PC-Task FAQ

Where is the PC-Task V4 demo ?

It should be aminet ftp sites /pub/aminet/misc/emu/PC-TaskDemo43.lha goto PC-Task for direct links to it here, at Quasar and various aminet sites.

How much/where/how can I get PC-Task V4 from ?

PC-Task V4 is a fully commercial product available from the publisher (Quasar Distribution) and its distributors and retailers, goto Quasar. NOTE if you email me or Quasar and don't get a reply then please try again and make sure you give your correct email address details!

I purchased PC-Task V1-V3 how do I upgrade to V4 ?

Goto Quasar for details.

I purchased PC-Task V4.0-4.3 how do I upgrade to V4.4 ?

A free update should be available on aminet ftp sites and Quasar.

How fast is PC-Task V4 ? Is it faster than ... ?

See PC-TaskSpeed

What language is PC-Task V4 written in?

C and Assembly.

When will a new version appear ? Will future version have ... ? Will there be a PPC version ?

See PC-TaskFuture

Why don't you take over the Amiga for more speed ?

Because the speedup is _very_ minimal (it also gets even smaller on faster machines) and who is going to write hard disk, floppy, video, sound etc drivers for every piece of hardware out there. Look at Transformer it took over the system and is slower than PC-Task. Time is better spent on improving emulation methods so don't bother suggesting this as I won't be doing it.

Why don't you do 686/Pentium for more speed ?

Doing 686/Pentium emulation will not make it faster. If fact 8086 emulation could be much faster than an 80486, speed is determined by the methods used to emulate not how fast the real hardware equivalent performs. See PC-TaskFuture.

Why don't you release a demo that allows writing to disk ?

I don't think that is a good idea and won't be doing it.

Does PC-Task V4 support graphics cards ?

PC-Task V4 supports all display database compliant cards. This includes all cards supported by cybergraphx.

Can PC-Task access the ISA (PC-XT/AT) slots inside the Amiga 2000/3000/4000 ?

It is impossible for any Amiga software to access anything plugged into the ISA slots without a bridge type card.

Why is the graphics update slow on my A500/A600/A2000/A3000 ?

On a OCS and ECS machines (A500/A600/A2000/A3000) any native mode in 16 colors (the default PC text and MS Windows modes) you are stuck with the fact that OCS and ECS in hires/4 bitplanes are a complete and utter dog because all chip RAM access (for all the display area of the frame) is already taken just for the display data fetching. AGA does not have this problem.

How can I make graphics update faster on my graphics card ?

Make sure you have latest PC-Task (4.4). Try changing the update method to update after # of frames for the modes you find slow. Always select the graphics card 8bit display modes. Many people don't realize a lot of EGA/VGA/SVGA modes are planar (not chunky) and since Cybergraphx (last time I checked) doesn't do planar modes (although they have said in the future it will be done) you are probably better off using the native AGA mode.

How can I make graphics update faster when PC-Task is a Window ?

When using PC-Task as a window the more recent the AmigaOS the faster (V3.1 is faster than V3.0 which is much faster than V2). Try changing the update method to update after # of frames.

How can I get faster graphics update in MS Windows ?

Try changing the update method to update after # of frames for the mode windows is using (usually 12). Try using the VGA mono MS Windows display driver. If using a graphics card mode see if the native mode is faster.

I can't get PC-Task to come up as a window ?

Make sure you are setting the specific PC mode to the window option in advanced video options.

The cursor disappears in 80*25 16 color text mode ?

Try changing the update method to update after # of frames for that PCMode (3).

Mouse doesn't work in MS Windows ?

Make sure MOUSE.INI in Windows directory has =SERIAL2 (not=PS2).

MSBackup doesn't seem to work ?

I believe it wants to access the drive at a hardware level which PC-Task does not do. I wonder if Microsoft will ever learn how to write nice software.

I get software appears corrupted message ?

If you purchased PC-Task you probably have faulty/corrupted disk, contact Quasar Distribution. If you have pirated(stolen) PC-Task, buy it or rot in hell.

The partition I had setup under CrossDOS/CrossPC doesn't seem to work?

You must use a mountlist/DOSDriver entry that has NO CrossDOSFileSystem entry.

I have the demo and can't seem to create a harddisk for it ?

Setting up a harddisk requires the use of the MSDOS programs FDisk and Format which need to write to the harddisk so you cannot do this with the demo.

I tried to set up a real partiton but it doesn't work ?

Did it appear next to Hardrive C/D: on the BIOS screen of PC-Task (the one after you press start on the setup screen) ? If not then make sure it is being mounted and you correctly entered it with colon on the setup screen. If you have to set mask values on your Amiga partitions because you controller cannot DMA to your 32bit RAM, see manual on how to do this for PC-Task partitions. If using a mountlist/DOSDriver entry make sure it has NO CrossDOSFileSystem entry.

I want to read the harddisk I setup for PC-Task from AmigaOS ?

Use PCTCrossMount that came with PC-Task V4.

I tried to set up CDROM access but it doesn't work ?

Follow the section in the manual. Make sure you are using PC-Task V4 and PCTCDROM.SYS that came with it (not some old version). If you have to set mask values on your Amiga partitions because you controller cannot DMA to your 32bit RAM, see manual on how to do this for PC-Task. Make sure you don't have spaces between device,unit in your CONFIG.SYS line. If it still doesn't work and the controller device name that your CDROM uses has underscores or uppercase letters in it contact tech support (with FULL details).