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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Amigaz on February 01, 2009, 03:47:37 PM
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When I got my Escom A4000T there was a Picasso IV inside it.
The card worked perfectly for about a week until the scandoubler/flickerfixer on it didn't give any output.
This happened about two years ago, I didn't do any major troubleshooting but replaced it with a Cybervision64 and a videoslot SD/FF instead.
Today I tested the card in one of my A4000D instead to see if it's just my A4000T that's causing the trouble but the card's SD/FF gave no output :(
Is it worthwhile repairing the card by sending it to amigacenter for example? or sell it as broken?
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The first thing is to press the socketed chips down - or take them out and clean the contacts and reinsert them. They belong to the FliFi circuitry. I once had problem in my FliFi, which was corrected by this operation.
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Agreed.... same issue here when I got my PIV, no output or messed output, re-seating the little guys fixed it.
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Be very careful the plastic on the sockets of these chips is rubbish. It has hardened to become as brittle as glass.
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@AMIGAZ: just my 2 cents on this subject.
Dont sell the card! Its THE best gfx card for high end Amigas!
first, try all what was suggested. As last resort, i think sending the card to Amigacenter in France is worth every penny (Of course, if the reapir doesnt cost same as getting a used PIV). but my guess is, it will cost only a fraction to get it fixed!!
Good luck!!!
Sebastian
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I would send that to MastaTabs first, he knows something about those cards ;)
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by X-ray on 2009/2/1 18:59:19 I would send that to MastaTabs first, he knows something about those cards ;)
Thats another great option, but i have read in some forum (cant remember where) that he was overloaded by work or something???
Of course its THE best idea since he is one of the fathers of the Picasso cards, right??
:-D
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Thanks for all the suggestions, guys :-)
I'll extract the chips this weekend and give them and the sockets some threatment with CRC Electric Cleaner spray..
I have a plcc extractor or whatever it's called to I won't mess with an old rusty screwdriver to get the chips out :-D
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@Gavilan
but i have read in some forum (cant remember where) that he was overloaded by work or something???
Yeah, he must be busy since one of my PIVs has been 12 months on repair with him now.
Cheers,
Dragster
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...and he hasn't responded to any of my emails :-(
@AmigaZ:
Careful because you can still crack the sockets even with a PLCC tool. As Alexh says, due to age they've become very brittle.
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I agree, be real careful about the sockets, I know a guy who wanted to strip an old 486 PC for parts, (for whatever reason) he told me that many sockets just crumbled when he tried to extract the chips, he was using official chip pullers, BTW....
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@AMIGAZ
If it's just the FliFi perhaps the flash of the FliFi has lost the config.
Launch PicassoPrefsNG and reconfigure the scandoubler, save the prefs. Shutdown your miggy, cross your fingers and turn on your machine again.
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Crumb wrote:
@AMIGAZ
If it's just the FliFi perhaps the flash of the FliFi has lost the config.
Launch PicassoPrefsNG and reconfigure the scandoubler, save the prefs. Shutdown your miggy, cross your fingers and turn on your machine again.
uuuhh..it was some time ago I fiddled with this
I don't have a working Picasso96 setup for the card, do I need that for changing the config?
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perhaps picasso96tng floppy disk autobbots, I don't know
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ahh..it's that disk...I have it..now I remember :)
I'll give it a go and use my external SD/FF to get some output before I start messing with the socketed chips :-)
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Partial success!!
I hooked up my external DCE SD/FF so I could install Picasso96 from scratch
Transfered PiccassoModeTNG over to the A4000 and ran it and made a new config suited for my monitor and saved into into ROM of the PIV :)
The prevois config must have been totally retarded
My problem now is that games tend to lag...it's especially apparent in the Pinball series by Digital Illusions
Is there some setting on the PIV I haven't tweaked correctly?
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Can you run P4info and post the results?
You probably need to change the default scan rate conversion?
i.e. Set the scandoubler output frequency rate to 50Hz if your monitor supports it.
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alexh wrote:
Can you run P4info and post the results?
You probably need to change the default scan rate conversion?
i.e. Set the scandoubler output frequency rate to 50Hz if your monitor supports it.
I'll post those result tomorrow, thanks :)
Now it's almost ZZzzz time over here :P
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Glad to hear you got it going! :pint:
My problem now is that games tend to lag...it's especially apparent in the Pinball series by Digital Illusions
Is there some setting on the PIV I haven't tweaked correctly?
