TNT2, AdvMame, Linux, framebuffer, 15khz?

[benwillcox]

Hey All,

Kind of pulling my hair out here trying to get AdvanceMame working well at 15kHz on an RGB SCART TV....

I have been using an ATI rage 128 which works OK apart from a slight problem where the video mode reverts to 31khz between advmenu and loading the game (I believe this to be an aty128fb issue), however a recent motherboard upgrade means that this card doesn't fit the new AGP slot.

So I have a couple of TNT2 cards, which I hear work very well with advmame at 15khz. However, when outputting at 15khz either in the console (i use rivafb, and then issue 'fbset pal' or 'fbset ntsc') or in advmame, the high frequency sound coming from the monitor which is usually fairly quiet with the ATI card is rather loud with the Nvidia TNT2 card. (Does this description make sense?! I think this is the 15khz resonating from the LOPT?)

In addition to this sound, the on-screen display of the TV never turns off, which usually indicates it cannot  sync, or there is no signal - however the display is normal.

Both the TNT2 cards I have are different ages and PCB layout looks completely different, but both function exactly the same. Does anyone have any idea what is happening? Both H and V sync rates report within range, and the same as the ATI on the advv test screens.

Just to frustrate me even more I have tried several SiS based cards, but sisfb does not seem to work properly, an S3Trio card but S3Triofb doesn't work on Intel CPUs, and a Matrox GeForce4 which isn't compatible with rivafb! Oh and I can't get svgalib to compile for reasons beyond my comprehension.

Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Ben

[desmatic]

Hey All,

Kind of pulling my hair out here trying to get AdvanceMame working well at 15kHz on an RGB SCART TV....

I have been using an ATI rage 128 which works OK apart from a slight problem where the video mode reverts to 31khz between advmenu and loading the game (I believe this to be an aty128fb issue),

use display_restore no in advancemame and video_restore no in advancemenu to solve this issue.  This issue exists with all video cards.

however a recent motherboard upgrade means that this card doesn't fit the new AGP slot.

So I have a couple of TNT2 cards, which I hear work very well with advmame at 15khz. However, when outputting at 15khz either in the console (i use rivafb, and then issue 'fbset pal' or 'fbset ntsc') or in advmame, the high frequency sound coming from the monitor which is usually fairly quiet with the ATI card is rather loud with the Nvidia TNT2 card. (Does this description make sense?! I think this is the 15khz resonating from the LOPT?)

Ya, this may or may not mean anything.  I notice that at lower frequencies I get a bit of a wine too.  Maybe the driver is working correctly, or maybe the hclock is a bit off.  You may want to try tweaking your setup a bit to see if you can get rid of it.  

In addition to this sound, the on-screen display of the TV never turns off, which usually indicates it cannot  sync, or there is no signal - however the display is normal.

again maybe the signal isn't dead on.  

Both the TNT2 cards I have are different ages and PCB layout looks completely different, but both function exactly the same. Does anyone have any idea what is happening? Both H and V sync rates report within range, and the same as the ATI on the advv test screens.

I suspect it's a driver issue, however, if in doubt spend $10 for a PNY or Visiontek TNT2 card (ebay).  If it doesn't work with these cards, then you know it's the driver.

Just to frustrate me even more I have tried several SiS based cards, but sisfb does not seem to work properly, an S3Trio card but S3Triofb doesn't work on Intel CPUs, and a Matrox GeForce4 which isn't compatible with rivafb! Oh and I can't get svgalib to compile for reasons beyond my comprehension.

I can give you a hand with compling svgalib, but I need to know what linux distro / version you're using.


Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Ben

[benwillcox]

use display_restore no in advancemame and video_restore no in advancemenu to solve this issue.  This issue exists with all video cards.

I did try this after it was suggested on the advmame mailing list - it slightly improved matters (the screen stayed normal for longer), but still would never work right on the ATI card. (It did work on the TNT card however)

I can give you a hand with compling svgalib, but I need to know what linux distro / version you're using.

Thanks for the offer - however, luckily a friend of mine has now given me a Matrox G400 card, which works just great now with the framebuffer driver!
No wierd sync issues, the video stays at 15khz when it's meant to, interlace modes work, and the colours seem brighter and more vivid with this card. I'm much happier now!

The only thing I'm a little stuck with now is fbset doesn't want to work when I issue 'fbset pal' or 'fbset ntsc' (I can't recall the error right now), and I can't get it to switch to a 15khz mode when passing the necessary kernel parameters to grub (maybe I need to compile in i2c-matroxfb instead of using a module??)

Cheers for your help,

Ben

[desmatic]

use display_restore no in advancemame and video_restore no in advancemenu to solve this issue.  This issue exists with all video cards.

I did try this after it was suggested on the advmame mailing list - it slightly improved matters (the screen stayed normal for longer), but still would never work right on the ATI card. (It did work on the TNT card however)

I can give you a hand with compling svgalib, but I need to know what linux distro / version you're using.

Thanks for the offer - however, luckily a friend of mine has now given me a Matrox G400 card, which works just great now with the framebuffer driver!
No wierd sync issues, the video stays at 15khz when it's meant to, interlace modes work, and the colours seem brighter and more vivid with this card. I'm much happier now!

The only thing I'm a little stuck with now is fbset doesn't want to work when I issue 'fbset pal' or 'fbset ntsc' (I can't recall the error right now), and I can't get it to switch to a 15khz mode when passing the necessary kernel parameters to grub (maybe I need to compile in i2c-matroxfb instead of using a module??)

Cheers for your help,

Ben

You deffinitely don't want to use any modules for fb support, they should be compiled into the kernel.  The 15kHz parameters for grub/lilo are posted on my site.  The matrox is a really great card, it's just that it doesn't work well with low pclocks, like Nvidia's TNT.  Otherwise, it's really top notch.

[benwillcox]

You deffinitely don't want to use any modules for fb support, they should be compiled into the kernel.  The 15kHz parameters for grub/lilo are posted on my site.  The matrox is a really great card, it's just that it doesn't work well with low pclocks, like Nvidia's TNT.  Otherwise, it's really top notch.

Thanks Desmatic, I'll do a kernel recompile with the matrox module built in. Great site BTW, that was where I discovered that it is possible to pass the paramaters to the matrox driver in the first place, so that info is very useful!

Cheers,
Ben.