Frame Save Issue, Toaster 4000

[simono71]

Hi,
I recently bought a toaster 4000 card and it came with the 3.1 software.

I am using it on a 3.1 OS A4000 with 16mb ram total, and a Sony VX2000 as the input.

I am having an issue, and wondering if perhaps the toaster board is bad. Everything seems to work fine, but when I go to the Setup menu and freeze a frame and then save it, it seems to save fine, and the frame appears frozen correctly etc. However when I try to re-load that saved frame things go haywire.

Basically when I re-load in the saved frame, I get a combination of what seems to be the top 1/3 from the actual freezed frame, and the bottom 2/3 from the original contents of the frame buffer before the frame was frozen.

Once the frame has been loaded in, then the effects stop working, and so does the switcher. It keeps getting stuck on the video input at that point. The effects then render on the RGB monitor all garbled. If I reset and don't load in the saved frame then it works fine.

I have also tried saving out one of the supplied frames, such as the VT4000, or color bars and get the same results.

However this behavior does not occur if I load in one of the images that comes  with the Toaster.

Apart from this, everything else seems to be working correctly, transitions, chroma fx, all the rest. Is this a known issue (I tried searching but didn't find anything), or is something screwed up with my board? I was wondering if perhaps my drive was bad too, but I have had no problems loading/saving/installing etc before.

Any help appreciated.

Simon

[Pyromania]

Did you Autohue your Toaster?

Don't forget you can buy other goodies for your Amiga Video Toaster here.


http://www.discreetfx.com/Millennium.htm

[simono71]

I think so. The first time I tried to, it kept telling me to connect a video source to the 1 input (which I already had). Didn't seem to detect it, even though I could see the image on the main monitor.

After restarting later, it seemed to do it automatically as it took a lot longer to start and the main monitor flashed the video display through what appeared to be different hue combinations.

I am new to the toaster, but I do have the full 3.1 manual and have been following through the tutorials.

I have also noticed that if I save a new preset into the chroma fx slots, then when I try to launch one via the switcher I get a guru meditation. Perhaps my disk is bad after all.

[Pyromania]

You might want to get the low cost 4.3 upgrade CD from NewTek and try that version. It also comes with a complete install of your version of the Toaster software on the CD. You can run both versions.

[trilobyte]

Basically when I re-load in the saved frame, I get a combination of what seems to be the top 1/3 from the actual freezed frame, and the bottom 2/3 from the original contents of the frame buffer before the frame was frozen.

Check that the MaxTransfer rate is set correctly for your hard drive in HDToolbox.  The correct MaxTransfer value for the A4000's IDE bus is 0x0001FE00

[trilobyte]

Basically when I re-load in the saved frame, I get a combination of what seems to be the top 1/3 from the actual freezed frame, and the bottom 2/3 from the original contents of the frame buffer before the frame was frozen.

Also if you are booting the machine with the camera connected to input #1, make sure the camera is turned on before you turn on the Amiga.

If you want to try the camera connected to input #2, it may still help to have the camera turned on before booting the computer, but it is not crucial.

Whatever video source you have connected to input #1 is what the Toaster genlocks the Amiga's video to.  So if your source connected to #1 is deficient in any way, your whole experience is going to suffer and possibly asplode.

If you leave nothing connected to input #1, the Toaster seems to generate its own sync.  Then hopefully what you have connected to inputs #2, #3, and #4 are in sync with each other, and in sync with the Toaster.  If they aren't, your results may vary.  If you only have the one camera connected, leave it connected to input #2 with no other inputs connected.

Lemme know what happens.

[simono71]

Does NewTek still support the Amiga Toaster? I had no idea.

I will try some of those other options. It just seems a bit weird as I am only having issues when loading stuff, so the more I think about it the more I think it might be a disk issue.

Thanks

[Pyromania]

Does NewTek still support the Amiga Toaster? I had no idea.

I will try some of those other options. It just seems a bit weird as I am only having issues when loading stuff, so the more I think about it the more I think it might be a disk issue.

Thanks

They fix Amiga Video Toaster/Flyer cards for free and sell 4.3 CD upgrades.

[simono71]

I looked on their site (Newtek) and didn't see anything about a 4.3 CD upgrade. Also, as I am not the original registered owner, do they still fix them (in case this turns out to be a board issue).
 I did however purchase a complete boxed set, including manual, vhs tape, all 50 something disks, etc

[simono71]

Looks like it might be the hard drive. I am getting these issues when I run off the IDE drive. If I run the software off the SCSI drive (running with a 2091 card, which is really slow) the framestore and chromafx problems I was having go away.

I looked in the HDToolbox and didn't see any settings for Max Transfer. I looked under the partition drive area advanced tab too. Is this option available in 3.1? (I am used to the old 1.3 Amigas)

[Pyromania]

I looked on their site (Newtek) and didn't see anything about a 4.3 CD upgrade. Also, as I am not the original registered owner, do they still fix them (in case this turns out to be a board issue).
 I did however purchase a complete boxed set, including manual, vhs tape, all 50 something disks, etc

It's not on their website. They don't sell a 4.3 upgrade every day or even one a week so you would have to call customer service.

[Matt_H]

Looks like it might be the hard drive. I am getting these issues when I run off the IDE drive. If I run the software off the SCSI drive (running with a 2091 card, which is really slow) the framestore and chromafx problems I was having go away.

I looked in the HDToolbox and didn't see any settings for Max Transfer. I looked under the partition drive area advanced tab too. Is this option available in 3.1? (I am used to the old 1.3 Amigas)

That definitely sounds like a MaxTransfer issue. Click the Advanced checkbox in HDToolbox, then the Change... button. It'll be in the lower left of the window that appears.

[simono71]

Thanks, I finally found the setting....it was set to 0xffffff, so I am assuming that was bad....

I am changing it now, so we will see if it fixes it. Hopefully that will do the trick!

Thanks again for the help!

[simono71]

That seemed to do the trick. I can now load and save the frames and perform the chromaFX without it guru meditating or going crazy. Awesome

[trilobyte]

That seemed to do the trick. I can now load and save the frames and perform the chromaFX without it guru meditating or going crazy. Awesome

Hooray, another bug bites the dust.

I think this was in NewTek's FAQs for a while, but their knowledge base system on their website has changed many times since the days when it held Toaster wisdom...