Amiga.org
The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Amiga Emulation => Topic started by: humppa on March 09, 2007, 04:38:43 PM
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I recently dug out my dusty copy of Amithlon and gave it a shot on my Nforce2 system.
While it initially refused to fully boot from CDRom, I finally managed to boot from a USB pen-drive using the latest kernal from Bombcrater (kudos btw!). Next I freed some space on my harddisk and installed OS3.9 on it, so things are looking fine for now.
The next thing I'll try is to get NForce2 LAN and sound working, since both seem to be supported by the latest kernals.
The only problem for now: My Geforce 6800 is only supported with VESA, so there is no hardware acceleration which makes everything quite sluggish.
What are your experiences regarding GFX cards and Amithlon? I'll have to make a compromise, since I am also using the computer with Windows, so the card shouldn't be too slow.
This is what I am looking for:
The fastest AGP GFX card that has HW-acceleration in Amithlon, is still passively cooled and has working DVI connectors.
Are the Geforce FX 5200 and 5500 really the fastest cards which fit these criteria? Any other suggestions? What about ATI cards? There are even some Geforce4 MX with DVI connector, would those work?
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Humppa, Gary just released a new kernel, which has support for the 6800 series. I don't have the link to it, but if you'd like, I can send you the kernel, when I get home, this evening. Has support for the Nforce2 chipset, as well.
Don't expect *ANY* Warp3D, unless you have a voodoo and so far, I was unsuccessful using it, so I just went back to my 5200.
If you're using the AC97 Codec, let me know and I can send you the AC97 mixer, so you can turn the CDRom sound on. :-D
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Humppa, Gary just released a new kernel, which has support for the 6800 series.
W00t! Are you sure? I had a look at the Amithlon list and Gary's website and couldn't find any news on that.
6800 hw-support would be perfect, since I am most happy with my current card (passively cooled (http://prohardver.hu/pics/usedadsx/2006-09/9639_6800.jpg)). All other cards would be a major downgrade (at least in Windows)...
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What are your experiences regarding GFX cards and Amithlon? I'll have to make a compromise, since I am also using the computer with Windows, so the card shouldn't be too slow
Maybe this will help Gary's Amithlon website (http://www.garycvl.f2s.com/amithlon.html)?
TrevorDick
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Don't expect *ANY* Warp3D, unless you have a voodoo and so far, I was unsuccessful using it, so I just went back to my 5200.
I already tried a Voodoo 3000 (PCI) which I wpreviously using with my Mediator. With the latest kernal (kern310) it only worked in VESA mode. Are there any kernals that support Voodoo in hw-acceleration?
Btw, how is your 5200 working in Amithlon? Did you try DVI?
If you're using the AC97 Codec, let me know and I can send you the AC97 mixer, so you can turn the CDRom sound on.
Thanks, sounds great, I'll send you a PM. My mainboard has a AC97 v2.2 Realtek ALC650, so I'll guess it _should_ work with the Codec and Amithlon.
@TrevorDick
Thanks, already knew the website. Not all models are listed there, so I was looking for some experience from Amithlon users. The table lists DVI as "N/A" on some older Geforce models. I wonder if this is because it's not supported or rather because only few of those cards _have_ DVI conncetors.
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There are no kernels that support Warp3D, that I know of, unfortunately. As for your mainboard, some versions of the AC97 codec will crash the Mixer. My old box would do that, so I had to install a SB512, just to turn on the sound. (Why it's off, by default, is beyond me.)
EDIT - Trevor listed the proper link, so you can use that. I can email you the mixer, right now, 'cos it's still sitting in my email box. Just pm me your email.
DVI does work, though I'm also using a monitor converter, but I can affirm that it will use the dual heads of a GForce.
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As for your mainboard, some versions of the AC97 codec will crash the Mixer. My old box would do that, so I had to install a SB512, just to turn on the sound. (Why it's off, by default, is beyond me.)
Ok, hope I'm lucky. Thanks for the AC97-mixer by the way.
DVI does work, though I'm also using a monitor converter, but I can affirm that it will use the dual heads of a GForce.
Ok, so the FX 5200 could be a possible alternative to my Geforce 6800 if I can't get it to work with hw-acceleration.
Are you sure about Geforce 6800 support? Would this be an inofficial kernel newer than 3.10? I'd love to do some betatesting. ;)
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humppa wrote:
Ok, hope I'm lucky. Thanks for the AC97-mixer by the way.
DVI does work, though I'm also using a monitor converter, but I can affirm that it will use the dual heads of a GForce.
Ok, so the FX 5200 could be a possible alternative to my Geforce 6800 if I can't get it to work with hw-acceleration.
Are you sure about Geforce 6800 support? Would this be an inofficial kernel newer than 3.10? I'd love to do some betatesting. ;)
It's "unofficial". Gary said it should work, but doesn't mean that it will. I don't have a 6800 series, so I cannot confirm about whether it works or not. My 5200 works flawlessly and Quake268k looks *GREAT* Duke Nukem runs rather well, too.
No worries about the mixer. Glad to be of service. If you want, shoot a PM to Lo, 'cos he sent it to me, first, when I couldn't buy it. :-D
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humppa wrote:
I already tried a Voodoo 3000 (PCI) which I wpreviously using with my Mediator. With the latest kernal (kern310) it only worked in VESA mode. Are there any kernals that support Voodoo in hw-acceleration?
Amithlon can do 3D on a Voodoo (no just 3D, 2D is still unaccelerated). All you need is an AGP-card (so the kernel won't snatch the voodoo) and the hacked&patched Prometheus driver Harald presented in Cologne (back in 2001).
Only problem is that getting that driver involves breaking into Harry's house, getting past the guy himself ..... :roll:
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@All
Just to clarify some points :
* There is no kernel support for the GeForce 6 series right now. I spent some time working on that but the GF6 family is just too different internally from the earlier GeForce parts. It needs a whole new driver, which I don't have time to write.
* The most modern cards supported at the moment are the GeForce FX series. The driver for these is fast and stable, although there are issues with some 'odd' FX cards (5100,5500 and some 5700s) not being picked up correctly. The driver has working DVI - at least on GF FX and GF4 cards.
If you have GF6 or GF7 card and replacing it is not an option I suggest fitting a GeForce FX PCI card and using a dual-input monitor or kvm switch to toggle between the two cards as needed.
* GeForce PCX (the PCI-Express versions of the FX series) should work, but I don't have one to test with.
* Actual dual-head functionality (ie, two independent screens) doesn't work.
* ATI cards work, at least the 7xxx, 8xxx and 9xxx families do. But the driver is buggy, slower than the GeForce one, and won't be developed any further. DVI is known to work on the 7000 and 7500, but seems to be broken on anything else.
At the moment what little development time I have is focused on getting the kernel working correctly with selected laptops. That's one area not really covered by anything else (bar UAE) and the gap is begging to be filled.
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@DrBombcrater
Thanks for the clarifications.
I might get myself a FX5200 then. Things are just too sluggish with only VESA on my Geforce 6800.
The idea of running Amithlon on laptops sounds interesting. Are there already any "Amithlon-proven" laptops? At least the Geforce FX Go seems to be working with hw-acceleration (listed on your homepage).
Keep up the good work!
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@humppa
Initial target is the GeForce-equipped members of the Acer Aspire 1360 series. The hardware in these is a good match for the kernel - so much that I have an unmodified 3.10 kernel running fine on a 1362 right now (I'm typing this on it now, and boy is it gorgeous :-D )
Almost everything works already.1280x800 hardware accelerated graphics, 100MB ethernet, audio, IDE DMA, etc. The default wireless card doesn't work, but it's a miniPCI card so its easy enough to replace with a compatible one.
