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#1 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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Piccolo SD64 empty socket. What's it for?
I just bought a PiccoloSD64 RTG , in order to replace the picassoII I have, hoping that the SD64 behaves better with its autoconfig data on my busboard... But on the pic, I see there is an empty socket... what goes there? for what IC ? and for what reason?
Also, anyone has one? Is it good? ![]() |
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#2 |
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: California
Posts: 969
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As this card can have either 2MB or 4MB of video RAM, I'd guess the socket is for a 2MB upgrade. Looks like it should be user-upgradable, too. There's a bit of info about the card here, but not much:
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showha...cgi?HARDID=454 |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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No, the ram sockets are above that "empty socket" see? some are even inside a rectangular, meaning that this is where u must place the extra 2mb... and the card already has 4MB installed... the empty socket reminds me of the vga bios, that many isa/vesa/pci cards have....
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Helsinki / Finland
Age: 43
Posts: 9,955
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Just guessing, that's probably a socket for an "RTG ROM" (which most likely doesn't exist).
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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rtg rom????
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#6 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Helsinki / Finland
Age: 43
Posts: 9,955
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You know, a ROM with RTG components in it so you can use the board's screen modes without installing CGX or P96.
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#7 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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ahhhhh..... it sounds nice.... if only it existed!
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#8 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Helsinki / Finland
Age: 43
Posts: 9,955
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Well, the real benefits would probably be pretty small in comparison to a separately loaded RTG suite. :-)
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#9 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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nice then
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#10 |
Posts: n/a
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Blimey someone else with one of these. I thought I was alone.
I *think* it's for an upgrade or sorts which will enable the SVHS and composite outputs, but it was never released. I'll update the Amiga Guide with stuff that I know about this - I still have the manual. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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ah, so the vhs and svhs do not work out of the box...
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#12 |
Posts: n/a
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Unfortunately not. I don't think (and I could be wrong - I stopped amiga'ing in 1996 and have only just got back in the saddle) that Ing. Helfrich ever released any planned modules for it.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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Fortunately I don't care about those outputs
![]() How's the card though? Is it good? I am still waiting for it to arrive.... ![]() |
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#14 |
Posts: n/a
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It's not bad. I reviewed it for CU Amiga or Amiga Computing "back in the day" and ended up buying it - it was that good.
A year or two later, I reviewed the CyberVision 64, which comprehensively beat it in terms of performance, but this could be because of the driver software rather than the card. I'd also got the CyberStorm 060 to review at the same time, and that combo really flew :-) It'll come with EGS (Enhanced Graphics SOftware) by default, though both Picasso 96 and CyberGraphics have drivers for it. I'm just about to replace the EGS suite with Picasso 96... I'll let you know if there's any difference in performance. |
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#15 | |
Amiga Hardware Database
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Budapest / Hungary
Posts: 23
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Quote:
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#16 |
Amiga Hardware Database
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Budapest / Hungary
Posts: 23
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Many other Amiga RTG cards have such an EPROM socket (EGS 28/24 Spectrum, EGS 110/24, Merlin, Piccolo, Rainbow II, Retina Z3, Visiona) but only the Retina Z3 has a ROM chip in it. The socket of Merlin is labeled as "RTG/device EPROM".
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#17 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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that module goes to the other connectors... so there was an eprom planned...
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#18 |
Amiga Hardware Database
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Budapest / Hungary
Posts: 23
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As Jope said the ROM socket was meant for RTG drivers.
If Commodore had released official RTG librarires (and included them in Kickstart), graphics cards would have their specific drivers in their own ROM. This way the early startup menu would retarget too. |
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#19 |
Posts: n/a
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I stand corrected - thanks!
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#20 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ioannina/Greece
Posts: 5,040
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I got and installed yesterday the SD64.... it is a very good card! Now I can ever use the os3.9 ROMUPDATE again, because the piccolo does not dissapear like the pII on my setup
![]() but the picture has less quality than the pII one... it is not that clear... |
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