SuperVidel + XaAES (modecode config)

[shoggoth]

There is a slight design flaw (in my highly personal opinion) in XaAES which manifests itself as follows (workarounds for SuperVidel users are presented below):

1. XaAES reads the "video"-entry (modecode) from xaaes.cnf.
2. If it is a VGA mode, XaaES then checks if this is a >=16bpp resolution, and concludes that there are no 80 column truecolor VGA modes, and forces a 40 column mode.

This is a design mistake in XaAES, because the AES is not supposed to know about XBIOS internals, or details about what modecodes are available. It's supposed to use existing calls and evaluate things based on those existing calls. So there is a mistake in the XaAES code (k_init.c, if I remember correctly).

There are two workarounds for this:

1. Set the modecode as if it was an RGB mode (clear the VGA flag, and flip the VERTFLAG). On a SuperVidel, this is the very same resolution, and XaAES won't execute the code that screws up the modecode.

or

2. Remove the "video" entry in xaaes.cnf. Edit SV.INF (SuperVidel config file) and set the modecode on the "default" line. Basically, if the AES does not supply a modecode (which is the case, since you removed the "video" entry in xaaes.cnf), it will use this default mode instead.

(there is also an "override" modecode option in SV.INF, which will force the use of a particular modecode for the AES, but this means you can't switch resolution in the desktop - which would be a pity since I did write a new multi-lingual resolution dialog for you guys).

Ideally someone (me), should contribute to the XaAES sources to have this fixed. But for now, I hope you are ok with the workarounds described above. I personally recommend workaround #2.

[Paolo]

workaround #2 is esxactly what I did.
However, this doesn't work under MiNT, right?
I can't access any chres window from xaaes, but I can do under TOS.
What I am missing?

(By the way, this is my very first message sent from my CT60/MiNT1.18/SV/SvethLana)

YAY!

[shoggoth]

workaround #2 is esxactly what I did.
However, this doesn't work under MiNT, right?

XaAES only runs under FreeMiNT, it doesn't run under TOS. The workaround is for the modecode entry in xaaes.cnf; you juse put it in SV.INF instead. I don't understand the question?

I can't access any chres window from xaaes, but I can do under TOS.
What I am missing?

You're not missing anything, modecode configuration in XaAES is done through xaaes.cnf (or in this case, SV.INF).

(By the way, this is my very first message sent from my CT60/MiNT1.18/SV/SvethLana)

YAY!

Awesomeness !!!! \o/

[Paolo]

Sorry for the confusing question.
You answered perfectly.
I only hoped that xaaes had a reschange dialog like in the older versions.

[shoggoth]

I only hoped that xaaes had a reschange dialog like in the older versions.

The original resolution dialog is still available in XaAES unless someone else removed it (but afaik it can only set standard Falcon/VIDEL-resolutions. IIRC it's fairly tightly integrated in XaAES, but who knows - perhaps I (or someone else) extends the original resolution dialog later on. For now, the method of setting the modecode through xaaes.cnf/sv.inf will have to do, I'm afraid!

[mdivancic]

OK, I had something strange today. I installed a new monitor that allowed higher resolutions (1920x1080), but if I ran in this mode, the system went nuts. Programs couldn't run, memory violations. Took me a while to straighten it out, and get back to normal. Note, I'm setting my resolution using xaaes video command. Any idea why this is happening?

Update: If I follow these instructions here I don't have this problem. Why?

[shoggoth]

OK, I had something strange today. I installed a new monitor that allowed higher resolutions (1920x1080), but if I ran in this mode, the system went nuts. Programs couldn't run, memory violations. Took me a while to straighten it out, and get back to normal. Note, I'm setting my resolution using xaaes video command. Any idea why this is happening?

Update: If I follow these instructions here I don't have this problem. Why?

I'm not sure I understand the problem

So...
1. What conditions trigger the problem?
2. What did you do differently to cure the problem?