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[bbond007]

Originally Posted by darkage

Cant you hardware mod a a1200's Alice chip to switch between NSTC/PAL ?

Yes and no.... you can easily mod a 1200 or CD32 to switch between 50 and 60HZ (or just switch in early boot), but the color signal will still be at the original frequency. That is what makes an NTSC CD32 such a nightmare as it has no RGB port like a 1200.... (and 90% of all CD32 software is PAL)

To convert the color signal you need mad soldering skills as you'll be working with surface mount technology.

[runequester]

Originally Posted by outlawal2

Not really anything of any import... I mostly want to network it with my pcs basically just for the Hell of it. I really enjoyed my Amigas back in the 90s and just having fun messing with it. Not really too interested in Games, just to fiddle with. Plan would be an 030 board or better and OS3.9 and as much eye candy as I can squeeze into it, making it as modern looking as possible. Once again just for the Hell of it..

(And thanks for the info BBOND, much appreciated.. )

If you aren't looking for gaming, honestly, I don't think the PAL/NTSC difference will affect you at all. Most programs I don't think really care too much.

I'd recommend looking into the classicWB packages. I find them much more functional than 3.9 and honestly, 3.9 is fairly lackluster without RTG.

All in my opinion anyways

[bbond007]

Originally Posted by runequester

I've had bad experiences with NTSC machines running PAL software, and most amiga software is indeed PAL.

because a PAL amiga 1200 can run at 60HZ and a NTSC amiga can run at 50Hz its not the same issue you have with OCS machines where the machines can't switch and the timing is wrong or the bottom half of the screen is missing or both...

For a A1200 you'll probably be running whdload games anyway, and you can just add "PAL" or "NTSC" to the tooltype for that game and its all good...

If i was shopping for an A1200 I would consider condition, price & mb revision first and PAL/NTSC would be down the list form there.

[outlawal2]

OK, while I have the "gurus" online and listening.. What motherboard revisions should I look for? Which ones should I stay away from? And as always.. WHY? :O)

[bbond007]

Originally Posted by outlawal2

OK, while I have the "gurus" online and listening.. What motherboard revisions should I look for? Which ones should I stay away from? And as always.. WHY? :O)

This page shows the various fixes for the different versions...

http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/am..._mobo_fix.html

Sometimes you need motherboard timing fixes to use an ACA030, 040 or 060..

Rev 1B & 1D1 don't need any timing fixes but are older (and more likely to have the wrong clockport) ...

Some of revisions have slightly taller custom chips and don't work as well with the original Indivision (tends to pop off) but the new MK II as supposed to have a better fitting socket.

I would say 1D4 because the to do timing fixes on the 2B you may have to add a resister and the 1D4 is just limited to removing stuff which I'm much better at

1D4 and 2B also might need a mod to fix flickering when using the Multisync monitor driver. That mod is easy though. Bridging is only slightly more difficult than removing My soldering skill level would probably be considered "dangerous".

The cockport mod is probably way more difficult than the timing mods, so make sure that the clockport is correct if you want to add a subway USB controller later on.

I just keep remembering more stuff and adding to this (as i'm waiting for Big Band Theory to download), so I'm sure you are thoroughly confused now

[magnetic]

Originally Posted by runequester

honestly, 3.9 is fairly lackluster without RTG.

All in my opinion anyways

That is not really factual. with a decent cpu 3.9 run fine on AGA and even ecs with ram.

[runequester]

Originally Posted by magnetic

That is not really factual. with a decent cpu 3.9 run fine on AGA and even ecs with ram.

I said it was my opinion, so of course it's not factual.

It looks like ****e in 256 colours, is all

[bbond007]

Originally Posted by runequester

It looks like ****e in 256 colours, is all

Hey... if you are running workbench in multisync mode in 8BPP on an AGA machine, you are probably have bigger issues that how it looks... like how it performs

[magnetic]

Originally Posted by runequester

I said it was my opinion, so of course it's not factual.

It looks like ****e in 256 colours, is all

Once again wrong. In 256 colours it looks ok. But like the post after yours mentioned you wouldnt run very fast.

However, 16 color with an 030@40mhz or better and some RAM is perfectly acceptable.

[magnetic]

Originally Posted by outlawal2

OK, while I have the "gurus" online and listening.. What motherboard revisions should I look for? Which ones should I stay away from? And as always.. WHY? :O)

Outlaw
TBH you dont need to worry THAT much about board revisions unless you are going to expand it to a power user level. I've had many a1200s and never needed to do any circuit mods or anything like that.

@ bbond

Very nice link for the motherboard mods though!

[runequester]

Originally Posted by magnetic

Once again wrong. In 256 colours it looks ok. But like the post after yours mentioned you wouldnt run very fast.

However, 16 color with an 030@40mhz or better and some RAM is perfectly acceptable.

You do understand the difference between objective and subjective right?

[bbond007]

Originally Posted by runequester

You do understand the difference between objective and subjective right?

I as far as I remember 3.9 looked OK in 256 colors. I did buy it.

Actually, I have never run workbench 3.9 in any more colors than 256 on any machines I have ever owned - even the ones with GFX cards.

I think I bought it from H&P directly I bought it. I wanted to support Amiga INC back then because I had no idea where it was heading.

I don't use it now, not for any reason in particular..

[runequester]

Fair enough. I am wrong.

[bbond007]

Originally Posted by runequester

Fair enough. I am wrong.

I do remember the menu bar thing looking pretty bad in 16 colors though..

[runequester]

Originally Posted by bbond007

I do remember the menu bar thing looking pretty bad in 16 colors though..

The Dock thing? Thats mostly what stuck out. The icons were decent. For some reason they seem kind of uneven, but that could have been a botched install.