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Trouble with Voodoo1 and Tomb Raider demo

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First post, by shamino

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I recently purchased a Diamond 3D Monster PCI card, and I'm trying to figure out if it's working.
Sorry if this post is too long or confusing, I tried to make it as clear as I could.

Initially, I installed it in an FIC PT-2200 430HX based motherboard. Pentium 200MHz MMX, primary video card was a Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 (S3 Virge PCI 4MB). The Virge and the Voodoo are connected to separate monitors. I do *not* have a passthrough cable. The Virge monitor is direct, the Voodoo monitor is behind a KVM. I am certain that the correct KVM input is selected, because if it wasn't, my keyboard wouldn't work. I use the KVM with other machines also, so I know it works.
There is no sound card. That board had 128MB RAM installed.

Win98SE was installed on a single 8GB FAT32 partition.
I'm going to trim this part and just say Windows sees the card, and the 3Dfx tab in the display properties also sees it, but I can't get any output. I made a mess with installs of 3 different drivers. I think I need to reinstall if I try any further.

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I want to just get a simple test going in DOS that I can't screw up. From what I've read in some threads on this site, it sounds like the 3Dfx Tomb Raider demo is the way to go about this.

I have 2 versions of the Tomb Raider demo. One came from the Diamond Monster 3D disc from vogonsdrivers. The other was downloaded separately, I don't remember where.
The Diamond version of Tomb Raider has a TOMB.EXE with size 563,315 bytes, date Oct 23 1996
When I run this, I get this error:
ERROR: grSstQueryHardware() failed
I have a glide2x.OVL file in that folder with size 195,815 bytes, date Apr 29 1999. I don't know if it's supposed to be there, I might have put it there myself. Error is the same whether that file is present or removed from the directory.

The version I downloaded was named "TOMB3DEM" which I think is the statically linked 3dfx demo. The TOMB.EXE file has a size of 788,171 bytes, date Nov 25 1996. I have run SETUP.EXE and configured no sound.
When I run this version, the game runs on the Virge card. Is it supposed to do this? I don't get any messages, but it's not running on the Voodoo.
I tried switching the cards around so the Voodoo has been in 3 different PCI slots. It won't fit in the 4th.
I measured PSU 5v and 12v while running memtest86. Both were in spec on the meter.
I do have my doubts about all the BIOS settings on the 430HX board and any possible hardware incompatibilities that might exist.

===========
I have just moved the hard drive to a newer Shuttle AV18 board. This is a VIA 694T with a Tualatin based Celeron installed. I've underclocked it to 800/66. 256MB RAM installed. Primary video is now an AGP RIVA128. Again, the RIVA and Voodoo are connected to separate monitors, no passthrough between them.

The POST screen on this motherboard reads the following:

Bus No. Device No. Func No. Vendor/Device Class Device Class                IRQ
   0        7         1     1106   0571   0101  IDE Cntrlr                  14
   0        7         2     1106   3038   0C03  Serial Bus Cntrlr            5
<same line repeated but with Func No. 3>
   0        7         5     1106   3058   0401  Multimedia Device           10
   0       11         0     121A   0001   0400  Multimedia Device           NA
   1        0         0     12D2   0018   0300  Display Cntrlr              11
                                                ACPI Controller              9

I am booting into the Windows 98 version of MSDOS by using a Win98 boot floppy.

With a "normal" BIOS configuration, both Tomb Raiders behave the same way as they did on the 430HX board.
I read another thread where somebody had similar problems which were affected by turning off his caches.
If I disable the L1 and L2 caches, TOMB3DEM "sort of" runs. The first time I tried, it got into the title screen but froze at a black screen when starting a "new game". The 2nd time I tried, it quickly did start a new game, once again it was on the primary video output and not on the Voodoo card. Exiting that game froze at a black screen again. Something is unstable with the caches turned off.
The version of Tomb Raider demo from the Diamond CD still gives the same error:
ERROR: grSstQueryHardware() failed

Can somebody point at a known good download of the statically linked 3Dfx Tomb Raider demo, just so I know I'm using a good version?
Is it normal for this version to default it's output to a non-accelerated video card, like mine is doing?

