[How To] Use the Katana SDK on Windows 7

[T_chan]

As promised, a complete tutorial on how to run the Katana SDK with your favorite devkit on Windows 7...
Maybe an administrator can make this sticky ? (hmmm... on the other hand, how many people are actually interested in this tutorial... ?)

Why this tutorial ?
- because ater a clean install, Windows7 cannot communicate with the Katana devkit
- because wnaspi32.dll is not supported on Windows7
- because the current version of FrogAspi does not work with the Katana devkit


PREREQUISITES:
==============
- the Katana devkit hardware correctly set-up to run (ie, the cables & jumpers, and the SCSI terminator)
- Windows 7. This was tested with the 64bits version only... (who cares about the 32bits version anyway ?)
- the Katana SDK installed. Tested with SDK R11 only.
When installing the SDK, it will tell you to:
- install updated ASPI drivers at the beginning of the install -> just ignore & continue
- reflash the devkit at the end of the installation -> ignore this
- before starting this installation, be sure to do the actual boot sequence for the devkit:
first boot the devkit, wait a few seconds, then boot your pc
check that the pc mentions the GD-M & the DA during the boot process of the scsi card


WARNINGS !!!!!
==============
- MekugiAspi is still in early development phase, so
- USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
- especially for: reflashing the devkit. This hasn't been tested yet, and I don't plan to do that for a while...
So I wouldn't try that for now if I were you...


INSTALLATION OF YOUR SCSI ADAPTER
=================================
- if your SCSI host adapter card was recognized & it was installed correctly, skip this chapter and go to "installation of the wnaspi32.dll"
- if you have a scsi adapter other than the adaptec 2940, google & try to find a compatible driver for Windows 7, install it, and go to "installation of the wnaspi32.dll"
List of Adaptec cards compatible with Windows 7:
http://ask.adaptec.com/scripts/adapt...i=&p_topview=1
(Note that the 2940 family is marked as no driver included/planned, but you can use a compatible driver without problems: cfr next lines)
- if you have an adaptec 2940 scsi adapter, download this compatible driver: "Adaptec AIC-7870 PCI SCSI Controller (emulated)"
You can download it at the end of this page, look for the post of PhilWin7:
http://www.winvistatips.com/adaptec-...s-t800611.html
- go to the device manager
- locate your unrecocgnized 2940 scsi adapter, right-click, select "properties"
- click on the "update driver" button
- select "browse my computer for driver software"
- select "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
- from the list of common hardware types, select "storage controllers" and click "next"
- click on the button "have disk"
- browse to the path where you unzipped the driver compatible with the 2940 card, and install it
- Windows 7 will install the driver, and should recognize the scsi card, and the Katana devkit GD-M & DA.
If the installation is successful, you will see this:

- When this is done, you will see the two devkit devices in the device manager:

- If you don't see them, a reboot might help.


INSTALLATION OF THE WNASPI32.DLL
================================
- Download this replacement of wnaspi32.dll: MekugiAspi
- You have two options: install it for your whole system, or just for the Katana SDK applications that communicate with the devkit.
As the current version of MekugiAspi is still in early development phase, I would recommend to install it only for the Katana SDK apps.
1) To install it just for the Katana SDK apps:
- unzip MekugiAspi and copy the dll to the different subfolders of the SDK applications:
eg. \Utl\Dev\Codescape
\Utl\Dev\DACheck
\Utl\Dev\GDWorkshop
\Utl\Dev\DBFlash (-> you better not execute the reflash of the devkit with this version of MekugiAspi... this has not been tested yet)
or:
2) to install it for your whole system:
- Windows 7 64 bits version: install the dll to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\
- Windows 7 32 bits version: install the dll to C:\Windows\System32\


RUNNING YOUR KATANA SDK APPLICATIONS:
=====================================
- for your shortcuts:
- right-click on the shortcut, choose the "Advanced" button
- select "Run as administrator" and click twice on "OK". If the system asks for Administrator privileges to change this setting, click on OK/Continue
- when you execute the application directly by clicking on the .exe:
- right-click the application, and choose "run as administrator" every time you want to launch the app, or:
- right-click the application, choose "properties", go to the "compatibility" tab, and select "Run this program as an administrator"
- When launching an application, the system will ask you if you want to allow the following application to make changes to your computer, just click yes.
(it appears because we checked "run as administrator")
- to check if everything went well, I would run DACheck & test the DA & the GD-M... if you get error messages or don't get two green buttons at the end, something's wrong...
This was the result on my pc:


You're now ready to execute the Katana SDK applications again !

Do not hesitate to leave a message if you're experiencing problems / have questions / are using MekugiAspi / ...

[pitsunami]

Very nice tutorial... thanks a lot! :thumbsup:

Btw do windows 7 show both partitions of the katana hard drive?

[T_chan]

Btw do windows 7 show both partitions of the katana hard drive?

No idea, I didn't test that...
I reformatted the hdd of my devkit to 1 big FAT32 partition a long time ago, so I wouldn't know...

[skateforjondoe]

Thank you T_chan.

[Evangelion]

Thanks for that, T_chan, it will be useful :)

[karsten]

stickified. thanks for the effort.

[skateforjondoe]

congrats :)

[user]

Thanks, very useful.

[T_chan]

Update : I've released a new version of Mekugi Aspi, my replacement dll for wnaspi32.dll.

Changes:
- Enhanced compatibility:
* devices with multiple LUNs are now recognized correctly
* programs that called the wnaspi32.dll by using the function ordinals instead of the function names should be OK now
* you no longer need a driveletter on the same port to have your devices recognized
* HDD's are not filtered out anymore (I did that as precaution for the 1st release)
* Added function GetASPI32DLLVersion
Still not a 100% compatibility, but a big step in the good direction...

What does that mean for the DC Dev hardware fans ?
That with this new version, you can use the HKT-03 soundbox under Windows 7 :D

[dyer60]

Top work.

Thanks a million really useful.

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

T_chan, you're doing amazing work here!

Cheers!

[RetroJunkie]

Thanks T_chan! Echoing the above, thanks for keeping the bed warm on Dreamcast development.
I'll need to pickup a few in the next few months and it is great to see it is being actively fixed up and worked on.

[atreyu187]

Thanks so much for not only this but simply adding ASPI drivers to Win7. I got the latest version and it works so well I have removed my WinXP VM for all my Dreamcast needs. I can't being to tell you how helpful all this and you have been!!

[takeshi385]

THanks for this.

[T_chan]

Glad to help.

I got the latest version and it works so well I have removed my WinXP VM for all my Dreamcast needs.

If you'd told me you were using an XP VM just because of incomplete wnaspi support on Win7, I wouldn't have waited 3 years before updating my dll

[atreyu187]

Glad to help.



If you'd told me you were using an XP VM just because of incomplete wnaspi support on Win7, I wouldn't have waited 3 years before updating my dll

HAHAHA I am just happy someone deiced to add it back in, it wasn't to bad hacking games with XP VM just time consuming as it took much longer to build, hack, and transfer data to and from the HDD's. I am honestly surprised this hasn't blown up and a lot more folks interested. ;)

[-=FamilyGuy=-]

Doesn't winaspi32.dll work on windows 7? I always assumed it did... in fact I think I've burned cd-r using old cdrecord, cygwin1.dll and winaspi32.dll... or maybe was it using a newer version of cdrecord?

Of course, meguki is mandatory to use a devkit.

[atreyu187]

Frogaspi works but not as good as this driver does so I stuck with a xp vm till I got this driver.