video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

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satiropan
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video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by satiropan »

hello, I still own the A1g3se, pretty problematic board, but still works and so I test it deeply.
I have 2 agp video cards, both radeon 9200 but one is 128Mb while the other is 256MB
I have tested them both on 4.0 and 4.1.6 and these are the results, with the same LCD monitor
on OS4.0
9200 256MB, all 256MB seen by OS, maximum resolution, 1600x1024
9200 128Mb, all 128Mb seen by OS, maximum resolution 1600x1024

on OS 4.1.6
9200 256MB, only 128MB seen by OS, maximum resolution, 1440x900
9200 128Mb, all 128Mb seen by OS, maximum resolution 1600x1024

so why is it that the 256Mb board is seen as 128MB and only reaches 1440x900 resolution on OS4.1.6?
does it mean the OS4.0 driver was better?
should I change back to the 4.0 driver in kickstart?
regards
Satiropan
PPA1200 (Poor Portable Amiga 1200): BPPC-160MB,
BVision-CGX4, HD 10GB, slim DVD R/W, Asus VW161D
display, 3COM Lan PC card, OS4.1FE
AmigaOne G3-SE 600MHz, 1GB, Radeon 9200 128DDR,
CS4281 sound card, RTL8029, SiI3114, OS 4.1.6 & OS4.1FE
http://www.oldfab.webs.com
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Rigo
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by Rigo »

It means there may be more changes than you might think. Mixing drivers from different distributions is certainly not recommended, or supported, and will create lots of hair pulling in the event of problems.

I would suggest you just live with it, it's been done for a reason.

Simon
satiropan
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by satiropan »

Rigo wrote:It means there may be more changes than you might think. Mixing drivers from different distributions is certainly not recommended, or supported, and will create lots of hair pulling in the event of problems.

I would suggest you just live with it, it's been done for a reason.

Simon
thanx, anyway, as soon as I will have time, I will try switching the video drivers, noting precisely what I change where, so I can rollback safely.
In case I have some success, I will write here.
Satiropan
PPA1200 (Poor Portable Amiga 1200): BPPC-160MB,
BVision-CGX4, HD 10GB, slim DVD R/W, Asus VW161D
display, 3COM Lan PC card, OS4.1FE
AmigaOne G3-SE 600MHz, 1GB, Radeon 9200 128DDR,
CS4281 sound card, RTL8029, SiI3114, OS 4.1.6 & OS4.1FE
http://www.oldfab.webs.com
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Hans-Joerg Frieden
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by Hans-Joerg Frieden »

A 256 MB Radeon might come in two variants.

If there is a secondary function on the board (i.e Ranger will report a second board with 128 megabytes of memory) then this card will not work no matter what the system reports. Even if the old drivers show 256 MB, it is very likely that if video memory usage runs over into the second 128 MB, the system will lock up.

As Rigo said, do not mix drivers. I'm serious. Use the 128 MB card and be done with it. Even if the driver WOULD work (which is doubtful), and even if the 256 MB WOULD appear, it still will not work. ONLY 256 MB CARDS WITH A SINGLE PCI FUNCTION have a change of working.
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satiropan
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by satiropan »

Hans-Joerg Frieden wrote:A 256 MB Radeon might come in two variants.

If there is a secondary function on the board (i.e Ranger will report a second board with 128 megabytes of memory) then this card will not work no matter what the system reports. Even if the old drivers show 256 MB, it is very likely that if video memory usage runs over into the second 128 MB, the system will lock up.

As Rigo said, do not mix drivers. I'm serious. Use the 128 MB card and be done with it. Even if the driver WOULD work (which is doubtful), and even if the 256 MB WOULD appear, it still will not work. ONLY 256 MB CARDS WITH A SINGLE PCI FUNCTION have a change of working.
ok, where do i get this 'Ranger'?
Satiropan
PPA1200 (Poor Portable Amiga 1200): BPPC-160MB,
BVision-CGX4, HD 10GB, slim DVD R/W, Asus VW161D
display, 3COM Lan PC card, OS4.1FE
AmigaOne G3-SE 600MHz, 1GB, Radeon 9200 128DDR,
CS4281 sound card, RTL8029, SiI3114, OS 4.1.6 & OS4.1FE
http://www.oldfab.webs.com
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thomasrapp
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by thomasrapp »

