Dreamcast [How To] Use the Katana SDK on Windows 7/10

[T_chan]

[Tutorial moved from assemblergames to here due to the closure of assemblergames.
Also copied over to dcemulation, but chances are high more devkit-owners will gather here... time will tell...]

What ?
- a tutorial on how to run the Katana SDK with your Katana devkit on Windows 7 & 10

Why this tutorial ?

• because after a clean install, Windows7/10 cannot communicate with the Katana devkit
• because wnaspi32.dll is not supported on Windows7/10
• 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 7/10. This was tested with the 64bits version only, I suppose nobody uses a 32bit OS anymore...
• the Katana SDK installed.

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 a lot yet, and I don't plan to do that for a while...

So be careful...


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 7/10, install it, and go to "installation of the wnaspi32.dll"

List of Adaptec cards compatible with Windows 7
(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)". This has been tested both on Windows 7 & 10:
You can download it at the end of this page, look for the post of PhilWin7:
http://www.winvistatips.com/adaptec-scs ... 00611.html
- Only on Windows 10:

• [Windows 10 does not allow to install unsigned drivers anymore, unless you reboot it in a special mode, so these extra steps are needed to install the unsigned 2940 driver]
• restart Windows 10 by clicking on “Shift" + "Click” on the “Restart” option.
• this will show you the advanced boot menu
• select the "Troubleshoot" option
• select "Advanced options"
• select "start-up settings". This will allow you to disable driver signature inforcement, so you will be able to install the driver for the 2940 SCSI card.
• click on "restart"
• once the pc has restarted, you will be asked to press a F*-key corresponding to your choice. Normally this will be F7 - disable driver signature enforcement
• (then install the driver for the 2940 scsi card as described below)
• after installing the driver for the 2940 scsi card, reboot your system so that driver signature is inforced again

- Both for Windows 7 & 10:

• go to the device manager
• locate your unrecognized 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 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 - cfr clone post on dcemulation, where I added the zip files of MekugiAspi (I can't add .zip files here)
• 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 / ...


Update 9 feb 2013 : I've released version 0.2 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 version 0.2, you can use the HKT-03 soundbox under Windows 7/10

Update 4 oct 2019 : Added a section on how to install the 2940 driver under Windows 10
Update 26 jul 2021: My ISP stopped with their free web/ftp-server, so I added the MekugiAspi zip files to the clone post on dcemulation.

 

[chacal231077]

Hi!

Can this work with Windows 8.0 - 64 bit ?

Thank you

 

[T_chan]

It should.
I would think you would do the same install steps as for Windows 7.

Edit: Corrected the link to the MekugiAspi .zip files, since my web/ftp server is no more...