Issue with Indivision AGA 1200 on NTSC system (no display) - fixed

[zombie10k]

Hi all - I recently picked up an Indivision AGA1200 for my NTSC Amiga 1200 from a trusted member here at amiga.org who used it briefly on an A1200 Tower project (PAL system i'd imagine)

I have tried it on 2 different A1200's with no success. The card is firmly seated against the motherboard, all pins are clean, nothing is bent. When I power on the computer, my 19" CRT and 2 different Dell LCD's will not respond via the VGA port.

There aren't the typical 'scan signal out range' errors, there is simply no display. I am using the composite output to nagivate the OS, tried different NTSC resolutions with no luck. I also downloaded the firmware update from http://www.icomp.de but I cannot seem to get either the firmware or the adjustment application to run. I click on them, and the memory goes down a bit, but no interfaces appear. This is a standard kickstart 3.1/OS 3.1 installation.

Any suggestions are most appreciated, I've been waiting since 1994 to see my A1200 without the flicker. thank you!!

[zombie10k]

update, hopefully someone will find this in a search and find it useful.

The older versions of the indivision software (v1.0) will let the firmware app run and tell you if the card is connected on not. I put a large amount of pressure on the board and could temporarily get the firmware app to see the board.

I carefully pulled the pins on the board forward a bit with a small exacto knife blade and a pair of jewelers glasses. The issue was still there. I then sanded the surface of the indivision connector using 100 grit, perforated drywall sandpaper. This allows the sanded material to fall through the holes and won't clog up. I had to take it down enough so that the edge of the pins were just exposed.

I finally have it where it works without applying any pressure. For reference, this is an NTSC Amiga 1200 with the CBM Lisa chip. I flashed the firmware to 1.5, and used the configuration app to make a few changes for my NTSC display.

It works great and is a blast to see my 16 year old amiga 1200 with a crystal clear, non flickering image!

[tribz]

Great minds think alike with the sand paper

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38317

[zombie10k]

Great minds think alike with the sand paper

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38317

The strange thing is, this is an early rev mobo with the CBM Lisa chip. It was quite tight when snapping it onto the chip. I did read about others having to sand it for the HP version of the Lisa and didn't think it applied to my application.

Did you consider hot glue to hold it in place? I'm a bit nervous to move the 1200 around, it seems it wouldn't take much moving around to potentially knock it loose.

I ran one of my Favorite demos 'the KGB' demo from 1991. It looks great on a Dell 20" LCD! I can finally put away my 13" 1084 monitor.

[Amigaz]

Glad to see you got it working

Have fun with it.

[zombie10k]

Glad to see you got it working

Have fun with it.

Thank you! I am glad it worked out. what a dream it would have been to see the A1200 on a 20" LCD screen 15 years ago with this device. I haven't tried the Hi-GFX mode, but thrilled with 640x480 with no flicker.

I tried a few floppy games and demos, they look great through the indivision!!

[NovaCoder]

This thread details the sanding mod.

Please note all new IndivisionAGA's are 'pre-sanded'

[zombie10k]

This thread details the sanding mod.

Please note all new IndivisionAGA's are 'pre-sanded'

I did see that thread, but didn't really think it applied since I have the CBM Lisa and the indivision was snapping on quite tight with no indication that it was going to come off.

I carefully pulled each of the pins forward a bit with a sharp exacto blade with no luck either. It needed the sanding to make contact with this particular setup I have, for whatever the reason.

I plan on hot glue to keep it cemented in place. I prefer the way the ECS indivision is mounted, but understand due to the surface mounted Lisa chip, it wasn't possible.