Have you tried this card in another computer?

Half-Saint wrote:

Have you tried this card in another computer?

Yep! The main tests were done over a SS7 system, but also tried it on an Athlon XP with the same results. I still have to test further before discarding it 😀

It is possible your switch is broken. If you have a multimeter, you can test the switch using the two points on the back of the card. If that is the case, you will probably get continuity from the two points despite the position of the switch.

Hello everyone,

I'm putting an answer to this subject, as I've been looking for this exact graphics card model, found one, and encountered the same problem. Reported in devices but no VGA output.

For those in the same situation, you need to tell the program PROGBIOS.exe to force flashing of the bios (but backup the original just in case).
Since this model of card comes in factory with a Macintosh bios, it will not be addressed correctly.

Install the Matrox Millennium as a 2nd video card, and use another one as the 1st (higher PCI slot, use another brand to not confuse progbios).

There's a hidden option -k so it gives the command line : progbios -i 838-20.bin -k
(don't forget to move the bios protection dipswitch)

Remove others video cards, reboot and enjoy POST screen. 😀 hope it helps whoever will need this.

As I understand, on a system with two video cards, the "disable VGA" option makes that card the secondary adaptor, even if it is mounted on the AGP slot or a lower PCI slot than the primary card.

This issue came up in this thread: ATI 3D Rage II jumpers

Errius wrote:

As I understand, on a system with two video cards, the "disable VGA" option makes that card the secondary adaptor

I found a Millennium Installation Guide on Google (Matrox filetype:pdf "switch" "vga disabled") which says this :

[code]Switch 2: VGA Enable/Disable switch

By default the VGA of your Millennium card is enabled (Switch 2=OFF) for single-screen
operation, which means that you must remove or disable your existing VGA, if you have one. If the
VGA is on the motherboard of your PCI system, it should be disabled automatically.

This switch should be set to ON if you want to work in a dual-screen configuration. In this case
you will also be using either a VGA in another slot or on your system’s motherboard, or another
Matrox card for output to the second monitor.[/code]

So that proves it, it is for a dual-screen combination with Matrox software.

However in this specific case I think the "Vga Disabled" message in DOS we saw is because the Mac firmware makes it unusable to the PC BIOS (not because of the dipswitch).
That was the only way I found to make it work, by reflashing its bios.

Alternatively if you find one with a Mac bios you might sell or trade it, 90s Mac video cards are relatively rare.

I have a Mac Millenium that's not detected by its Mac but is by a PC, and sadly I think someone flashed it with a PC BIOS.

I backed up the Millennium PCI's Mac BIOS file, if you wish to flash it for Mac I could make them available here

If the card was IBM labeled it may originate from an RS/6000 workstation. I remember flashing another Matrox PC card with the IBM BIOS in lack of a GXT 130 for my RS6K.
eisapc

I, too, have a non booting Millennium, presumed to have a MAC BIOS on it.
Where can I find the progbios.exe and the BIOS? And what's the command to save the old BIOS?

naujoks wrote on 2024-01-19, 20:40:

I, too, have a non booting Millennium, presumed to have a MAC BIOS on it.
Where can I find the progbios.exe and the BIOS? And what's the command to save the old BIOS?

MGA Millennium BIOS file and flash tool can be downloaded from Vogons drivers library page.

Also you can try some BIOS-dump files from here (look at "Download attachments - BIOS").

Ahhh I ran the progbios utility, but it started flashing the BIOS right away, not even asking for any confirmation.
It worked, but I wasn't able to back up the old BIOS. Now I'm sad. Can someone send me the Mac BIOS, please?

naujoks wrote on 2024-01-20, 09:00:

Ahhh I ran the progbios utility, but it started flashing the BIOS right away, not even asking for any confirmation.
It worked, but I wasn't able to back up the old BIOS. Now I'm sad. Can someone send me the Mac BIOS, please?

Try here - https://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/mac/millennm/bios/

Older versions can be found here - https://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/mac/millennm/previous/

Thanks, these are all .HQX files. Do they need to be converted to a binary file?

Haven't looked at the files but the extension sounds a lot like a Mac archive format. I'd try opening them with the usual suspects like 7-Zip first, failing that - Aladdin/Stuffit Expander.

naujoks wrote on 2024-01-20, 13:41:

Thanks, these are all .HQX files. Do they need to be converted to a binary file?

Yes, they're Mac binary... only tried 7-Zip (no go) though apparently Stuffit or Winzip are claimed to work