Main > Monitor/Video Forum
Idea: customized videocard BIOS
elvis:
--- Quote from: AndyWarne on March 08, 2005, 01:59:02 pm ---I would suggest an alternative to the ArcadeVGA card is already there: Advanced MAME. This is the DIY solution.
Andy
--- End quote ---
Very true. My only issue with AdvanceMAME is a standard PC still needs to post/boot, and does so at 31KHz until I can whack it with a Linux-FBDev driver to drop it back to 15KHz. For me, I would love to be able to add just a single 15KHz mode to any existing card that can handle such things (older Nvidia cards seem to be OK hitting low-ish pclocks) and tell that mode to initialise at boot.
I've got no interest in recreating the AVGA, nor competing with it. I've got the software smarts to use AdvanceMAME, and quite frankly don't need an AVGA for my current project. All I want is a single, temporary, boot-time modeline that won't kill my monitor. (In the short term, I'll be using a jPac anyway, with the 15KHz devider for just that purpose).
Having said all of that, I'm also quite disappointed with the folks who are blatantly trying to rip off someone else's continual hard work - not to mention hard work that helps our community daily. I'm surprised Andy responded in such a calm way. Where it my project, I would have had some choice words to say.
JoeB:
--- Quote from: elvis on March 08, 2005, 04:36:23 pm ---Very true. My only issue with AdvanceMAME is a standard PC still needs to post/boot, and does so at 31KHz until I can whack it with a Linux-FBDev driver to drop it back to 15KHz.
--- End quote ---
This is where the much cheaper JPAC comes into play. It will protect your 15kHz monitor by spliting the screen in 2 until your driver loads.
You can also get a D9200 or equivalent monitor.
There's lots of solutions outside or reverse engineering the hard work of a valued member of this community! Andy is a real standup guy, and deserves every penny!
elvis:
I'd love a D9200 but won't be using one for 2 reasons:
1) Buying from the US doesn't work for we folk in the southern hemisphere thanks to the Earth's magnetic field in our part of the world, and
2) Buying locally costs well over double what you lucky folk in the US/Europe pay thanks to labour and import charges. Really, it's just not worth the money for we Aussies.
I've got myself a nice quality Kortek monitor which has been repaired and cap-kitted nicely, so it should see another few years yet. As mentioned, I'll be using a JPAC on this setup for convenience, but again it means ordering from overseas or paying rediculous amounts for local resellers.
I'd love a DIY solution that didn't rely on buying parts from overseas, which is why I'm sticking my hand up to help in b3atmania's plan if I can. But again, I will make it very clear that I WILL NOT be a part of any project which rips off any closed-source product (Andy's good work, or anyone else's). Either leverage existing open-source projtects and give credit where due, or write it from scratch. There are no other options.
Oh, and while I'm here, this is another great example of why the world should scrap BIOSes and move to Open Firmware instead.
wpcmame:
The low pclock is a non-issue. You can just double the horizontal resolution and let mame double the pixels for you. The monitor knows nothing about pixels and only sees the intensity changes between them so the picture will look the same on the monitor.
Also using AVGA with a monitor that supports both 15 and 31Khz is an overkill. There is no picture difference between a 31KHz mode with software scanlines and a 15KHz mode with hardware scanlines on the same monitor. (The AVGA is still easier to use since you don't need to create any modes yourself but it is rather easy to create custom 31KHz modes on most cards)
elvis:
I'm far more interested in 15KHz hardware modes for arcade monitor preservation (as in, making sure mine doesn't go bang) as opposed to anything else. Again, I can use software to force low-res modes AFTER boot. DURING boot is another story.