Welcome to the Picasso96 FAQ!

Please read the documentation, too!

1. Q: I am using Picasso96 with the UAE Amiga emulator. I wanted to create additional screen modes, used Picasso96Mode to attach the default setting and add new screen modes, saved and rebooted. Now I don't see any of my new modes and/or I get a message during boot that the initialisation of a display id failed because it already exists. I checked but could not find any duplicate entries. What's wrong?
   A: The UAE driver does not allow the creation of custom screen modes, it always uses the modes that the underlying operating system offers for which it dynamically generates display ids each time you start UAE (therefore display ids might change when you update the graphics board driver of the system you are running UAE on). So you also must not attach a setting to the UAE driver as its internally generated display ids might collide with the ones you created by attaching a setting to it. Use Picasso96Mode to either delete the setting or to attach it to "no board". You will be out of trouble then.
   
   
2. Q: When will there be a driver for the CyberVisionPPC or the BVisionPPC?
   A: Well, we don't have one of these boards (and none of the required accelerator boards either) to make a driver. If we had, there would probably be a basic driver within a few weeks time and some weeks later the driver would probably be complete with blitter acceleration and special features like PIP.
   So, you might ask yourself if you could write a driver for this board you have got. The answer would be "probably not". Why? Because low level hardware programming is much more difficult than writing an application. It is very difficult to start a new driver for an Amiga graphics board from scratch. Even if you have the programming manuals for the VGA chip you probably don't have the necessary documentation about the Amiga specific parts of that board as its makers usually don't tell anyone except their own programmers how to access the board. You need detailed information about the memory layout (i.e. the offsets of the VGA and its memory from the board base as available from the expansion.library), about the organisation of the RAM on this board (most chip sets allow different RAM layouts which have to be programmed differently) and about special peculiarities like areas with certain special access modes like byte-swapping.
   Now, even if you all this information, it is still a tedious job to even get the board to display a video signal as the VGA chip documentation is often incomplete (we have yet to find a manual that could be rated "good") and debugging is extremely difficult because one often does not know why the board does not generate the proper signal with the current set of parameters. Even worse, the Amiga might lock up completely forcing you to reboot and try again from the first step.
   If we hadn't all the experience with the different VGA chips and Amiga graphics boards, it would be very hard for us to write a new driver. Anyway, we still almost go nuts when implementing a driver for a new board, but at least we have got years of experience and know what we could try to do when we face problems.
   You are still convinced you could write a new driver? Contact us.
   Or do you want to lend us a board for development? Contact us also.
   
   
3. Q: Why isn't there any settings file for monitors with more than 64 kHz?
   A: Because all those settings available now were supplied by Village Tronic and are based on their experiences with the PicassoII drivers. They have proven to be compatible with most monitors users might have.
   If we (the Picasso96 team) would generate modes for higher frequencies, we could not test them with a variety of monitors. So how should we prevent incompatibilities? There is no safe way except having users create or modify their own settings. This way they can get the most out of their hardware.
   Note: it is not a good idea to always drive the board and the monitor at their maximum frequencies. Due to memory bandwidth restrictions the display generation eats up more available bandwidth which causes CPU and blitter access to slow down. The video signal becomes less sharp, too, when reaching the top frequency the DAC (which converts the digital information collected from the memory to an analog signal that is fed into the monitor).
   So, our advice is to only use the frequency range you really need. Refresh rates above approximately 85 Hz for any mode are simply not necessary and only hurt performance and lead to signal degradation.
   
   
4. Q: Why can't my Amiga graphics board display the same resoutions as my new PC?
   A: Well, because the VGA chip set in your PC is new (about one year old or even less) whereas the chips on the Amiga graphics boards are generally about three to eight years old. Technology was not as advanced then as it is today and those old chips simply don't even come close to the capabilities of a state-of-the-art PC VGA board.
   
   
5. Q: Each time I boot my Amiga I get a message complaining that Picasso96 could not create a board context for my graphics board, but the screen modes are still available.
   A: This indicates that the monitor driver is being called more than once which causes Picasso96 to look for another board of this type that is not yet being used . As you'll probably don't have another such board, the driver complains about not finding one.
   This is most often caused by boot picture programs like that start the monitor driver a second time early in the startup-sequence to be able to open a screen on the board as early as possible.
   Solution: either don't allow the monitor driver to be started a second time or add a tool type "Quiet" to the monitor driver to tell it to ignore the problem.
   This can also be used to avoid the message when you have different graphics boards but do not have all of them installed at the same time.
   