The Apsire 1520 series is also a possible target, but a bit farther down the line. Those are more powerful than the 1360s (Athlon 64 & GF 5700 rather than the 1360's Sempron and GF5200) but they need modified drivers and seem to be much rarer than the 1360s.
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@DrBombcrater
* The most modern cards supported at the moment are the GeForce FX series. The driver for these is fast and stable, although there are issues with some 'odd' FX cards (5100,5500 and some 5700s) not being picked up correctly.
I'm no expert in this, but when assuming that all FX-cards can use the same kernel-driver for hw-acceleration (could be wrong on this), isn't it just a matter of adding all chip-IDs ("NV**") to the kernel?
GeForce FX5950 Ultra NV38
GeForce FX5900 Ultra NV35
GeForce FX5900 NV35
GeForce FX5900 XT NV35
Geforce FX5800 NV30
GeForce FX5700 Ultra NV36
GeForce FX5700 NV36
GeForce FX5700 LE NV36
GeForce FX5600 Ultra NV31
GeForce FX5600 NV31
GeForce FX5500 NV34
GeForce FX5200 Ultra NV34
GeForce FX5200 NV34
I am asking because I found a good deal on a cheap FX5500 card and just wanted to make sure that it's supported.
The FX5500 is basically a FX5200 with some minor modifications, so if it is "seen" as a FX5200 that shouldn't cause any problems.
It's not any different with the FX Quadro-cards. They work fine when using the driver of their Geforce counterpart. (You can even flash firmware between the models). But I guess their chip-IDs are needed:
Quadro FX 1000 NV30GL (same as FX5800)
Quadro FX 1100 NV36 (same as FX5700)
Quadro FX 2000 NV30GL (same as FX5800)
Quadro FX 3000 NV35GL (same as FX5900)
Quadro FX 600 NV34GL (same as FX5200 Ultra)
this also applies to other series, e.g.
Quadro 4 980 XGL NV28GL (same as GeForce4 Ti4200-8x)
or
Quadro NVS 200 NV17GL (GeForce4 MX)
Btw, good news on laptop-support, I am currently looking for an older laptop as a "living-room surf station" and with Amithlon-support, the Acer looks like a good choice. :-)
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@humppa
I'm no expert in this, but when assuming that all FX-cards can use the same kernel-driver for hw-acceleration (could be wrong on this), isn't it just a matter of adding all chip-IDs ("NV**") to the kernel?
If only it were that simple!
The NV3x series are not all exactly register compatible. The differences are subtle, but more than enough to break the driver. The biggest pain is that there is little predictability. When I got the driver working on the first generation FX cards (5200, 5600, 5800) I expected it not to work with the second generation cards (5700, 5900 and 5950) but in fact it worked fine on the 5900 and 5950, but broke horribly on some 5700s. Not all, just some of them.
Kernel 3.10 has the correct PCI ID for the 5500 so it will at least try to make it work.
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@DrBombcrater
If only it were that simple!
The NV3x series are not all exactly register compatible.
Ok, that explains a lot. I thought they'd at least be compatible regarding 2D-acceleration.
In any case it should work with Quadro-cards that are using the same chips as their Geforce-counterparts. Does Kernel 3.10 already have their PCI IDs? If not, would it help if I look them up for you (for adding them in a future version)?
On Amithlonopen I read that you were working on Voodoo3 support at some point, but only had a half-working beta version at that time. Any possibility for sending me that kernel? I'd really like to test...
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@humppa
In any case it should work with Quadro-cards that are using the same chips as their Geforce-counterparts. Does Kernel 3.10 already have their PCI IDs? If not, would it help if I look them up for you (for adding them in a future version)?
The PCI ID list for 3.10 is mostly a direct pull from NVidia's Windows drivers (with known incompatible cards excluded) so Quadro cards should be picked up. No guarantees that they'll work, of course. I've never even seen a Quadro in the flesh.
On Amithlonopen I read that you were working on Voodoo3 support at some point, but only had a half-working beta version at that time. Any possibility for sending me that kernel? I'd really like to test...
That effort came to nothing when the last motherboard I have that can take an old AGP 2X card broke and took the Voodoo with it. The V3 is such a museum piece now that it seemed silly spending money to replace the boards, not to mention that development time is better spent on other things.
Stuff like support for modern AC97 codecs and Gigabit ethernet would probably still be unfinished had sufficient time been allocated to finish the Voodoo driver. :-(
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@TrevorDick
How are you getting on with your Amithlon system?
Regards
Mick
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Hmm, I just discovered that all 8bit modes have the colours completely mixed up. I am using "VESA-1" in Picasso96Mode.
All 16bit and 32bit modes look fine and I can use resolutions from 640x480 up to 1280x1024.
All ECS games or system-friendly demos that open an own screen look wrong too. Is there any way to make software which uses the OCS/ECS chipset in a system friendly way more compatible with Amithlon? Has anybody already tried ModePro?
Do I still need to keep the PAL/NTSC screenmodes or can I delete them (colours look wrong on them too)?
Btw, I tried to extend beyond the standard VESA-settings, but none of my Setconfig settings (pixelclock, etc.) are picked up by Picasso96Mode.
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@humppa
Btw, I tried to extend beyond the standard VESA-settings, but none of my Setconfig settings (pixelclock, etc.) are picked up by Picasso96Mode.
The VESA system provides a set of pre-defined screenmodes. You can't alter those in any way, so any changes to parameters like the pixelclock are simply ignored. There's no way to fix this as it's a limitation of the way VESA works.
VESA is better than nothing but only just...
Changing the pixelclock and defining new modes requires a card that has specific driver support.
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I just got myself a cheap FX5200 on ebay, hopefully this will eliminate the few remaining issues (scrolling speed and 256 colour modes).
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Humppa, if it makes you feel better, I've never seen any problems with my FX5200 and I've been using it steadily for almost 4 years now. I was going to build a new Amithlon box and get a new gfx card, but seeing as I haven't had problems with the 5200, I may just save myself the cash and not build a new one.
@Bombcrater,
What's the Ram limit on Amithlon now? Did you push it to 3GB, by chance, 'cos I'd like to max my ram slots, at least, if I can. :-D
Also, I may be able to donate an older motherboard that supports 2X AGP, if you can get yourself another Voodoo. I'd like to get some sort of 3D accelration, one day.
Shame we can't use QuarkTek for Amithlon.
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@Methuselas
What's the Ram limit on Amithlon now? Did you push it to 3GB, by chance, 'cos I'd like to max my ram slots, at least, if I can.
Ahh, that's a bit of a sore point. Because of the way Amithlon and the support kernel work it's not really possible for them to deal with more than 1GB of memory (and to make it worse any graphics card memory is mapped into that 1GB space, so '1GB' is probably about 700MB if you have a 256MB gfx card fitted).
But it's easy enough to tell the kernel to simply ignore any extra memory by using the 'mem=' parameter (ie, adding 'mem=512m' to the kernel boot string tells it to use only 512MB). I run Amithlon on a machine with 2GB ram and a 256MB gfx card using that method.
I had hoped to include a hack in the next kernel that boosted usable memory to 1.5GB, but testing has revealed this causes major incompatibilities on machines with crappy BIOSs (and there are lots of those) so it'll have to be pulled.
Also, I may be able to donate an older motherboard that supports 2X AGP, if you can get yourself another Voodoo. I'd like to get some sort of 3D accelration, one day.
