What's wrong with this ISA card? (Paradise EGA) \ VOGONS

What's wrong with this ISA card? (Paradise EGA)

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First post, by MMaximus

Posted on 2018-12-21, 13:09

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Bought this recently from ebay - seller didn't seem to know it was a video card so it looked like it was untested, but I took the risk anyway.

I put it in a 286-12 machine and hooked it up to an IBM 5153 monitor. I turned the computer on and got no display for around 5 or 10 seconds, then the PSU switched itself off (probably going into "protection mode" if that's what it's called). I looked online for the dip switches settings and changed a couple of them, then tried once or twice more, but the PSU refuses to switch on if the card is present in the system (BTW this particular machine works fine with other EGA or VGA adapters).

My untrained eye can't see anything wrong with the card physically, but I thought I'd take a few pictures and ask here.

Hard Disk Sounds

Reply 1 of 13, by Predator99

Posted on 2018-12-21, 13:30

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If PSU turns of you have a short somewhere on the card... Maybe bad caps? But they look good on the photo.

There are some scratches below the "MADE in USA". Dirt or damage?

Reply 2 of 13, by Tiido

Posted on 2018-12-21, 13:35

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I can only suspect some tantalum capacitor being wonky, luckily there's only a few.

T-04YBSC, a new YMF71x based sound card & Official VOGONS thread about it
Newly made 4MB 60ns 30pin SIMMs ~
mida sa loed ? nagunii aru ei saa 😜

Reply 3 of 13, by sf78

Posted on 2018-12-21, 13:38

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Predator99 wrote:

Maybe bad caps? But they look good on the photo.

You can't tell anything by looking at a tantalum cap, they look okay until blowing sky high! There's no physical indication of anything being wrong until you measure one to make sure.

Reply 4 of 13, by MMaximus

Posted on 2018-12-21, 18:28

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Predator99 wrote:
If PSU turns of you have a short somewhere on the card... Maybe bad caps? But they look good on the photo.

There are some scratches below the "MADE in USA". Dirt or damage?

Good eye! It looks like it could be damaged but I don't know if it is the source of the short. I'll see if I can post a better picture of the area.

Hard Disk Sounds

Reply 5 of 13, by Tiido

Posted on 2018-12-21, 20:23

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Stuff around the Made in USA looks like sticker residue, perhaps that Made in HK sticker was there before 🤣

T-04YBSC, a new YMF71x based sound card & Official VOGONS thread about it
Newly made 4MB 60ns 30pin SIMMs ~
mida sa loed ? nagunii aru ei saa 😜

Reply 6 of 13, by Nvm1

Posted on 2018-12-21, 20:30

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sf78 wrote:
Predator99 wrote:

Maybe bad caps? But they look good on the photo.

You can't tell anything by looking at a tantalum cap, they look okay until blowing sky high! There's no physical indication of anything being wrong until you measure one to make sure.

This is the most likely cause. Desolder one leg from the tantalums and check if it until you have the shorting one (if you have multiple shorted ones you have to completely desolder them)
Sometimes the broken one gets warmer, but since they have an explosive temperament I can't promote that option 🤣

Reply 7 of 13, by RiP

Posted on 2019-08-31, 12:10

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I have just found a similar EGA 2000 card but I don't have any EGA monitor.
Can I use its RCA composite outputs instead? 😕

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/U … me-EG-2000.html

Reply 8 of 13, by maxtherabbit

Posted on 2019-08-31, 13:43

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take a multimeter and check for continuity across the legs of the tants

Reply 9 of 13, by Vynix

Posted on 2019-08-31, 14:27

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RiP wrote:
I have just found a similar EGA 2000 card but I don't have any EGA monitor.
Can I use its RCA composite outputs instead? 😕

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/U … me-EG-2000.html

No. Those RCA jacks on EGA cards were "feature connectors", you won't get a Composite video signal out of them, unlike on some CGA cards.

Proud owner of a Shuttle HOT-555A 430VX motherboard and two wonderful retro laptops, namely a Compaq Armada 1700 [nonfunctional] and a HP Omnibook XE3-GC [fully working :p]

Reply 10 of 13, by MMaximus

Posted on 2019-09-02, 12:32

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Vynix wrote:
RiP wrote:
I have just found a similar EGA 2000 card but I don't have any EGA monitor.
Can I use its RCA composite outputs instead? 😕

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/U … me-EG-2000.html

No. Those RCA jacks on EGA cards were "feature connectors", you won't get a Composite video signal out of them, unlike on some CGA cards.

I haven't had any time to diagnose that card so it lives in the pile of non-working ones for now. 😒

As for the RCA connectors, I have another EGA card (Vtech) that outputs signal to these RCA connectors when the DIP switches are set to CGA. So I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them being functional on this card, but I haven't tried it myself.

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Reply 11 of 13, by RiP

Posted on 2019-09-02, 15:17

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Vynix wrote:
RiP wrote:
I have just found a similar EGA 2000 card but I don't have any EGA monitor.
Can I use its RCA composite outputs instead? 😕

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/U … me-EG-2000.html

No. Those RCA jacks on EGA cards were "feature connectors", you won't get a Composite video signal out of them, unlike on some CGA cards.

Thanks, possible to convert EGA to VGA?

Reply 12 of 13, by mothergoose729

Posted on 2019-09-02, 18:39

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RiP wrote:
Vynix wrote:
RiP wrote:
I have just found a similar EGA 2000 card but I don't have any EGA monitor.
Can I use its RCA composite outputs instead? 😕

https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/U … me-EG-2000.html

No. Those RCA jacks on EGA cards were "feature connectors", you won't get a Composite video signal out of them, unlike on some CGA cards.

Thanks, possible to convert EGA to VGA?

Yes, but it requires an active circuit to convert the signals.

This is one solution. You can also build an adapter yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SII7ujB3FY

Reply 13 of 13, by HanJammer

Posted on 2019-09-03, 08:51

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Check +/-5V and +/-12V vs GND ISA bus pads on the card for continuity. Pretty likely one of the tantalum capacitor is internally shorted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_Standa … XT_Bus_pins.svg

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