   
6. Q: Starting with Picasso96 v1.38 I get wrong looking colors on the Macintosh emulator screen if I change the screen (e.g. switch to the Workbench). What's wrong?
   A: You might try to play with the GrantDirectAccess tool type of the monitor driver for that graphics board. Set it to yes. But this might also give unwanted results with other programs. Use with care.
   
   
7. Q: What board configurations are supported by Picasso96?
   A: These are the currently supported configurations. Check your system with SYS:Tools/ShowConfig to be sure.

   Card	Chip Set	Manufacturer	Manufacturer ID	Product ID(s)	Operation Mode	Supported
   CyberVision 64/3D	S3 ViRGE	Phase 5	8512	67	ZorroII	yes (starting with the 1.40 release)
   					ZorroIII	yes
   CyberVision 64	S3 Trio 64	Phase 5	8512	34	all	yes
   CyberVision PPC	3DLabs Permedia2	Phase 5	8512	??	all	not yet
   Domino	Tseng ET4000AX	Village Tronic, distributed by Xpert	2167	1+2	all	yes
   Graffity	Cirrus Logic GD5426	bsc	2092	33+34	ZorroII	yes
   					ZorroIII	no (due to buggy bus interface)
   Merlin	Tseng ET4000W32	Xpert	2117	3+4	ZorroII	yes, but only 2MB
   					ZorroIII	yes
   oMniBus	Tseng ET4000AX	Oliver Bausch, distributed by Armax	2181	0+0	all	yes
   PicassoII(+)	Cirrus Logic GD5426 or GD5428	Village Tronic	2167	11+12	linear ZorroII	yes
   				13	segmented ZorroII	no, change jumper to linear mode!
   PicassoIV	Cirrus Logic GD5446	Village Tronic	2167	21+22+23	ZorroII	yes
   				24	ZorroIII	yes
   Piccolo	Cirrus Logic GD5426	Ingenieurbüro Helfrich	2195	5+6	all	yes
   Piccolo SD64	Cirrus Logic GD5434	Ingenieurbüro Helfrich	2195	10+11	all	yes
   Pixel 64	Cirrus Logic GD5434	Ateo Concepts	2026	254+255	all	yes
   Retina BLT Z3	NCR 77C32 BLT	Macro System	18260	16	all	yes
   Spectrum 24/28	Cirrus Logic GD5426	Great Valley Products (GVP)	2193	1+2	all	yes
   UAE Amiga emulator	uses host display system	non commercial	2011	96	on various platforms	consult your UAE documentation

   
   
   
8. Q: Whenever I start the config program for DirectoryOpus 4.x my Amiga crashes. What can I do?
   A: Use a screen promotor utility (like ModePro or the one within MCP) and force the DOpus config screen to use a native Amiga mode. This is a known problem. The main DOpus screen may be on the graphics board without any problem.
   
   
9. Q: I have an A4000 with 040/25 and bought a PicassoIV, but it does not work or is at least unstable. What's wrong?
   A: There is a good chance that your original 040 board which is called A3640 is an old 3.0 version which is known to make trouble with ZorroIII boards like the PicassoIV. You should get your board upgraded to version 3.1 or even 3.2. Furthermore it might be that a chip (74Fxxx) has to be exchanged, too. (Pointed out by Michael (shotgun@best.com)).
   
   
10. Q: The Picasso96 monitor driver crashes or generates Enforcer hits on startup. What's wrong?
    A: We have not encountered such problems yet. As far as I can say it right now, these problems are caused by the combination of:
    • AGA based Amiga,
    • Kickstart and Workbench 3.0 and
    • the VGAOnly monitor driver.
    We will try to find the problem ASAP.
    
    
11. Q: I own a PicassoII(+) and the Picasso drivers of some applications do not work with Picasso96 but worked with the original software. What is wrong?
    A: Sorry, but some drivers for the old API are really buggy, e.g. the ADPro Saver and Display modules. There is no way to make them work properly as they did not even adhere to the original Picasso API.
    
    
12. Q: I own a PicassoII and tried to use Picasso96 with it but Picasso96 refuses to find the board. The old software works. What's wrong?
    A: Your PicassoII is probably configured for segmented mode. This mode is not supported by Picasso96. You will have to change the appropriate jumper. Note: if you run the showconfig tool from your workbench, the PicassoII must show up as two devices with the product ids 11 and 12. If it shows as id 13, it is configured for segmented mode.
    
    
13. Q: I have strangely distorted images or text on my Merlin. What can I do about it?
    A: Try to set the "NoPlanar2ChunkyBlits=Yes" tool type in the monitor driver icon. This should help.
    
