VOGONS


Reply 120 of 163, by appiah4

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Apologies for resurrecting this thread but I had a question. I have this Virge/DX card which outputs normal black levels but has severed memory lanes so puts garbage characters on empty parts of the screen:

S3_Virge_DX_4_MB_A.jpg

And I have this working Virge/DX card that has blindingly bright grey blacks:

S3_Virge_DX_4_MB_B.jpg

If I transplant the BIOS chip from the former to the latter, would it fix the brightness issue?

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 122 of 163, by appiah4

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MERCURY127 wrote:

i think, yes.

Nice, I will certainly try this.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 125 of 163, by appiah4

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Yes, it worked. Thanks guys, I now have one fully functional Virge/DX with deep blacks. 😎

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 126 of 163, by marxveix

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Hi,

Maybe silly question for someone, but please help.

I have powercolor - s3 virge gx2 brightness issue, what value i should but to debug?
o 3c4 08
o 3c5 06
o 3c4 1a
i 3c5

From debug i output result i get 1a and 06 does not work 0x20 - 0x1a = 0x6, same brightness if i but 06 to Off.scr and execute Run.bat.

Thank you,
Marko

31 different MiniGL/OpenGL Win9x files for all Rage 3 cards: Re: ATi RagePro OpenGL files

Reply 127 of 163, by wbc

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marxveix wrote:

I have powercolor - s3 virge gx2 brightness issue, what value i should but to debug?

S3 ViRGE/GX2 seems to behave more like Trio3D hadrware, so try this method 😀

--wbcbz7

Reply 128 of 163, by doaks80

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lvader wrote:
appiah4 wrote:

Apologies for this thread necromancy but I seem to have gotten no answers in another thread I made about this matter.. I am trying to use S3BRIGHT on a DOS 6.22 PC, but I get incorrect MS-DOS version errors when I do so. Is this utility not written for MS-DOS?

Make sure you have setver loaded

Did anyone figure out how to run debug.exe udner 6.22? I also get incorrect DOS version, I have setver loaded.

k6-3+ 400 / s3 virge DX+voodoo1 / awe32(32mb)
via c3 866 / s3 savage4+voodoo2 sli / audigy1+awe64(8mb)
athlon xp 3200+ / voodoo5 5500 / diamond mx300
pentium4 3400 / geforce fx5950U / audigy2 ZS
core2duo E8500 / radeon HD5850 / x-fi titanium

Reply 129 of 163, by Maxx1234

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doaks80 wrote:
lvader wrote:
appiah4 wrote:

Apologies for this thread necromancy but I seem to have gotten no answers in another thread I made about this matter.. I am trying to use S3BRIGHT on a DOS 6.22 PC, but I get incorrect MS-DOS version errors when I do so. Is this utility not written for MS-DOS?

Make sure you have setver loaded

Did anyone figure out how to run debug.exe udner 6.22? I also get incorrect DOS version, I have setver loaded.

Get the DEBUG utility form the MS-DOS 6.22 disks and put it in the same folder with S3BRIGHT, replacing the existing one - this should do the trick.

Reply 130 of 163, by kolderman

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Help! I run the debug.exe with the instructions:

o 3c4 08
o 3c5 06
o 3c4 1a
i 3c5

But the output value i get is 1F. When I take away 0x20 it is a minus number obviously. What should I do?

Ed:
Wow, I followed these instructions instead and it worked! Wonderful!

o 3c4 08
o 3c5 06
o 3c4 27
i 3c5
<at this step subtract 08h from given value>
o 3c5 <resulting_value>
q

Reply 131 of 163, by ElBrunzy

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I have a 86c375 ViRGE/DX and suffer the pedestal problem. I will burn an eprom with the bios 2.01.07 to fix it. But while I'm at it, I would prefer to have the VBE 1.2 instead of 2.0. I did try all the bios on chukaev.ru54.com and the one that worked best is the 86c325. But experimenting with svbl it gave odd result, but after some cleaner test it seem to work allright, so now I doubt it's a good idea.

Do you think I can run into some issues running 86c325 bios on a 86c375 card ? I've read that some earlier version of ViRGE/DX (the pre "4mb out of the box" era) had the VBE 1.2 into it. Does anyone know where I can get such an rom image file? Of course pedestal bug fix win over vbe 1.2, but maybe we can have both?

