Indivision ECS problem

[CrashMidnick]

Hello,

I have the very same problem as here : http://eab.abime.net/support-hardwar...xperience.html

Everytime I set my indivision ECS to 1.0 mode 50hz I can enjoy it. But after a cold reboot (done sometimes immediately or few hours later), settings are not kept by the Indivision ECS and I need to set it up again which is boring.

I am using the last flash core and the indivision config tool v0.9 from IC website.

Does someone had the same problem and solved it ?

Thanks for your help !

[demolition]

I still have that issue as well, but since the product is several years old now, I doubt that it will be updated. Perhaps it can't even be solved by a soft flash update and needs a hardware update to make it read the stored settings properly. Maybe some kind of timing problem.

[FOL]

Wouldn't it be better to start a support request with Manufacturer.
I mean, this is the first time I have heard of this issue. So if I haven't heard of it, doubt the manufacturer will be aware of it.

[CrashMidnick]

@Fol

I did contact IC today when I have created the thread here (I gave them the link).

I will also contact Amigakit as this Indivision is a real pain : I did sent it 2 or 3 times to Amigakit to apply the timing fix and it seems that the problem is still not solved...

[demolition]

I thought he wouldn't reply to end user support tickets as it would have to go through the Manuf.->Reseller->Customer chain as he wrote multiple times.

Unfortunately AmigaKit was out of stock when I got my Indivision, so I bought from Vesalia instead and since they don't like to respond to support tickets, I just gave up.. Looking through various threads, it seemed like it was a common issue as well, so getting a replacement didn't seem like would fix it.

Here's my thread about the issue, for reference: http://eab.abime.net/support-hardwar...z-problem.html

[FOL]

Originally Posted by demolition

I thought he wouldn't reply to end user support tickets as it would have to go through the Manuf.->Reseller->Customer chain as he wrote multiple times.

Unfortunately AmigaKit was out of stock when I got my Indivision, so I bought from Vesalia instead and since they don't like to respond to support tickets, I just gave up.. Looking through various threads, it seemed like it was a common issue as well, so getting a replacement didn't seem like would fix it.

Here's my thread about the issue, for reference: http://eab.abime.net/support-hardwar...z-problem.html

Can you show me pics of your board. Chances are it hasn't been fixed yet.
If you show me pic of top of board and bottom of the board, I can tell you.

Originally Posted by CrashMidnick

@Fol

I did contact IC today when I have created the thread here (I gave them the link).

I will also contact Amigakit as this Indivision is a real pain : I did sent it 2 or 3 times to Amigakit to apply the timing fix and it seems that the problem is still not solved...

Update your old ticket if you have one. So i can look into it.
Also, please do the same, send me pics of Indivision. As you may have only part of the fix.
There were a few revisions of fix, before nailing the issue once and for all.

As I said though. I haven't come across your saving issue.

[CrashMidnick]

Here is the picture of mine. I will open the old support ticket ASAP.

Thanks.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by CrashMidnick

Here is the picture of mine. I will open the old support ticket ASAP.

Thanks.

Ah yes, yours has had the full fixes.

[jimbob]

+1 on the unreliable config settings here. +1 from amigoun and d0pefish too after looking up some old threads.

FOL, we previously discussed the fixes you do and I mentioned that my indivision was bought from you in Jan 2011. You indicated that the fix was not required for those early boards. This is a different problem from that for which the fix is . . . er . . . a fix but I wonder if this could be a less gross fault caused by a similar problem, (power supply ripple?). Are you allowed to share details of this fix with us?

If it is a wee bit of additional filtering on 5V, I expect it can't hurt to apply it to a board which doesn't absolutely require it.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by FOL

Can you show me pics of your board. Chances are it hasn't been fixed yet. If you show me pic of top of board and bottom of the board, I can tell you.
As I said though. I haven't come across your saving issue.

It is not so much a saving issue as it is a loading issue. If I open the config tool and quit it again to reset the Indivision, it will eventually load the correct settings from its storage. Power cycling does the same. Some times it loads correctly on first power up, sometimes it doesn't. It is usually just the 1.00/1.25 setting which is wrong, but I've also had the scanline option loaded wrong, so it would sometimes not have scanlines, although it should. A power cycle and it looks right again.

Here's how my Indivision looks. Looks like it has fewer modifications than CrashMidnick's.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by jimbob

If it is a wee bit of additional filtering on 5V, I expect it can't hurt to apply it to a board which doesn't absolutely require it.

Yep, it solves ripple issue on newer boards. Only the newer boards required it.

