#picasso ii
14 messages in this thread
ok, i've just added a Picasso II to my Amiga 3000. now i need to figure out
what to do with it (i'm in the process of trying to figure out what the heck
the manual says). 🙂
the picasso manual says that i have to use AmigaDOS 3.0 in order to use the AGA
emulation it provides. how would i get a hold of amigados 3? i thought it was
only available with the amiga 1200/4000.
does anybody know what freq i should use for a NEC MultiSync 3FGe? i've looked
through my manual, but it has not proven helpful as it gives the freq's for
vga/svga & mac modes. i can get the screen modes for picasso 640×480 & 320×200
to work, but i everything above that causes my screen to shrink and then scroll
rapidly (become something that i can not make out). according to the manual, i
my freq set wrong. i have tried 57kHz and 64kHz, neither has worked above
640×480. i tried 50kHz, but when i booted it said that value was incorrect.
i probably have several more questions, but i can not remember them all right
now….
bob
Bob:
The PicassoII does in fact need WB3.0 or above to use more than 16 colors
on the WB. However if you DO use 16 colors on the WB using the PicassoII
as the output device your system will be as fast as it was before with
only 4 color WB. Try 38kHz and see if it works then. What is the max
resolution your monitor is capable of? I have a Picasso, and use the 57kHz
setting with my CTX 15" monitor, and I run my WB at 1024×768 with no
trouble, however I have a friend that has the PicassoII card with only a
Commodore 1950, and he can only go upto 800×600, and has to set the PII to
38kHz. If you check in the manual (I don't have mine handy) it will show
you all the possible values for the kHz that you can set, and I don't
think 50kHz was one of them.
// -Mike Schiller
\X/ AMIGA! On AutoPilot in sunny Fort Lauderdale
>The PicassoII does in fact need WB3.0 or above to use more than 16 colors
>on the WB. However if you DO use 16 colors on the WB using the PicassoII
is it possible to aquire a copy of wb3.0 then? i still use the NTSC monitor,
since the picasso's 640×480 wb look rather odd on my monitor.
>as the output device your system will be as fast as it was before with
>only 4 color WB. Try 38kHz and see if it works then. What is the max
>resolution your monitor is capable of? I have a Picasso, and use the 57kHz
my NEC manual says: synch range horizontal: 31 khz to 39.5 khz and 47.5
khz to 49 khz
vertical: 55 hz to 90 hz
says both are handled
automatically.
i will check my settings again, but i do not recall being able use the picasso
when i had the lib set to 38 khz.
bob
I went back to the 38kHz setting and now it does work. I had CPUBlit in my
startup folder, which i guess i put back after i had so much problems getting
picasso to work the first time (i did take it out, i guess i forgot that i put
it back in <g>). now i am going to try to change term so that it will work on
picasso's screen (the lack of a blitter is driving me crazy <g>)).
i found that i can go past 1024×768, but even at that it is show shaky and
faint i can hardly read it. 800×600 is about as far as i can comfortably (i.e.
being able to read it without getting a headache) go. 🙂
you are right, this thing is fast! 🙂 i only have 8 colours, since i am using
the magic wb icons. i want to get my hands on wb3.0 so i can try out the aga
emulation though.
i still do not know what was giving me all the problems before with the freqs.
i know i did not have cpublit running while i was testing picasso out for the
first few times. i put it back in only after i went back to using the ntsc
monitor prefs, which was when i left my original message. i also know that i
first tried 38khz and it did not work the first time.
oh well, now it does. now i have to find out which programs will work using the
picasso screen since the combined lack of a blitter in ntsc mode and the
monitor flick (when it changes freqs from one mode to another) can get on my
nerves quickly. 🙂
bob
Bob:
WB3.0 isn't available for the general public yet for anything but AGA
machines 🙁 As far as AGA emulation, the Picasso doesn't really do AGA
emulation, there's no HAM8 mode, only 256 colors, or 24bit. a 256 WB is
cute, but just like many A4000 users have found it's not really that
usable, as it's about as slow as a 16color WB is on an ECS machine. I'm
running a 16 color WB myself, and most people I know that have extra
graphics boards (I have one friend with a PicassoII, and one with an EGS
card) us 16 color WB screens.
// -Mike Schiller
\X/ AMIGA! On AutoPilot in sunny Fort Lauderdale
sigh, i guess i have to wait until the mysterious WB3.1 makes it's appearance
"real soon now". 🙂
hmmmm…. i wonder what picasso means by "aga friendly software" if they do not
really do aga emulation.
oh well, so far i'm pretty happy with it anyway. my display is now much faster
than any of my friends 486's, and now they can not giggle when i try to view
256 colour gifs on my 3000. 🙂
bob
The "aga friendly" means that software that asks the *system* for 256
colors under 3.1 will get 256 colors from the picasso. Software that
addresses the chips directly will not.
//
-Karl \X/ Amiga and Autopilot: The *only* way to fly!
those aga programs that ask for the hardware are 90% of the games out there,
right? 🙂
bob
Given that almost every one of the AGA games is from Great Britain,
your estimate is probably low. <G> On the other hand, serious
software should mostly be usable. That't not bad with system
software that doesn't yet support RTG.
well, i'm happy to hear that i am probably wrong about something. 🙂
i'm glad that the british programmers do not do follow the philosphy
of the american/ibm crowd of using the hardware whenever possible. 🙂
it will be nice whenever dos 3.1 arrives, so i can possibly try out a
few of these aga games.
No, no, no! I said that your estimate is probably *low*, meaning that the
percentage of AGA games addressing the hardware directly will probably be
99.9. The British are absolutely notorious for that style of programming.
So you were wrong only in being too optimistic. <G>
//
-Karl \X/ Amiga and Autopilot: The *only* way to fly!
ah, ok…. 🙂 dang, i thought only ms-dos programmers were that bad. 🙂
bob
i guess i'll have to start saving up for that 4000 then. 🙂 maybe then they
will have it fixed and have added builtin scsi & flicker fixer. 🙂 i just hope
it is easier for the average user (me) to maintain. it seems that every time i
add something to my 3000 it breaks or somethings wrong that takes me a few days
to figure out. oh well, bad luck i guess. i've done harder repair jobs on my
486DX tower, and they work the first time. 🙂 ^
|
or at least what i think is harder 🙂
bob
Mike –
Do any of the other 24-bit cards (EGS, Merlin, etc.) allow display
of HAM8 in their AGA emulations? I had been considering one of these
cards as an alternative to a 4000 (I need too much expansion to make
a 1200 feasible) but I'd like AGA programs that run from the HD and
Workbench to think they have AGA to work with (i.e., I could view
HAM8 animations if I wanted to, in HAM8 …). A 16 color WB is all I
use anyway, 256 would only be used if I wanted a fancy backdrop, and
hi-color displays of graphics and renderings is nice, but I'd rather
not be left out of the AGA world id I can help it (and can do it
relatively cheaply 8^) ). Thanks …