How to get started with a GVP Spectrum 28/24?

[Huxley_D]

Hi guys!

So, I managed to snag a GVP Spectrum 28/24 board (not sure if it's a 1MB or 2MB model), but before I tear apart my A2000 for the 47th time this month, I thought I'd check in with the more Amiga-savvy folks here.  I've got a couple of VGA monitors to use (a CRT and an LCD), so that shouldn't be an issue (hopefully!).  My A2000 is humming along nicely with a Zeus '040 now, and is faster than ever before.

Should I be installing drivers for this video board before I install it, or will the system auto-recognize it?  Also, I'm a bit fuzzy on the "pass-through" feature on this board - do I need a special cable to run from the motherboard video-out to the 9-pin connector on this new board?  Will I be able to use the system without such a passthrough?

Thanks for any tips or suggestions you can share - this is all new to me!

Huxley

[Huxley_D]

Okay, quick update before I hit the sack:

I went ahead and got the Picasso96 (the 2.0 version from Aminet) installed.  The installation went fine, so I went ahead in installed the Spectrum board.  After rebooting the system, I'm still getting my Workbench on my Commodore monitor (connected to the mono video out on the Amiga itself), and I'm getting *nothing* from the VGA port on the Spectrum.  When I go to Prefs and open "Picasso96Mode," I get an immediate popup stating "Could not find any modes!"  When I hit "Ok," I see lots of options, but they're all grayed out, and I can't get anything to show on the screen connected to the Spectrum.

What am I missing here?

Thanks!

Huxley

[tone007]

I've always installed the card before the software, not sure if that would make a difference.

[CLS2086]

use CGX v4, it worked for me

[zipper]

I've always installed the card before the software, not sure if that would make a difference.

No, it won't - I have used different cards with same settings, just have to attach them to the particular board. And be sure they are not too high...

[graffias79]

...When I go to Prefs and open "Picasso96Mode," I get an immediate popup stating "Could not find any modes!"  When I hit "Ok," I see lots of options, but they're all grayed out, and I can't get anything to show on the screen connected to the Spectrum...

You won't see anything unless you have some modes in "Picasso96Mode".  Is the box in the upper left corner (looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it) grayed out too?  If not, try dragging it into the settings window.  You should see "Spectrum       (1): Village-31" appear in the setting window.  The driver should have pretty much configured all of the modes for you then if you see that under settings.  Picasso96Mode has a bizarre layout.  If you have the Spectrum recognized then just click Save.  You should then be able to go into Prefs/ScreenMode and choose a Spectrum mode.

If this does not work, hold down both mouse buttons and see if the spectrum is detected by the expansion board diagnostic;

Looking at my A3000 it is going to be one of the following:

Board Num: 2   Manufacturer: 2193   Product: 1   Status: Working
Board Num: 2   Manufacturer: 2193   Product: 2   Status: Working

I am pretty sure this is it.  Gfx cards ususally come up twice.

Hope that helps.

[Huxley_D]

You won't see anything unless you have some modes in "Picasso96Mode".  Is the box in the upper left corner (looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it) grayed out too?  If not, try dragging it into the settings window.  You should see "Spectrum       (1): Village-31" appear in the setting window.  The driver should have pretty much configured all of the modes for you then if you see that under settings.  Picasso96Mode has a bizarre layout.  If you have the Spectrum recognized then just click Save.  You should then be able to go into Prefs/ScreenMode and choose a Spectrum mode.

If this does not work, hold down both mouse buttons and see if the spectrum is detected by the expansion board diagnostic;

Looking at my A3000 it is going to be one of the following:

Board Num: 2   Manufacturer: 2193   Product: 1   Status: Working
Board Num: 2   Manufacturer: 2193   Product: 2   Status: Working

I am pretty sure this is it.  Gfx cards ususally come up twice.

Hope that helps.

Cool, thanks for the hints.

I did as you suggested - dragged a "New Item" into the Settings box, and I now have an entry called "Spectrum     (1):  New Setting".  After saving and rebooting, I find that I have no new options in the ScreenMode prefs, and Picasso96Mode, despite still having the entry for the Spectrum board, still has all the "Mode" options grayed out, and the Resolutions box is empty.  Huh.  Also, when I go back into Picasso96Mode, I'm still getting the alert stating "Could not find any modes!", even though it still shows the Spectrum in the Settings box.

I also checked in the Boot Options diagnostics, and the Spectrum does show as a working board.

Any other ideas?  I feel like I'm so close to making this work!

H.

[Huxley_D]

Progress!

I had a hunch, uninstalled Picasso96, rebooted, reinstalled Picasso96, rebooted, and PRESTO, I'm now getting all the "missing" options!  I just hit the "Test" button and my VGA display lit up with a beautiful test pattern, in full, glorious color!

I'm late for work, so I'll try to play around with this more later, but still, it's nice to know that I'm getting closer to making this work for real!

:-D

Huxley

[zipper]

You also have to drag into the rightmost box (?) so it creates a new mode - by default it creates 640x480 256 colours mode. Then another which needs to be modified into Hicolor, third into Truecolor. Then again another, which must be first modified into 800x600, 256 colours. And another into 800x600, Hicolor etc etc. Takes lots of time.
You could download this to get some ready to use settings:
http://main.aminet.net/pub/aminet/driver/moni/P4_1438.lha