I suspect the cost of sending a motherboard across the Atlantic would be rather more that its worth, but thanks for the offer :-D
As for 3D, none of the kernel drivers will ever do that, period. The APIs in use are very basic and simply don't permit it. I've heard the tales about a working 68k Voodoo3 3D driver for Amithlon but I don't know anyone who's ever seen this mythical beast actually working.
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@Methuselas
Humppa, if it makes you feel better, I've never seen any problems with my FX5200 and I've been using it steadily for almost 4 years now.
Great. Hope to get it working too then. Only really sad to give up on the Geforce 6800 (passively cooled, extremely fast, 16 pipelines). The fastest Amithlon compatible card seems to be the 5950 Ultra (very noisy!). Whatever, the FX5200 should be fine for my purpose (testing Amithlon).
I was going to build a new Amithlon box and get a new gfx card, but seeing as I haven't had problems with the 5200, I may just save myself the cash and not build a new one.
Yeah, what about a NForce4 system with a 5950 Ultra for Amithlon? :-D
Sad to hear about the 3D stuff. I only barely know about Quarktex, but what are the reasons why it doesn't work with Amithlon?
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Hi!
I am also looking for a new card.
When I got the driver working on the first generation FX cards (5200, 5600, 5800) I expected it not to work with the second generation cards (5700, 5900 and 5950) but in fact it worked fine on the 5900 and 5950, but broke horribly on some 5700s. Not all, just some of them.
Unfortunately my "WinFast A350 XT TDH" from LeadTek with
FX5900 only gives me blinking keyboard LED's.
As does an Asus 6600GT but this was expected.
Any recommendations for a modell/brand with a 5900/5950
on it to go for that actually works with Amithlon?
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Unfortunately my "WinFast A350 XT TDH" from LeadTek with FX5900 only gives me blinking keyboard LED's.
As does an Asus 6600GT but this was expected.
Are you really sure this is caused by the GFX cards and not by some other issues? Have you changed AGP Aperture Size in your BIOS? Which kernel are you running? Make sure that all updates are installed.
With the latest kernel, both of your cards should at least be supported by VESA. My Geforce 6800 works fine with Amithlon, there is just no HW-acceleration (only VESA).
I also was first stuck with the flashing LED problem. However, all went fine after I upgraded to a recent kernel and limited memory to 512MB ("mem=512m").
What kind of chipset do you have (mainboard)?
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@Shadowolf
Unfortunately my "WinFast A350 XT TDH" from LeadTek with FX5900 only gives me blinking keyboard LED's.
Flashing LEDs mean the kernel has crashed, which is almost always due to address space problems. Nothing to do with the gfx card at all.
There is 4GB of address space available on 32-bit processors (or 64-bit ones like the Athlon 64 when running in 32-bit mode). The Linux kernel splits that 4GB into 1GB kernel address space and 3GB user space.
On an Amithlon system your main RAM, plus any gfx card memory, plus some other bits and pieces, all has to be mapped into that 1GB kernel space. If that cannot be done the kernel will just give up and crash, causing flashing LED syndrome.
The cure, as humppa mentions, is to add 'mem=512m' to your kernel boot arguments. That instructs the kernel to ignore any memory past 512MB, leaving another 512MB of space available for the graphics card and other stuff.
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humppa wrote:
I only barely know about Quarktex, but what are the reasons why it doesn't work with Amithlon?
It was a wrapper written for WinUAE that emulates 3D acceleration with Warp3d. I'm not sure how they did it, but I tested it and it worked, rather nice. Slower than dog sh!t, running Windoze *AND* UAE, but fairly impressive, nonetheless.
It won't work here, I'm sure, since the driver requires one (or something else, rather) on the Windoze side. :-(
@ Doc
Has TV outs been tested on Amithlon or am I going to have to use a TV/Card? My thoughts were to make a low-footprint desktop case and make a 100% compatible "Amiga". I planned on using it for old school gaming and for coloring my graphic novel. (Yes, I know that photoshop is better - I use it. Yes, I know that Photogenics isn't as good. The fact of the matter is, I want to do all the colors on my Amiga, so I can brag about it. :-D )
So far, I've just had a completely emulated RTG amiga. I've even got an old school catweasel for this project. This is the closest I'll ever get to a "Bad Ass PPC Amiga", unless they pull their heads out of their @$$e$ and give me something that I can actually purchase.
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You guys rock, adding "mem=512m" indeed did it.
I only wish someone told me on the Amithlon mailing-list
around Christmas when I wrote that the 5900XT does not work.
I have a NForce2 with XP2400+ and 1gig of DDR.
And using the TI4200 I do not have to limit the memory,
it just works with kernel 3.10.
I just though 3.10 has pushed that limit a bit at least.
Okay, I tested the 6600GT again and it works,
the 5900XT is in my wife's PC, can't grab that now. :-)
The 6600GT is damaged though, possibly due to overheating
thanks to a failing fan I always have some nasty stripes
all over the screen.
Nonetheless I did a test-run with P96 speed.
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 24 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| GF4200TI | GF6600GT
| RectFill()..............3818 op/s |.....137 op/s
| RectFill() Pattern.......651 op/s |.....146 op/s
| WritePixel().........1658235 op/s |.1685334 op/s
| WriteChunkyPixels().....5964 op/s |....1360 op/s
| WritePixelArray8()......5972 op/s |....1365 op/s
| WritePixelLine8().....122431 op/s |..119386 op/s
| DrawEllipse()..........66897 op/s |...54337 op/s
| DrawCircle()...........66385 op/s |...51251 op/s
| Draw().................17519 op/s |....8825 op/s
| Draw() Hor/Ver.........43759 op/s |...17552 op/s
| ScrollRaster() X.........365 op/s |.......1 op/s
| ScrollRaster() Y.........368 op/s |.......1 op/s
| PutText()..............28155 op/s |...11327 op/s
| BlitBitMap()...........23365 op/s |......80 op/s
| BlitBitMapRastPort()...21985 op/s |......80 op/s
| BitMapScale()............810 op/s |......25 op/s
Looks like hardware-acceleration is at least working
partly with the 6600GT.
What really makes it unuseable is the ScrollRaster() speed.
But this can also be due to the fact the card
is partly fried.
Have a nice day - Shadowolf
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Hi Gary,
nice to see you ...
> * ATI cards work, at least the 7xxx, 8xxx and 9xxx families do. But the driver is buggy, slower than the GeForce one, and won't be developed any further. DVI is known to work on the 7000 and 7500, but seems to be broken on anything else.
Thanks for the clear statement,I asked many times on amithlon-open and didnt get any responce.
I am using a Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB and DVI works perfectly.
But I have to use "vesa-modes" for bugfree screens.
If I use hw-acceleration my mouse-pointer is trashing some pixels.
But ... hey ... i repeat my self and you got this bugreport last year ... and you promised a "bugfree" kernel for end 2006.
Now I must read your statement ...
Its up to you .. it s your time and your hobby.
But i am a little bit angry about this "late" statement.
Btw.: I still wait for the GPL Sources from 3.10 or 3.0.0t1 ... i think we can support you.
br
Andre aka Ratte
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Methuselas wrote:
It was a wrapper written for WinUAE that emulates 3D acceleration with Warp3d. I'm not sure how they did it, but I tested it and it worked, rather nice. Slower than dog sh!t, running Windoze *AND* UAE, but fairly impressive, nonetheless.
It won't work here, I'm sure, since the driver requires one (or something else, rather) on the Windoze side. :-(
You need a PCI-Virge next to your AGP-Card, AGP must init FIRST (BIOS-Setting).
And some Mediator-Files.
Uncompress the Elbox archive, and choose "Install".
