Posts by Dynamic_Computing

Well, I figured the worst thing I could do was blow up my Picasso II and/or my Indivision MK3 - so I went ahead and tried it... and I can say it works 100% perfect!
The ability now to just use one output for my Picasso II RTG and my Indivision MK3 is just fantastic! (Using Jens Picasso96 drivers of course...

Just a question - Has the MK3 video ever been tested passing through a Picasso II card? The one with the two VGA ports designed to pass the Amiga video thru using just one output cable? I have not tried it yet, just want to make sure it won't damage something.

Douglas

I am honestly not sure this is a "Rare Issue", as several people I know personally have the same issue, and several people in my latest review of the MK3 also have the problem. Not all of them live in the USA, so I don't suspect it is an NTSC issue.
The Reset trick works fine, but I honestly have to boot to the rescue disk and save any profile changes from there. It literally will not flash the card from within Workbench. Totally fails.
Same issues with two different motherboards and two different ZORRO backplanes, and all other devices in this A4000 are working just fine (including your lovely Xsurf100 & Rapidroad!)

Happy to share a video of the exact symptoms with you if you would like, and if it will be helpful.
Douglas

I don't think he is trolling anyone, Jens. I have been involved with computers every day of my life since about 1982, and I even find the config utility a confusing mess. I have read and re-read the docs about five times and it is still difficult to use.

I am working on a video tutorial on its use, and I am sure I will get a dozen things wrong in it!

Just hooked mine up today after receiving it on January 6th. The first boot it seemed to recognize the card, but the display was in a mode my monitor could not display. When I did get it booted normally, the Config tool said it could not find the card and would display nothing. I created the rescue disk, rebooted and let the utility flash the card. The Amiga booted fine after that, and I was able to create a nice screen display using the config too. When I went to save the configuration to Flash, the utility reported that the Flash was not saved to the card (after blanking the screen). Rebooting is fine - everything works on a reboot.... But as soon as she is powered down it loses all settings and comes up with the black screen again.
Same cycle - rescue disk, reflash, and it will come back but all is lost on a power cycle. Even booting from the rescue disk and flashing my saved configuration from the floppy does not fix it. It will boot normally with my modes intact, and then lose everything on a cold start.
Here is my config:

Amiga 4000 NTSC

BFG 9060 with 128 MB RAM, 68060/50 Mhz

Internal IDE with CF card

Amiga OS 3.2.1

Cybergraphyx 64 card with Picasso 96 (Not used while I am testing my MKIII)

Nothing particularly different with my Amiga OS install.

I have tried it with the CIA chip adapter and without (mostly without) - same results every time.

I understand that calling the flash tool on bootup and restoring the file is a solution for when we boot right into Workbench, but not a solution if we boot from floppy.

Honestly, I am having the same issue with my brand new MKIII for my Amiga 4000. It will not save a configuration file to the Flash onboard. The Rescue disk brings it back to life, but powering off the Amiga resets it back to defaults and it displays no screen. I have to use the rescue disk to reflash, and reload all my modes. They all vanish again on a power cycle. I will start a new thread.

Thanks again. I ran it without the shield only to test it. After I tested it and reprogrammed all the modes, I put the shield back on and screwed it down properly and everything works perfect. I have no idea where the short was, as everything looked fine. But obviously something had shorted out when I first put it back together. Thanks again for all your help. I really appreciate it!

Thanks for the prompt response, Jens... But we have some good progress. Considering I had to disassemble the A1200 so the keyboard connector had to be replaced, I took the board out and tested it just sitting in the case... And look! She works fine like that! I suspect there is a short someplace when I reconnected it.

I think this crisis in averted... Which I am thankful for because I need to stream Amiga Art Contest Livestream using your MK2! It's the only way I can get those lovely hi-res images to display without cheating with RTG or WinUAE
Now I will check to see where the short is. Maybe something happened with the plastic protector between the mainboard and the metal tray - I will check it for damage.

Thanks again, and I will let you know what I find.

Hi Jens -
My MK2 which I have been happily using for many years has gone crazy. I was at AmiWest this weekend and had my keyboard connector replaced, so I had to remove my MK2 - when I put it back in, my display at first looked normal, but my monitor claimed it was sending a 41.5 Khz signal, and warned it was incompatible and shut the monitor down. When I got back from AmiWest it was worse - I booted up and just got the attached colorful, but totally useless screen. I have tried reflashing the cores and trying different screen modes, but always with the same corrupted borders and display. Regular RGB works fine with no issues.

I see no physical damage on the MK2 or on the Lisa chip. Anything else I can try or did this little guy just die?

Thanks,

Douglas (10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast)

The Aux card is not really designed just to dump games on, but more as an easy way to transfer data between your Amiga and PC or Mac. Of course you can play games and run programs on it if you choose to.

If you want to play .ADF files from your Amiga and ACA500+, you will need a program to mount .ADF files on your Amiga. Imagemount is one such program, and it works on 68000 chips.

You can then keep your ADF files on your AUX card, or copy them to your main card, and mount the .ADF files so they show up as actual disks on your Amiga. Keep in mind a lot of Amiga disks require to be booted right from the game disk - not playable from Workbench, In this case you have really two choices - get a Gotek drive and boot the game ADF files from there, or make a real Amiga floppy from the .ADF. There are several tools on Aminet for converting ADF files to real disks, TGSUtils is one that works well, devcopy is another.

Just chiming in to say that there are many, many of us hoping for a resolution to things like the ACA500+ and and the XSurf100 working with Stephen Jones new case.

I was ready to pre-order the 68030/40 MHz card at the time that "The English Ladies" (and my friends) video came out, but I am waiting to see if a resolution can be found.

I hope the two developers can work together in the spirit of benefiting the Amiga Community, as there are a lot of future sales for both companies if this can be resolved.

Doug from 10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast

Just an update - you were right, Jens. I cleaned the contacts again on the A500 expansion slot and it started working. There must have been a lot of stuff on it, as I had cleaned it last week.

One interesting bit of info - My 6a board runs at 42 Mhz just fine, the V5 board locks up after a moment at 42 Mhz, but runs fine at 21 Mhz. Just for laughs I will try it at 28 Mhz too. Yes, I know you only recommend 21 Mhz, just wanted to pass on the info. Thanks for such a great product! I hope you caught my review on it last week from 10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast - https://youtu.be/RnsZ52lFS2Q

Thanks for the info - I was worried that there was an issue with the older boards. I will clean the contacts again, and try it without the Supra board. Luckily it is me spare A500 - I use my ACA500+ on my 6A machine.

So does the fact that it stops on "20" on the LED board tell us anything? I was not really able to find a list of meanings for the bootup codes for the LED display.

My brand new A500+ works 100% in my Rev 6a motherboard - no issues or problems. When I try it in my Rev 5 motherboard, I either get nothing at all (just a light on the A500+ sometimes), or it cycles thru its bootup numbers and stops on "20" and goes no further. Tried with two power supplies and the A500 works great without the ACA500+. It has an updated 8372A Agnus and the modifications for 1 MB CHIP RAM, and a Supra 512k board in the expansion bay - and 1.3 ROMS. No other expansions.

Are there issues with the new A500+ and REV 5 boards, or is there something else I should check on to make sure it works?

Dynamic_Computing (10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast)