VOGONS

Search

Common searches

Voodoo 1 Missing transparency in POD

Topic actions

First post, by acl

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Hi,

I recently obtained a pair of Voodoo 1 cards. One Guillemot Maxi Gamer and an unidentified one (no name ?).
I bought them together for cheap but untested.

And i got a strange issue. Both cards worked. But the Guillemot seems to have transparency problems when using POD (the only Glide game i tested).
But when playing HalfLife Uplink with opengl-3dfx driver, no issue at all...

IMG_20220506_021022.jpg
Filename
IMG_20220506_021022.jpg
File size
888.32 KiB
Views
578 views
File license
CC-BY-4.0
IMG_20220506_021038.jpg
Filename
IMG_20220506_021038.jpg
File size
911.36 KiB
Views
578 views
File license
CC-BY-4.0

I used the same setup. Same driver. Same everything. I just shut down the system, swap the cards, "re-detect" the driver (probably not necessary), reboot ant try.
One card renders POD correctly, the other does not. I tried 2 times, with a total system re-installation. Same issue.
See attached screenshot for illustration. (featuring my 25yo pirated copy of POD. I bought it digital last year to repent my two decades of criminality. "Don't copy that floppy" convinced me)

I used the following system for testing. Fresh install (2 times) :
- Celeron 300A @450 / Gigabyte GA-6VXE+ (Rev4.1) / ATI MACH64 PCI / Vortex advantage / Windows 98SE
- POD with 2.0 3dfx patch
- Half-Life : Uplink opengl-3dfx renderer

IMG_20220509_012505.jpg
Filename
IMG_20220509_012505.jpg
File size
1.07 MiB
Views
578 views
File license
CC-BY-4.0
IMG_20220509_015113.jpg
Filename
IMG_20220509_015113.jpg
File size
1017.54 KiB
Views
578 views
File license
CC-BY-4.0

I'm not very experienced with 3dfx cards (recent acquisition) but is it possible to have 2 different bios/firmware with differences ?
The card looks great, no sign of physical damage. very clean. Maybe caused by the Celeron overclocking (but the 100Mhz FSB should have the proper ratio to ensure a good PCI frequency)

If someone comes with a troubleshooting idea, i'm all ears !
Thanks a lot

"Hello, my friend. Stay awhile and listen..."
My collection (not up to date)

Reply 1 of 5, by rasz_pl

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

no bios/firmware on voodoo 1/2
why not underclock the cpu, and then the card itself, for sanity check?
FBI (the lower one) chip is responsible for blending, probably soldering on it needs refreshing

Open Source AT&T Globalyst/NCR/FIC 486-GAC-2 proprietary Cache Module reproduction

Reply 3 of 5, by danijelm

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
danijelm wrote on 2022-05-10, 06:32:

Hi
check the legs on the TMU chip down right at number 52. i think they are damaged or connected

Look here 😀

Attachments

I speak sarcasm as a 2nd language

Reply 4 of 5, by acl

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
danijelm wrote on 2022-05-10, 06:32:

check the legs on the TMU chip down right at number 52. i think they are damaged or connected

Good catch !
I rectified the bent pin with a needle and a magnifying glass.
Unfortunately, this did not fixed the problem.
Other pins seems OK.

  • I reverted the CPU overclocking (From 450 to the stock 300 Mhz)
    • No effect
  • I re-installed a fresh W98SE and tried several Voodoo drivers (V3.01.00, V2.16, IceMan V3.01.01)
    • No effect

I'm thinking about testing more Glide Games. Since POD is the only one glide native i tested. (Half-Life runs flawlessly, but it uses a glide to opengl wrapper)
Could be an incompatibility between my card and this game (even if it's really improbable).
I think i have some native glide games on my shelves (TombRaider, Diablo II, maybe some other)
The fact that HL runs flawlessly really bugs me...

I could also give a try with Windows 95 instead of 98SE

"Hello, my friend. Stay awhile and listen..."
My collection (not up to date)

Reply 5 of 5, by acl

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I have issues in every other glide games too. This must be an hardware issue.
With no visible damages that's beyond my electronics skills. I will ask to a more experienced friend.

"Hello, my friend. Stay awhile and listen..."
My collection (not up to date)

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to Video
Close window
Close window