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
This will trash your P96 setup. So make sure you have a backup to go back to if things don't work out, or if you just want P96 back. You have been warned!
When the install is complete, quit and restart. If all went well, you will now see the Cybergraphics logo appear on the monitor connected to the Virge, and then have Workbench appear on it. Hooray! You are now running Cybergfx, and the card is fully under the control of the Elbox driver. You can do everything with it that you could do with a "real" Mediator and Virge --- define your own modes with cgxmode, run software on it, drag screens.....
.... Warp3D (without dragable screens).
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@Ratte
Thanks for the clear statement,I asked many times on amithlon-open and didnt get any responce.
I don't read or reply on that list any more because too many people used it to demand I do things...
But ... hey ... i repeat my self and you got this bugreport last year ... and you promised a "bugfree" kernel for end 2006.
I know all about that bug, almost to the point of hating it. There is no 'bugfree' kernel because I have not been able to fix the bug, despite spending way too much time trying. If you check the mailing list archives you'll see that when talking about the next kernel I made it clear the Radeon pointer bug had not been fixed. That's still the case today.
To be honest, the Radeon driver was a bad mistake on my part. I've always tried to be clear that the purpose of the new kernel drivers is to make it easier to build or buy a PC that runs Amithlon well, while also being useful for other things. So the GeForce FX driver already made it possible to build an Amithlon machine that has good 3D support. Strictly speaking, the Radeon driver was then unnecessary but I released it anyway, on the assumption that Radeon owners would regard even a low-performance, buggy driver as being better than VESA mode. But the storm of complaints suggests I was wrong on that point. I apologise to anyone who exected a perfectly working driver.
Its up to you .. it s your time and your hobby.
But i am a little bit angry about this "late" statement.
Okay, let me spell out my position here:
My work on the kernel is done purely to help the Amiga community, as a way of enabling people to run AmigaOS when otherwise they might not be able to. The whole project is done on a 'best effort' basis - I just do what I can. By all means report bugs or ask for some specific bit of hardware to be supported, but don't get pissed off if the bug remains unfixed or the hardware unsupported.
I have very limited time to work on the kernel (further reduced by recent periods of ill heath) and the work itself is nightmarish. You try writing drivers for undocumented hardware that run on top of a ancient kernel and have to interface with an almost undocumented and abandoned closed-source emulator, which hosts an old and abandoned OS, all of which communicates via a set of closed-source pseudo-drivers who's inner workings are unknown to all but the one person who wrote them.
That the results are sometimes a little ragged is, I hope, excusable given those circumstances.
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That the results are sometimes a little ragged is, I hope, excusable given those circumstances.
Excusable? The results are _very much_ appreciated! Looking at all the past work you did for Amithlon, I just _don't_ want to imagine where we would stand without your great contributions and support.
I am here running Amithlon on an Athlon XP 2900+, fully working on-board sound and LAN (Nforce2 chipset), working DMA, 768MB of RAM and (tomorrow if I am lucky) even with Geforce FX accelerated graphics. So a big "Thank you!" for that.
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I understand your point of view.
So its not easy to ask you ...
.. can you "please please" remove the (forgotten) test-routines from the RV350 part?
(i hope you remember my movie with the broken graphics after screenswitching)
The RV350 pointerbug can be fixed by picasso96 settings (softsprite NON x86-p96-code) ;)
Can I get the kernel-sources for debugging?
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@Ratte
The RV350 pointerbug can be fixed by picasso96 settings (softsprite NON x86-p96-code) ;)
No. That's not fixing the bug, just making it less obvious. The 'pointer bug' will cause errors any time lots of drawing operations are performed in a small area, so there are potentially lots of applications that could be affected.
Can I get the kernel-sources for debugging?
Yes. My snapshot of the 3.10 source seems to be broken, but I've uploaded a snapshot taken sometime between 3.00 and 3.10 here (http://www.garycvl.f2s.com/files/300src.zip).
3.10 source will follow when I find out why it's not compiling anymore.
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Hi DrBombcrater.
Is the Acer Aspire 1360 series still available? Are there other laptops that have a high compatibilty with your latest kernal?
I bought Amithlon years ago and have yet to try it. A laptop that runs Amiga OS without being hosted in Windows is too good to be true.
Thanks for your efforts to keep Amiga OS on modern hardware!
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@Tenacious
Thanks to you, and the others who've commented, for the kind words. They're much appreciated.
The 1360 familiy is a few years old now, so it's not possible to buy them new. I doubt it's actually possible to buy any brand new laptop with GeForce FX graphics anymore. They do show up on Ebay from time to time.
But if you can find detailed specifications it's not that hard to tell if a laptop is suitable. It needs :
Processor: Single-core, preferably AMD, but Intel ones should be okay.
Chipset: VIA only.
Graphics: GeForce FX Go 5200, 5300, 5600 or 5700.
Ethernet: VIA Rhine II, VIA Velocity or Realtek 8139.
Audio: VIA VT1612, VT1616, or Realtek ALC6xx/ALC8xx.
-
DrBombcrater wrote:
Can I get the kernel-sources for debugging?
Yes. My snapshot of the 3.10 source seems to be broken, but I've uploaded a snapshot taken sometime between 3.00 and 3.10 here (http://www.garycvl.f2s.com/files/300src.zip).
3.10 source will follow when I find out why it's not compiling anymore.
Thanks Gary.
But it seems to be a snapshot of a nvidia "only" upgraded kernel.
Could you please send me an link for your latest ati kernel.
And also a hint about your "forgotten" screenswitching testcode and where I can find it.
Keep up to good work.
-
Slightly OT, but does anyone know anyone willing to sell me a copy of amithlon
-
@Ratte
Could you please send me an link for your latest ati kernel.
That's the most recent one I can give you right now, because it's the last working snapshot I have. The 3.10 snapshot is missing a whole bunch of files because the disk it's stored on seems to have filled up half-way through the copy process, and the copy script just failed silently :oops:
The kernel copy I'm working on right now has the experimental memory-map patch that fails on about 90% of systems, so it's pretty much useless until I get that picked out of the code.
And also a hint about your "forgotten" screenswitching testcode and where I can find it.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about. What screen switching code?
-
Bah, FX5200 didn't arrive yet, so I thought I'll benchmark my Geforce 6800 before removing it to kill some time. ;-)
It's actually performing quite well in some modes while being dog-slow in (apparently unaccelerated) other functions:
| GFX system....: Picasso96 |
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 24 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| RectFill()................ 647 op/s |
| RectFill() Pattern........ 651 op/s |
| WritePixel().............. 2252845 op/s |
| WriteChunkyPixels()....... 4937 op/s |
| WritePixelArray8()........ 4936 op/s |
| WritePixelLine8()......... 171056 op/s |
| DrawEllipse()............. 89452 op/s |
| DrawCircle().............. 87446 op/s |
| Draw().................... 23326 op/s |
| Draw() Hor/Ver............ 50647 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() X.......... 2 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() Y.......... 2 op/s |
| PutText()................. 40289 op/s |
| BlitBitMap().............. 219 op/s |
| BlitBitMapRastPort()...... 218 op/s |
| BitMapScale()............. 196 op/s |
ScrollRaster seems equally slow as on Shadowwolf's 6600GT, so I actually don't believe that it's just because you fried your card.
The only thing really killing the joy on VESA-only cards is the jerkyness of v-scrolling internet sites and text windows.
I'm already curious how those benchmarks will look with the FX5200. :-)
-
Too bad that it's not that the 6600GT is fried...
