Emu68-VC4 issues

[bradhansen1]

Hi All, I have been trying in vain to get my Emu68 RTG working on my PiStorm Lite on my A1200 running
OS3.2.2.1. When first loaded Emu68 software into Picasso96 the RTG setup worked well. My monitor has dual
VGA and HDMI connections. So when I was running a program like ADPro which isn't RTG friendly all I have to do
was switch my monitor to VGA and I was in business and so forth. Eventually I decided I just wanted to run in
VGA and so I did. But when I wanted to switch back to run full colors images and such it did not work any more.
Since then I have tried over and over again to get it to work, no luck. One contributor on here said he had the same
problem and all he did was pull his PiStorm and reseat it and it worked again. Well after 100 pulls I am still no where
and seem to be getting farther and farther behind. Please see my pics below. First issue I have is when I load the
Picasso96Mode prefs file when I click on "attach to settings" menu item my board is identified as "VideoCore" and not
Emu68-VC4 even though My Devs monitors Picasso IV identifies the board as Emu68-VC4 as does my Libs/Picasso96
folder. Can anyone tell my why that is? After I go through the setup on Picasso96Mode prefs file and attach the VideoCore
board and choose my Resolutions and Modes and then save it, restart and then go to ScreenModes no Emu-68 video
modes show up. Also here is a pic of my Emu68 start screen with date and info, can someone tell me if this is what I should
be using?
Thanks to anyone who can offer help and all the best to everyone else.
Brad Hansen

[AndyFC]

Let's try and get this sorted...it's been far too long.

1: The board name you're trying to connect settings to doesn't matter. As posted previously the device name got changed and the latest version of emu68-tools has devices with both names. Mine is the same as yours and still works. The latest tools are here: https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68-tools/releases. Previous discussion here: https://forum.amiga.org/index.php?topic=76102.msg857174#msg857174.

2: The suggestion to remove and re-insert the PiStorm was when you said that you were getting a 'blank grey screen' (so assumed with no Emu68 logo of version number). Your screenshots show you get the logo screen on the RTG output so this isn't relevant. Stop removing and re-inserting the card to avoid wearing the edge connector out. Original thread with the advice and reason is here: https://forum.amiga.org/index.php?topic=76049.msg856972#msg856972

3: Your screenshot of Display Preferences show the top of the list, and the scroll bar suggests there are a lot more entries. They are sorted alphabetically and you've named your test resolution 'Videocode:640x480' so if it exists it'll be near the bottom of the list. I know this is a really obvious thing to check, but please can you confirm it's not further down?

4: Your screenshot of Devs/monitors/picassoIV isn't showing the entry for a `SETTINGSFILE`. My entry (and that on the set up guide) is `SETTINGSFILE=SYS:Devs/Picasso96Settings`. As well as adding the entry, check that the file is there. (Ignore the fact that my screenshot show my devs/monitors filename as Emu68VC4, I just renamed the PicassoIV icon. Also ignore the Picasso96 icon I have in the Devs/monitors drawer; it's not used and all the tooltypes are blank.)

[bradhansen1]

Hi Andy, Yes we have gone over this before but I am still struggling. Yes when I do the test in Picasso96Mode
prefs I do get a blank grey screen. The shot I took is from The load page when I start my Amiga with
just my HDMI connected. I get the static Emu68 page but nothing happens. I was just showing what version
I’m running and hoping someone would say it the correct one or not. Yes, the screenmode prefs does show the
videocore screen mode but when I choose it I just get a very pale grey screen. And yes the “Settingsfile=Sys
is in the icon tool types and in the devs folder. Thanks for all this. Any other thing you can think
of would be most helpful.
Brad Hansen

[AndyFC]

Try disabling all the unnecessary tooltypes in your PicassoIV monitor file (like displaychain), make sure they have brackets around them. Just keep the boardtype and settingsfile entries enabled.

I don't think the version of Emu68 will have an effect, I've updated mine whenever there is a new release so I will have used the same version that you have at some point.

Do you have a Pi4? It has two HDMI ports but I THINK that you don't get the Emu68 logo if you are plugged into the wrong one...not sure on that.

[amyren]

Did you try a different monitor and another hdmi cable,
or tested the cable and monitor with another device?

I had an issue with a computer at work that aften an update refused to output any hdmi signal to the hp monitor, it worked via vga so I figured it was a driver issue. Reinstalled various driver versions until I found that it was the monitor hdmi input that was the problem. Swapped to an identical monitor and hdmi was ok.

[bradhansen1]

Thank you for the information, Amyren, I get the Emu68 startup screen on hdmi output
so it is not that. Andy, running Pi 3B+.

[AndyFC]

A new version of the video driver is in the latest emu68-tools nightly builds. Its always worth trying the latest version if you still have issues.

I was looking through the bug reports for emu68-tools and someone else has raised one with a combination of tooltypes (softsprite=no, Bigsprite=yes) which crashes the driver. I can see from your screenshots that this specific one won't affect you, but it indicates you should try disabling additional tooltypes if you haven't already.

https://github.com/michalsc/Emu68-tools/releases/download/nightly/Emu68-tools-20231104-feeaba.zip

[Boing-ball]

Although reading through this thread. You don’t mention which version of Picasso96 (P96) you are using here?
Back when I was first venturing out doing A1200 Mediator Tower builds with Voodoo3 and Radeon cards. I found a lot of trouble getting P96 to work. This believe it or not was down to the version I was using.
Back then I had to use the free Aminet no longer supported versions.
My findings were that version 2.0b was stable enough. But version 2.0e would produce weird picture artefacts.
Now a days I have bought into the now developed and supported P96 off Individual Computers that Thomas Richter (Thor) maintains and updates.

Another thing you need to realise. Not all Montior and TV’s output the same. So you will need to play around with Clock and Horizontal and Vertical sync settings.

Another good tool is UMC off Aminet for calculating these.