VOGONS


First post, by GhostyGhost

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Hello Everyone.

I've recently solved a driver issue on my newly built Windows 98SE PC but still have run into problems.
There are these continuously changing vertical lines on screen at all time. I Tried some 3D games but it persists.
It maybe have to do with the Voodoo 5 5500 AGP card as it doesn't change after changing resolution or color levels in Display settings.
Here are the things I have noticed.
1. Distortion in Bios text upon booting Ss appear as Xs and such
2. 3DFx tools do not open other than the manager
3.Windows Boot splash is full of vertical lines

Things I've tried
1. Trying different monitors LCD only. Except for CRT as I don't have one. One of 14" (EVOV VT7W71 and one of 19" Dell IN2020M
2. Installing every possible driver for Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
3. Adjusting Color and resolutions.
4. Doing Memtest86 which showed now bad RAM modules.

Anyone have any clue what could be causing this?

Thanks.

EDIT: After my coworker checked on it, he said that 1 of the VRAM chips were bad so we needed to replace all of them for good measure. I might plan on doing more upgrades to this Voodoo 5 5500 in the future but for now, it is fixed.

Here are some pictures I've noticed of the issue.

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    The vertical lines in question
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    BIOS screen issue
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    More Vertical lines on Windows Boot screen
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    The genuine physical CD Drivers I used 1st time.
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Last edited by GhostyGhost on 2019-03-04, 22:38. Edited 1 time in total.

If life throws a wrench into your plans, then show life that no matter what it does to you, you will always prevail.

Reply 1 of 7, by meljor

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It might be the Tuv4x board (Via chipset) causing this so try all the agp settings in bios. But i would prefer to test the card on an Intel system, if it behaves the same way on that i'm sorry to say that the card's memory has probably turned bad..

asus tx97-e, 233mmx, voodoo1, s3 virge ,sb16
asus p5a, k6-3+ @ 550mhz, voodoo2 12mb sli, gf2 gts, awe32
asus p3b-f, p3-700, voodoo3 3500TV agp, awe64
asus tusl2-c, p3-S 1,4ghz, voodoo5 5500, live!
asus a7n8x DL, barton cpu, 6800ultra, Voodoo3 pci, audigy1

Reply 2 of 7, by GhostyGhost

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meljor wrote:

It might be the Tuv4x board (Via chipset) causing this so try all the agp settings in bios. But i would prefer to test the card on an Intel system, if it behaves the same way on that i'm sorry to say that the card's memory has probably turned bad..

I tried various settings for 1x 2x and 3x but nothing. I also installed the latest AGP drivers for board. But nothing. I will look into the VSA-100 chips. I will reseat the heatsink and cooling fans and see if that will do. I will check it out soon. Thank You for the reply.

If life throws a wrench into your plans, then show life that no matter what it does to you, you will always prevail.

Reply 4 of 7, by GhostyGhost

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Justin1091 wrote:

Ah, i see you have a new topic.

Maybe post pictures of the card? Someone might spot something.

Yeah the old topic was about the drivers only so it was best to change to a new post about this topic and it was getting pretty big.

Well here it is. 4 pictures of the Voodoo 5 5500 AGP

It looks like I have all the components intact and no bad caps for all I see. But the chips above the fans do concern me. Looks like rust on them.

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If life throws a wrench into your plans, then show life that no matter what it does to you, you will always prevail.

Reply 5 of 7, by GhostyGhost

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My coworker at the repair show said that the GPU is possibly overheating even though the fans are still good. I will consider reseating the heatskink and fans when he comes back from out of town.

If life throws a wrench into your plans, then show life that no matter what it does to you, you will always prevail.

Reply 6 of 7, by Justin1091

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Those are the memory chips (8 x 8mb). I can't see rust on them, but check their pins. Shouldn't be shorting.

Near U7 is a strange spot, something spilled there maybe? Top middle of the card.

I'm a noob with electronics, so that's about as far as I can go here 😀. I read another topic here where someone also had artifacts and he spotted a memory chip that had shorted pins. His PC freezed in dual chip mode though. Yours doesn't freeze, so it may be something else? Just guessing here. Can also check if everything is on the board, compare to pictures from others and check every single component.

If they were overheating it shouldn't already give artifacts at PC boot. You can't remove the heatsinks and put them back on easily. They're glued to the chips, I wouldn't not touch them.

Reply 7 of 7, by GhostyGhost

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Good eyes. It appeared to be some food or residue that was spilled on the card near a capacitor. Looks like the previous owner did that. I don't know if it will do anything but I cleaned it up. It was stained pretty good on the board. Anyway I called my Coworker and he said to hand it over to him, who surprisingly came back yesterday, and see if he can work any magic on it. GPU repair is his expertise and if he can't do it than I don't know who can. But thanks for the help. I will keep this post updated to let people know what was causing the problem with graphics card.

If life throws a wrench into your plans, then show life that no matter what it does to you, you will always prevail.