My wife went to bed early now and I just could
remove the 5900XT from her PC for a little test:
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 24 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| GF4200TI | GF5900XT
| RectFill().......... 3818 op/s | 4676 op/s
| RectFill() Pattern.. 651 op/s | 635 op/s
| WritePixel()........ 1658235 op/s | 1477204 op/s
| WriteChunkyPixels(). 5964 op/s | 5956 op/s
| WritePixelArray8().. 5972 op/s | 5960 op/s
| WritePixelLine8()... 122431 op/s | 119790 op/s
| DrawEllipse()....... 66897 op/s | 62853 op/s
| DrawCircle()........ 66385 op/s | 62325 op/s
| Draw().............. 17519 op/s | 17418 op/s
| Draw() Hor/Ver...... 43759 op/s | 55315 op/s
| ScrollRaster() X.... 365 op/s | 522 op/s
| ScrollRaster() Y.... 368 op/s | 526 op/s
| PutText()........... 28155 op/s | 27965 op/s
| BlitBitMap()........ 23365 op/s | 26780 op/s
| BlitBitMapRastPort() 21985 op/s | 25180 op/s
| BitMapScale()....... 810 op/s | 823 op/s
Now this really looks good compared to the TI4200.
So the top card to get for Amithlon now should be
some FX5900 based one - and I just got one
for me on EBay. :-D
And while it still has a fan at least the 5900XT
we already have is a lot less noisy than the TI4200.
Have fun - Shadowolf
-
And while it still has a fan at least the 5900XT we already have is a lot less noisy than the TI4200.
If I remember correctly, the MSI and Creative Labs (identical) 5900XT models had relatively quiet fans.Do you have one of those? If there would only be a completely silent model with a heatpipe in the 5900-range such as my Gigabyte GV-68128DH.
-
If I remember correctly, the MSI and Creative Labs (identical) 5900XT models had relatively quiet fans.Do you have one of those?
The one I have here is from Leadtek and it uses the
reference design from NVidia.
The one I just bought is from Creative and although I
have no information what specific modell it is,
it looks exactly like the Leadtek card.
This is it:
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/3dblaster_fx_5900/index.shtml
So I guess MSI and Creative also used the reference-design.
If there would only be a completely silent model with a heatpipe in the 5900-range such as my Gigabyte GV-68128DH.
Remember the days when gfx-cards did not even
had a heatsink and certainly not an additional
power-supply socket?
I hope we see much more fanless equipment in the
next years.
-
DrBombcrater wrote:
The kernel copy I'm working on right now has the experimental memory-map patch that fails on about 90% of systems, so it's pretty much useless until I get that picked out of the code.
And also a hint about your "forgotten" screenswitching testcode and where I can find it.
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about. What screen switching code?
I reported some differences between 3.0.0t1 and 3.10 on amithlonopen (I made a movie for you)
If I switch between two different screens (DOpus -> WB) I get some elements from DOpus drawn at the WB.
You wrote to me, that this is caused by some forgotten testroutines inside 3.10.
(amithlonopen message #5824)
Re: [amithlonopen] Re: Kernel 3.10 released!
----- Original Message -----
From: rejuvenatora1000
To: amithlonopen@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 10:26 PM
Subject: [amithlonopen] Re: Kernel 3.10 released!
> The movie is showing the 800x600 screen-mode-bug, the pointer-bug,
> screen-flip-bug and
> some graphic-bugs (p96-speed).
Okay, I'll address these one-by-one :
- 800x600 16/32-bit modes can be fixed by adding the line 'Setconfig >NIL:
P96_Widthstep 1' to your startup-sequence. The root cause of this is that
modern graphics cards require a screen width divisible by 64 pixels for
hardware acceleration to work correctly, and 800 isn't divisible by 64.
- the screen-flip/screen trash and P96 problems are down to a typo in the
driver. I forgot to comment out some experimental code... oops :-)
- the pointer bug is something I've been aware of for a while, but simply
have not been able to fix.
- on 8-bit modes in general : all 8-bit screen modes have various issues
with the Radeon driver. Avoid them for now if you can (this goes for colour
depths below 8-bit, too, as they are really 8-bit screens at hardware
level).
GC
A kernel 3.11 (3.10 without testroutines) would be very nice.
br
Andre
-
Today I finally received my FX5200, hooked it up, booted into Amithlon and only got a black screen.
Then I found out that DVI is not working! Analogue VGA display works well though. Am I really the first one who can't get DVI to work on a Geforce FX?
Do I have to change any settings in order to get DVI working?
Here is some information, maybe that helps tracking down the problem which is hopefully not hardware-related (DVI works in Windows):
When booting, I get this:
"rivafb: nvidia device/chipset 322"
"rivafb: RIVA MTRR set to ON"
At the end of booting, the text "Opening framebuffer: no such device" is displayed. The FX is well detected and HW-acceleration is working:
"xcat /proc/fb 0 GeForce FX 5200"
I can select between the "builtin" screenmodes and "NVIDIA-1" screenmodes.
With "vga=***" I tried different modes, but I think these only have any effect for VESA cards, right?
Do I have to set "video=***" to something? Somewhere I found the setting "video=rivafb:640x480,flatpanel=1" but that only resulted in two black modes (VGA and DVI) when I tested it.
I could also try different "setconfig >NIL: p96_accell" settings, but I don't really know where to start or if those have any effect at all.
Another oddity with "kern310":
"xcat /proc/version" gives me:
"3.0.0-test1(2.4.19-pre4) compiled 19 Dec 2005"
Am I using an old kernel or is it just a version number/date that wasn't bumped?
Thanks for any help in advance!
This is the GFX-card (http://www.msicomputer.co.uk/products.aspx?product_id=703745) that I bought.
(http://www.msimiami.com/images/images_products/FX5200-TD128LF.jpg)
-
Whohooo! Finally DVI!
The Geforce did not seem to autodetect my TFT panel, so I got it working using
"video=riva:640x480,flatpanel=1".
Before I got confused from reading too much on Linux-boards about kernel options and I must have accidently typed in "rivafb" instead of just "riva". Doh! :crazy:
-
@humppa
Nice to hear you got it working :-D
You had me worried for a moment there, because the DVI code has always worked on every FX card I've tried it on!
DVI auto-detect is broken on GeForce cards. This is listed as a known issue for 3.00, but also happens under 3.10 (and you are running 3.10, stupid me forgot to update the version string :oops:)
Edit: the kernel agruments stuff is a right pain in the bum. I spent hours wondering why the FX driver was giving me a screen full of random garbage on my laptop, it turns out I typed 'video=riva:640x480, flatpanel=1' instead of 'video=riva:640x480,flatpanel=1'.
Just adding one space caused the flatpanel argument to be ignored...
-
DrBombcrater wrote:
@humppa
Edit: the kernel agruments stuff is a right pain in the bum. I spent hours wondering why the FX driver was giving me a screen full of random garbage on my laptop, it turns out I typed 'video=riva:640x480, flatpanel=1' instead of 'video=riva:640x480,flatpanel=1'.
Just adding one space caused the flatpanel argument to be ignored...
Indeed. I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure it out. My missing low-level Linux experience wasn't helpful either. The output during boot "rivafb" must have made me assume that the same string could be used as a kernel argument.
Btw, I didn't know that you can even display GFX card mem and AGP aperture size from Amithlon: "xcat /proc/mtrr".
Don't know if that could be used for anything, e.g. relocating the AGP-area to circumvent the 1GB limit. Bah, I'm talking out of my butt again. :-P
Btw, did anyone ever manage to get 1600x1200 resolutions working? I got a 20" TFT, so it could be nice running at native resolution. At the moment, all resolutions seem to run at 1280x1024 on accelerated drivers. When selecting e.g. 1024x768, a black border is displayed around the view area and my TFT still recognizes it as 1280x1024. I think you wrote in some readme that scaling does not work with DVIs.
