NEW: Unofficial Picasso96 2.1c (alpha)
 

Unofficial Picasso96 2.1c (alpha)
Note: It was called 2.2a, but then I got crazy with version bumping. So 2.1c is the current one.

This is an unofficial alpha release of Picasso96 RTG system software that includes new additions and the last updates ever made, both official and some unofficial. Of course, as its status suggests, this is an alpha release, it has not been thoroughly tested, so everything is at your own risk.
It doesnt matter if you use an emulated enviroment or a real RTG graphics card, i highly recommend you give this distribution a try, as it should give you some improved RTG experience.

Note: In the specific case of Amithlon/AmigaOSXL drivers, these should be manually installed by the user. For details about the manual installation procedure, read the enclosed Picasso96 amigaguide document.

Good luck and enjoy! :)

PS: Download it from The Zone! Feedback is apreciated!



Changelog:


New stuff:

/Devs/monitors/powerfb 40.42 (Amithlon/AmigaOSXL monitor driver)
Powerfb.card 2.1 (Amithlon/AmigaOSXL graphics card driver)
3DLabsPermedia2.chip 7.16

Updated components:

/Prefs/PVS 3.0 -> 3.2
Picasso96API.library 2.300 -> 2.310
emulation.library 40.389 -> 40.395
rtg.library 40.3992 -> 40.3994

CVision3D.card 6.281 -> 6.313
CyberVision.card 6.124 -> 6.136
Domino.card 6.67 - 6.77
Graffity.card 6.117 - 6.125
Merlin.card 6.180 -> 6.198
PicassoII.card 6.148 -> 6.158
PicassoIV.card 6.1093 -> 6.1118
Piccolo.card 6.114 -> 6.122
PiccoloSD64.card 6.118 -> 6.126
Pixel64.card 6.29 -> 6.41
Prometheus.card 6.81 -> 7.530
RetinaBLT.card 6.114 -> 6.131
Spectrum.card 6.121 -> 6.129
3dfxVoodoo.chip 6.412 -> 7.11
CirrusGD542X.chip 6.703 -> 6.727
CirrusGD5434.chip 6.131 -> 6.140
CirrusGD5446.chip 6.550 -> 6.572
NCR77C32BLT.chip 6.279 -> 6.290
S3Trio64.chip 6.534 -> 6.545
S3ViRGE.chip 6.430 -> 6.519
TsengET4000 6.108 -> 6.117
TsengET4000W32.chip 6.362 -> 6.372

uaegfx.card 0.95 doesnt work for me with e-uae on Linux, I dont get any uaegfx modes available, so I copied back in 0.9 and everything is good again.

Who wrote these updates and what do they contain?

@kolla
Thanks for the report! By the way, it works without aparent issues on WinUAE.

@alexh
All these updates were obtained from post 2.1b Picasso96 updates, Prometheus drivers, Amithlon/AmigaOSXL updates, WinUAE, users submissions, ect.
They contain updated versions of Picasso96 drivers which were meant as bugfixes for previous versions (2.1b). Its detailed developer changelog and performance is an entire mistery for me.
It is meant for users willing to test it, so that they may probably get an improved RTG experience in some cases, and even resolve long standing bugs they had to bear with. But your mileage may vary applies.
So you are on your own to figure out if it does something good, or bad to your system. That is why it is here to be tested and discussed.
Well, one thing is for sure, they dont contain viruses :)

WinUAE does not use or need it since 1.5.. (it is built-in)

@Toni Wilen
You mean the uaegfx.card 1.5 is built-in into WinUAE?

Reply to myself: Yes it is built-in (Wow, well done!). Just tested :)

But still there is an update to emulation.library and Picasso96API.library that could benefit WinUAE users

I made it built-in because uaegfx.card required update to support non-flickering mouse cursor (hardware sprite support) and there is no need to support possible incompatible multiple versions.

Shouldnt 1.5 uaegfx.card be available to other UAE ports (E-UAE and UAE Linux, MacOS)? Will they benefit on something with that, despite their ports are behind WinUAE?

