Joined: 6-May-2007 Posts: 11209
From: Greensborough, Australia
I had a PicassoIV in my A4000D when suddenly something went wrong and the VGA out stopped working. All the screen modes also went missing. Despite the card showing up in the hardware list.
So I replaced it with a CyberVision 64 I had as a spare. Took me ages to get it working without screen modes dissappearing. Stable now but need to find an easy monitor setup program. Do these exist on the Amiga? I've never seen one!
Anyway what I'm getting at is that with the Picasso gone I had lost my scan doubler. A friend had an Indivision Mk I laying around and we struck up a deal. Some cash and pizza. Looked good to me.
I installed it after reading docs about it. I fire it up and I get no VGA output. I read more docs and they say it should work without setup.
Last night I downloaded the flash drivers. I ran the config tool to check and it just stalled it. I ran the flash tool and it did the same. Stealing my CPU time on both counts. The system became very slow.
I did a SnoopDOS check. The software appears to be written last century for a KS1.3 A500. Opening version 0 of libraries and looking for topaz 8. Both tools open resources fine and then stop. They then can't be quit and just chew on the CPU.
So I'm going to check the connection again. But I had no trouble it seemed installing it. RGB output works fine. Is this a common issue? Press in again and run the tools again? Run tools from bare boot shell?
After loosing my auto scan doubler I was excited I would have one again and could continue my Amiga games. But I still have lost my AGA output into VGA. For now it will be RTG only.
I had a PicassoIV in my A4000D when suddenly something went wrong and the VGA out stopped working. All the screen modes also went missing. Despite the card showing up in the hardware list.
Sad indeed They are great cards and we will not see their like again. AGA scan doubled and RTG on the same VGA monitor = unheard of other than the Picasso IV.
_________________ "Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art." John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios
Status: Offline
g01df1sh
Re: Indivision Mk I not producing any output Posted on 6-Oct-2017 15:43:35
Joined: 6-May-2007 Posts: 11209
From: Greensborough, Australia
@g01df1sh
I pressed it in and it seemed to go in. I didn't push it too hard. But it felt solid to me. It would have helped if it was designed to be screwed in place at some anchor points. Since mounting over the top of another chip like it does it is little more than a professional hack. Someone also mentioned having a light on board would have helped. As it stands I am a bit blindsighted trying to figure out what is going on with the Indivision.
I thought maybe the VGA out cable and plug has an issue. But the software locking up should still function otherwise. I might pull the cable and see if it finds it in case that has an issue. Unless it needs to be plugged into a monitor to work. Which is hard as the monitor keeps going off without a signal.
Status: Offline
g01df1sh
Re: Indivision Mk I not producing any output Posted on 7-Oct-2017 15:57:55
Joined: 6-May-2007 Posts: 11209
From: Greensborough, Australia
@BigD
Being restricted to RTG only is also annoying. I can't see the early startup. On my A1200, when I got a VGA only monitor, I put in all these VGA hacks. Was fine for early startup and system friendly games but not much for else. But once you go RTG you don't want to go back.
I could run a passthrough from RGB to VGA in but don't know if OS3.9 can output a VGA screen mode for the monitor. I tested some monitors and they didn't like it.
So yes it is sad indeed. I should get it checked out. I don't know if something is gone on the card or my video slot has fried.
Status: Offline
Hypex
Re: Indivision Mk I not producing any output Posted on 10-Nov-2017 15:35:27
Joined: 6-May-2007 Posts: 11209
From: Greensborough, Australia
@g01df1sh
I haven't actually. Though I didn't think this would interfere. I might also try a clean boot shell in the meantime. Could be a software conflict. But I expected software would less of a problem as the board is supposed to be plug and play and immediately usable.
Aside from that I'm thinking of just removing the VGA cable. Could be a problem with it. So will pull the plug and retest also.
Status: Offline
Hypex
Re: Indivision Mk I not producing any output Posted on 13-Jan-2018 16:00:50
Joined: 6-May-2007 Posts: 11209
From: Greensborough, Australia
So the last few days I've been testing this again.
I pulled the VGA cable out. It made no difference.
I noticed the earth lead was a bit close to a jumper. So moved it away. No difference.
Tried from a boot shell. Again no difference.
I then cloned the Install3.1 disk. Booted it to a fresh Workbench and tried again. Again no difference whatsoever.
I just can't avoid coming to the conclusion that it must be a dud. The hardware is too tight and as nice as the printed PCB looks it is still a hack. Given the A4000 has a video slot there is no need for such as hack. Not in an A4000 anyway.
The software isn't much better. It's slightly messy and obviously wasn't tested on a basic 3.1 setup nor 3.9 for that matter as the read me file won't load up. What else does the software expect to find but doesn't? But most of all it just locks up.
I even pulled the card and tested the software. Same deal. Just locks itself up. Doesn't even report any output to CLI. So obviously it is badly written if it locks up when the hardware isn't present.
So it's a nice idea. But a bit useless when the idea is broken. Think I will give it back to my friend who will get more use out of it as a collection piece on his shelf!