VOGONS


First post, by RetroSpector78

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi,

I've got this old Tseng Labs Ultra Pak card.

https://imgur.com/gallery/vP5YYYN

Haven't found much info on it, but I suspect an IBM MDA alternative featuring LPT, COM1, COM2, a real time clock (the card also included a battery that had been removed by the original owner)

The problem is nothing is shown on the display when the computer starts. Just 1 beep (long) and 2 beeps (short). Same computer works fine with an IBM MDA card.
There was definitely some corrosion on the card as you can see from the pictures. Here's what I did so far :

  • I cleaned the impacted area with vinegar / IPA.
  • I checked the 3 tantalum caps (10mF, 16V). These turned out fine.
  • I removed some of the corroded chips to check the traces underneath the chips. Nothing suspicious found.
  • Tried to read the EEPROM chip (2764) and was able to read the data off it using my universal eeprom programmer.
  • Removed the memory chips and tried them in another working card (memory chips are ok)

Are there other things I can check / verify ? I suspect that all of those logic chips / small 10pF caps aren't that error prone.
What would be a good way to debug this further ?

Thx.

Reply 1 of 1, by Ozzuneoj

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I don't have much input other than to say, that is a cool card! I like finding ridiculously old cards from companies that were more well known much later. That would certainly be the oldest card I've seen with the Tseng name and logo.

When looking for the hd46505sp-1 chip, found this:
http://datasheet.buhieen.net/HD46505RP.pdf
Which mentions that it was later renamed to this:
https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/v … /HD68A45SP.html

Someone who actually knows about this stuff may be able to make sense of that data sheet, but I don't see any mention of any video standards that I've heard of.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.