhaps the sound buffer needs to be larger on specific hardware?
I have had some luck with Mac os 8 1. I installed it and has been working well, sounds are not dropping out and I noticed the games that sound doesn't work at all the Mini vMac seems to work
ussohio
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by ussohio »

This is an old thread, but I think I found an important variable. For years I had my monitor connected to my video card through DVI & my speakers connected to the motherboard sound jacks (Realtek chipset, I think). I got a brand new monitor and had to hook it up through HDMI. I plugged my speakers into the monitor's 3.5mm audio port, and I have NOT had a sound drop out ever since. I'm starting to think that maybe Basilisk II and the the standard Microsoft Windows 10 audio drivers (not Realtek drivers) might have a conflict. Now I can game all I want, without the sound dropping out or Basilisk II hanging.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

The same issue has been plague me for years. I wrote a comment string about this a long time ago viewtopic.php?t=10653. I would THINK I found a solution only for it to crop up again. As you can see there were many times I thought I had the problem solved as it only happens occasionally but it does still happen for me.

I see many basilisk updates getting put out there I hope someone can find a way to solve this issue. I run Basilisk in windows and I have tried all the things everybody has mentioned in this thread from using different ROM files to different operating systems.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

I think it has something to do with games that run sound and music continuously. I have been playing "Odyssey the legend of nemesis" and it happens a lot in that game, as opposed to games with occasional sound, it seems to last a long time before that error occurs
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by ussohio »

ussohio wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 4:29 am This is an old thread, but I think I found an important variable. For years I had my monitor connected to my video card through DVI & my speakers connected to the motherboard sound jacks (Realtek chipset, I think). I got a brand new monitor and had to hook it up through HDMI. I plugged my speakers into the monitor's 3.5mm audio port, and I have NOT had a sound drop out ever since. I'm starting to think that maybe Basilisk II and the the standard Microsoft Windows 10 audio drivers (not Realtek drivers) might have a conflict. Now I can game all I want, without the sound dropping out or Basilisk II hanging.
Well, I just disproved my own alleged fix (above). Game hung again, no sound, emulator frozen, need to use Windows Task Manager to kill the process. Someday I'll find a solution. :)
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

Has anybody found a solution to this yet? I want to play the Ambrosia game "Ares" 1998. It has great music and sheepshaver causes sound to stutter and skip so it's wasted there but in Basilisk it plays for a while and then cuts out like other games. So I have the choice of stuttering in sheephsaver or flaking out in Basilisk
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by adespoton »

starfiretbt wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2024 10:11 pm Has anybody found a solution to this yet? I want to play the Ambrosia game "Ares" 1998. It has great music and sheepshaver causes sound to stutter and skip so it's wasted there but in Basilisk it plays for a while and then cuts out like other games. So I have the choice of stuttering in sheephsaver or flaking out in Basilisk
Have you tried it with qemu-screamer?
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

That's the other emulator correct? I haven't tried it yet, I was waiting until I got to games that require systems 10 and up (which I think is what sheepshaver ends and qemu begins).
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by adespoton »

starfiretbt wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:35 pm That's the other emulator correct? I haven't tried it yet, I was waiting until I got to games that require systems 10 and up (which I think is what sheepshaver ends and qemu begins).
The Screamer build of qemu-system-ppc has audio support, and boots Mac OS 9.0.4 and up. Unlike Basilisk II and SheepShaver, it does full hardware emulation, so is likely to function where those two "hack it together enough to boot Mac OS" emulators fail ;)

At this point, we've got Mini vMac for Mac 128k to Mac II emulation, qemu-system-m68k for Quadra 800 emulation, and qemu-system-ppc for Biege G3 and B/W G4 emulation. I'm not sure what the state of audio is on m68k. PPC QEMU audio isn't officially supported, but works with the Screamer fork, although it's a bit choppy.

BII can "emulate" a MacIIcx or Quadra 900, but the way it gets its speed is by abandoning attempts to simulate a real computer and just emulate the bits needed to run most Mac software. It does this by directly patching Mac OS toolbox calls. So if a game is directly messing with the hardware directly, it's likely going to crash the emulator eventually.

Eventually, MACE will probably be an option, but it's still not at the point where it handles all the instructions Ares would throw at it (and Pukka & Co. haven't officially made a public version of it yet anyway). At some point in the future, almost any 68k app will just be able to be thrown in MACE and you'll get a fully functioning macOS/Windows/Linux app out the other side, no Mac OS-in-an-emulator needed.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

That sounds exciting, thank you. I will try it out.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by starfiretbt »

Do I just set up Qemu but the screamer build? Because I see lots of guides for qemu so I assume "screamer" is set up the same way.

EDIT: Another question, I was looking at the screamer builds and was wondering if they are portable? That way when I need a new computer I can just transfer them over to the new computer. Although if they are anything like basilisk and sheepshaver even an integrated program still has files that will always be portable and those are the ones that matter anyways.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by adespoton »

starfiretbt wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2024 11:03 pm Do I just set up Qemu but the screamer build? Because I see lots of guides for qemu so I assume "screamer" is set up the same way.

EDIT: Another question, I was looking at the screamer builds and was wondering if they are portable? That way when I need a new computer I can just transfer them over to the new computer. Although if they are anything like basilisk and sheepshaver even an integrated program still has files that will always be portable and those are the ones that matter anyways.
Yes, Screamer is set up the same way as the default Qemu available on this site. Note that you need the ENTIRE folder though; the ndrv files, for example, are different for the two builds. And this spills over to your next question...

As per Ronald's recent answer regarding portability of Qemu builds in general, yes -- they're portable. Ish. Everything you need to run the emulator is in the folder (the app, the library folder, the ndrv file, the shell script template). But that assumes that your new computer will have the same requirements to run software. Windows and macOS shell/command scripts are different due to powershell and Zsh not having the same syntax. Executables are written against APIs that will only be valid in a limited set of OS versions. Etc. But your drive images and general configuration logic will transfer flawlessly, and should do so even if a new qemu build is released.

Remember also that macOS has some security gotchas that mean you may have problems just transferring the folder over and running the executable. You'll have to do the xattr stripping and/or the app juggle twostep in order to make it actually run on a new computer, UNLESS you use the migration assistant, which will automatically migrate the security profile for the app as well as the app itself.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Cat_7 »

Ronald eloquently answers a lot of questions here. But I don't think Ronald answered the portability question ;-)

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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Indeed I did not. In fact, I rarely answer questions about QEMU. :wink:
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Didn't we drift off-topic? This topic is about BasiliskII while the latest posts are about QEMU screamer.
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by adespoton »

Indeed. We should probably close this one off and any further issues go in the correct thread.

Meantime, there's new audio buffer features for BII; might be worth checking those out to see if they have any effect too :)
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Re: My BasiliskII sound drops out during playing games

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

You mean the 'advanced' feature mentioned in the wiki setup guide?

• Shorten the sound buffer (17 March 2021 and later builds)
Shortening the the length of the sound buffer can prevent delayed and choppy sound in some applications but will increase CPU use. The default setting is

Code: Select all

sound_buffer 0
Setting the value to 1 will halve the length of the sound buffer, setting the value to 2 will again halve the length, and so forth.
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