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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Software Issues and Discussion => Topic started by: punkyclown on January 21, 2016, 09:56:54 PM
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Hi All, I would like some advice on my new Indivisin MK2 card. First is it possible to run the card at 24 bits? Second what are the best drivers for it and where can I get them? I know I saw on YouTube somebody was running it and they had the option of many differenct settings which I never saw before on the Amiga.
Appreciate the advise.
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The developer of the card hangs out on this forum, and I guess this is the most informative thread regarding Indivision in general;
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=64505&highlight=indivision
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(1) Indivision isn't a 24-bit card
(2) If by "drivers" you mean the screenmodes, I know of several off-hand:
- "SuperPlus" - 800x600
- "HD720" - 1280x720 (looks pretty nice on widescreen monitors)
- "HighGFX" - 1024x768. It uses a funky refresh rate which your monitor may or may not support
I got all of these with 3.9 and the latest Boing Bags. If they don't install by default look in Storage. AFAIK you can also download them from Aminet or various other sources.
There's a bunch of links in this thread: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=64505 or on google. That thread also mentions "Ratte's Xtreme mode", 1280x1024. I'm familiar with the name but haven't tried the mode. Huh. Might be worth checking out. :idea:
With AGA you should be able to display all of these modes in up to 256 colors (ECS limits them to 16 colors for SuperPlus and 4 colors for the others). Obviously performance will vary depending on your processor and they'll probably eat up a lot of chip memory if you use the high res ones, depending on how your system is configured.
Edit: Post a link to the video you're talking about and maybe somebody can help you with the specifics. ;)
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Mike et all, thanks for the advise, I figured out, too late, that AGA meant AGA...
So my question is why would anybody spend good money to buy a graphics card
that doesn't support True color? I think I made a mistake here... Any computer or
tablet you buy today of course displays True color. I have a 1950 monitor that will
display every mode that my amiga can display. I want a True color solution. Think
I will be putting this MK2 up for sale, it causes my A1200 to run hot and makes the
display shaky...
Brad Hansen
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Indivision is not really a graphics card. It's for native ScreenModes only, like games and things that don't support RTG.
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Agree, it's sole porpoise is to allow you to hook up today's larger LCD monitors
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Just a minor correction (and sorry if I misread anyone here), but AGA does possess a 24-bit color palette, which is supported by the Indivision. Some scandoublers don't, and the loss of definition is obvious under certain circumstances. (The color sphere test images included with PPaint are an easy way to check both the scandoubler, and LCD for complete color representation.)
The Indivision is a scandoubler/flickerfixer, which in simple terms means it modifies the Amiga native video signal to something "understandable" by modern displays. It doesn't really possess the same functionality as an RTG video card. In its intended arena, it scores some major points over older scandoublers--it's highly configurable (a huge plus for good compatibility with various displays) and two, its DVI output renders an absolutely stunning and flawless static image quality (satisfactory scrolling in games requires careful configuration *and* the "right" monitor).
Essentially, it's a nice tool for having the flexibility to use almost any modern monitor. For gaming perfection, it's arguable that something like a 50Hz capable Sony broadcast CRT is ideal, but of course that's also lacking for desktop use.
FWIW, I felt the MK2 Indivision was a huge improvement over its predecessor, and over other scandoublers I've had in the past. The lack of a perfectly synchronized 50Hz mode is the only fly in the ointment as far as I'm concerned. I do agree, an Amiga with some sort of video card is really nice (something I wouldn't do without, either). I didn't experience heat or connectivity issues here. I would consider using some form of a flash drive to keep the heat in check, and thoroughly cleaning Lisa's contacts and try installing again. (I did experience both heat, and contact issues with the original Indivision 1200, and eventually sold it with no regrets).
Finally, the choice of LCD makes quite a difference as to what kind of experience you might have using the Indivision. I've used various Eizo and Samsung units here with good luck, some of them sync down to 50 Hz via DVI or (in every case) HDMI. This is somewhat important, since resorting to using the analog signal produces a small but obvious decrease in picture quality.
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Mike et all, thanks for the advise, I figured out, too late, that AGA meant AGA...
So my question is why would anybody spend good money to buy a graphics card
that doesn't support True color? I think I made a mistake here... Any computer or
tablet you buy today of course displays True color. I have a 1950 monitor that will
display every mode that my amiga can display. I want a True color solution. Think
I will be putting this MK2 up for sale, it causes my A1200 to run hot and makes the
display shaky...
Brad Hansen
Gah. Indivision is great for what it is. I think you need to consider what it is you're trying to do. If all you care about is a "True color", i.e., full 24-bit display, 16.8 million colors, go out and buy yourself a big box Amiga with a graphics card ($$$) or a PC. Indivision does allow you to make use of higher resolutions, but doesn't add any screenmodes that support more colors (except for the Indi ECS, which adds a "Graffiti" mode, for the few games that support it.)
Indivision isn't going to magically make your games have more colors, if that's what you were thinking it was going to do. It allows you to easily connect modern monitors. And for that, they're fantastic. :)
When you say "I want a true color display / graphics card", what is it you're hoping to accomplish with that?
And yes, like the other poster said. Many people use them successfully in desktop cases. Clean your contacts, switch to a CF, maybe even add a small fan.