-
humppa wrote:
DrBombcrater wrote:
@humppa
Edit: the kernel agruments stuff is a right pain in the bum. I spent hours wondering why the FX driver was giving me a screen full of random garbage on my laptop, it turns out I typed 'video=riva:640x480, flatpanel=1' instead of 'video=riva:640x480,flatpanel=1'.
Just adding one space caused the flatpanel argument to be ignored...
Btw, I didn't know that you can even display GFX card mem and AGP aperture size from Amithlon: "xcat /proc/mtrr".
Don't know if that could be used for anything, e.g. relocating the AGP-area to circumvent the 1GB limit. Bah, I'm talking out of my butt again. :-P
It would help some people (including me) a lot, if we collect all known arguments, commands, processes together.
xcat /proc/mtrr
xcat /proc/pci
xcat /proc/ide/via
xcat /proc/cpuinfo
...
-
I spent some time working on that but the GF6 family is just too different internally from the earlier GeForce parts.
AROS NVidia driver is based on XFree86 nv driver sources. Here it works with a 6600 GT. With hw accelerated blits, rectfills, line drawing, color expansion. There's not a whole lot of difference between NV_ARCH_40 and earlier gfx cards. Mostly just in NVLoadStateExt() (which in AROS driver is basically just a copy&paste from XFree86 driver). The AROS driver is at the moment in sync with the XFree86 nv driver from some two years ago. Doing a diff shows that only few things changed since then which if you merge them in would give you support for gfx cards upto 7900.
-
@Georg
I've tried grafting NV40-compatible loadstate routines into the rivafb driver (taken from the linux 2.6 nvidiafb driver, not AROS, however) without any success. Something is going wrong early in the initial card setup, and I've so far no idea what.
Are the AROS sources publically available? I've had a look but can't find them.
-
Are the AROS sources publically available? I've had a look but can't find them.
Yes. http://aros.sourceforge.net/download.php (http://aros.sourceforge.net/download.php)
"Core AROS sources"
arch/common/hidd.nvidida/*
-
The AROS driver is at the moment in sync with the XFree86 nv driver from some two years ago. Doing a diff shows that only few things changed since then which if you merge them in would give you support for gfx cards upto 7900.
Interesting. Would it also be possible to "unlock" the 1600x1200 modes there? After doing an extensive search through various forums I have come to the conclusions that nobody ever managed to successfully define a 1600x1200 or higher screenmode in Amithlon.
Just like others, I had no luck defining such modes in Picasso96Mode although they were specified according to VESA standards. When I press "test", I only get a white or black screen which my TFT recognizes as "1280x1024" and not "1600x1200". Unfortunately PicassoModeTNG doesn't run and complains about lack of memory (huh? maybe it requires a PIV).
-
It would help some people (including me) a lot, if we collect all known arguments, commands, processes together.
xcat /proc/mtrrxcat
/proc/pcixcat
/proc/ide/viaxcat
/proc/cpuinfo
Have a look here:
Link (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/amithlonopen/message/3742)
You can find descriptions to these commands on many Linux-sites. Only problem is that they do not always apply to the (relatively old) Linux-kernel that Amithlon is using.
-
Shadowolf wrote:
Too bad that it's not that the 6600GT is fried...
My wife went to bed early now and I just could
remove the 5900XT from her PC for a little test:
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 24 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| GF4200TI | GF5900XT
| RectFill().......... 3818 op/s | 4676 op/s
| RectFill() Pattern.. 651 op/s | 635 op/s
| WritePixel()........ 1658235 op/s | 1477204 op/s
| WriteChunkyPixels(). 5964 op/s | 5956 op/s
| WritePixelArray8().. 5972 op/s | 5960 op/s
| WritePixelLine8()... 122431 op/s | 119790 op/s
| DrawEllipse()....... 66897 op/s | 62853 op/s
| DrawCircle()........ 66385 op/s | 62325 op/s
| Draw().............. 17519 op/s | 17418 op/s
| Draw() Hor/Ver...... 43759 op/s | 55315 op/s
| ScrollRaster() X.... 365 op/s | 522 op/s
| ScrollRaster() Y.... 368 op/s | 526 op/s
| PutText()........... 28155 op/s | 27965 op/s
| BlitBitMap()........ 23365 op/s | 26780 op/s
| BlitBitMapRastPort() 21985 op/s | 25180 op/s
| BitMapScale()....... 810 op/s | 823 op/s
Now this really looks good compared to the TI4200.
So the top card to get for Amithlon now should be
some FX5900 based one - and I just got one
for me on EBay. :-D
And while it still has a fan at least the 5900XT
we already have is a lot less noisy than the TI4200.
Have fun - Shadowolf
Radeon9800Pro 128MB / Kernel 3.0.0t1
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/4308/1_3193.jpg)
I used 640x480 8Bit to compare it with A4000 sample benchmarks and so on ..
-
humppa wrote:
It would help some people (including me) a lot, if we collect all known arguments, commands, processes together.
xcat /proc/mtrrxcat
/proc/pcixcat
/proc/ide/viaxcat
/proc/cpuinfo
Have a look here:
Link (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/amithlonopen/message/3742)
You can find descriptions to these commands on many Linux-sites. Only problem is that they do not always apply to the (relatively old) Linux-kernel that Amithlon is using.
Any idea, what these commands are for:
"direct_access.c"
and how to edit it in a usefull way ...?
---
i4fff0000
nb 3=13 % serial
nb 4=13 % serial
nb 7=13 % parallel
nb 1=5 % keyboard
nb 12=5 % mouse
#nb 14=3 % IDE
#nb 15=3 % IDE
# N 5=3 % The CVPPC
# THIS IS FOR THE PCI PERMEDIA2
# mef000000:00020000=ef000000
# mee800000:00800000=e0800000
# mee000000:00800000=e0000000
#
L 00f00000:/newdisk/uaefiles/0xf00000.bin
L 00f10000:/newdisk/uaefiles/0xf10000.bin
L 00f11000:/newdisk/uaefiles/0xf11000.bin
L 00f12000:/newdisk/uaefiles/0xf12000.bin
#L 00f13000:/newdisk/uaefiles/0xf13000.bin
L 00f20000:/newdisk/uaefiles/uaehard.img
#L 00f21000:/newdisk/uaefiles/uaesana.img
L 0xf40000:/newdisk/uaefiles/fat95
L 0xf60000:/newdisk/uaefiles/links
L 00f80000:/newdisk/uaefiles/shape.rom
#L 00f10000:/newdisk/uaefiles/myrom.img
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/4308/1_3194.gif)
-
@Ratte
I used 640x480 8Bit to compare it with A4000 sample benchmarks and so on ..
Yeah, but we can't compare with our results anymore. :-P
Please do another benchmark in 1024x768-32
I made some more with my FX5200 and it seems that all FX-models perform about the same. Benchmark scores were very much the same like with Shadowolf's FX5900.
Not really surprising though, the main difference of these cards is the 3D section (completely unused in Amithlon), in 2D they should perform very similar.
