Spectrum EGS install problems

[Michele31415]

I just got a Spectrum EGS 28/24 for my 2000 with A2630, but I'm having one heck of a time getting it to install.  The first time I tried, I pointed the installation directory to my large hard drive but instead it tried installing onto DF0: which obviously didn't get very far.

The second time, I created a directory on the HD by hand and pointed the installed there.  This time, the script ran to completion but on exiting, none of the files extracted from the floppies were on the hard drive.  I just got a pop-up requester going "Please insert colume EGS: in any drive".

I checked the installation log and it looks like everything copied, but the files seem to have just vanished.  The only thing that seems to have worked is that the script successfully modified s/startup-sequence, including pointers to the (still) empty directory.

What am I doing wrong?  And what the heck do I have to do to get this blinkin' board installed?  I'm really starting to get drustrated.  Any help would be most appreciated.  Thanks.

[zipper]

Are you playing with EGS software? Get Picasso96!

[Michele31415]

Funny you should mention that.  I ran across Picasso96 while trying to figure out this problem.  I even downloaded it but have no idea what to do with it.   The scant documentation on Aminet suggests that it "offers support for many different Amiga graphics boards" but that's about it.

So does Picasso96 replace the entire Spectrum five disk installation can of worms?  Does it run on top of that?  I am clueless, and have no clue about having no clue.

[J-Golden]

Picasso 96 is a completely different Driver package than EGS.  It is has also been updated multiple times in comparison to EGS.

I'd go the rout of Picasso 96 if I were you and leave the EGS in the box.  But if you want to keep trying with EGS, I wanted to ask you if you made sure that you were looking at all files and not just icons when looking in the EGS folder on you HD.

To see if EGS did work, reset your system and look at the different monitor options to see if it now has the EGS additions in it.

[Rodomoc]

I have Spectrum 24/28 in my A3000. Originally I installed no hassles with the original GVP installation floppies. I see people recommending Picasso. That's fine. I went the Cybergraphx 4 route and it was flawless for the Spectrum 24/28 card. That is how the machine runs to this day. In my opinion, this video card is not all that bad. For an original Amiga to display what this card can display, is very cool. Keep trying with this card. It will be worth it when you get it running. I was so happy to leave the ECS world of hell with this card. I have run it successfully with Workbench 3.1 and also OS3.9. The A3000 machine currently runs 3.9 but I will trash this and go to an optimized Workbench 3.1 system soon, with the GVP video card of course.

[Colmiga]

Picasso96 is a more advanced replacement for the EGS software. Think of them as the same as video card drivers on Windows (ie. AMD Catalyst/nVidia).

You'll also find better software support for Picasso96 than for EGS. EGS has basic Workbench support and is mainly used to run its own desktop system and applications whereas Picasso96 provides great support for Workbench and normal Amiga applications.

[motrucker]

To say the EGS software is a pain to instal, setup and use is an understatement! You can use either Picasso or Cybergraphics. I used to use Cybergraphics 2 on mine (3 drove the computer crazy), and I never tried 4.
The EGS is just too old. Let it rest in peace.

[Michele31415]

Interesting. OK, so it sounds like Picasso is the way to go.  After my last post I gave the GVP install one more shot.  Opening a shell window and doing some dir commands while the installation was proceeding, I could see it uncompressing files from DF0: to RAM:, but they were never then getting copied to QDH0: (my hard drive).  The destination directory I typed into the installer, QDH0:Spectrum was there, but it was definitely empty.

So I copied the files over from RAM: by hand and also did an ASSIGN EGS: QDH0:Spectrum/EGS just before the last step of the installer.  This time I didn't get any errors about "Insert volume EGS" and the script finished.  But by then I'd had enough fun for one day so I just shut everything down.  I'll see if this worked when I reboot tomorrow.

While I'm at it, what exactly is supposed to happen if the install was successful?  Do I see video automatically appear on my GVP display or do I have to activate it somehow?  I'm running the two-monitor setup because I don't have the video pass-thru cable.

And if I install Picasso96, will I have to rip out all the GVP files first?  I don't see an uninstaller in there anywhere.