VOGONS


PowerVR Fun Thread

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Reply 580 of 1096, by Myloch

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Obscure powervr only japanese adventure that has never come to light in the end

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Reply 581 of 1096, by lolo799

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So, I got a card with that chip on it:

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AIDA16 gives that info:

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And the Tomb Raider demo:

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Tombpcx2.exe happily gives me a black screen and freezes my computer, can anyone want to hazard a guess at what the card is? 😈

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Reply 582 of 1096, by Artex

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I would guess an Apocalypse 3Dx or other PCX2 card like the Matrox M3D but it seems too easy.

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Reply 587 of 1096, by lolo799

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I have the card, it's the "PowerVR Fun Thread" and I expected someone to know all the cards with PowerVR chips on them, a knowledgeable bunch of people on vogons after all!
I'll give you a few days to rack your brain, unless you really want to see it today...

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Reply 589 of 1096, by konc

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lolo799 wrote:

I have the card, it's the "PowerVR Fun Thread" and I expected someone to know all the cards with PowerVR chips on them, a knowledgeable bunch of people on vogons after all!
I'll give you a few days to rack your brain, unless you really want to see it today...

Nah, I can wait a few days without racking anything.

Reply 590 of 1096, by vetz

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My guess is a PCI Sega Saturn controller card, the IF-SEGA2/PCI from IODATA. My guess why they used the PowerVR controller was to integrate lightgun technology without VGA loop.

IF-sega2_pci-1.jpg

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Reply 591 of 1096, by Ozzuneoj

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vetz wrote:
My guess is a PCI Sega Saturn controller card, the IF-SEGA2/PCI from IODATA. My guess why they used the PowerVR controller was t […]
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My guess is a PCI Sega Saturn controller card, the IF-SEGA2/PCI from IODATA. My guess why they used the PowerVR controller was to integrate lightgun technology without VGA loop.

IF-sega2_pci-1.jpg

Has to be it...

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 592 of 1096, by lolo799

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Yes it's that card, the PowerVR chip is only used as a PCI-ISA bridge.
The card is detected as a PCX2 in DOS and Windows, so you can't use it if you already have a PowerVR card in your machine.
No Ram on it, so obviously any game trying to use it crashes.
Large pictures of it at the bottom of https://applause.elfmimi.jp/ifsega/

The prototype card exposed at the IO DATA event had ram chips though:

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Reply 595 of 1096, by lolo799

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The same person made drivers for Windows 2000 and XP too, available on his page.
There are drivers for Linux and BeOS as well.
And the card is supported by the Allegro library, Mame 0.37, and some other pieces of software.

The official product page mentions that you need to use the ISA version if you have a PowerVR PCX1/2 card installed:
http://www.iodata.jp/products/game/ifsg2pci.htm

Last edited by lolo799 on 2018-01-07, 22:55. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 596 of 1096, by Myloch

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Apart of compulsive collecting purposes, what are the practical possible uses of this card, other than being a coaster for my beer?

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Reply 598 of 1096, by yawetaG

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lolo799 wrote:

To use a pair of Saturn controllers to play, which are pretty nice to use.

Or any of the other Saturn controllers shown (in the first row?) on the I/O Data product page. Although in the case of the Virtual On Twin Stick, there also exists a dedicated PC version that's basically two joysticks and a gameport split cable in a housing. IIRC, there also exist PC versions of the Arcade sticks, both by Sega and (much better) Hori.

For systems with the appropriate OS and USB ports, I'd recommend using a USB Sega Saturn adapter.