-
@humppa
| GFX system....: Picasso96 |
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 24 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| RectFill()................ 647 op/s |
| RectFill() Pattern........ 651 op/s |
| WritePixel().............. 2252845 op/s |
| WriteChunkyPixels()....... 4937 op/s |
| WritePixelArray8()........ 4936 op/s |
| WritePixelLine8()......... 171056 op/s |
| DrawEllipse()............. 89452 op/s |
| DrawCircle().............. 87446 op/s |
| Draw().................... 23326 op/s |
| Draw() Hor/Ver............ 50647 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() X.......... 2 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() Y.......... 2 op/s |
| PutText()................. 40289 op/s |
| BlitBitMap().............. 219 op/s |
| BlitBitMapRastPort()...... 218 op/s |
| BitMapScale()............. 196 op/s |
[/font]
Also odd: why are all the blitter based functions so slow? RectFill()/RectFillPattern()/Blit#?() ought to be insanely fast on a graphics card like that. Even emulated in software, with the massive CPU <-> Display memory bandwidth available to the PC itself I'd expect better than that.
I typically got around 4000-5000 op/s for these functions on my bvision (on the 040/25MHz)
-
Athlon 2600+ Radeon9800Pro 128MB
32Bit (24Bit not supported)
| GFX system....: Picasso96 |
| Resolution....: 1024 x 768 x 32 |
| Depth/Colors..: 16777216 colors |
| Testlength....: 13 |
.============= SPEEDRESULTS ==============.
| RectFill()................ 13368 op/s |
| RectFill() Pattern........ 586 op/s |
| WritePixel().............. 2315206 op/s |
| WriteChunkyPixels()....... 5185 op/s |
| WritePixelArray8()........ 5188 op/s |
| WritePixelLine8()......... 140083 op/s |
| DrawEllipse()............. 51293 op/s |
| DrawCircle().............. 49933 op/s |
| Draw().................... 58497 op/s |
| Draw() Hor/Ver............ 83084 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() X.......... 1570 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() Y.......... 1439 op/s |
| PutText()................. 29608 op/s |
| BlitBitMap().............. 690 op/s |
| BlitBitMapRastPort()...... 688 op/s |
| BitMapScale()............. 485 op/s |
[/font]
-
@Ratte
Thanks, some interesting differences between your 9800 and the Geforce FX-series. The speed of several functions differs quite a lot between both. Impossible to say which card is "best" or "fastest" however I guess.
Athlon XP2900+, Nforce2, Geforce FX5200:
| RectFill()................ 6016 op/s |
| RectFill() Pattern........ 667 op/s |
| WritePixel().............. 2652861 op/s |
| WriteChunkyPixels()....... 5070 op/s |
| WritePixelArray8()........ 5068 op/s |
| WritePixelLine8()......... 178357 op/s |
| DrawEllipse()............. 91589 op/s |
| DrawCircle().............. 95400 op/s |
| Draw().................... 23485 op/s |
| Draw() Hor/Ver............ 75747 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() X.......... 377 op/s |
| ScrollRaster() Y.......... 380 op/s |
| PutText()................. 40151 op/s |
| BlitBitMap().............. 24647 op/s |
| BlitBitMapRastPort()...... 22814 op/s |
| BitMapScale()............. 245 op/s |
|--------------- Intuition ---------------|
| OpenWindow().............. 1692 op/s |
| MoveWindow().............. 4655 op/s |
| SizeWindow().............. 2428 op/s |
| CON-Output................ 1083 op/s |
| ScreenToFront()........... 51 op/s |
-
I also own an GF3Ti500 64MB and in most functions it is faster compared to the Radeon.
But I have to use a CRT with the GF3, because my TFT isn´t working on GF-DVI and Amithlon.
-
But I have to use a CRT with the GF3, because my TFT isn´t working on GF-DVI and Amithlon.
Have you already tried to force DVI-display (see this thread)?
A little OT, but is anyone of you using
Setconfig >NIL: asynchronous_io 1
in startup-sequence to enable Asynchronous input/output?
Does it offer any advantages?
For now, I have only set a larger JIT cache size with
Setconfig >NIL: cachesize 655363
since I surely do have enough RAM.
-
Shadowolf wrote:
The one I just bought is from Creative and although I
have no information what specific modell it is,
it looks exactly like the Leadtek card.
This is it:
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/3dblaster_fx_5900/index.shtml
And it works just as fine as expected.
Plus Oblivion looks a lot better than with my GF4 now. :-)
-
Would it also be possible to "unlock" the 1600x1200 modes there? After doing an extensive search through various forums I have come to the conclusions that nobody ever managed to successfully define a 1600x1200 or higher screenmode in Amithlon.
Oh snap!
I just ordered an FX5200 because I didn't get screen modes above 1600*1200 working on my GeForce MX - in fact even smaller ones in 16:10 aspect refuse to work. I figured it was just because it was an ancient card.
Now I'll just have to figure out whether getting DVI instead of VGA is worth the price of the graphics card :roll:
-
Since I have a few days to think about this before the graphics card arrives: Is it possible that resolutions above 1600x1200 or at least 16:10 resolutions like 1680x1050 will ever work with Amithlon on an FX 5200 card?
If not I think I'll be better off sticking with a mixture of my R9550 and GF2 MX. I can still return the card and get my money back by simply refusing to accept the package, so I'd appreciate any input on this.
-
Since I have a few days to think about this before the graphics card arrives: Is it possible that resolutions above 1600x1200 or at least 16:10 resolutions like 1680x1050 will ever work with Amithlon on an FX 5200 card?
I am still looking for a solution to that, although I must admit that I haven't tinkered with Amithlon for some time. Someone suggested to use "picasso96fix" which is included in Winuae.
This fix allows larger screen widths in Picasso96 and should be started before loadwb in startup-sequence.
Would be nice if you could report back if this works for you. :-)
-
Interesting! Thanks.. I'll get right on it.
-
OK, noob question here...
I have plenty of computer parts laying around that would make nice Amithlon computers. I've also bookmarked the kernel updates site so the big remaining question is... where do I get a copy of Amithlon. I know there were legal issues and they had to quit selling it but is it available anywhere?
-
@Trez
If you intend to use DVI with your flatpanel, make sure to use these kernel options in your loadlin-bat:
"video=riva:640x480,flatpanel=1"
-
I know there were legal issues and they had to quit selling it but is it available anywhere?
The only place that still lists Amithlon is Software Hut. (http://www.softhut.com/cgi-bin/test/Web_store/web_store.cgi?page=catalog/software/operating_sys/amithlon.html&cart_id=2422534_44758)
With a lot of luck, you might also manage to pick up a copy on ebay. Unfortunately, these are the only legal sources that I know of.
Also see this thread. (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28664)
-
Sadly picasso96fix seems to have no effect. The best I have been able to get out of the card is still 1600x1200 and no widescreen modes (if I configure 1680x1050 I just get 1280x1024 oddly enough).
I wonder which component is causing this. I know my micro can output 1920x1200 just fine with its Radeon 7000, so I guess it is not because of P96 - unless something related to this has been fixed in the one that comes with OS4.
Oddly enough the DVI port on my Radeon 9550 just worked without me changing anything in the configuration.
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The best I have been able to get out of the card is still 1600x1200 and no widescreen modes (if I configure 1680x1050 I just get 1280x1024 oddly enough).
How did you get 1600x1200 working? Could you please list the exact timings (pixel clock etc.) so I can try them? I already tried with the specs of my TFT to no avail.
I know my micro can output 1920x1200 just fine with its Radeon 7000, so I guess it is not because of P96 - unless something related to this has been fixed in the one that comes with OS4.
I remember that someone was suggesting that it's an issue of the kernel module which limits the maximum resolution. Maybe it was even mentioned in this thread, but I am currently to lazy search for it. ;-)
Oddly enough the DVI port on my Radeon 9550 just worked without me changing anything in the configuration.
Yep, I think the "flatpanel=1" option is only required for certain nvidia-cards.
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How did you get 1600x1200 working? Could you please list the exact timings (pixel clock etc.) so I can try them? I already tried with the specs of my TFT to no avail.
