Scorpio 2.1 released

[Denis P. Mendoza]

Just saw it here: http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/newspage.htm

This could be a stable one as Daniel released it with source. Thanks.

It comes with another update of the egbb_probe (egbbdll.dll) - version 3.3. I hope he uploads the new sources too so that we could compile an egbbdll64.dll for the 64-bit scorpio bitbase-enabled engines, including this new Scorpio ! Just be reminded that this new version could only use the new bitbases found here: http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/
...and the ones I uploaded on my back-up site: http://computerchessengines.mylivepage.com/file/index

I'll try mediafire to upload them, as my link only provides download when you login - sorry for that. I hope others provide some mirrors to lessen the bandwidth usage on Dann Corbit's site!

[Denis P. Mendoza]

Daniel,

Sorry for asking for the new egbb code (v3.3). It was the same code I was working before. I had thought it was still v3.2. My mistake ! Source code of v3.3 is older than v3.2 that is why I didn't notice.

Denis

[Daniel Shawul]

Denis, that is no problem at all.
BTW have you tried the 64 bit egbbdlls with Toga? I had some bug
reports earlier but other people have confirmed that they do work.
cheers
Daniel

[Denis P. Mendoza]

Denis, that is no problem at all.
BTW have you tried the 64 bit egbbdlls with Toga? I had some bug
reports earlier but other people have confirmed that they do work.
cheers
Daniel

Daniel,

Yes, I had compiled and tested the 64-bit dll/s (v3.2 and v3.3) with a 64-bit Toga on a few games and epd tests with no apparent problems yet. Though Toga doesn't benefit much on 64-bit, I notice that it's the advantage we could only get during bitbase usage (on 64-bit) ! The 32-bit dll/s also works fine.

I think most of the problems encountered by new users are connected to the proper pairing of versions of dll and bitbases. Each Scorpio bitbase-enabled engine reacts differently when problems occur. Some crash instantly while the rest may fail at the root when egbb probing occurs. Another example is proper tagging of the egbb_probing dll for 32 and 64-bit usage (like egbbdll.dll for 32-bit and egbbdll64.dll for 64-bit all residing in the egbb folder). A simple tip usually helps.

Another thing (might be already discussed) is the proper scripting of egbb path. The default path for Toga is 'c:/egbb/' and 'c:\egbb\' would still work, but 'c:/egbb' and 'c:\egbb' must be avoided. I don't know if other engines follow this guideline.

I'll check the other bug reports i missed and verify. Thanks.

Denis

[petsie]

Hi Daniel, I found the sources for Scorpio 2.1 yesterday and tried to compile the program with g++ 4.3 under Ubuntu Linux 8.10 x86_64.
I always got a segmentation fault (in util.cpp, line 117: l_lock(io_lock)). After searching a while, I realized, that commenting line 66 in my_types.h out (#define USESPINLOCK) results in a running binary.

I do not know anything about programming (p)threads; therefore I want to ask if there can appear unwanted effects due to this change in my_types.h.

Thank you.
Peter

P.S.: I'm writing this under Windows; so I had to remember the details. They might be incorrect.

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

Just saw it here: http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/newspage.htm

This could be a stable one as Daniel released it with source. Thanks.

It comes with another update of the egbb_probe (egbbdll.dll) - version 3.3. I hope he uploads the new sources too so that we could compile an egbbdll64.dll for the 64-bit scorpio bitbase-enabled engines, including this new Scorpio ! Just be reminded that this new version could only use the new bitbases found here: http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/
...and the ones I uploaded on my back-up site: http://computerchessengines.mylivepage.com/file/index

I'll try mediafire to upload them, as my link only provides download when you login - sorry for that. I hope others provide some mirrors to lessen the bandwidth usage on Dann Corbit's site!

Hi Denis,
I waent to Dann's site but didn't find the new egbb....can you post the direct URL please?
Dr.D

[Denis P. Mendoza]

http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/ ... h/egbb.rar
date is 3/09/2009

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/chess-engines/new-approach/egbb.rar
date is 3/09/2009

Thanks buddy
Dr.D

[Daniel Shawul]

Hi Daniel, I found the sources for Scorpio 2.1 yesterday and tried to compile the program with g++ 4.3 under Ubuntu Linux 8.10 x86_64.
I always got a segmentation fault (in util.cpp, line 117: l_lock(io_lock)). After searching a while, I realized, that commenting line 66 in my_types.h out (#define USESPINLOCK) results in a running binary.

I do not know anything about programming (p)threads; therefore I want to ask if there can appear unwanted effects due to this change in my_types.h.

Thank you.
Peter

P.S.: I'm writing this under Windows; so I had to remember the details. They might be incorrect.

You are absolutely right. The spinlock implementation for linux is broken. I just copied and pasted
that code assuming it would work. Now I fixed it but I guess using the mutexes are equally good.
For those who want to compile egbbdll for linux you have to make that change before compiling.
thanks a lot,
Daniel

[Daniel Shawul]

http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/chess-engines/new-approach/egbb.rar
date is 3/09/2009

Thanks buddy
Dr.D

hi Wael
make sure that you use the latest egbbdlls from here http://dshawul.googlepages.com/home
The one that came with the egbb files is broken

Daniel

[Daniel Shawul]

Denis, that is no problem at all.
BTW have you tried the 64 bit egbbdlls with Toga? I had some bug
reports earlier but other people have confirmed that they do work.
cheers
Daniel

Daniel,

Yes, I had compiled and tested the 64-bit dll/s (v3.2 and v3.3) with a 64-bit Toga on a few games and epd tests with no apparent problems yet. Though Toga doesn't benefit much on 64-bit, I notice that it's the advantage we could only get during bitbase usage (on 64-bit) ! The 32-bit dll/s also works fine.

I think most of the problems encountered by new users are connected to the proper pairing of versions of dll and bitbases. Each Scorpio bitbase-enabled engine reacts differently when problems occur. Some crash instantly while the rest may fail at the root when egbb probing occurs. Another example is proper tagging of the egbb_probing dll for 32 and 64-bit usage (like egbbdll.dll for 32-bit and egbbdll64.dll for 64-bit all residing in the egbb folder). A simple tip usually helps.

Another thing (might be already discussed) is the proper scripting of egbb path. The default path for Toga is 'c:/egbb/' and 'c:\egbb\' would still work, but 'c:/egbb' and 'c:\egbb' must be avoided. I don't know if other engines follow this guideline.

I'll check the other bug reports i missed and verify. Thanks.

Denis

I have put up a FAQ here http://dshawul.googlepages.com/home
Let me know if there are more.

regards,
Daniel

[Dr.Wael Deeb]

http://dcorbit2008.corporate.connx.com/chess-engines/new-approach/egbb.rar
date is 3/09/2009

Thanks buddy
Dr.D

hi Wael
make sure that you use the latest egbbdlls from here http://dshawul.googlepages.com/home
The one that came with the egbb files is broken

Daniel

Thanks Daniel,got it....
Dr.D