Has this happened to anyone else(VGA)

bambino

When I first decided to use the VGA driver I was way over my head with the concept, so I don't Know what I may have done wrong.
Getting to the point, I can no longer use the monitor I sacrificed to be my guinnea pig with a computer any more.
Further more, I can not use the 1280x1024 driver without getting the same distortion as I see when I attach a PC.
Don't get me wrong, I sacrificed this Monitor not knowing what would happen to it. It does still serve as a debug monitor using the vga_Text.spin. I would just like to avoid such a problem in the futre with any other monitor.

I will try to get a picture to upload, but right know all I can say is there appears to be 20 or so screens loading at one time and each is offset by about 10 or 20 pixels.

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Graham Stabler

It could be the screen just died a natural death?

Rayman

I assume you alread pushed the "auto" sync button on the monitor right?

bambino

yeah, I thought of that, but it doesn't give me any bravery when it comes to showing off the prop to my friends.

The other day it was suggested that I bring my "blah blah" (as she calls it) to a dinner we were invited to. I could just hook it up to their monitor and show them what I'm doing. She said.



But my nerves couldn't handel possibly destroying their monitor!

Ha Ha Sounds like dear Abby!
····················· Signed,
······················· Scared to spin casually in Georgia.

Ken Peterson

Are most monitors so poorly designed that improper signal settings can cause permanent damage? Is this common with LCD monitors as well?

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The more I know, the more I know I don't know.· Is this what they call Wisdom?

bambino

It may be something as trival as a power surge, but if it was some virus I created while tweaking the driver........

Ken Peterson

I have heard that if your VGA setting are wrong, it can cause permanent damage. First time I tried the VGA driver, I used an old monitor. I had to tweak several settings in VGA driver before I was able to get a stable image. Monitor seems OK after the ordeal, however.

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The more I know, the more I know I don't know.· Is this what they call Wisdom?

bambino

I can get a screen shot up tomarrow, but like I said it still runs ok as long as I am using it with the Propeller and the VGA text driver.

Dgswaner

it sounds like you just have the wrong resolution set for the monitor (on the PC) if your setting the resolution too high it will look like you have a bunch of overlapping screens, I'd set your resolution to the lowest setting and see what happens. also you could reset the monitor back to factory defaults and see if something there is causing. I would also double check that pins on the monitor data cable and make sure that you haven't bent or broken a pin.

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A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer. - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

hippy

I've had the same problem over recent years with two VGA monitors connected to PC video cards which now only work with that card and only when Windows is up and running. Rock-solid in Windows 98SE or XP ( including Command Line / MS-DOS Prompt ) but totally lose synch during booting and when switched 98SE to XP and vice versa. AFAICT, they eventually suffer from some subtle difference between 98SE/XP drivers and only become usable on one ( but usually work if booting to a specific OS and not re-booting to the other later ).

bambino

Dgswaner,
As far as I know there is no way to reset the settings. It has 6 dials to adjust and center the screen, and contrast and bright. I didn't even see a degoss button anywhere. There may be a hidden reset on it some where, I'll take a look.
Pins are OK, Like I said VGA text works great, color is fine. The only problem I have with VGA Text is when I use it with one of my boards that has a 6 MHZ crystal(flickers bad), but after a few resets it gets in sync and runs perfectly to.

hippy,
I have tried with XP pro and WindowsME on same machine(was a dual booter) same affect. I do have another machine back there I have not tried it with, Thanks!

Beau Schwabe

bambino,

What are your settings for the VGA?

I have an old (at least 12 years) CTX junk monitor that I had to make some slight adjustments to in the Propeller driver software in order for it to work. Such as 25Mhz for the pixel rate (instead of 35), and oddly enough the number of vertical pixels needed to be reduced to 383 (instead of 384). After fiddling with it and adjusting only those parameters, the difference was night and day.

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Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

bambino

Beau,
It was Legable right out of the box for the VGA Text demo. The tweaking I did was to get the VGA Graphics to work. Out Of the Box it looped around Once If you know what I mean. The Woof and the Meow where displayed Twice, but the second set Was Backwards. I don't Know what all I did to be honest, But It too eventually came clear. I thought I still had the Prop IDE loaded to a Thumb Drive when I last reloaded windows, But dummy me, O well you get the picture.... I don't how many Months I was·Monkeying with that thing when I gave up! Came back a week later and it worked fine, but still no PC. I did not try the 1280x1040 till a few weeks ago when I realized it acted just like the PC.

If you could point out where you changed that pixel rate that would be great. I remember seeing that and thought it odd that it was initialized to zero. I figured it was probably set in the PASM somewhere.