I'm now trying a DOS demo called 'NATURE' which came from falconfly.de. If I configure it to use 3DFX, the setup finished by saying "Device: VOODOO v3.0" but when I run the demo, the output is on the primary video card again, not the Voodoo.

Any other suggestions of things I should try to verify if this card works? I have no prior experience with Voodoo cards at all.

Have Voodoo cards been known to misbehave when connected through a KVM? Do they expect their attached monitor to already be awake when they start sending a signal? Do they misbehave if the passthrough isn't connected?

Do Voodoo1 cards die often? Do these symptoms fit for a bad card? Windows sees it, the Win9x driver sees it, but nothing can use it, either in DOS or Windows.
When I ran 'dxdiag' v6.1a in Win98SE, the DirectDraw test caused the Voodoo monitor to momentarily wake up and go back to sleep. There was an error message saying dxdiag had crashed. That's the most life I've gotten out of the card.

Reply 2 of 12, by shamino

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dr.zeissler wrote:

In Dos you can use the 3dfx "DETECT" Tool.

Is there a DOS version of this somewhere? I have this file from the "3dfx glide2-3 diagnostics kit", which includes a version of DETECT.EXE underneath a Win95 folder and a WInNT folder. Neither will run in DOS, they give the "cannot run in MSDOS mode" error.

If I run the Win95\DETECT.exe under Windows 98SE "safe mode", it lists a few devices. The 3DFx device is shown as:
bus 00
slot 11
vendId 0x121a
devID 0x0001
baseAddr0= 0xe7000008
cmd: 0x0002
description: 3DFX INT:video multimedia adapter

Had to use safe mode because Win98 is now locking up at boot when it detects devices. I guess that's what happens when you swap motherboards.

Reply 3 of 12, by Stiletto

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Yes, it's known as a "statically linked" Glide game. The Glide library it uses has been linked internally to the executable, not left as a dynamically linked library (DLL, or in this case, OVL). Tomb Raider has two 3dfx executables. One (1114 kB) is statically linked, the other (874 kB) uses glide2x.ovl. 😉

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do the Fandango!" - Queen

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Reply 4 of 12, by Sammy

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You can try the diamond drivers 1.08 or 1.10

Unreal for example did not run when the driver is to new.
It only runs with the new driver when unreal is patched to a newer version.

Has dxdiag a second Display Tab?
when you do the tests there it should display on the voodoo card.

What FSB has your PC?
Voodoo 1 makes Problems on fast FSB, i heard only to 66 MHz works.

Reply 5 of 12, by PhilsComputerLab

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Stiletto wrote:

Yes, it's known as a "statically linked" Glide game. The Glide library it uses has been linked internally to the executable, not left as a dynamically linked library (DLL, or in this case, OVL). Tomb Raider has two 3dfx executables. One (1114 kB) is statically linked, the other (874 kB) uses glide2x.ovl. 😉

Expanding on this. One patch is often referred to as "3dfx patch" and only works on the V1 and Laura will throw a shadow underneath. The other patch often goes under the name "Voodoo rush patch" and works on cards such as V3, but Laura doesn't throw a shadow.

The "3dfx demo" can be found here: http://tombraiders.net/stella/downloads.html#demos

So can the two patches: http://tombraiders.net/stella/downloads.html#patches

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Reply 6 of 12, by shamino

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Thanks for the responses, I'll probably come back to this in a few days. I'm going to switch to a Tyan S1590 (MVP3) board, but I noticed that some of it's caps are cheapies. I've partially recapped it but it's not done yet.

Sammy wrote:

You can try the diamond drivers 1.08 or 1.10

Unreal for example did not run when the driver is to new.
It only runs with the new driver when unreal is patched to a newer version.

On the Windows side of things, my plan for the moment is to install Windows 95 again and install the Diamond CD that was posted on vogonsdrivers (http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … =158&menustate=), but I don't know what driver version that is. It contains some demos that I think ought to run with the driver that's on the same CD. It didn't work on Win98, but the CD wasn't intended for 98 so I don't think that means much.