    
14. Q: What tool types are there to configure a Picasso96 board?
    A: There 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.
    • IgnoreMask: if set to "yes", masked blits are treated like unmasked ones for speed reasons. Does have an effect on few boards only.
    • NoPlanar2ChunkyBlits: use CPU routines instead of on-board blitter for that purpose. Might be faster in certain configurations.
    • NoBlitter: if set to "yes" the on-board blitter will never be used. Activate this only when absolutely necessary.
    • System2ScreenBlits: enable (Yes) expansion blits that get the expansion data from CPU. On some systems this causes problems with the expansion bus timing. Default: "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).
    • GrantDirectAccess: 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!
    • 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.
    
    If you change the tool types you will have to reboot to get the changes activated.
    Some card or chip drivers might have additional tool types. See the "History" section.
    All other tool types are explicitly non-documented. Do not try them or you might be in real problems. Do not even ask anyone what they are for. They are only for our internal testing.
    
    
15. Q: What Picasso96 ENV variables are there?
    A: There are:
    • ENV:Picasso96/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.
    • ENV:Picasso96/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.
    • ENV:Picasso96/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.
    • ENV:Picasso96/DoNotUseMMU: if set ("Yes"), the MMU of 040 and 060 based systems will not be set up to mark the memory of the graphics board as no-caching/non-serialized or no-caching/ imprecise. This might help on unstable systems but will cost some performance.
    • ENV:Picasso96/ShowModes: with this variable you can choose which RGBFormats should have screen modes that should be shown in screen mode requestors. Can be set to "essential" (which is the default, meaning that only one screen mode for each color depth should be visible), "all" (which will show screen modes for all RGBFormats) or a decimal (no prefix), hexadecimal ("$") or binary ("%") value that tells which possible RGBFormats to show.
      Note: the other screen modes are still available but not visible in the requesters.
      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.
    
    These environment variables can be changed any time and will take effect immediately.
    All other environment variables are explicitly non-documented. Do not try them or you might be in real problems. Do not even ask anyone what they are for. They are only for our internal testing.
    
    
16. Q: I think that something is not working for me. Who is the right one to mail my report to?
    A: First, are you really sure that it is a Picasso96 problem? Did you read the documentation and you did not find enough information there?
    Ok, if you are sure you want to write a mail, choose the appropriate person to send it to:
    • old Picasso software (vilintui stuff): no one!
    • picture.datatype (v43/Picasso96) and PicassoModeTNG: Olaf Barthel olsen@sourcery.han.de
    • CyberVision drivers (CyberVision.card and S3Trio64.chip): Michael Teske mteske@c-s-k.de
    • PiccoloSD64 drivers (PiccoloSD64.card and CirrusGD5434.chip): Niels Knoop niels@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de
    • the main Picasso96 distribution and currently the rest...: Tobias Abt tabt@studbox.uni-stuttgart.de
    
    
    
17. Q: I keep getting random crashes or currupted memory lists. What is wrong?
    A: Do you use FastIPrefs or do you still use the original IPrefs? The original IPrefs uses a far too small stack frame and gets in deep trouble when used with the v43 picture.datatype supplied with Picasso96. I suggest you switch to FastIPrefs and tell me if that "cured" your problems.
    
    
18. Q: ShapeShifter is awfully slow in High- and TrueColor modes, it seems to use refresh modes. What can I do about it?
    A: The Macintosh can only use direct display memory access when using one of these modes:
    • "xy 15 bit RGB" or
    • "xy 32 bit ARGB".
    All other modes are refresh modes! And no, we can't do anything about it! Don't even bother to ask!
    
    
19. Q: Since Picasso96 version 1.19 my mouse sprite is scrambled on the far right portion of the screen. What can I do about it?
    A: Since version 1.19, always 64 pixel hardware sprites are being used which need more time to fetch the sprite data during horizontal retrace. Please increment the horizontal total value of affected modes and move the mode to the left until this effect no longer occures.
    
    
20. Q: Is there no way to get DPaint to work with non-planar Picasso96 modes?
    A: All those who want to use DPaint with Picasso96 should use ModePro and tell it to "force planar" screens.
    
    
21. Q: I have problems getting a small mode like 320x200 to work with my CyberVision 64. What can I do?
    A: The default modes might be too small for your card. Try to increase the horizontal and vertical totals by a few percent.
    
    
22. Q: It ain't much but why is one of the colors of my mouse pointer being somekind of inverted when passing over colored areas of screens in almost any depth?
    A: That's a limitation of many VGA chips. They have only two real mouse colors and one inverting "color". On the PC, normally only two colors are needed so that's ok for them.
    You'll have to paint yourself a two colored mouse sprite, switch to software sprite or live with it. Sorry!
    
