Connecting an ATI All-In-Wonder Pro 8Mb to a TV/Arcade monitor


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Posted by Bugfinder on 28, 2000 at 5:49 PM:

Help needed!

I've been around messageboards and learning from questions and answers for a while. Thanks to that, now I'm able to get almost everything I need to build my very own PC to arcade conversion. I cannot thank enough for the invaluable knowledge I got :o)

Though, I still have some problems going on. My goal is to connect my PC to an arcade monitor to run games at full screen in pure DOS (using tweaked modes), but since it will involve much fuss and work, before I start doing this I prefer to test all settings in a regular TV set. I've successfully installed and configured the ATI All-In-Wonder Pro to 640x480 and 800x600 modes (that can be used in TV mode) and 1024x768 for PC monitor only. As stated in the manual, Windows 9x is required to the full use of the card's features; only graphics features are supported under DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows NT and OS/2.

This card allows output to a monitor and TV at same time. The TV is connected through a composite channel (through an RCA connector) or S-Video; image quality is poor and blurry, as you could expect. If I start Windows, enable video output and run MAME, tweaked modes won't run in the TV, only in the monitor. I'm using an standard mame.cfg with the following modifications:

scanlines = no
vsync = yes
tweaked = yes

Running Black Tiger with tweak enabled makes the TV show strange lines, as if the frequency was out of range. So can't I get full screen by using tweaked modes when outputting to a TV? OK, if I disable tweak then I should be able to run any other game in both monitors, right? It seems not :o( Street Fighter 2, for example, only runs OK in the TV, my monitor has the same strange lines - and with tweak disabled. Using scanlines or not using vsync don't help either, as I tried with default mame.cfg settings also.

If I boot to DOS, I can see the machine booting by both monitors. When I try to run MAME, the system hangs! My only solution is to press the reset button. It doesn't matter if I'm using the provided TSR program (m64vbe.com) to enable VESA BIOS extension. MAME won't run in pure DOS when TV output is enabled, and that's it. If you know how to resolve this please help me.

I don't want to load Windows to play MAME for DOS. I feel the tweak problem will be present in both arcade and TV monitors so I'd like to ask if you have already had this problem and what was the solution found. If I wire the R, G, B and sync from the VGA connector directly to the arcade monitor, will these problems still happen? Probably yes, don't you agree?

According to the page about "Finishing", topic monitors (in www.arcadecontrols.com):

"To connect to an arcade monitor, you need a video board that has tv output. You do *NOT* use the composite or svideo out. You can however tap the rgb and sync from the VGA connector (you will need a manual for your video board obviously)."

All right, I'm using composite but this doesn't explain if that is the reason why I'm not being able to use tweaked modes. Are tweaked modes possible in TVs and arcade monitors?

"You'll need to ensure you're in tv out mode when you drive your arcade monitor, or the frequency will be too high."

In pure DOS, if the RCA plug is connected to the TV, the videocard automatically detects it and turns on TV out mode; I can see the prompt but can't run MAME at all, my system hangs. The manual have listed the accepted frequencies and nothing else about this matter. Why is the damn card hanging my ystem in pure DOS and not in a DOS box?!

If you have already had these problems and can help, please do so... The videocard isn't mine, a friend lended it to me. If that is not the solution then let me know of one more adequate. Is Mon-ARC indicate for this? It doesn't seem to support ATI cards :o( If, with a Matrox G200 or G400 I can get around this problem, then let me know and I'll buy one right now. But only if it's *really* the solution... Remember: my goal is to run MAME with all games at full screen, using tweaked modes (or something better) and in pure DOS.

Thanks...


Bugfinder


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