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WHDLoad support

WHDLoad lets floppy-based Amiga games and demos be installed and run from hard disk. Copperline launches WHDLoad packages directly, with no Workbench installation or hardfile to prepare.

copperline --whdload "Turrican.lha"

Packages can also be specified in configuration files:

[whdload]
game = "Turrican.lha"
kickstarts = "/data/amiga/kickstarts"

You can also launch packages from the launcher’s WHDLoad pages or by dropping an archive onto the running emulator window.

Copperline stages two host directories and mounts them as live volumes: a boot volume (WHDBoot:) holding the WHDLoad program, a generated S/Startup-Sequence and the staged Kickstart images, and the game itself (WHDGame:). The guest reads and writes both directly, so the game’s saves land on the host.

Supported package formats

Copperline supports three package formats:

Copperline searches nested folders for the .slave file. When a package holds more than one, it boots the shallowest (then the first alphabetically).

Requirements

Kickstart ROMs

Kickstart ROMs are proprietary, so Copperline does not bundle them:

Point kickstarts (or the launcher’s Kickstart ROMs row) at your ROM directory. Without it, Copperline looks in the directory of the configured rom, in Kickstarts/ under the save-data directory, and in Kickstarts/ beside the WHDLoad support archives. It identifies ROMs by their size and WHDLoad CRC-16 checksum, so file names do not matter. Byte-swapped dumps and Cloanto Amiga Forever images (encrypted .rom files with an accompanying rom.key) are supported. If a slave names a Kickstart image that none of these directories holds, the launch fails with the image’s name, size and CRC.

WHDLoad support archives

Booting a package needs two freely redistributable archives: WHDLoad itself (WHDLoad_usr.lha) and SKick (skick346.lha). Pre-built releases include both. In a source build, run tools/fetch-whdload.sh once, or press Download beside the empty WHDLoad package and SKick package rows on the launcher’s WHDLoad Settings... page. whd_package and skick_package point at your own copies instead.

Copperline looks for the archives in the directory named by COPPERLINE_WHDBOOT_DIR, then in whdboot/ next to the executable (or in the macOS app bundle’s Resources/whdboot/ or a Homebrew share/copperline/whdboot/), then in whdload/support/ in the Copperline host data folder, where Download saves them, and finally in assets/whdboot/, where the fetch script puts them.

Saves and extracted files

An archive is extracted once, and the game’s own files (high scores, save games) persist in the extracted copy. Each package gets a directory under whdload/save/ in the Copperline host data folder (~/Documents/Copperline on macOS and Linux, %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Copperline on Windows, or the application folder in a portable installation); library moves it elsewhere. The directory is named after the archive: without its extension for an .lha, with it for a .zip. It holds game/, the extracted package mounted as WHDGame:, and boot/, the boot volume regenerated on every launch. An installation that already keeps unpacked games directly under whdload/, as older versions did, carries on using that directory.

To reset a game’s state and re-extract it, delete its directory under whdload/save/. A game launched from an unpacked folder is mounted in place, so its saves are written back to that folder.

Copperline starts each game with WHDLoad "<slave>" Preload SplashDelay=0. args appends further WHDLoad options to that command line:

[whdload]
game = "Lotus2.lha"
args = "ButtonWait NoAutoVec"

Machine selection

With machine_type = "auto" (the default), Copperline supplies an A1200 profile, 8 MiB of fast RAM, and a staged Kickstart 3.1 (40.068 A1200) image as the boot ROM, wherever the configuration has not already chosen them. An A1200 satisfies every slave requirement flag. If the slave says it needs more than 8 MiB of expansion memory, Copperline logs a warning; configure a larger machine if the game then refuses to start.

Explicit CLI overrides or configuration options take precedence:

copperline --whdload game.lha --model A4000

The launcher’s Machine type row offers the same two choices:

Standard features such as --screenshot-after, input recording, and save states work normally during WHDLoad sessions.

Library management in the launcher

The launcher’s WHDLoad Library page lists your collection with cover art and metadata. Set Game library on the Settings... page to your collection folder; subfolders are searched too.

When a collection holds a game more than once, each package’s file name is shown as its version to tell them apart.

To remove the WHDLoad pages from the launcher, set enabled = false in [whdload] or turn off the launcher’s A/V & Emu -> Emulation -> WHDLoad row. --whdload and [whdload] game still boot games either way.

Configuration reference

[whdload]
game = "path/to/Game.lha"   # .lha, .zip, or directory
library = "..."             # save directory (default: <host data>/whdload/save)
kickstarts = "..."          # Kickstart ROMs directory
args = "..."                # additional WHDLoad arguments
machine_type = "auto"       # "auto" or "copperline"
whd_package = "..."         # custom WHDLoad archive path
skick_package = "..."       # custom SKick archive path

# Launcher only
enabled = true              # false removes the WHDLoad pages
games = "..."               # the folder the Library page lists
library_db = "..."          # default: <host data>/whdload/support/launcher.db
library_cache = "..."       # covers and database snapshot;
                            # default: <host data>/whdload/support/cache

Operational notes

User guide
The window, status bar, and menus
User guide
Direct executable launching (--run)