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Just a few more thoughts, since you mentioned a "shaky" display. In the configuration tool, you might want to select either DVI or VGA, depending on what signal type you're using. Using the VGA signal with an LCD requires some fiddling with the monitor "clock" and "phase" settings (doubt you're doing this, but thought it deserved mention).
The real trick is to learn the configuration tool, which while the not the most intuitive thing ever, is not as difficult as it first appears. Just double check the docs and the EAB thread, and you'll figure it out quickly. (Feel free to fire off any questions here or via PM, too.) The latest software can be downloaded from here: http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Indivision_AGA_MK2
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Hi All, Thanks for all the good information. Been rethinking my last post. Yes this is a terrific
upgrade for showing all Amiga modes flicker free. Think I'll hang on to it and try to work to
resolve my issues. Would someone explain to me exactly what a "Chip Cooler" is or how and
what size of a fan would I attach to my A1200? Also how is anything supposed to fit over
the Lisa chip with the MK2 on top of it?
Appreciate the feed back, Brad Hansen
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You've probably figured out already, the HD cradle won't really fit over the Indivision. You can still rest a hard drive there with a rubber foot or something (done it here), but that's not the best way to go.
I really like the CF adapters from these guys: http://www.mesanet.com/
With one of those, you can easily mount the drive anywhere (Scotchlok or something), and you'd likely not have to worry much about heat in that case. If so, you could always mount a few quiet 40mm fans on either side under the venting of the top case cover with a piece of something in between (blocking the rest of the vents). I really doubt you'll need to do that, though.
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Damian, With one of what? I went to this site and I didn't see anything I could use to mount my CF card away from the MK2...Sorry but I am just a very slow learner.
Brad Hansen
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Sorry, I assumed you were using a spinning platter drive. Mesa sell high quality adapters (check under "disk emulators," they have a bunch to choose from).
If you're already using a CF drive, I think you're set as far as heat is concerned. You might have to hot-glue a sheet of thin plastic on the underside of the CF setup (something to insulate the contacts), and you could use a bit of 3M velcro (I incorrectly called this "Skotchlok" earlier) to secure the CF setup to the underside of the keyboard. As long as it's relatively secure and no chance of contacts touching, I think you're OK.
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Hi All, so I cleaned the points on the lisa chip put some plastic on the bottom of the CF Card. I installed the Individual prefs file and set it to 800 X 600 60Hz and then set my Amiga to similar. And I am still having all the artifacts problem that I had before on my monitor. So I need a cooling solution. So again, could someone explain to me what a cooling chip is or how and what size of a fan I need and how to install it?
Thanks for the feed back.
Brad Hansen
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So again, could someone explain to me what a cooling chip is or how and what size of a fan I need and how to install it?
Whoever said "cooling chip" probably meant "heatsink". I don't own one but these pictures I googled up make it look pretty easy. Measure the holes on the board, at a guess I would say something in the range of 40mm?
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Thanks Mike, this is really helpful.
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Whoever said "cooling chip" probably meant "heatsink". I don't own one but these pictures I googled up make it look pretty easy. Measure the holes on the board, at a guess I would say something in the range of 40mm?
Haha picture 1 and 2 are mine :)
I was unlucky and had a way to hot Lisa after installing the indivision AGA.
It dosn't look like the other guy mounted it with bolts/nuts, he probably hotsnotted it in place, i don't do that xD I did use spare GPU heatsink mounting bolt/nuts I had laying around and also did modify the fan a bit to make it fit better. Only one hole is avaliable but using a slow 40mm fan that is sufficiant enough :)
As you see Punky~ it's no trouble adding a fan to cool Lisa, some hacksawing and you can keep the hdd cradle also :)
Edit: Here is my Indivision AGA MK2 mounted without the fan, only one hole avaliable for mounting a fan :/ (under the ground wire).
(http://i68.tinypic.com/2jbs6cw.jpg)
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Are the artifacts immediate? The well-documented screen tearing issues using higher-resolution screenmodes typically show up only after the machine is on for a while. Do low-res (game) modes look fine?
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Would it be possible for you to take a photo of the artefacts?
Run 4D sports driving, just leave it on and let the intro repeat, it's great for testing stability/heat issues on Lisa and good to look at ;) (that game generate errors when something is wrong faster then any other game or demo ive tried haha).
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This is an old video of my overheating Lisa problems (at that time, without indivision). My A1200 still suffers this problem with the Indivision when running high resolution/bandwidth modes. But, my board is also still needing the capacitors replacing, which I think is partly the problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am73Zsn6ntA
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I think that some confusion is because Indivision ECS has a Picasso96 driver.
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Good information, What I'm getting is more like double image lines and tearing at the top
and bottom (Lines appearing). Not sure I could get a screen grab of it. Where do I connect
the fan power line? Mounting wouldn't be an issue, but getting the power right would.
Thanks all.
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Good information, What I'm getting is more like double image lines and tearing at the top and bottom (Lines appearing). Not sure I could get a screen grab of it. Where do I connect the fan power line? Mounting wouldn't be an issue, but getting the power right would.
Thanks all.
Is the tearing happening as soon as your power up? Or does it become worse as the device warms up? For power I think most folks just tap into the floppy line, that's what I did for a cooling fan inside my A500. 12V or 5V are both available there, depending on what type of fan you get and whether you want it to spin fast or slow. ;)