This seems to be a problem with the PIV, at least my revision of the card (1.2N) with all the "latest" chips is also affected.
All you can do is tweak the frequencies to get it close as possible. If you get it looking good with a pinball game, most other things will look perfect.
Some info I posted in an earlier thread about this:
PAL line frequency (in the TNG tool) needs to be as close to 31.5552 as possible.
NTSC hsync needs to be at or slightly above 31.4857.
If someone here has an earlier revision PIV which does scroll perfectly, I would be interested in seeing a screenshot from the TNG tool, showing the PAL/NTSC settings.
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I get the "comb" artiffacts on Pimball Illusions, don't remember getting any lag. To eliminate the comb effect you must turn off "Interlace capture" on the flicker fixer options of the picasso start up screen.
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-D- wrote:
Glad to hear you got it going! :pint:
My problem now is that games tend to lag...it's especially apparent in the Pinball series by Digital Illusions
Is there some setting on the PIV I haven't tweaked correctly?
This seems to be a problem with the PIV, at least my revision of the card (1.2N) with all the "latest" chips is also affected. F'n retarded bug if you ask me.
All you can do is tweak the frequencies to get it close as possible. If you get it looking good with a pinball game, most other things will look perfect.
Some info I posted in an earlier thread about this:
PAL line frequency (in the TNG tool) needs to be as close to 31.5552 as possible.
NTSC hsync needs to be at or slightly above 31.4857.
If someone here has an earlier revision PIV which does scroll perfectly, I would be interested in seeing a screenshot from the TNG tool, showing the PAL/NTSC settings.
Have no clue what revision my card is...
I hope my tweaking of the settings with the TNG util will help :-)
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Jose wrote:
I get the "comb" artiffacts on Pimball Illusions, don't remember getting any lag. To eliminate the comb effect you must turn off "Interlace capture" on the flicker fixer options of the picasso start up screen.
Maybe you can call it "comb effect" I think it's the correct word for what I'm having here
How do I access the Picasso startup secreen?
I noticed I also have a bit of flickering in Pinball Illusions in the high res. laced modes
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The version of your PCB is written on the card in Silk Screen.
If you post the results of P4INFO then we will know what revisions of PIV chips and firmware you have.
The boot menu is activated by holding down either [Shift] key when resetting the machine. (Only available on later firmware)
See Chapter 6
http://www.sophisticated-development.de/software//Manuals/English/ConciertoIV.pdf
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Jose wrote:
I get the "comb" artiffacts on Pimball Illusions, don't remember getting any lag. To eliminate the comb effect you must turn off "Interlace capture" on the flicker fixer options of the picasso start up screen.
T tried this but am still getting the comb effect...
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-D- wrote:
Glad to hear you got it going! :pint:
My problem now is that games tend to lag...it's especially apparent in the Pinball series by Digital Illusions
Is there some setting on the PIV I haven't tweaked correctly?
This seems to be a problem with the PIV, at least my revision of the card (1.2N) with all the "latest" chips is also affected. F'n retarded bug if you ask me.
All you can do is tweak the frequencies to get it close as possible. If you get it looking good with a pinball game, most other things will look perfect.
Some info I posted in an earlier thread about this:
PAL line frequency (in the TNG tool) needs to be as close to 31.5552 as possible.
NTSC hsync needs to be at or slightly above 31.4857.
If someone here has an earlier revision PIV which does scroll perfectly, I would be interested in seeing a screenshot from the TNG tool, showing the PAL/NTSC settings.
I set the line frequency to the above value and the combv effect vanished but now I'm looking at a screen with 50hz refresh *my eyes!!* :-o
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Hey AMIGAZ,
My suggestion - jot down the frequencies when the scrolling is smooth. Go into the PIV boot menu and set the scanrate to double (100/120Hz). Then try to fine tune the line frequency until it's double where it's at now at the working 50/60Hz settings, and you should be OK. (So, if PAL vfreq is around 50.4Hz now, it needs to be at 100.8Hz for a flicker-less picture on your CRT.)
Basically, the default PIV settings are close, but not an exact double/multiple of what the Amiga outputs - so the Amiga and PIV are not synchronized, hence the annoying screen jerking (and artifacts on static screens).