Well, I was unsuccessful, again 😁

I tried to trick the flasher, using the /RESET attribute and I made a file SAVE.ROM from a good BIOS image, which I made READ ONLY using the DOS ATTRIB comand, so it wouldnt be overwritten by flash.exe, but this led to nothing. In two instances I received EEPROM successfully programmed but there was no change. A blind dumpbios returned a file that was unreadable by the bios editor. This procedure was suggested by Class Rahden the creator of the site: https://3dfxbios.cl-rahden.de/index.php?title=Voodoo4 when I told him I tried to trick the flasher with the /RESET attribute but the flasher always overwritten the SAVE.ROM, he suggested the READ ONLY approach.

Sometimes the flasher would try to write something but the operation didnt start and I was returned to the DOS console. Sometimes there was a message saying Cannot Program a Napalm/Napalm2 with not Napalm/Napalm2 BIOS!!! - nice chinglish YEAH BABY!!! ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US, again 😁

I also tried another BIOS file but without results.

http://web.csulb.edu/~murdock/attrib.html

After these attempts, the flasher wouldn't recognize the BIOS chip and returned the Error: Unknown flash EEPROM manufacturer. (Man. ID: FFh, Dev. ID: FFh) again, instead of the Error: EEPROM could not be written. A valid image should still exist in ROM.

A blind dumpbios returned a file that cant be open by the BIOS editor. Sometimes the file recovered was 40KB sometimes 64KB.

The V4-L is still recognized by the PC and PCI.EXE 😁 - this lobotomy is quite tricky 😁 Now it is A LEXICON VooDoo 4 😁 WOW!!!

I did my absolute best even if I knew my chances of success were extremely low.

The BIOS chip is BAD and it was BAD ever since I got the card that is for sure. I can rest now. there isnt anything more to try. I'm sure the card will be revived sometime in the future. When that will happen you will be notified 😁 If only the VGA BIOS was corrupted I should've been able to do something.

The SOLUTION: NEW BIOS CHIP with a PLCC 32 socket fo easy replacement, programmed with a good VGA BIOS FILE.

The information in this thread might help somebody save their card. NEVER GIVE UP!!! 😁

The UNIFLASH 1.40 path TOBOR suggested is a difficult one and I'll look into it just for research.

Thanks for everyone that tried to help or posted their thoughts.
(goes to try HOLY water on the powered V4-L card.....j u s t - k i d d i ng...😁 )

The END?

It is too bad you couldn't get her working. The 4500 is a rare card (IMO).

I feel the same way too.

THIS CARD will be ressurected for sure some time in the future. Now it will remain in stasis until it WILL BE revived. I plan to use another BIOS CHIP, a BIOS programmer and a hot air station. This will take time though. I wont buy expensive equipment. I saw a nice entry level chinese Gordak 968 or equivalent-hot air / soldering station, a TL886A BIOS programmer and a BIOS chip I can scavenge from a donor card. For my needs they will be overkill. This way I can start to get used to removing memory chips and other components.

For the cheapo man version I might find somebody to remove the chip (professionaly) and someone who already has a BIOS EEPROM programmer and all will be easier.

I dont know how much time will pass until I'll get all this equipment or decide to find someone to do it for me, but you can be sure I'll try again to repair the card.

The V4-L has been repaired.

I removed the BIOS chip and wrote a good BIOS Image using a MiniPro TL866A BIOS programmer with the PLCC32 adapter and the card came back to life.

As I suspected it was a matter of a corrupted BIOS and nothing else. The BIOS chip is OK and I wrote a couple of BIOS versions on it. ALL OK! 3Dmark99 and 3Dmark2000 tests ran OK. I also played some games. Image quality is GREAT! No problems with drivers installs or any kind of hiccups.

Full story will be told here shortly:

Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :)

Nice job and thanks for the update! Something Must have been wrong otherwise the flashing would have worked earlier. But flashing it with the device seems to have ''cured'' it somehow?

The card couldnt be flashed and that was the only problem it had.

It's firing on all its cylinders! PIII 800MHz,Slot 1 Luckystar 6VABX2 V2.0 , 384MB RAM, WIN98SE.

L.E. - Full story here: Re: Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :)

Wow, Slow.

No wonder that 3dfx closed it doors.