Post Edited (bambino) : 10/11/2007 12:25:42 AM GMT

bambino

One mistake, this screen shoot of the 1280x1024 is the first time I have ran it. The one that looked like my PC did, is the one someone wrote mimicking a win3.1 floating window. This time around it would not run at all.

The reset picture comes up from time to time on this reengineered Prop64 board with a 6mhz crystal, another reset and it clears up.
I am sure the VGA demo is correctable, because I did get it straight one time, but I have no clue what I did.

Post Edited (bambino) : 10/11/2007 12:23:13 AM GMT

Beau Schwabe

bambino,

Can you post the code that you are using?·· ...I noticed you mentioned that you were using a 6MHz crystal... Did you indicate that in software also?

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Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

bambino

Beau,
Sorry I couldn't get back to you yesterday. I went thru the drivers and adjusted just the pixel rate. Did wonders!
It cleared up the loop around on the vga demo, and for the first time I Saw only one starting point for the white lines in the vga bitmap demo.
It was the vga text where I noticed the pixel rate initialized to zero where it was declared, I looked closer and found where it was given a value and adjusted. It seemed to take some of the flicker out of the reset problems.

Yes, the clock was updated on the files I used and everything seemed to work better with xtal2 than xtal1. Many times this has bit me before with the spinstamp. I think on my next revision·of the prop64 adapter I'll go back to 5Mhz.

As far as settings goes, the pixel rate and clock were the only changes from default·that I made, as I just reloaded windows and set up the IDE again. All the Library files are brand new. The VGA demo was originally 20mhz and 21 cured it, and I think the bitmap demo was around 35mhz. 21 or 22 mhz·cleared it up.
No luck on the PC thing though.

·Out of all the settings for a VGA driver, which one do you think is most detrimental to a monitor if set wrong?

Beau Schwabe

bambino,

I tried to mimic your setup last night with a 6MHz crystal, and I did see similar results, but only after going back to using a 5MHz crystal with the Propeller software still configured for 6MHz. My bet is that most of what you are seeing is due to improper timing... the crystal being the source culprit.

As far as being detrimental to the monitor... anything that keeps the monitor from properly syncing is going to be extra wear and tear on the monitor. Brief intervals during testing should have little impact, but I would not purposefully leave it in a mode that causes the monitor to constantly track or lose sync for any extended period of time. Consult the manufacturer's specs on the monitor to see what ranges it can safely work within.

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Beau Schwabe

IC Layout Engineer
Parallax, Inc.

potatohead

Might not be a bad idea to insert one of those KVM switches between the prop and the monitor. One can start their program, hit the switch, then turn it back, thus limiting the time in bad sync.

Most newer monitors I've had experience with, have a shutoff. Older ones don't...

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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!

bambino

Thanks Beau, Potatohead,
I have been using the reset switch on my board with a good program in EEPROM. Testing routines with F10.

And thanks again Beau, what I am seeing now is a lot better. I think you are right about the crystal. In my lab I have a radio I listen to that I once experimented with the PLL output counter on. My Favorite station is near the Top of the FM Band and an output freq of around 110 MHz would jam the signal. Similiar results happen when I'm using the VGA with the 6Mhz Crystal. It just doesn't completely cut the signal. So I know there is a lot of stuff on the monitor cable that shouldn't be there.

Jetlag

It looks like you're going out of range. Are you sure the monitor is 1280x1024 capable? It looks smallish in your pictures. Is there a model number on the monitor?

Do you have another monitor to use with the PC? You could try different resolutions to see if any work. 640x480, 800x600, etc.

bambino

I now have some closeure in the matter. After turning the unit over to get the model number for googleing the specs It now has gone home to meet it's maker! To

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To

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do

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. Can I get an Amen!

rokicki

Heh, reminds me of the time I took my prized 1999 Trinitron CRT upstairs to let my mom use it. I put it on her bed
and turned around to move the old monitor.

Big heavy monitors and beds don't mix. That beautiful old tank slowly (but before I could catch it!) tumbled onto its
face and thence onto the floor. A bunch of glass or something on the inside of the tube broke, although the face
glass was just fine. I was devastated.

These days if I want to show off the propeller I just bring along a cheap $150 19" LCD monitor. It's sure a lot
more portable.

bambino

If I had dropped it I would have been a little upset, but anything that can't handle being turned on it's side for viewing was probably waiting on a chance to burn my house down! Good ridance! RIP! and don't come back.

Ale

I used the 512x384 bitmap driver, that says pixel clock 35 MHz or so. In a nice Benq 17" LCD, works. In my crappy 17" LCD, it does not, so I upped to 40 and it worked. I also tested it ina CRT, some old "multisync", also worked at 40 MHz and not at 35.... I hope was not ot.

bambino

When People around here get a new system they usually replace everthing and throw out there old systems. I'll get another one before long. Maybe this is just the reason Chip put a TV in the chip also.