Configuration

Picasso96 stores all configuration options in these places:

• the settings file containing all display mode information which is usually stored in SYS:Devs/Picasso96Settings
• the tool types for the monitor driver which is normally in SYS:Devs/Monitors/<your_card_name>
• the optional environment variables which can be found in ENV:Picasso96

How to configure Picasso96?

• The settings file containing the screen modes is maintained by Picasso96Mode or PicassoModeTNG. It will not be changed during updates if not explicitly selected. Its default file name is SYS:Devs/Picasso96Settings.
• The tool types are initialized during the first installation of Picasso96 and will not be changed during updates.
  You can change the tool types from Workbench or with the PVS (Picasso96 variable setter; by Ralph Torchia) program.
  Available are:
  • SoftSprite: use software sprite emulation in all modes.
  • BigSprite: double the size of the sprite (ECS sprite only)
  • BorderBlank: force board to always (Yes) or never (No) display a border, defaults to do the same as the system.
  • DisplayChain: if set to no the Amiga or other boards will never been shown by the board switch. This is only to be used for multiple monitor configurations.
  • IgnoreMask: if set to yes, masked blits are treated like unmasked ones for speed reasons.
  • NoPlanar2ChunkyBlits: use CPU routines instead of on-board blitter for that purpose. Might be faster in certain cases and can cure problems with expansion blits (e.g. texts) on some systems.
  • NoBlitter: if set to yes the on-board blitter will never be used. Activate this only when absolutely necessary.
  • System2ScreenBlits: with this tool type you can enable (Yes) expansion blits that get the expansion data from CPU. On some systems this causes problems with the expansion bus timing. Defaults to No.
  • BoardType: the type of the board to configure by this monitor driver, e.g. PicassoIV.
  • SettingsFile: name (and path) of the settings file. Defaults to SYS:Devs/Picasso96Settings.
  • Quiet: if this tool type exists (no parameter needed), the monitor driver program will not complain about being configured for a board type that does not exist or being invoked a second time (which is basically the same as Picasso96 then tries to add another board of that type that does not exist).
  • MemoryClock: used to adjust the memory clock of the graphics chip set. Do not use lightly. The value will be clipped to upper and lower limits. Not all board drivers support changing the value. Defaults to a useful value depending on the particular hardware used.
  • GrantDirectAccess: if set (Yes) ensures that all data on the graphics board can be accessed at all times even without proper locking mechanisms. If that can not be assured for some bitmap, it will be removed from the board when another bitmap with an incompatible color format is put to the board. This tool type affects e.g. Macintosh emulators quite heavily. Use with care!
  
  
• The environment variables are only optional and are modified manually from a CLI window by calling "SetENV Picasso96/<option> <value>".
  GUI alternatives are the PVS (Picasso96 variable setter; by Ralph Torchia) and the P96GlobalPrefs (by Oliver Gerler) programs.
  You can store those settings by copying them to ENVARC:. This way they will be reactivated each time you reboot your system.

  The environment variables are handled by the Picasso96 background process and take effect immediately when you change them. Unlike tool types, the ENV variables are not bound to one particular board, but set flags that are used system-wide.

  Valid options are:

  • AmigaVideo: if set to 31kHz, the Amiga will be set to a MULTISCAN-like mode when Picasso96 screens are shown. This is necessary if you want to have a high audio sampling rate because the Amiga audio is coupled with the Display DMA. Only set this if you do not have a 15kHz monitor like the A1084 attached to the Amiga video port. Defaults to 15kHz.
  • BlackSwitching: if set to Yes, the display will be set to black when screen switches involve a memory transfer of the new screen to the board. This way it might look better. Use it as you like it. Defaults to No.
  • DirectColorMask: if set (Yes), masked blits are supported in HiColor and TrueColor, too, but this will slow down operations like shell scrolling. Use only if absolutely necessary. Defaults to No.
  • DoNotSetMMU: if set (Yes), then the MMU of 040 and 060 processors will be set to "Cache-Inhibited Serialized" (040) or "Cache-Inhibited Precise" (060) instead of "Cache-Inhibited Non-Serialized" (040) or "Cache-Inhibited Imprecise" (060). This slows operations to the graphics board down but might be needed on some systems. Try this switch if you get rendering errors. Defaults to No.
  • Debug: this is only used by us, the developers. If set (Yes), then it might be that some debug information is written to the serial port. Usually release versions do not have such code at all. Please, leave it alone!
  • ShowModes: with this environment variable you can choose which display modes should be visible in screen mode requesters. There are two predefined values:
    • essential: show only one id for each mode depth (default)
    • all: show screen modes for all RGB formats
    
    Furthermore you can select the formats by supplying a RGB format flag array value as decimal, hex or binary number, see the include files for the RGB format definitions. Examples:
    • $ffff: allow all modes
    • %110011: allow only planar, chunky and two hicolor (RGBFB_R5G6B5PC and RGBFB_R5G5B5PC) modes
    • 15: allow only planar, chunky and 24 bit truecolor modes.
  • PlanarOnlyDIPFDBUF: this one is used to disable (set to Yes) double buffering capabilities on all screen modes that use non-planar bitmaps which might cause problems with some stupid animation play routines like the ILBM anim player in PPaint.