I apologize for my ignorance on this particular subject

PS: uaegfx.card 0.95 is reverted back to 0.9 for E-UAE Linux compatibility. Archive is fixed and reuploaded to The Zone!

It is is useless (possibly incompatible too) unless native-side hardware sprite emulation is added.

Thanks for clarifying the situation :great

@gulliver
Nice! I was going to tell you about the updated version of PVS but I see you already found it and some other updates too. There are a few irregularities I noticed...

3DLabsPermedia2.chip 7.16 (05/07/03)
Why did you not include this? Is there bugs?

S3ViRGE.chip 6.430 -> 6.519 (06/13/07)
I have version 7.516 (03/19/03) which is weird because it's a newer version but older date. Maybe you should include the 7.516 version and call it S3ViRGE.chip.old just in case of problems?

There are 2 rtg.library's with the same version number but different date and size. The difference is not just debug info either. You included the newest (and largest) one which is probably the best choice.

These simple projects are never as simple as they appear to be are they? It's nice to get it out and tested though before an official unofficial release ;).

I guess simple projects are never simple ;)
The best solution IMHO is not to follow version strings as they are a little deceiving, as you have mentioned. Dates are easier for that purpose!

Will add the Permedia .chip file to the archive right now!

DONE: Okay, archive is repacked and uploaded to The Zone!

OK, this qeustion of mine now is probably way off topic, but since you mention hardware sprites... the mouse pointer is such a sprite, yes? I have an issue with WinUAE, it draws a pink square around the mouse pointer when I move it over certain objects, for example a workbench window, or if I use the lasso on Workbench desktop. Any idea what that might be? :nuts

So is there a changelog for each file so we can see what's fixed?

I'm particularly curious about my GVP Spectrum...

@MagerValp
I am sorry, there isnt a changelog. :sad

You will need to test it. I recommend you use a graphics benchmark tool such as p96speed (included in the archive), test your current setup and save your results. Afterwards back up your picasso96 install and then apply this picasso96 update. Reboot and use p96speed. After that, compare both results, and dont forget to post them here.
Results should be favourable in this last test.
Another test you might do is to create the situation where you allways had graphic glitches and see how your new drivers works now.

Good luck! :great

I honestly don't care too much about performance, I'm more interested in any bugfixes. I'm not aware of any problems today, so I'm reluctant to install an alpha over a working setup.

You can allways backup your installation, test the new drivers and if not happy with them, revert back to your old install.
Your Picasso96 backup should contain very few files, only 6!:

Libs:Picasso96API.library
Libs:Picasso96/Spectrum.card
Libs:Picasso96/CirrusGD542X.chip
Libs:Picasso96/emulation.library
Libs:Picasso96/fastlayers.library
Libs:Picasso96/rtg.library

So really it is no big deal to test, and if you are not satisfied, going back to the original setup is dead easy.

Anyway it is upto you! :)

This version still has the P96 v2.x P96Speed install bug (not specific to your install, was broken in prior versions). P96Speed needs gtlayout.library and identify.library, but they are not included in the install. I have to manually get them from the standalone P96Speed install.

Thanks! will update the archive acordingly :)


EDIT: Archive now cotains both missing libraries!

Hi guys,

@ gulliver,

I've been working lately on amithlon kernel, i ported it to 2.4.35.3 kernel and its working fine on single-core, 32-bit processors. I've recently developed amithlon capable kernel based on latest 2.4 kernel, 2.4.37.7; It is SMP kernel, all newer 2.4 kernels (>2.4.20,22..) immediately crash if non-smp on dualcores, core2duos, quads. This kernel is still in early alpha stage, i have some problems, lockups and freezings, when i reach workbench under amithlon. I hope it's just not related to smp, no matter it has to be disabled on boot.

I encountered similar lockup with latest patched amithlon kernel (310) when i was messing up with picasso so it could be also p96 related. So i wanted to ask if i can get this P96 alpha version for testing purposes. I don't have enough forum rights to access the zone and download it. Can i get it somehow please?

Thanks,
-milanca