Aurora and GoldCard (not Super Goldcard): Resolution, Colours

[ql_freak]

I only have an orginal GoldCard (NO Super GoldCard).

Can I use Aurora with it, and if yes, what is the maximum resolution and colour depth?

BTW: Will anyone sell a Super GoldCard ;-)

[Pr0f]

Aurora will work with a (non super) Gold Card, but will not have access to the higher video mode resolutions. This is because in the SuperGold Card A18/A19 (they are tied together) can be used to place the Aurora video RAM at a higher address outside the 4MB of the SuperGold Card, on the Gold Card, these lines are just tied to ground, so there is no (easy) way to access the extra video memory. To get access would require modification of the Ingot chip and edge connector, but is theoretically possible.

[tofro]

I only have an orginal GoldCard (NO Super GoldCard).

Can I use Aurora with it, and if yes, what is the maximum resolution and colour depth?

BTW: Will anyone sell a Super GoldCard

From what I read, it should work with the yellow GoldCard (not the red one).

You will not be able to use the higher resolutions of the Aurora with a GoldCard only, because its external address bus is limited (The Gold Card will simply not be able to reach into the extended screen memory). So, it is a bit pointless with a GC only.

[ql_freak]

Thank You!

[Nasta]

It should work with any GC save for the early yellow ones if they were not patched, but you are only limited to standard QL resolutions, albeit on a VGA monitor. GC does not address anything on the bus except the ROM (while initializing), IO and the first 64k of motherboard RAM and the latter only for writes. Since the extra screen RAM needed for higher resolutins and more color is located in address areas the GC does not access, it can only use original QL resolutions.

[Dave]

It might be an option to simply make a replacement GC/SGC board and transfer the chips across from a donor to separate A18/A19? Such a board would likely be quite cheap to assemble as it's just passives, sockets and an LDO.