VOGONS


Reply 820 of 844, by craig26283

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Doornkaat wrote on 2022-02-28, 21:47:

Have you tried just removing it? If my theory is correct and it only has to do with POST code LEDs it shouldn't keep the board from POSTing if the part is removed.

Well I'll be damned!

It works! BUT the D-LED's on the rear still seem to be working too.

No idea what that chip does then.

Reply 821 of 844, by Doornkaat

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craig26283 wrote on 2022-04-08, 20:10:
Well I'll be damned! […]
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Doornkaat wrote on 2022-02-28, 21:47:

Have you tried just removing it? If my theory is correct and it only has to do with POST code LEDs it shouldn't keep the board from POSTing if the part is removed.

Well I'll be damned!

It works! BUT the D-LED's on the rear still seem to be working too.

No idea what that chip does then.

That's a bit puzzling but if the board works that's a win in my book! 😁👍

Reply 822 of 844, by quicknick

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craig26283 wrote on 2022-04-08, 20:10:

No idea what that chip does then.

Me neither, but it seems important. I'm puzzled that it works 😀
I'm expecting at least some PCI slots to misbehave.
Check page 17 here:

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Reply 825 of 844, by Robert B

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Did I find stuff to restore? Well ... I really hate to brag but in this instance there is no other way to put it. 😁

Over the last two years my life has been turned upside down and only now there are clues that it is starting to reach an equilibrium. What's in store for the future? I really don't know but at some point I intend to start posting again.

One thing has remained unchanged though. 😁 My "hunger" for parts has only intensified. The stuff bellow has been gathered over the course of the last 8 or so months. Also, I extended my area of interest in regard to what parts I collect.

Some of them have been restored and sold. Some have been repaired and some wait patiently for me to take care of them. 90% of them are alive and kicking. As usual I took pictures and each and every one of them has been catalogued and put into a folder.

The list bellow is not complete and the pics will contain stuff that it is not listed.

Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9 SLI 1 with mystery CPU
MSI Geforce 4 4200 Ti AGP 8x
AXP 2000+ Palomino
OCZ - DDR2 RAM - misc
Gainward nVIDIA 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E
Intel Pentium III 1GHz/133 - SL52R
Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI ROYAL
PC Siemens Nixdorf PCD-3Msx - 386
GA-486SV REV.7 + AMD DX2 80MHz, S3 VLB - battery damage repair - all good.
Abit KG7-RAID - mighty AMD 760
MSI K7 PRO Slot A + AMD 600MHz - AOpen HQ45A case and AOpen 250W PSU
FDD 5.25" + 100 floppy disks, many new
PEAKTRON ELECTRONICS PA286-SA1. My name is Harris! 80286 Harris! My 16MHz are ready to rumble the bits and bytes! 4x1MB 60ns FTW!!!!
TANDON TM848E 8" FDD
ASUS K7M + AMD 750MHz - busted USB ports. Easy fix. A minor problem at the AGP port. Easy fix.
Gigabyte 6VTXE + Celeron 1200 - needs caps and some attention at the AGP port. Easy as pie.
ASUS A8N-SLI S939 with PCI-E A64 3200 - in great shape.
NOS Kingston 2x32MB SIMM 72 pins
AMD 486DX2-80
Creative Sound Blaster SBS38 Speakers
Funky Ball mouse
512MB PC 133
DELL Geforce 2 GTS 32MB
Creative Sound Blaster 128 PCI
ISA TV Card Fast Movie Machine - HUGE!
Pentium 2 400
AMD Low-power Athlon XP 2500+ AXDL2500DLV4D
AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2800+ AXMA2800FKT4C
AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2400+ AXMD2400FJQ4C
AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2400+ AXMD2400FVF4CE X 3pcs
AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2500+ AXMH2500FQQ4C
NOS Western Digital WD1600AAJB Western Digital Caviar Blue 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache IDE / PATA / ATA.
20x NOS Kingston KTH-VL4/64 64MB SIMM 72 60ns. 2x32MB. HP(R) P/N: D4543A
10x NOS Kingston KTH5365/128 128MB PC100 SDRAM. HP(R) P/N: D5367A
ATI Radeon 5970 2GB
NOS Asrock K7Upgrade-600
NOS ASUS A7N8X-X
NOS MSI K8N Diamond Plus
NOS ASUS P5N32-E SLI is in the P4 box
NOS MSI K8T Neo-V
Digital Equipment Corporation PRIORIS MTE
Target PC DFI 430VX P166MMX S3,
Thermalright IFX-14 Inferno Fire eXtinguisher with HR-10 cooler
FUJITSU: M2654SA 2055MB 5.25"/FH SCSI2 SE
MSI K7T PRO - SK.A KT133
ABIT BX-20 with a P2-400 CPU
ASUS P/I-P55TP4N Socket 7 - a very nice board
Mitsumi CD-ROM DRIVE 16bit I/F CARD 74-1881A, controller for old CD-ROM units. 2 pcs.
NOS Enermax Coolergiant 535W - absolutely minty fresh with a golden case. This would fit nicely into a Slot A Golden Orb kind of build. 😁
Misc VLB, ISA Controllers
Trident 9440 VLB Video card made by SPEA
Cardex/Gainward Tseng ET4000 with funky SIPP like memory. Probably an industrial card. PN: 9307-20
PCI Trident TGUI9440-1 bought for the VRAM chips. 😁
ZT52FA250HSS - ZOTAC ZT52FA250HSS ZOTAC GeForce FX 5200 128bit 256MB AGP
Gainward 8 MB Intel i740 ICUVGA-GW804
ATI Rage 128 AGP
P3 550
Zalman S775 cooler.
Two BIOS chips in search of their missing mother(board). I'm sure that the 286 motherboard is already minced meat ... RIP
Intel 486-DX2 66MHz 5V SX911
Intel Pentium 133MHz SY022
Intel Core 2 QUAD Q9400 SLB6B
Intel Core 2 DUO E8600 SLB9L
ASUS 8800 GT TOP EN8800GT-TOP/G/HTDP/512M
Mystery Z80 Computer. Some type of a homebrew computer.It need further investigation.
ASUS A8N32-SLI + A64 4200+ S939 + 2x1GB DDR400 Team Group XTreem
The BOX from a DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D - If I have the boxed it means that in my future it is written that I will also find the motherboard. Right? 😁
ACER AL532 1024x768 LCD monitor for testing purposes.
AMD 486 DX4-100
Intel I7-870
Intel SL4CE 800MHz/100
nVIDIA 6800GT PCI-E with Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5
ATI Radeon 5850 1GB
PowerColor Radeon 7000 Video Card RV6P-NB3 64MB PCI
Gigabyte GX-X58A-UD3R + I7 960
MSI Radeon HD 2600 XT 512 MB GDDR3 - silent
ASUS P5B Deluxe + E6700
Socket 3 system + VLB + Extension cards
CLUB3D RADEON 9600 256MB GDDR CGA-E966TVD - 9600XT 256MB AGP
ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe
Medion MEDION 2001 (ASUS CUV4X-CM OEM) + P3 1GHz + GF4 4200 Ti 64MB
ASUS CUSL2
SY015 Intel Pentium 150 MHz
2x Athlon 64 3200+ for S754
Gigabyte GA-7VAXP Ultra K7 triton 400
Matrox MGA G200
PowerColor Radeon 9600SE Video Card R96LE-C3S AGP 128MB
PNY Tech PNY nVidia Quadro FX 500 128MB QFFX500A8E12X-G
Gigabyte GA-GF1280 Geforce 2MX 32MB AGP
Amstrad PCD1512 DD without the monitor which also houses the PSU and without the peripherals. A lucky find nethertheless
Lexikon HD352 hardcard MFM hdd 20MB - functional belive it or not!
Gigabyte GA965P-DS3
SGI O2 R5000 - 200MHz, 384MB RAM, 2x 4GB 7200RPM SCSI HDDs, Toshiba XM-5701B SCSI CD-ROM
3dfx VooDoo Rush. Adrenaline Rush 3D Jazz Multimedia Inc.
A bunch of 286, 386 and 486 motherboards.
Etc.