There's no issue with installing a Voodoo on the original release of Win95, is there? I don't have any of the "OSR" versions.

Has dxdiag a second Display Tab?

On Win98, depending what driver I had installed, sometimes there was a 2nd display tab and sometimes there wasn't. When it was there, it didn't work right. Running one of the tests (I think DirectDraw) would cause the Voodoo monitor to momentarily wake up then immediately go back to sleep, and dxdiag.exe would pop up a crash message.
I had a confusing mess of installing drivers on top of other drivers, and the first driver I installed wasn't even intended for Win98, so my driver situation could have been completely broken.

What FSB has your PC?
Voodoo 1 makes Problems on fast FSB, i heard only to 66 MHz works.

The first board I tested on was a 430HX with a 66MHz FSB. The 2nd board was a VIA 694T. It had a much faster CPU but the FSB was downclocked to 66MHz also, at least most of the time. I clocked it back up later on.

philscomputerlab wrote:

The "3dfx demo" can be found here: http://tombraiders.net/stella/downloads.html#demos

That looks like where I downloaded it from. I can download it again just to compare and be sure, but I guess I have the right version.
So if it has a problem with the Voodoo, is it normal for that version to output on a non-accelerated card? Mine is doing that, playing the game on my other card, no messages being displayed. The "other card" was initially a S3 Virge and later a Riva128. They have both played the "TOMB3DEM" Tomb Raider demo, but the Voodoo has not.

Reply 7 of 12, by PhilsComputerLab

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Just to know, have you tried to go without the KVM?

I don't think it makes a difference, but worth trying.

Do you have any other voodoo cards to test if they do the same thing? You have tried pretty much everything already, at this point I would call the card likely to be faulty.

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Reply 8 of 12, by shamino

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philscomputerlab wrote:

Just to know, have you tried to go without the KVM?

I don't think it makes a difference, but worth trying.

My setup makes it kind of a pain to hook the card up directly, but you're right, it's worth trying. I also don't have a passthrough cable - from what I've read I think that doesn't matter, is that correct?
Since I'm not using a passthrough, the Voodoo monitor will be asleep as long as there's no signal - this doesn't confuse the card, does it?

I have the cards plugged into separate monitors. The Voodoo monitor is behind a KVM. The primary card's monitor has dual inputs and refuses to stay on analog without a signal present.
I'll try hooking the Voodoo up directly to a monitor that is analog only.

Do you have any other voodoo cards to test if they do the same thing?

Nope, this is the only one.

You have tried pretty much everything already, at this point I would call the card likely to be faulty.

Bummer. My inexperience with these cards makes me doubt myself, but it looks that way to me as well.

Reply 10 of 12, by CuPid

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Shamino did you finally found out what the problem was ?
5 years after you I'm facing the exact same issue. I'm using a voodoo1 card that was slightly damaged and I'm not sure that my repair worked.

I need a vacation.

tbmtg3-99.png
zav4kj-99.png

Reply 11 of 12, by Baoran

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CuPid wrote on 2020-03-05, 10:12:

Shamino did you finally found out what the problem was ?
5 years after you I'm facing the exact same issue. I'm using a voodoo1 card that was slightly damaged and I'm not sure that my repair worked.

If you are having a problem you should also tell rest of the specs of your computer. Tomb Raider doesn't detect a voodoo card if the computer is too fast.

Reply 12 of 12, by CuPid

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The system specs are :
- abit PH5 (SiS chipset) + Pentium 75 (FSB 50) + 16MB memory.
- S3 Virge PCI card.
- Maxi Gamer 3D 3dfx voodoo1.
- Sound Blaster (ISA 16-bit).
- windows 95 OSR2.

I've tried with another primary video card, and also moved the cards on the different PCI slots, but no success.

When I bought the 3dfx card, some pins were bent on the TMU, creating unexpected contacts. I restored the pins as I could, and visually it looks OK now.

Edit : ah I forgot to tell, I don't use a classic passthrough cable, but a VGA doubler. I don't know if that matters.

I need a vacation.

tbmtg3-99.png
zav4kj-99.png

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