Strange IndvisionAGA flicker issue

[rkauer]

Mate, without ROM update the exec archive will remain the vanilla 3.1 version.

[TheCorfiot]

Originally Posted by rkauer

Mate, without ROM update the exec archive will remain the vanilla 3.1 version.

Sorry my friend, I feel such a noob asking this
What effect would a Vanilla 3.1 exec archive cause if an Indivision is fitted or not ?
Are you suggesting that If I include the ROM-update the problem may go away ?

Thanks rkauer

TC

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by TheCorfiot

@Novacoder

Only BB2 installed & no ROM update as the current HD is only 4GB in size.

Please expand a little on the "settings" you have mentioned as I usually use Classic WB as setup by default.

What is interesting / annoying & suggests an Indivision problem is that when the IndivisionAGA is removed from the A4000 all operation is normal & everything works just fine when using onboard LISA.

TC

Actually I've just seen that you're running ClassicWB, woudn't that include a whole bunch of patches by default? One patch that I know causes this kind of icon corruption on my 1200 when running in 640x512 is FBlit so that may be your problem? If you want to eliminate any possible problem caused by patches the best thing to do is install a clean 3.9 WB on a seperate partition and try that.

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by TheCorfiot

@Novacoder

Only BB2 installed & no ROM update as the current HD is only 4GB in size.

TC

The 3.9 ROM update contains fixes for lots of things, it doesn't matter how big your HD is you should still use it if you can.

[Rixa]

Bit of an old thread, so a quick summary of what I have:

• rev. 2B commodore motherboard
• the flicker issue with the better screenmodes
• the problem appears shortly after power-on, and disappears when some time passes. Someone less fortunate in this thread had the problem show up for good after some time had passed.
• A preliminary prodding suggested E127R could fix it.

I forgot to write about this before, but some months ago a pal of mine soldered out E127R and replaced it with a piece of wire. Unfortunately this didn't fix the problem. The flicker still showed up, and it didn't seem to cease at all anymore. We ended up putting E127R back and the old behaviour was restored.

I've almost given up on this issue that doesn't really bother me that much, but if anyone has any ideas on what might be going on I'd still be interested.

[ajacocks]

Originally Posted by Rixa

Bit of an old thread, so a quick summary of what I have:

• rev. 2B commodore motherboard
• the flicker issue with the better screenmodes
• the problem appears shortly after power-on, and disappears when some time passes. Someone less fortunate in this thread had the problem show up for good after some time had passed.
• A preliminary prodding suggested E127R could fix it.

I have a 2B A1200 that also does the same thing. It takes about 30 seconds to 'warm up', and then the flickering stops. It's not annoying enough for me to worry about, so I just wrote it off as a quick of old, modded, hardware.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by ajacocks

I have a 2B A1200 that also does the same thing. It takes about 30 seconds to 'warm up', and then the flickering stops. It's not annoying enough for me to worry about, so I just wrote it off as a quick of old, modded, hardware.

This is the exact same story for my A1200 with Indivision...
It's not a perfect Amiga World I guess....

[rkauer]

Bad capacitors use to produce this issue. When the normal use heat them they start to behave normally.

Other solution is soldering a small 4.7uF into the pads near Lisa where a non-implemented transistor could exist.

[illy5603]

Originally Posted by Peter

This is the exact same story for my A1200 with Indivision...
It's not a perfect Amiga World I guess....

Like Rkaur said, here is a thought...

My system also does this (10 minutes of flickering graphics while it warms ip) in HighGFX but is also did it before I had the indivision in multiscan productivity mode but never in good old low res. I bet you anything it is the motherboard / capacitors...

[Rixa]

I should also clarify that this is not Indivision-related but affects all the better screenmodes no matter whether they're through the Indivision or the RGB port. It's also not something that showed up with the Indivision card nor through the current age of the components; I had it happening ten years ago already.

It doesn't bother me that much. I use mostly PAL anyway so that the same setup works on my TV, my monitor (through the Indivision) and even through an analogue tv card with a composite cable if necessary. Horrible, though.

Heat is probably what fixes it. It doesn't show up if the machine is already warm.

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by Rixa

Bit of an old thread, so a quick summary of what I have:

• rev. 2B commodore motherboard
• the flicker issue with the better screenmodes
• the problem appears shortly after power-on, and disappears when some time passes. Someone less fortunate in this thread had the problem show up for good after some time had passed.
• A preliminary prodding suggested E127R could fix it.

I've almost given up on this issue that doesn't really bother me that much, but if anyone has any ideas on what might be going on I'd still be interested.

Guys you're answering your own questions here

If shorting E127R fixes the problem (which is described in detail above), then you have a solution already

I advise everyone who is putting up with this kind graphical problem to try shorting out E127R, it only takes about 30 mins and all you need is a screwdriver and a steady hand. I shorted mine out about 5 times manually before I was 100% sure it was causing my problem, then I soldered it to make it a permanent fix. My display is now better than it ever was so it was well worth it

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by TheCorfiot

I'm experiencing screen redraw / update corruption with the ICONS in 640x512 PAL mode.