    
23. Q: I already have a settings file for CyberGraphX or the old Village system which I want to use. What can I do?
    A: The PicassoModeTNG by Olaf Barthels can load those settings.
    
    
24. Q: Why do some screens not respond to DisplayBeep()?
    A: Because Picasso96 currently does nothing when DisplayBeep() is called for a Hi- or TrueColor screen. The reason is that on screens that are not CLUT based, the standard way to do a DisplayBeep() does not work. Some replacement will be implemented later.
    
    
25. Q: Why do all my icons flicker when moved around on a Picasso96 screen?
    A: With Picasso96 icons are not moved beamsyncronized. The icon is first cleared out at its current position and then redrawn at the new position.
    As a matter of fact, for a short amount of time the icon is not visible. This causes the flicker unless it happens in the vertical blanking period. Currently Picasso96 moves icons without waiting to be as fast as possible.
    
    
26. Q: I don't like the settings supplied with Picasso96 because they do not use the bandwidth my monitor likes or I would like to get better modes. What can I do?
    A: There are two alternatives:
    1. Use Picasso96Mode and either create new modes or alter the pixel clock of the existing ones, test the modes, save and reboot.
    2. Look at the download page and look if there is one for you...
    
    
    
27. Q: Why is it that I can not use TrueColor modes with the CyberVision64?
    A: The cards supported by Picasso96 have different color formats:

    Cards and their supported color formats

    Card	Planar	Chunky	HiColor15	HiColor16	TrueColor	TrueAlpha
    CyberVision 64/3D	-	+	+	+	+	+
    CyberVision 64	-	+	+	+	-	+
    Domino	+	+	+	-	-	-
    Merlin	+	+	+	+	+	+
    oMniBus	+	+	+	(+)	(+)	(+)
    PicassoII(+)	+	+	+	+	+	-
    PicassoIV	+	+	+	+	+	-
    Piccolo	+	+	+	+	+	-
    Piccolo SD64	-	+	+	+	+	+
    Pixel64	-	+	+	+	+	+
    RetinaBLT	-	+	+	+	+	-
    Spectrum	+	+	+	+	+	-
    uaegfx	-	+	+	+	+	+

    So, the CyberVision can not use 24 bit TrueColor modes but has 32 bit modes with an (unused) alpha channel.
    
    
28. Q: I defined my own display modes, but some of them seem to have problems with the hardware sprite (of my Cirrus based board). It either disappears at the right side of the display or there are some strange pixels when I move the mouse sprite to the top of the screen.
    A: The mode you created does not give the VGA chip enough time to fetch the sprite data during horizontal retrace. You will have to increase the horizontal totals by a few pixels and move the display to the left. You can check this in the edit and test screens of Picasso96Mode, too.
    
    
29. Q: Some of my pictures and images are not rendered correctly.
    A: Maybe some of your datatypes might be incompatible. We currently have tested and can advise the use of:
    • Matthias Scheler's datatypes (and newer versions of course):
      • ilbm.datatype 43.5 (c) 1995-1996 by Matthias Scheler
      • gif.datatype 43.12 (c) 1995-1996 by Matthias Scheler
      • jfif.datatype 43.8 (c) 1995-1996 by Matthias Scheler
      These can be found in the "util/dtype/PictDT43.lha" archive available on Aminet. The GIF datatype must not be distributed anymore due to licence problems with Unisys who own the patent for the algorithm!
    • Andreas Ralph Kleinert's datatypes (and newer versions of course):
      • akJFIF.datatype 43.24 (01.02.97)
      • akPNG.datatype 43.15 (05.02.97)
      • akSVG.datatype 43.14 (01.02.97)
      • akGIF.datatype 43.7 (07.12.96)
      These can be found in the "util/dtype" directory of Aminet. The GIF datatype must not be distributed anymore due to licence problems with Unisys who own the patent for the algorithm!
    
    
    
30. Q: The supplied v43 picture.datatype has a smaller revision number than the CyberGraphX picture.datatype. Which one should I use with Picasso96?
    A: The picture.datatype supplied with Picasso96 is completely different to the one supplied with CyberGraphX. The Picasso96 picture.datatype works with Picasso96 and CyberGraphX, but the CyberGraphX picture.datatype works only with CyberGraphX. So, you will have to use the Picasso96 picture.datatype.
    
