NTSC as default mode on a PAL Amiga12oo
 

I'm wondering if it is possible to set the default display mode to NTSC on a PAL amiga without selecting it from the boot menu every time system restarts.

I don't think that's possible-- Well, I asked once and I was given a resounding 'NO' :)

Why do you want to do that Burseg? Some program is not working?

It is possible, BUT it will require opening up the case and hacking with a soldering iron.... so not recomended coz if it goes wrong youve got a big paperweight!

all you have to do is conect the PAL/NTSC select to the right pin on the chip - can't remember which it is as it's ages since I saw it (about 12 years) & I'd have to dig through the archives of magazines and tech stuff I've amassed over the years :)

If you're sure you want it (& dont blame me if it goes wrong!) I can dig around.

I have dblntsc monitor driver in my devs/monitors. With that, I can have some hd installed games like Dune2 run on my VGA monitor if the screenmode is set to ntsc during boot. The same thing happens with dblpal but dblpal is 49hz and dblntsc is 59 hz and I don't want to be blind :) Also dblpal mode doesn't stretch to the monitor's aspect well enough.

Some games just detect dblpal/dblntsc resolutions and use them instead normal pal/ntsc resolutions on the 1084 monitor. Another example is colonization, this game opens it's own public screen. I haven't tried many games, I just discovered it today. It seems WHDLoad games don't work but I'm not 100% sure yet.

I'm sure I want to turn my pal amiga into ntsc but I may decide not to if the method is harder than I can do myself.:D

Noooooo! you are nutz!!! There are very few games that REQUIRE NTSC machines, and a lot that MUST be run or PAL, or wont work!
Do not hardwire your amiga for NTSC! I have an NTSC Amiga and Id like to hardwire it to PAL because of this.

WHDLoad games wont work through doublePAL

Hold on a second :)
I have three monitor connections from my A1200

-a VGA output from the monitor port that can display productivity, multiscan, dblpal, dblntsc etc...

-RGB output to 1084s

-Bvision output for 24bit modes

Since I have dblntsc monitor driver installed, amiga can use it with my VGA output instead of NTSC, if it can't, as in WHDLoad games, it just uses the 1084. My machine is PAL by default but I'd like to make it NTSC until I change it to PAL by myself from the boot menu. Of course I don't want my miggy to be NTSC only! :eek Apart from that, I have another PAL A12oo and some 5oos and 6oos :D

I mean, some games and demos won't work if you have it set up as NTSC default. But just for WHDLoas, I supose it'll be OK.

I wouldn't do it anyway :D

Well I did not know about that. But my system already looks weird with non-standard ide controller, accelerator and graphic card it doesn't even resemble the system what some games are demos are meant to run on.;)

Goodcll there. I didnt know about that either but some of the most knowledged guys here said that some software would not work if the machine is not hardwired to PAL by default. I didn't find any myself yet, though.

Your GS400 rocks. I cant use DblPAL on my Studioworks 76i :(

See, this is why you should've bought an A4000. There is a jumper for this sort of thing :)

and you can replicate that jumper with a switch on the hadware mod :-) Booting NTSC makes the A500 run faster - don't know about A12's but it should be the same for them as well - as the 60Hz frame rate for that is derived from the main clock pulse; so for an instant 20% overclock........

that was me by the way - wasn't logged in

what a prat...

same with any machine. it's a 17~20% increase as you say. VERY noticeable.
But PAL games tend to slow down in NTSC mode, I think because the game tries to write data in areas of the screen that don't exist (or something, remember, I'm not a techie :D).

Try Disposable hero in NTSC mode for an example (I WISH someone could fix that problem)

Well, I hardwired my NTSC A2000 to PAL because I just wasn't getting satisfaction PAL booting all of the software I used. Only a handful of games used NTSC (typically lame US games) and apps, which also worked fine in PAL. I had to cut a trace on the motherboard in order to do this. The plan I used was actually how to make an NTSC/PAL toggle switch, but I didn't go that far, as I had no use whatsoever for NTSC, so I just eliminated it completely.

I used to play games in NTSC mode on my a5oo+ because they would fit the screen this way. The worst thing about amiga games were the black, unused area below the screen. I remember discovering the tsc trick first time, the sprites in the Street Fighter 2 seemed taller :D I didn't know about the boot menu on my 5oo+, I accdentally discovered it once but didn't understand what that was about anyway I don't even remember if there was an option there to switch between pal and ntsc but I had syndicate! This game had a cracktro made by fairlight that switched between pal/ntsc with RMB. I put this cracktro on every AmigaDOS disk game's startup sequences :D

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Burseg
The worst thing about amiga games were the black, unused area below the screen.
[quote]
Let's remember, not ALL games (not even most, I'd say) had this. It was done like that to allow compatibility with US NTSC machines (unless theye were games produced in the US in which case it was done like that just because they had no other way to do it :P).
I did the same with that FLT cracktro :D. I had it in my HD and before booting an NTSCable game (Crazy Cars 3 for example) I loaded the cracktro :D Our 2.x machines did not have a menu to switch modes, methinks. SF2 changed modes from the title screen. (pressing A. Do it often and crash the game :D)

if I can switch pal/ntsc from the early statup screen of my 2.05 A600, I;'d like to know HOW. I tried for ages, never found such menu nor a key.

I tried it with my 6oo yesterday before killing it, there is no such option.

I used to connect my 5oo+ to a tv in the first years of my amiga experience, an F key was assigned to change the mode into NTSC in Celtic Legends, I accidentally pressed it and thought I seriously messed up something. :D

From the A1200 Hardware Faq:

Q. Is there an internal jumper on the A1200 to set it to default to PAL or NTSC video?

A. No, but if you're really motivated, you can rig this up. My thanks to Tetsuo Oda and Byron Montgomerie, who provided the information that connecting pin 41 of the Alice custom chip to ground causes the A1200 to default to NTSC, while pulling this pin high (disconnecting it from the motherboard and connecting it to +5V through a 4.7k resistor) will make the default power-up state PAL. I would point out that making a modification like this on a surface-mount chip is difficult at best, and you may end up needing an expensive motherboard replacement, or, at worst, a dead A1200 that needs an expensive replacement motherboard available. In most cases, using the boot menu (obtained by pressing both mouse buttons on power-up or reset) to switch to PAL is sufficient. However, with some games, the hardware patch will be necessary to insure proper timing (changing to PAL via the boot menu might make a 50 Hz game run at 60 Hz timing, or vice versa).

It's highly risky but at least there is a way. I won't try this though. I just fried an a6oo and don't want to kill more Amigas. Thanks adolescent