Thanks again

TC

It's probably not related but I finally figured out what was causing this issue on my setup when using Fblit. There is a 3.9 Prefs option for WorkBench that allows icons to use 'other memory', this was causing a conflict with FBlit and stuffing the ICONS up (and the background image BTW). After choosing to run the Icons in chipram instead, all of these the visual artefacts disappeared and I can finally run Fblit

[Peter]

What exactly do you have to do to "short" it out?

SHORT it out to sort it out... couldn't RESIST that comment... (two electrical gags there, count them!)

Seriously, I just don't know what this actually means I need to do...

Idiot advice needed....!

[rkauer]

Lay a wire over E127R and solder the wire (make a short-circuit).

[Peter]

OK, cheers rKauer - never done it so I thought I would check... going to check into doing this - has anyone taken a photo of theirs actually done?

[NovaCoder]

Hiya Peter,

To quote myself from above...

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Try it first by manually shorting out E127R with a small flat-bladed screw driver, the last thing you want to do is solder it if it doesn't actually fix the problem.

I took my MB out of it's case and then laid it upside down on a towel, then I connected everything up and waited until it started flickering. I then manually shorted out the resistor a few times to make sure that it fixed the problem before grabbing the iron for a permanent fix.

You also need to remember that there are 2 seperate HW fixes for this flicker issue with Escom boards (mine already had the first one applied which is why I tried this one).

Sorry, didn't take any pics (it wasn't a pretty sight anyway as I'm crap with the old 'hot iron').

[Charlie]

Most interesting thread.

I've been getting much these issues with my Indi' + C= 2B motherboard...
...tearing + blanking with occ corruption in higher resolution modes. Usually triggered by shifting windows about WB - seemingly not time/temperature dependant for me.

Having made sure my Indi' was secured properly I just put it down to running out of bus bandwidth with such 'demanding' resolutions and I'd have to live with it...
...it's nice to see there may actually be a fix to try.

Just to clarify:
For a C= 2B motherboard that's otherwise not needed any fixes - runs fine with my '060 Blizzard...
-The E127R 'fix' is safe / worth doing on a 2B assuming I've got a resistor, not ferrite beads?
-Should I go for the other fix mentioned here first? (additional CAP)
or
Assuming these are 'safe' mods with a 2B is it a case of 'suck it and see'.

Thanks.

P.S.
Must see what the state of my 3.9's 'icons to fast memory' option is - Wasn't aware that this may cause Fblit problems.

[rockersuke]

Talking about weird flickering!

As a recent Indivision owner I have my own share of strange visual phenomena. My set is a 030 acelerated desktop 1200 (can't check motherboard revision right now) with a 1.22 firmwared indivision used with a LG M227WD TFT monitor.

First days booting from 3.1 all seemed to be fine save some occasional blackouts identical to Cammy's video. Then I added a 3.9 + BB2 partition to my CF and when booting from It... frenzy flicker strikes!

Now, It only happens through Indivision (not with RGB or component video) and It seemed to show up only under 3.9 (booting from 3.1 goes like a charm)... or maybe not exactly, as the 'flicker show' only starts in the very moment anything tries to pop up at the WB screen and needs to downgrade its colours. That includes both Amidock and any backdrop image at the default colour depth. As they are the first things you usually see when booting 3.9 for the first time you tend to think this flickering madness is intrinsecally 3.9 related, which might not be the case.

Flicker gets less noticable with higher colour-depth screenmodes untill it dissapears at the maximum... which in a satndard AGA machine usually means you're out of chip RAM to do anything with ^_^'

So going to higher colour modes or retiring backdrop images and quitting Amidock (or whatever) makes the screen return to rock-steady solid state again. Heating seems not to be involved as flickering doesn't go away with time, It will return as crazy as ever whenever I put the backdrop (or start Amidock, or go to lesser coloured mode) again.

Playing with icons options (chip or other memory) makes no difference.

So the only certain is that It happens with Indivision when something attempts to downgrade its palette to fit in the WB screen. Yep, weird!

--

[rockersuke]

OK! Spontaneously fixed! (well, almost...)

All I had to do was remove the Indy thing and fit it again pressing harder. I also finally removed entirely the piece of RF shield under the floppy drive which was guillotining the cable. One of both things was the cause, as now everything displays clean and shiny whatever colour depth is showing up.

Miggy never looked so cool at the TFT! It was quite functional through SCART, but this is a lot, and I mean a lot, better!

--

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by rockersuke

OK! Spontaneously fixed!

Cool well done, welcome to AGA heaven.

Originally Posted by rockersuke

I also finally removed entirely the piece of RF shield under the floppy drive which was guillotining the cable.
--

Yep a lot of people miss this, you do actually need your bottom shielding (unlike the top which is a waste of space IMHO), have a look here at how I prevented my VGA cable getting squished.