Reply 132 of 163, by hiczok

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Can I bump this?
I've got three win98 machines and the video brightness differs (tested on quake and duke3d)
-IBM 300pl - Using integrated trio3d seems about right.
-Toshiba 3100m - using integrated intel i810 igpu is too dark. Quake on lowest setting is way too dark compared to trio3d
-Socket 7 pentium 200 pc - Using s3 virge dx 2mb - also too dark just as toshiba. I've also got s3 elephant 4mb and it's also too dark.

I am lost

Reply 133 of 163, by darry

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hiczok wrote on 2020-07-26, 15:13:
Can I bump this? I've got three win98 machines and the video brightness differs (tested on quake and duke3d) -IBM 300pl - Using […]
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Can I bump this?
I've got three win98 machines and the video brightness differs (tested on quake and duke3d)
-IBM 300pl - Using integrated trio3d seems about right.
-Toshiba 3100m - using integrated intel i810 igpu is too dark. Quake on lowest setting is way too dark compared to trio3d
-Socket 7 pentium 200 pc - Using s3 virge dx 2mb - also too dark just as toshiba. I've also got s3 elephant 4mb and it's also too dark.

I am lost

Just a thought, but are you sure your monitor is not the issue (assuming you are using the same one here) ? Maybe your Trio3D is the one with the issue and all the other ones are correct, but displayed as too dark by the monitor .

What monitor are you using and are you connecting straight to its VGA input (or using converter/scaler of some sort) ?

EDIT : See also http://microvga.com/faq/electrical/what-are-v … -voltage-levels
Does your monitor have a setting for "1V peak-to-peak signal input" or something similar ?

Reply 134 of 163, by hiczok

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darry wrote on 2020-07-26, 15:26:
Just a thought, but are you sure your monitor is not the issue (assuming you are using the same one here) ? Maybe your Trio3D i […]
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hiczok wrote on 2020-07-26, 15:13:
Can I bump this? I've got three win98 machines and the video brightness differs (tested on quake and duke3d) -IBM 300pl - Using […]
Show full quote

Can I bump this?
I've got three win98 machines and the video brightness differs (tested on quake and duke3d)
-IBM 300pl - Using integrated trio3d seems about right.
-Toshiba 3100m - using integrated intel i810 igpu is too dark. Quake on lowest setting is way too dark compared to trio3d
-Socket 7 pentium 200 pc - Using s3 virge dx 2mb - also too dark just as toshiba. I've also got s3 elephant 4mb and it's also too dark.

I am lost

Just a thought, but are you sure your monitor is not the issue (assuming you are using the same one here) ? Maybe your Trio3D is the one with the issue and all the other ones are correct, but displayed as too dark by the monitor .

What monitor are you using and are you connecting straight to its VGA input (or using converter/scaler of some sort) ?

EDIT : See also http://microvga.com/faq/electrical/what-are-v … -voltage-levels
Does your monitor have a setting for "1V peak-to-peak signal input" or something similar ?

I am swapping all 3 computers on samsung 757dfx crt. The comparison is my 4k ips and modern pc.
Not sure this monitor have this settings
edit: It has. 0,7 is current setting and it gets just even a bit darker on 1.0v

Reply 135 of 163, by darry

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Your monitor actually does have a setting for this (though it does not mean that is the issue) .

Filename
757dfx.pdf
File size
3.03 MiB
Downloads
62 downloads
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Fair use/fair dealing exception

See page 34 of manual .

Excerpt :
Some video cards use video signals higher than 1.0V which causes the display to
be very bright.
For those video cards, use this feature to select the 1.0 V Level.
1 Push the Menu ( ) button.
2 Push the ◀ button or ▶ button until the Advanced screen is displayed.
Push the ▲ button or ▼ button to select Video Input Level.
3 Push the Menu ( ) button to open the Video Input Level
selection screen.
4 Use the ◀ or ▶ buttons to select 0.7 V or 1.0 V.

EDIT : I just saw your edit . I was actually hoping it was accidentally set to 1.0v . That said, can you actually adjust your monitor to get a good picture with one of the darker cards ? It would seem more likely that the outlier is the brighter one .

Reply 136 of 163, by hiczok

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darry wrote on 2020-07-26, 15:43:
Your monitor actually does have a setting for this (though it does not mean that is the issue) . 757dfx.pdf See page 34 of manua […]
Show full quote

Your monitor actually does have a setting for this (though it does not mean that is the issue) .
757dfx.pdf
See page 34 of manual .