Well, I did not really do anything special...
I created the mode, changed the pixel clock till I had 60 Hz in the bottom right frequency field (pixel clock was then at 172.35) and that was it.
This only worked with the GeForce of course, as the Radeon was limited to 1280x1024.
I really wish this could be adressed. If I could just get the native resolution of my monitor (1920x1200) or at least another 16:10 aspect mode, I would be one happy puppy.
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humppa wrote:
Are the Geforce FX 5200 and 5500 really the fastest cards which fit these criteria? Any other suggestions? What about ATI cards? There are even some Geforce4 MX with DVI connector, would those work?
well, radeon 9600 series (all) run very well on Amithlon, in full 2D hardware acceleration (only 128 MB card).
9600 serie with 256 MB, only in VESA, maybe in the next kernel will be fixed... :roll:
Geforce 3 ti 200 (and i think all geforce 3 series) run very well in hardware acceleration, like Geforce 2 MX and geforce 4 MX440 (i don't sure, i have tried this board some years ago with older kernel).
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Will a GF7600GT work with VESA modes AND with DVI? I have one but both outputs are DVI. I'd like to keep it in the machine for when I boot into XP and not Amithlon?!?
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Hi.
I use Amithlon with a Geforce4 440MX 64MB.
I seen that Amithlon users on this thread speak a lot about the Geforce FX 5200.
The motherboard of my Athlon pc supports AGP up to x2.
I have found a Geforce FX 5200 for purchase on a local shop, but its AGP x8.
Do I need an AGP x8 capable motherboard to go along with the Geforce FX 5200 to use it properly on Amithlon? So I can take advantage of scrolling and RTG games?
I mean yes, I know the Geforce FX 5200 will work on x2, but what about the speed change on Amithlon? Is AGP x8 needed along with the Geforce FX 5200 to achieve what I need?
Or will the gfx card (Geforce FX 5200) will just do the same on x2 AGP.
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If the agp voltage is the same on your motherboard and the agp card , x4 or x8 had different architecture in voltage and could damage the gfx card if it's not the same voltage.
tip: there are holes that make gfx cards not fit on different motherboards, but there are always exceptions.
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I have an integrated x1250 ati gfx issue:
odd colors on workbench, flip from two odd palettes on each reboot.
any help?
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I mean yes, I know the Geforce FX 5200 will work on x2, but what about the speed change on Amithlon? Is AGP x8 needed along with the Geforce FX 5200 to achieve what I need?
No, you won't notice any difference. AGP/PCI-speed is absolutely neglectable for 2D applications.
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Hey, I'm just curious, but has anyone tried to use the QuarkTex 3D driver for UAE on Amithlon? I haven't tested it yet, as my Windoze drive took a puke and I had to format my Amithlon drive to use Winders for 3D. It's an Amiga-side driver, but apparently, it brute forces 3D acceleration, through the emulator.
I'm talking out of my @$$ here, but could it theoretically work? I've tested the driver in Win-UAE and it appears to work.
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Hi everyone, and humppa thanks for replying.
I am confused with some matters.
First of all I got nVidia-1 mode to work, and not VESA-framebuffer.
That is with kernel 3.10 and I tried 2 AGP graphic cards. That is TNT2 and Geforce 4 440MX.
To make Geforce 440 work without corrupted workbench graphics and palette distorsion as HeZoR told just earlier on the thread, I had to turn the hardware acceleration off using this command on startup-sequence : p96_accell 0x00.
That goes after just after setconfig >NIL: to work.
So I had TNT2 with hardware acceleration as kernel 3.10 sais. I seen this and has no change than a common framebuffer, maybe even slower.
So, which is a solution for RTG games and such? My Amithlon PC can only do AGP x2, is that good for RTG games?
TNT2 is ok I think as far as AGP x2 goes and with hardware acceleration on Amithlon, but I seen no improvement on the speed of workbench and to the scrolling on IBrowse.
Any tip to make Geforce 4 440MX to work on hardware accelarated mode?
Maybe I need a new mobo and Geforce FX 5200?
I have a good CPU speed with my current Pentium III/450Mhz Amithlon pc, that is why I speak to make the gfx hardware acceleration mode to work, instead of upgrading the whole pc.
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I would please like to ask, if the AGP speed affects RTG games on Amithlon.
I mean is AGP x2 Amithlon's top speed for graphics? Amithlon as an emulator can it take advantage of greater AGP speed than AGP x2?
Can it play RTG games faster with AGP X4 or AGP x8 graphic cards?
That is of course using a motherboard that can do both AGP x4 and AGP x8.
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now i'm using amithlon with x800xl agp 8x.
it is very fast on RTG games but very slow in gfx refresh, as x800xl is VESA for current 3.10 kernel.
But i think Bombcrater should fix a problem with 256 MB ati cards.
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Hi all,
some body can explain me how to upgrade my amithlon Kernel Please?
Thanks a lot
Amiten
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Just copy the kernel to your boot partition and edit the amithlon/small boot files and replace "bzimage" with the name of you new kernel. Make sure your grub or whatever youre using is then told to use new the new script.
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Thanks you so much friend but what I have in small file its that
emubox.gz init=/linuxrc console_level=0 root=/dev/ram0 initrd=smallird.gz vga=769 ramdisk_size=2310 leavepages=5200
and in amithlon the same
emubox.gz init=/linuxrc console_level=0 root=/dev/ram0 initrd=bigird.gz vga=769 ramdisk_size=12010 leavepages=7600 crusoe
what bzimage you refer friend?
then What I do to For example put kernel310 or kernel4
Regards
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Sorry, I was going by memory before and was a little wrong.
kern310 init=/linuxrc console_level=0 root=/dev/ram0 initrd=smallird.gz vga=769 ramdisk_size=2310 leavepages=6000
The above should be fine. Just save it as whatever name you like. I called it "test". To load I then just use isolinux loadlin @test. (well actually I have it in my autoexec.bat file). This may be different depending on how you have things setup, but should hopefully enough information for you to work it out :)
Replace kern310 for kernel4 if that's what youre using.
Feel free to ask for help if you need it :)
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Ok, I change than now but say something about
Image file not found please enter name of kernel
I change emubox.gz for kernel310 and the rest of the line in small and amithlon files??
What its rong?
Thanks friend
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I dont actually use either small or amithlon. Theyre just small scripts that are called with loadlin. "Loadlin @small" for example will use the script "small". The script "small" tells loadlin what to use.
If you notice the start of the line I showed you is exactly the same apart from emubox.gz being replaced with kern310 (plus I added a little to the leavepages number at the end.)
Make sure youve copied kernel 3.10 to the same place you have emubox.gz and that the start of the script line is the same as the actual name of the kernel (ie. if youve just copied my line make sure kernel 3.10 is called kern310 (or change accordingly).
To use kernel4 just replace the start of the script with the name of kernel4.
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Sorry not understan,
can I do rename kernel310 to emubox.gz ?? and see what happens?
thanks a lot
re edit:
I rename kernel310 and kernel4 and of course the system crash
Really I dont know what to do thanks for the help anyway fishy_fiz
Regards
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Im not sure what else to suggest sorry. What Ive described is how Ive set things up and it works nicely for me.
This is what Ive done:
Made small system formatted fat partition (format c:/s). Copied the contents of isolinux from amithlon cd to that partition. Copied new kernel to isolinux folder. Editted script named "small" exactly as I showed you earlier and saved it as "test". (make sure "crusoe" isnt at the end). Created autioexec.bat file that contains:
cd c:\isolinx
loadlin @test
That's all there is to it.