What is SainT?
- SainT is an Atari ST emulator for your PC. Is works under Win9x and WinNT. It is mainly dedicated to the demos, but a lot of games are still compatibles with this emulator.
What do I need to run this emulator?
- In the first place you need an image of the TOS (='Atari bios' in a way). You can grab it yourself or download it over the Internet. Then you need an image of a ST disk (demos, games,...) that you can find here. The image must be in .MSA, .ST or .DIM formats. Today SainT doesn't support mounted hard drives, but this option will certainly be added in the next releases.
Where could I find the TOS required?
- Some websites offer various TOS version from Atari ST/STE/Falcon. Just make investigations on a search engine using 'TOS ROM image' as keywords ;-)
What version of TOS could I use with SainT?
- You must only use TOS v1.00. All other versions pose a difficult problem at the moment. Never try the version 1.62 of the TOS, even if you want to run a STE demo.
Do I need to unzip the demos I download here?
- No. SainT (as many other emulators) support the zipped MSA/ST/DIM files. Just keep the demos in their ZIP archives.
Ok, I'm launching the emulator. What keys are used?
- home / del / end / page down = arrow keys.
- arrow keys = joystick control.
- control = joystick fire.
- F11 = warm reset.
- shift+F11 = cold reset.
- F12 = come back to the interface.
All the keys of the ST are supported by SainT?
- No. Some keys (Undo, esc,...) are not emulated. Never press 'escape' on your PC during the emulation, it makes SainT crash (come back to the desktop of Windows).
Can I switch between SainT and the desktop of Windows?
- No. This feature was available under the version 0.90b of SainT, but it doesn't work anymore. Hope it will be back soon... You need to quit SainT if you want to come back to the desktop of Windows.
Under SainT, the control key (=fire emulation) doesn't work.
- That's a boring bug. It seems that it depends of the OS used. Under Win98 fr, the control key doesn't work. But it works great under Win2k us.
Some great megademos (like Punish Your Machine, Phaleon, Dark Side Of The Spoon) don't boot at all with SainT. Why ?
- Most of the good old megademos were protected against rippers. That's why today they don't work under emulators. Both authors of SainT are working on these problem. Their goal is to launch all ST demos. Hang on.
Somebody told me that these demos have been unprotected. Could you send them to me?
- No I can't. Because I don't have these versions and because both authors of SainT don't want to spread them. They prefer that SainT runs original versions, not the unprotected one. Please, respect their work.
Sometimes, the space key stops the demo and then it reboots. Why?
- That's another boring bug of SainT. Try a second time the demo. If the problem do persist, use alternative emulator (Steem, Stew, Echo).You will certainly encounter other difficulty: on a few POV menus, the 1,2,3,4... keys don't work (same case: the menu crashes and it reboots). To avoid this problem, use the keypad.
Are you sure that DIM disks work under SainT?
- The support of the DIM format was a new feature of the version 0.91b of SainT. But it seems it doesn't work (the settings of the disk appear correctly but the disk don't boot). You can easily convert a .DIM disk into a .ST disk. Use an hexadecimal tool and edit the .DIM file. Delete the first 32 bytes. Then rename the disk using .ST as extension. You have now a .ST disk which is compatible with SainT (and other emulators). There is another format of image, which has .IMG as extension (created with two tools called Reader.prg and Writer.prg). To convert this files into .ST format, just delete the first 8 bytes and rename the disk.
I don't find my favorite screens on your site. I want more demos for SainT. Where can I download them?
- Well, I try to include here all the compatible demos I have collected since 13 years, but I miss some. Just follow the URL in the Links section of this website. But warning: many demos are not compatible with SainT or other emulators, and a few disks on some FTP/HTTP site are corrupted. Check them.
|