VOGONS


First post, by Joseph_Joestar

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I recently snagged this card from my local classifieds for 10 EUR. Condition was "unknown/untested" but for that price, I took a chance. Unfortunately, I can't get it to post. I tried two different rigs, one with a 440ZX chipset and another one with a 430TX chipset and it made no difference. I get one long beep followed by three short ones, which indicates a graphics card error.

I tried the usual things like cleaning the contacts with isopropyl alcohol and a pencil eraser, but that didn't help. Changing the PCI slots didn't do anything either. If I boot the system using an AGP card while keeping the Verite connected, Windows does see it but with an yellow exclamation mark. I can even install the Diamond drivers on it, but the yellow exclamation mark remains and the card appears to be disabled.

At this point, I'm thinking there might be some physical damage on the card itself. It likely wasn't stored adequately by the previous owner, which seems to have resulted in some scratches on the PCB. I'm guessing there might be a broken trace somewhere, but I can't see anything obvious. Here are some pics:

Verite_Front.jpg
Filename
Verite_Front.jpg
File size
1.09 MiB
Views
682 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Verite_Back.jpg
Filename
Verite_Back.jpg
File size
1.07 MiB
Views
682 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

BTW, I also tried flashing the latest BIOS from here but the process simply hangs once it detects a Verite card. Any thoughts?

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 1 of 6, by The Serpent Rider

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Probably somewhat common issue. Can't boot mine on KT333 no matter what I do. Works fine on i850 motherboard though.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 2 of 6, by Joseph_Joestar

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Upon closer inspection (and using the Macro camera on my phone) I think I may have found the issue:

Scratch.jpg
Filename
Scratch.jpg
File size
358.66 KiB
Views
656 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Yeah, that doesn't look so great. Fixing this is way beyond my soldering level, so I'll put the card in storage for now. Maybe one day I can find someone who is skilled enough to mend those traces and the card might work again.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 3 of 6, by Joseph_Joestar

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Did some more troubleshooting on this card yesterday. I carefully checked the damaged traces with a multimeter, and to my surprise, all of them appear to have continuity! I guess those scratches aren't as deep as they look.

The card still doesn't post though, giving one long beep and three short ones as the error code. From what I gather, that means the BIOS is unable to initialize the card. As of right now, I have tested this card in four different systems with various chipsets (Intel, VIA, SIS) and it fails in each one. I took a high resolution photo of the card and compared it to the one at VGA Museum, just to check if all SMD components are still in place, and everything seems fine.

At this point, I'm thinking either the Rendition chip is dead or the VBios is corrupted. I tried flashing several different BIOS versions from here, but the tool simply hangs after detecting the Verite. I guess the next step would be to desolder the BIOS chip and flash it with a programmer, but I don't have the proper tools for that. Anyway, this is the last line that I see on the screen before everything freezes:

VeriteIOBASE = e400, VeriteMEMBASE = d8000000

Does anyone else have any ideas as to what could be wrong? As mentioned above, the card appears to have been stored improperly by the previous owner, and it's entirely possible that there's some additional hardware damage that I missed.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 4 of 6, by Razer357

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Interesting, this corresponds with what I've seen with trace damage as well. I've seen trace damage that I was sure was causing problems, but continuity was fine and the problem turned out to be something else. I think traces are much harder to damage than most people think.

Reply 5 of 6, by Joseph_Joestar

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Razer357 wrote on 2023-04-17, 00:43:

Interesting, this corresponds with what I've seen with trace damage as well. I've seen trace damage that I was sure was causing problems, but continuity was fine and the problem turned out to be something else. I think traces are much harder to damage than most people think.

Yeah, when I first saw the results of the continuity tests, I was really surprised. I then repeated them a few more times, just to make sure, and every damaged trace still tested fine.

Anyway, I don't suppose Rendition cards have a nice debug utility like 3DFX's MOJO.EXE by any chance? That would at least give me a hint what to look for.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi

Reply 6 of 6, by Am386DX-40

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I have the exact same problem with mine. I put up a Windows XP system and i can "see" the card is there, I can get its info with HWInfo or Everest, but when I want to boot with it or use it, it won't post, or it will post but I'll get no video output.

I also tried updating the bios and same thing, I get to that line "VeritasIOBASE / VeritasMEMBASE" and it hangs forever...

Card looks in pristine condition, no scratches, no nothing. I also suspect it's either a damaged bios or a bad contact in one of the solder balls of the bga package? But just it being there as a secondary card, I see no problems with it.

V2100.jpeg
Filename
V2100.jpeg
File size
122.96 KiB
Views
162 views
File license
Public domain