English Amiga Board - View Single Post

mntmn · 08 September 2017, 13:05

Hi everyone,

I'm the developer of the VA2000 Open Source Amiga FPGA Graphics Card. Since December 2016 I've shipped almost 250 of the cards and a bunch of VA2000CX expansions for playing classic games through the card's HDMI out. It's been a rough trip but also very rewarding experience and I want to thank everybody for their continuing support.

I've since had a lot of email support threads solving a range of problems that can happen (after all this is Amiga

. To make common problems and solutions accessible to more english speaking users, I'm asking you to write any remaining bugs that you encounter here, along with what Amiga model, CPU/SCSI/IDE card, OS and P96 version you use, and if you use VA2000CX or something else like Indivision. If there are visual problems, it's also important to state the used resolution and color depth.

You can always get the latest updates and drivers at http://mntmn.com/va2000/
The current firmware version is 1.8.3.
If you speak german, there is a long support thread at http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57853

I will start by listing a number of known bugs and workarounds:

- 68030, slow gfx, SD performance: Cache/MMU issue.
Workaround: If you can, put "CPU NODATACACHE >NIL:" in your S:User-Startup, or use MuTools to ensure that your MMU is on. I noticed some programs switch off the 030 MMU later, so this is tricky. Disabling data cache always works.

- SCSI issues with GVP combo cards: Be sure to be on FW 1.7+. Install Guru ROM in GVP card.

- Some apps (Example: DirOpus 4) open a screen and fill it with (harmless) pixel junk. Fixed with FW 1.8.3

- Yellow screen with BigRam. Unknown cause. Will buy a BigRam and try to reproduce. Fixed with FW 1.8.3

- Accelerated copy (move windows) in 16 and 32 bit modes sometimes miss the last pixel. Firmware bug, to be fixed in next version. Fixed with FW 1.8.3

- If not using VA2000CX and playing a classic game for a while, then going back to RTG workbench will show colorful noise. Fixed with FW 1.8.3

- VA2000CX flickering artifacts. Caused by timing differences of amiga models on the video slot. Try different values using va2000cx tool, then put in User-Startup: "RUN <NIL: >NIL: va2000cx 220" with the value that worked for you. You can also use negative values.

- VA2000CX image cropped/overscan missing: Use different va2000cx presets from http://mntmn.com/va2000/va2000cx-presets.txt

- VA2000CX image not centered. Caused by monitors' different interpretation of 640x480 mode. Use 800x600 preset from list above.

- Some people reported they can't use a FW newer than 1.4 (rare). This might be unknown bus timing issues. Not reproducible yet. Probably fixed since FW 1.7.2

- A1200 Zorro boards: These are not officially compatible, although I try my best. Boards are hard to obtain. Elbox/Winner Z4 seems incompatible. I have an RBM ONBoard 1200, which kinda works.

- Slowness with Wheel Mouse driver: Not tried to reproduce yet. Ongoing.

- NetBSD driver doesn't work with current FW (1.8.3). Works with 1.7.2.

08 September 2017, 13:05	#1
mntmn Registered User Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Berlin / Germany Posts: 18	VA2000 Support Thread Hi everyone, I'm the developer of the VA2000 Open Source Amiga FPGA Graphics Card. Since December 2016 I've shipped almost 250 of the cards and a bunch of VA2000CX expansions for playing classic games through the card's HDMI out. It's been a rough trip but also very rewarding experience and I want to thank everybody for their continuing support. I've since had a lot of email support threads solving a range of problems that can happen (after all this is Amiga. To make common problems and solutions accessible to more english speaking users, I'm asking you to write any remaining bugs that you encounter here, along with what Amiga model, CPU/SCSI/IDE card, OS and P96 version you use, and if you use VA2000CX or something else like Indivision. If there are visual problems, it's also important to state the used resolution and color depth. You can always get the latest updates and drivers at http://mntmn.com/va2000/ The current firmware version is 1.8.3. If you speak german, there is a long support thread at http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57853 I will start by listing a number of known bugs and workarounds: - 68030, slow gfx, SD performance: Cache/MMU issue. Workaround: If you can, put "CPU NODATACACHE >NIL:" in your S:User-Startup, or use MuTools to ensure that your MMU is on. I noticed some programs switch off the 030 MMU later, so this is tricky. Disabling data cache always works. - SCSI issues with GVP combo cards: Be sure to be on FW 1.7+. Install Guru ROM in GVP card. - Some apps (Example: DirOpus 4) open a screen and fill it with (harmless) pixel junk. Fixed with FW 1.8.3 - Yellow screen with BigRam. Unknown cause. Will buy a BigRam and try to reproduce. Fixed with FW 1.8.3 - Accelerated copy (move windows) in 16 and 32 bit modes sometimes miss the last pixel. Firmware bug, to be fixed in next version. Fixed with FW 1.8.3 - If not using VA2000CX and playing a classic game for a while, then going back to RTG workbench will show colorful noise. Fixed with FW 1.8.3 - VA2000CX flickering artifacts. Caused by timing differences of amiga models on the video slot. Try different values using va2000cx tool, then put in User-Startup: "RUN <NIL: >NIL: va2000cx 220" with the value that worked for you. You can also use negative values. - VA2000CX image cropped/overscan missing: Use different va2000cx presets from http://mntmn.com/va2000/va2000cx-presets.txt - VA2000CX image not centered. Caused by monitors' different interpretation of 640x480 mode. Use 800x600 preset from list above. - Some people reported they can't use a FW newer than 1.4 (rare). This might be unknown bus timing issues. Not reproducible yet. Probably fixed since FW 1.7.2 - A1200 Zorro boards: These are not officially compatible, although I try my best. Boards are hard to obtain. Elbox/Winner Z4 seems incompatible. I have an RBM ONBoard 1200, which kinda works. - Slowness with Wheel Mouse driver: Not tried to reproduce yet. Ongoing. - NetBSD driver doesn't work with current FW (1.8.3). Works with 1.7.2. Last edited by DH; 20 November 2017 at 13:36. Reason: Deleted direct signature