Originally Posted by demolition

It is not so much a saving issue as it is a loading issue. If I open the config tool and quit it again to reset the Indivision, it will eventually load the correct settings from its storage. Power cycling does the same. Some times it loads correctly on first power up, sometimes it doesn't. It is usually just the 1.00/1.25 setting which is wrong, but I've also had the scanline option loaded wrong, so it would sometimes not have scanlines, although it should. A power cycle and it looks right again.

Here's how my Indivision looks. Looks like it has fewer modifications than CrashMidnick's.

Definitely would need to talk to IC about the save / load issue.

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by demolition

Looks like it has fewer modifications than CrashMidnick's.

Mods should be identical - it's just that yours was modded here, while CrashMidnick's was modded by AmigaKit.

We're currently doing an even smaller mod where the input pin of the 1.5V regulator stays on the PCB. Turned out that it's not required if the PSU of the main computer is OK. Also, the new A604n has a b*ttload of high-capacity ceramic caps on the 5V rail, which further helps stability.

As for the "load and save settings" issue, I'll see if I can reproduce that here.

Jens

P.S: I have just reviewed recent support cases, and all of them were closed after I replied "please make sure that you have saved the settings for the screenmode you intend to use" - meaning: Indivision ECS saves separate settings for every screenmode, so if you set 50Hz for PAL, then your Productivity setting is not affected. Everyone, please check that.

[demolition]

One thing that might be relevant is that both my Amiga PSUs have a low 5V rail for some reason, 4.75V. It has not caused any other problems so far, but maybe it's the case with the Indivision ECS?

As for the last point, I've only used PAL non-interlaced mode on the Indivision ECS, so there shouldn't be an issue with different modes.

[CrashMidnick]

Thanks for your reply Jens.

What I did last week-end as I use RTG on my amiga's (Indivision ECS is only there to play native Amiga games or apps) :

Set my workbench to 640x256 ECS (non interlaced), then enter the indivision config tool, set it up to mode 1.0 50Hz and reboot : works fine. Then switch off the computer and reboot : still working. I go to bed and then I came back the day after : settings have gone...

Did the same for 320x256.

I will try again again this week-end but I have spent about 1 hour on this without any solution. Sometimes it keeps settings during 3 min, sometimes 2 hours but it allways fails at some point.

[mfilos]

I got an Indivision ECS from the latest (i think) batch some days ago from AmigaKit which is this:



Dunno if it's IC or AK modded but seems different than my first generation Indy ECS. It works just fine though although I discovered some greater delay when switching between SuperPlus (800x600) and native resolutions for games.

[CrashMidnick]

@mfilos


Be carefull as mine worked like a charm in the A600 but in all other Amiga where Denise is recquired (A500/2000/3000), it did not work (glitches). Try to test it on other ECS Amigas. Maybe it is fine, maybe not...

But since the last fix, everything is ok except the "not saved settings" problem.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by CrashMidnick

@mfilos


Be carefull as mine worked like a charm in the A600 but in all other Amiga where Denise is recquired (A500/2000/3000), it did not work (glitches). Try to test it on other ECS Amigas. Maybe it is fine, maybe not...

But since the last fix, everything is ok except the "not saved settings" problem.

MFilos has a revised fix. So just because they may differ in layout, the fixs are the same.

[jimbob]

I use PAL high res laced for my normal workbench screen. I have saved the 50hz internal mode on the config tool for this screenmode many times. I'd guess about 20% of the time after a power on, the indi is outputing 62.5Hz. Sometimes it can take several attempts with the config tool to get 50Hz to come back.

Another way to trigger the wrong refresh rate is to change in and out of a a non standard screen mode like High-GFX. ie. change my workbench to a High-GFX 1024*768. This seems to always have a fixed refresh rate. Then open a program such as DOpus set to open its own screen in your normal screenmode, eg. PAL hires laced. Press Amiga-m to switch between the screens, while changing screenmode the indi will go black for a second but again about 20% of the time the PAL screen will come up at the wrong refresh rate.

The 4096 colour bmp demo program for the indi can also cause this. When the workbench reappears, it may or may not still be at 50Hz.

Changing between different PAL modes never seems to cause this.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Schoenfeld

We're currently doing an even smaller mod where the input pin of the 1.5V regulator stays on the PCB. Turned out that it's not required if the PSU of the main computer is OK. Also, the new A604n has a b*ttload of high-capacity ceramic caps on the 5V rail, which further helps stability.

As for the "load and save settings" issue, I'll see if I can reproduce that here.

Any news on this?

[CrashMidnick]

Hello demolition. I think it now keeps its settings (2 weeks now without any problem).

What I did : reflash again with the last core. For every single screenmode, I opened the config tool and saved my settings. After a cold reboot, it looses again its settings, all I do is just do a soft reboot immediately when the WB finished to load.
Now it seems to keep settings correctly.

I will post again in few weeks to see if it still work