    
31. Q: Why is it, that NewIcons icons are rendered incorrect when I use the option RTG?
    A: This mode is not compatible with Picasso96 before version 1.19.
    
    
32. Q: Why is there no screen dragging with Picasso96?
    A: Hmmm, the sad thing is: VGA chips do not have the features the Amiga Copper offers. There are too many restrictions:
    • you can do split screen, but you can only show two screens at the same time,
    • the screen width and RGB formats have to be the same, or it will look very strange,
    • if both screens are chunky they should use the same palette or it will...
    • the base address of the second screen must be 0 (ZERO), i.e. when this is not the case, then you will have to move the screen to that position. But this interferes with the memory management of Picasso96...
    
    
    
33. Q: Which programs are known not to work with Picasso96?
    A: Currently, these seem to be:
    • DPaintV crashes due to the fact that it manipulates the bitmap itself, ignoring that the display might be on a chunky screen. The only solution is to create or activate planar modes and use DPaint with at most 16 colors.
    • ImageFX (may lock up).
    • VLab video capture board software will lock up if the "Monitor" window is activated. All other aspects of VLab will work normally if the "Monitor" window is not activated. (Tip from Gary Beeton)
    
    Please tell me what to add... :-\
    
    
34. Q: Will there be support for the Retina Z2?
    A: Support for the Retina Z2 is being worked on by external programmers, but there is nothing to test yet.
    Do not send any mail asking about specific dates or beta testing offerings, you will notice when the boards are supported!
    
    
35. Q: How can I create new resolutions for Picasso96?
    A: You'll have to use Picasso96Mode. Here is how:
    • start Picasso96Mode,
    • click on the top left gadget (the "New object" gadget) and you will see a new object attached to your mouse sprite,
    • drop this new object into the resolution list (lower left part of the display), once the name of the object changed to "New resolution",
    • change the resolution size to 640x400 or whatever you like,
    • get another new object (see above), drop it in the modes list (upper right part of the display),
    • click "Test",
    • if not satisfied, click "Edit" and change the mode (no, this was never meant to be really easy... :-))
    • if you want similar modes for Hi- and TrueColor, copy the mode you just created and change the depth cycle, re-test and so on...
    • save and reboot.
    
    
    
36. Q: How can I copy resolutions or modes for Picasso96?
    A: You'll have to use Picasso96Mode. Here is how:
    • click on the list item you want to copy,
    • move the mouse to the left or right while still pressing the left mouse button (!!!). Don't be too slow or it won't work! You should see an object attached to your mouse sprite,
    • drop the object over the third of the top-left gadgets (the copy gadget) and you'll see a copy of the object appear in the list view where you took the first object.
    
    
    
37. Q: How can I delete resolutions or modes for Picasso96?
    A: You'll have to use Picasso96Mode. Here is how:
    • same as copy, just use the fourth top-left gadget. WARNING: there is no "Undo" button!
    
    
    
38. Q: Picasso96Mode: how can I activate or deactivate a mode or resolution?
    A: Double click the list entry.
    
    
39. Q: Some of my old Village drivers are behaving strangely or crash. Why?
    A: We really suggest that you get rid of them. The old Village API is a pile of ... :-(
    Please use the Picasso96 drivers or try the CyberGraphX ones!
    
    
40. Q: Some (old) documentation says, KickStart 3.1 is needed for Picasso96. Why?
    A: NEW FEATURE: from Picasso96 1.17 on, 3.0 is sufficient. We have found the differences and added the necessary code to allow full 3.0 compatibility.
    
    
41. Q: How can I tell the version of Picasso96 I currently have?
    A: In the root directory of the archive or disk you got is a file called version. From a shell window, do "version <path>Version" or simply "type" this file. This file does not exists on the November 96 demo disk, but on all later releases.
    
    
42. Q: I installed Picasso96, but I don't get any screen modes. What's wrong?
    A: The settings files which are currently supplied assume a PicassoIV board. If you have another one, start Picasso96Mode, select the menu "Attach setting to" and choose your board (should be the last line of the menu. If your board does not appear, the monitor file has not been started or is misconfigured (check tool types of Sys:Devs/Monitors/<YourBoardName>).
    
    
43. Q: Why is the scrolling speed of the Picasso II, Piccolo or Spectrum less than under the old Picasso, CyberGraphX or EGS software?
    A: This is because the Picasso96 software normally respects the rastport and blit masks which requires multiple blits to be performed. If you want to speed up blitting, add a tool type "IgnoreMask=Yes" in your Devs:Monitors/PicassoII, Piccolo or Spectrum icon. Be warned though that this mode may result in incorrect rendering.