Also check the jumpers on the mainboard. They need to be set acording to the displaycard u use.

I noticed that as well in the manual, I will check everything tonight. I don think anyone has ever changed the DIPs and jumpers in the system though, but I have to check 😀

I will be on the lookout for somebody capable of doing this, might be a bit hard to find. Maybe a TV shop that has been around for a long time.

seob wrote:

Also check the jumpers on the mainboard. They need to be set acording to the displaycard u use.
<snip>

No thanks neccesary, it wasn't a lot of work.

I put the jumpers on the card in CGA 40 mode, and also the jumper on the mainboard. I get the same distorted images (and also more beeps during post, but I can't read the screen so not sure if there is an error. This is Norton Commander with the system set to CGA 40:

This leaves me with 3 things possibly broken (or a config problem), in order of likelyhood:

Monitor
Video card
Cable (unlikely, it looks just fine)

I don't have another EGA (or CGA) monitor or video adapter I think, but will check.

keropi wrote:

Mega thanks for the manual Cyrix200+ , that info was lost in time until now! 😊
And yes, your EGA monitor should support 15 and 21khz, it seems that the sync circuit for 15khz has some issues... is there a technician nearby you can have it serviced?

What happens if you set the card's SW1~SW4 as ON-OFF-OFF-ON (cga compatible) ? Do you get anything on boot?

The old drive - Pick it up, and evenly smack it on a counter from a height of about 3 inches. Make sure it lands flush.

Plug it back in - I bet it works.

hmmmm
maybe you need to invest in a clone cga or ega card, something cheap just to check if it's the monitor or the card. If something is broken then I hope it's the EGA card since you can just replace it.
The cable is easily checked with a multimeter, should be a straight pin-pin connection. Infact if you have a DB9 cable you can test with it (not a NULL MODEM one)

Good idea, I'd also suggest to stick the EGA card into another old computer, if available.
Just to make sure there's no other hidden compatibility issue (unstable clock signal, etc). 😉

Unfortunately, I have never seen EGA stuff for sale locally and I' m a bit afraid for eBay prices. I'll have a look though.

I have a Hercules compatible card somewhere, but I don't think I can use that for testing right?

Testing it in another system will take some time, but I have more than enough stuff to test with.

keropi wrote:

hmmmm
maybe you need to invest in a clone cga or ega card, something cheap just to check if it's the monitor or the card. If something is broken then I hope it's the EGA card since you can just replace it.
The cable is easily checked with a multimeter, should be a straight pin-pin connection. Infact if you have a DB9 cable you can test with it (not a NULL MODEM one)

True. Ega never seemed to be really popular here in the Netherlands. Haven't seen a Ega card for sale for ages?

Well, I emailed 'the guy with the huge heap of retro stuff for sale' on our local craigslist (Marktplaats), but he couldn't find the EGA card he was advertising...

Hercules is another beast, don't try it with your EGA monitor. There are some cheap cards on eBay like these, maybe you can grab one to test?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-TRIDEN … 9kAAOSwcj5ZXxna
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GTI-Graphmaster-Plu … -0AAOSw6ShZSlf8

Cyrix200+ wrote:

Well, I emailed 'the guy with the huge heap of retro stuff for sale' on our local craigslist (Marktplaats), but he couldn't find the EGA card he was advertising...

Just sent you a PM.

keropi wrote:

Hercules is another beast, don't try it with your EGA monitor. There are some cheap cards on eBay like these, maybe you can grab one to test?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-Vintage-TRIDEN … 9kAAOSwcj5ZXxna
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GTI-Graphmaster-Plu … -0AAOSw6ShZSlf8

Thanks! If I have to guess what the problem is, my first guess is the monitor so am think I'm going to open it up and do a careful visual inspection. I want to check the caps in there as well, although my guess is that they are fine.

One of those cards is a 16 bit ISA, would that work?

^ yes it will though the 9pin port it has

keropi wrote:

^ yes it will though the 9pin port it has

The PC onli has 8 bit ISA slots, will that 16 bit ISA card work?

I opened the monitor today, everything is very clean, nothing defective noticable. The same for the card. I also used a multimeter to check the cable, all pins are connected. I'm guessing it's the monitor.

Cyrix200+ wrote:

keropi wrote:

^ yes it will though the 9pin port it has

The PC onli has 8 bit ISA slots, will that 16 bit ISA card work?

yes, these old cards work fine in both 8 and 16bit slots
I would still try another EGA card before messing with the monitor - just to be sure.

keropi wrote:

Cyrix200+ wrote:

keropi wrote:

^ yes it will though the 9pin port it has

The PC onli has 8 bit ISA slots, will that 16 bit ISA card work?

yes, these old cards work fine in both 8 and 16bit slots
I would still try another EGA card before messing with the monitor - just to be sure.

Thanks, good to know! Yes, my plan is to try all non-invasive options before messing with the monitor (or adapter). Now if I could only borrow a CGA/EGA monitor or adapter somewhere...

I tested the adapter in another system, just something I grabbed from the shelf. Turned out to be a TX chipset based motherboard with a Cyrix PR200MX CPU 😀 Lovely 😀 Same issue though, so it doesn' t seem to be a problem with the Tulip PC itself.

Does the monitor have any H.HOLD potentiometers? Either internal or front/back? Maybe it worths to mess a little with them (mark their original position first so you can revert!) and see if fixes things. Maybe you have 2 sets of H.HOLD like my Hyundai EGA monitor:

Apparently I is for 15khz and II is for 21khz. Give it a shot!

keropi wrote:

Does the monitor have any H.HOLD potentiometers? Either internal or front/back? Maybe it worths to mess a little with them (mark […]
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Does the monitor have any H.HOLD potentiometers? Either internal or front/back? Maybe it worths to mess a little with them (mark their original position first so you can revert!) and see if fixes things. Maybe you have 2 sets of H.HOLD like my Hyundai EGA monitor:

Apparently I is for 15khz and II is for 21khz. Give it a shot!

Nothing on the outside, but I opened up the monitor and found a lot of pot meters inside. I need more documentation before trying anything. H.HOLD was not one of the potmeters I saw, but there were a few that were explicitely labeled 15khz.

Did you made a list of the pot names?
Thing is that since there are no outside pots then 99% it's not a case of one being set wrong... it even points out to a fault in 15khz sync section of the chassis but in order to be sure you must test either with another ega or another ega system that is verified to work OK...