Excerpt :
Some video cards use video signals higher than 1.0V which causes the display to
be very bright.
For those video cards, use this feature to select the 1.0 V Level.
1 Push the Menu ( ) button.
2 Push the ◀ button or ▶ button until the Advanced screen is displayed.
Push the ▲ button or ▼ button to select Video Input Level.
3 Push the Menu ( ) button to open the Video Input Level
selection screen.
4 Use the ◀ or ▶ buttons to select 0.7 V or 1.0 V.
EDIT : I just saw your edit . I was actually hoping it was accidentally set to 1.0v . That said, can you actually adjust your monitor to get a good picture with one of the darker cards ? It would seem more likely that the outlier is the brighter one .

On darker cards, the image just becomes darker.
Anyway - monitor and 3 builds went back to the basement. Lady was getting anxious with all the computers around the flat and it's way too hot to be handling all of this now.
I've restored all of them nicely though(without retrobright still) and should be ready for some old winter gaming! At least IBM model (the flat one) is since it's the only non dark one. Maybe it's worth installing monitor drivers too.
pNXWhuG.jpg

Reply 137 of 163, by ElBrunzy

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My guess, hiczok, is maybe your triod3d might have the black pedestal "problem". I would suggest you try your cards on modern LCD monitor that support VGA and see if the culprit is not the s3 trio that would then be too bright.

Reply 138 of 163, by Nemo1985

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Sorry for the bump once again, unlucky wbc doesn't seem to be active in this forum, I'm trying to fix the brightness bug on my virge GX, I'd like to correct the bug in the bios, from what I could understand, there is a value "3F" that should be changed to "1F", but despite my tryings I can't find the right value, while when I execute the command run.bat it fix the bug.
Anyone can help, please?
Thanks!

Reply 139 of 163, by RichB93

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Ozzuneoj wrote on 2018-05-20, 03:02:
Awesome! That is a fantastic utility... very easy to use once installed. Just FYI to others, the nssi060.exe program is actuall […]
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KCompRoom2000 wrote:
Ozzuneoj wrote:

I just checked the Stealth 3D 2000 Pro I have, and it actually has the 3.04 BIOS (its identical to this card, except 4 of the memory modules are in sockets). What is the easiest way to dump the BIOS from this card and upload it here? I prefer a method that can be done on a PC. I have a very old BIOS programmer but I've never used it and have zero experience with such devices... I also have no idea if it'd be compatible.

NSSI (Navrátil Software System Information) can be used to dump your video card's BIOS directly onto your PC.

Awesome! That is a fantastic utility... very easy to use once installed. Just FYI to others, the nssi060.exe program is actually a DOS based installer. Renaming the file seems to cause it to fail an integrity check, so do not rename it. When you run it it will basically dump all of the necessary files into the current folder, so I recommend moving it to its own directory before running it in DOS.

Anyway, I was able to save the v3.04 BIOS from my card to a .VBI file using this program. I have attached it to this post.

If I wanted to flash an image like this to another card or another BIOS ROM chip, how would I go about doing that? I have a feeling there aren't any methods as easy as dumping the BIOS.

Better late than never, but just wanted to thank you for this. Version 1.01 was the only one available on VGA Legacy. I just received a Stealth 3D 2000 Pro from a seller on eBay who listed it as faulty as it was displaying a garbled image; I noticed that the card clearly didn't have the original BIOS chip. Got the card and dumped the BIOS to check... sure enough, the card had a Trio64 BIOS! After flashing the right one, it's now working perfectly.

Anyhow, to answer your question, you can flash the ROM using a USB programmer (Such as the TL866-II). I use a programmer and it's incredibly easy to use.

Off the back of all of this, I did some digging and thankfully was able to find your newer BIOS which I flashed to the card... the BIOS works great, but I noticed that the 3.04 BIOS seems to make the card only run at 57MHz instead of the 72MHz of the 1.01 BIOS. I have modified the 3.04 BIOS to use the original 72MHz speed from 1.01 by changing the bytes at offset 0x29B and fixed the checksum. I've run a Final Reality test and can confirm that the card now performs the same as it did previously, so this has done the trick. As the card has 30ns RAM (well mine does anyway), I expect that at least 80MHz should be achievable, possibly more, depending on the quality of the chip on my board.

Anyway, please find attached a pack of BIOSes which includes the original 1.01 BIOS (72MHz), the original 3.04 BIOS that you kindly provided (57MHz), and the 3.04 BIOS that I modified to run at 72MHz.

Attachments

  • Filename
    Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 Pro BIOSes.7z
    File size
    17.98 KiB
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    88 downloads
    File comment
    Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 Pro v1.01 BIOS (72MHz), v3.04 BIOS (57MHz), and v3.04 BIOS (72MHz)
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception