Monitor recommendations for Chameleon

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hi all,


    Sorry to necro an old thread, but I've just acquired a V1 TC. Unfortunately, the previous owner has the VGA output set to 72Hz and despite having 3 monitors in the house none of them support this.


    I've checked some videos of the options menus and attempted to replicate what I think are the keystrokes required to change video mode but no luck. Short of finding a 72Hz monitor somewhere to hook it up to, is there any way I can change the VGA output mode without being able to see the screen?


    Thanks in advance

  • power off the chameleon, press and hold "4" on the keyboard, power on the chameleon, wait a few seconds, release "4" -> it will start up in 640x480@60Hz. now go to settings and save the settings. remember it will go back to 800x600@72Hz if you restore default settings.


    that said, it would be nice if you could tell which monitors you have there that do not work with 800x600@72Hz - thats one of the most common VGA modes...

  • Hi Tobias,


    Thanks for your quick reply.


    That didn't work either. To be honest, I'm assuming that the output mode is the problem as with all 3 monitors but upon checking at least one of them should support it.


    When I power the unit on, i get a brief flash of the yellow bootloader and a *very* brief flash of the TC64 menu before all 3 monitors cut out with variations of the meassage "Input not supported" on screen. I have connected ChaCo and all looks good, core valid, cart running etc but no display.


    Any ideas gratefully accepted at this point :)

  • Slight update, it seems the vic sync option was set which was causing the display to go, reinstalling the core fixed it. I know that's what it was because when I tried to enable it, I got the same result.


    My keyboard is not working though. I know the cart is running as the cdtv remote works fine. It's a basic MS PS/2 keyboard, model RT2300. Anyone know if that keyboard has issues?

  • Ah yes, i forgot about this... you can also hold "1" at startup to reset to defaults... the vic-sync stuff doesnt work with many monitors, since that produces a quite non standard output (cant do anything about that).


    is the keyboard connected to the right connector of the breakout cable? also make sure its connected when powering on the chameleon. other than that, any ps/2 keyboard should work. perhaps the power supply is the problem (although unlikely, but perhaps try another if you have one)

  • Yep, connected to the purple connector. the keyboard lights flash on startup and the numlock light toggles fine, but not the caps lock. No input of any kind from the keys.


    I have tried a couple of power supplies as I suspected that too but no change. I'll dig out another ps/2 keyboard at work tomorrow and hopefully that will do the trick.

  • Just a short note to say all sorted... dodgy connection on the ps/2 keyboard plug.


    This is some piece of kit by the way... can feel the difference between this and emulation immediately.


    Off to re-bury myself in the Programmer's Reference Guide. Thanks for your help Tobias.

  • Sorry to necro this thread again.


    I also use a Benq BL702 monitor with my Chameleon 64 V2 and the picture that is shown with the default 800x600@50Hz resolution is very nice. But I also wish a 640x512 resolution would be available and work. Or maybe better yet, a working 1280x1024 resolution with the Benq. Because, although the native resolution of the Benq is 1280x1024 (as it reminds you every chance it gets), whenever I select this resolution, the monitor says that the signal is out of range. At 50Hz it does show an image, but also the out of range message. At 60Hz or higher the screen just stays black.


    Next to the Commodore 64 with the Chameleon, I have a Amiga 500 with the IndivisionECS V2 connected to another Benq BL702. I have the Indivision set to 640x512 and this fills the whole screen and gives a beautiful picture (I only have issues with setting up games with overscan properly, but that's another issue). I wish the screen would also be filled like this on the Chameleon.


    Does anyone have a suggestion how I could achieve this or why the monitor says it's out of range when I select a 1280x1024 resolution.

  • The problem right now is that the VGA clock is tied to the system masterclock, and the result is that many VGA modes are slightly wrong in timing - and some monitor do not like it. There isn't much we can do about it right now, it will require a significant rewrite of the VGA output logic

  • Hi Tobias,

    Thanks for the reply. That's too bad, but no big problem for me. Good to know that there isn't something that I could do to get an even better image than the TCv2 currently provides. I'm more than happy with my current setup for C64 gaming, which where I use the TCv2 for 99 percent of the time. It's only that I can compare it to the output of the Indivision ECS V2 on my Amiga 500 that I notice a slight inferior image. And I only use it for a rare AGA game that I want to play or a game that requires more than 1MB chip mem.

    Cheers!

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.