No VGA out from HYDRA

StephenG

I got a HYDRA game programming board, book, assorted hardware, etc. for Christmas along with a Propeller education kit and an extra Propeller chip, proto board and some other stuff. I have been looking forward to working with the chip as it looks very interesting. I decided for my first foray into the world of the Propeller I would have a little fun and set up the Hydra first. A nice looking piece of hardware that seemed, on the surface, simple enough to set up. I decided to set up the interface through an available port on my KVM and fool with the audio after that. After making the appropriate connections (with a tested cable that came with the KVM), I fired it up. The KVM acknowledged the existance of the HYDRA and upon selecting the device with a button on the KVM, no video. Odd. So I checked to see if there was a selection switch. After moving the selector switch at J10 to on, I got the same result. The two blue LED's light when powering the unit on - and the amber LED illuminates when inserting the expansion card, but no video. I can't help but think I'm doing something stupid! I have not yet attempted to connect the RCA video. The crystal appears to be seated. I guess I'll go play with the education kit. Any suggestions?

Stepgen G

Forrest

According to page 30 of the Hydra manual, Parallaxaroids is preloaded onto the Hydra - and this game is designed to output composite video, not VGA. You'll need to load a demo that outputs VGA to try your VGA monitor.

CardboardGuru

Yes, nearly all of the current programs for the Hydra use composite out not VGA. So give it a try with your TV.

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Play Defender - Propeller version of the classic game
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StephenG

A TV, how quaint.

CardboardGuru

StephenG said...
A TV, how quaint.

It's a games console. Games consoles plug into TVs. Even the latest ones.

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Help to build the Propeller wiki - propeller.wikispaces.com
Play Defender - Propeller version of the classic game
Prop Room Robotics - my web store for Roomba spare parts in the UK

QuattroRS4

Just reading this thread now ... did you ensure that the _clkmode and _clkfreq settings were correct for the hydra as it has a 10MHz crystal whereas the Demo Board and proto board have a 5MHz crystal ..

So any non Hydra Specific sample program will not work until the adjustments are made - see below..


standard for 5Hhz crystal:

CON
· _clkmode = xtal1 + pll16x
· _xinfreq = 5_000_000

Hydra:

CON
· _clkmode = xtal1 + pll8x
· _xinfreq = 10_000_000


..... Just a thought..

Regards,
·········· John



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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Baggers

QuattroRS4,

I've noticed in some of the Hydra sources that the settings are

_clkmode = xtal2 + pll8x
_xinfreq = 10_000_000

But as the propeller's a pretty cool tough chip, and either ( xtal1 or xtal2 ) work just fine, [noparse]:)[/noparse]
I guess it was from the early days when they first got the Hydra's and the clock was out slightly?

Cheers,
Jim.
[noparse]:)[/noparse]

QuattroRS4

Baggers,
Just had a peek there myself .. good catch !

Regards,
John

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Baggers

No Probs John matey [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Yeah, it confused me the first time I saw different values, thought why is one xtal1 and one xtal2, were they from V1 and V2 of hydra?

Cheers,
Jim.