Where else do you get OS4 software from?

http://os4depot.net
satiropan
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by satiropan »

thomasrapp wrote:Where else do you get OS4 software from?

http://os4depot.net
tomorrow I'll try ranger
today I did a new 4.1.1 installation on a spare ide hd, with the 256mb radeon installed, then I changed the ATIRadeon.chip file in sys:kickstart with the same file from 4.0.
Now I read 256MB of ram.
To morrow I will do all the 6 updates plus the online updates and then copy again the OS4.0 ATIRadeon.chip file, in case it will be updated, to see what's the behaviour
To check whether they are real or not, I will try to fill the video of pictures, in order to get past 128MB (131 actually)
I think that since the 4.0 atiradeon.chip file is from 2006, maybe then there where more a1g3se used by developers, so the driver seems to work better.
anyway, since the installation is on a spare cd, I can roll back anytime
I'll keep you informed
Satiropan
PPA1200 (Poor Portable Amiga 1200): BPPC-160MB,
BVision-CGX4, HD 10GB, slim DVD R/W, Asus VW161D
display, 3COM Lan PC card, OS4.1FE
AmigaOne G3-SE 600MHz, 1GB, Radeon 9200 128DDR,
CS4281 sound card, RTL8029, SiI3114, OS 4.1.6 & OS4.1FE
http://www.oldfab.webs.com
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Raziel
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by Raziel »

satiropan wrote:
thomasrapp wrote:Where else do you get OS4 software from?

http://os4depot.net
tomorrow I'll try ranger
today I did a new 4.1.1 installation on a spare ide hd, with the 256mb radeon installed, then I changed the ATIRadeon.chip file in sys:kickstart with the same file from 4.0.
Now I read 256MB of ram.
To morrow I will do all the 6 updates plus the online updates and then copy again the OS4.0 ATIRadeon.chip file, in case it will be updated, to see what's the behaviour
To check whether they are real or not, I will try to fill the video of pictures, in order to get past 128MB (131 actually)
I think that since the 4.0 atiradeon.chip file is from 2006, maybe then there where more a1g3se used by developers, so the driver seems to work better.
anyway, since the installation is on a spare cd, I can roll back anytime
I'll keep you informed
:roll:
You DID read Hans-Jörg Friedens and Rigos posts?
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Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
We are in the beginning of a mass extinction.
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Hans-Joerg Frieden
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by Hans-Joerg Frieden »

satiropan wrote:Now I read 256MB of ram.
As I said, this has zero relevance. The only thing that matters if it is straight 256 MB or the segmented, multi-function one. The old driver didn't check for that, and filling up the memory will almost guaranteed lock up your system. If you insist on going on with this, then please don't be surprised if you run into a lot of complications.
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satiropan
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Location: milano, Italia
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Re: video ram in 4.0 vs 4.1.6

Post by satiropan »

Hans-Joerg Frieden wrote:
satiropan wrote:Now I read 256MB of ram.
As I said, this has zero relevance. The only thing that matters if it is straight 256 MB or the segmented, multi-function one. The old driver didn't check for that, and filling up the memory will almost guaranteed lock up your system. If you insist on going on with this, then please don't be surprised if you run into a lot of complications.
so in the end I loaded pictures of space from hubblesite.org, 67mb, 40mb and 27mb.
You were right, the board uses only 128MB of video ram, I get maximum 87mb of used video ram, and the normal ram is filled a lot, I reached having only 9mb of free ram, then,if I load another picture, the system locks.
Set aside this question, why the system prefers to fill normal ram instead of video ram when loading pictures?
regards
Satiropan
PPA1200 (Poor Portable Amiga 1200): BPPC-160MB,
BVision-CGX4, HD 10GB, slim DVD R/W, Asus VW161D
display, 3COM Lan PC card, OS4.1FE
AmigaOne G3-SE 600MHz, 1GB, Radeon 9200 128DDR,
CS4281 sound card, RTL8029, SiI3114, OS 4.1.6 & OS4.1FE
http://www.oldfab.webs.com
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