PRW-2022-380.jpg PRW-2022-381.jpg PRW-2022-382.jpg PRW-2022-383.jpg PRW-2022-384.jpg PPRW-2022-131.jpg PPRW-2022-132.jpg PPRW-2022-133.jpg PPRW-2022-134.jpg PPRW-2022-135.jpg PPRW-2022-136.jpg PPRW-2022-137.jpg PPRW-2022-138.jpg PPRW-2022-139.jpg PPRW-2022-140.jpg PPRW-2022-141.jpg PPRW-2022-142.jpg PPRW-2022-143.jpg PPRW-2022-144.jpg PPRW-2022-145.jpg PPRW-2022-146.jpg PPRW-2022-147.jpg PPRW-2022-148.jpg PPRW-2022-149.jpg PPRW-2022-150.jpg PPRW-2022-151.jpg PPRW-2022-152.jpg PPRW-2022-153.jpg PPRW-2022-154.jpg PPRW-2022-155.jpg PPRW-2022-156.jpg PPRW-2022-157.jpg PPRW-2022-158.jpg PPRW-2022-159.jpg PPRW-2022-160.jpg PPRW-2022-161.jpg PPRW-2022-162.jpg PPRW-2022-163.jpg PPRW-2022-164.jpg PPRW-2022-165.jpg PPRW-2022-166.jpg PPRW-2022-167.jpg PPRW-2022-168.jpg PPRW-2022-169.jpg PPRW-2022-170.jpg PPRW-2022-171.jpg PPRW-2022-172.jpg PPRW-2022-173.jpg PPRW-2022-174.jpg PPRW-2022-175.jpg PPRW-2022-176.jpg PPRW-2022-177.jpg PPRW-2022-178.jpg PPRW-2022-179.jpg PPRW-2022-181.jpg PPRW-2022-182.jpg PPRW-2022-183.jpg PPRW-2022-184.jpg PPRW-2022-185.jpg PPRW-2022-186.jpg PPRW-2022-187.jpg PPRW-2022-188.jpg PPRW-2022-189.jpg PPRW-2022-190.jpg PPRW-2022-191.jpg PPRW-2022-192.jpg PPRW-2022-193.jpg PPRW-2022-194.jpg PPRW-2022-195.jpg PPRW-2022-196.jpg PPRW-2022-197.jpg PPRW-2022-198.jpg PPRW-2022-199.jpg PPRW-2022-200.jpg PPRW-2022-201.jpg PPRW-2022-202.jpg PPRW-2022-203.jpg PPRW-2022-204.jpg PPRW-2022-205.jpg PPRW-2022-206.jpg PPRW-2022-207.jpg PPRW-2022-208.jpg PPRW-2022-209.jpg PPRW-2022-210.jpg PPRW-2022-211.jpg PPRW-2022-212.jpg PPRW-2022-213.jpg PPRW-2022-214.jpg PPRW-2022-215.jpg PPRW-2022-216.jpg PPRW-2022-217.jpg PPRW-2022-218.jpg PPRW-2022-219.jpg PPRW-2022-220.jpg PPRW-2022-221.jpg PPRW-2022-222.jpg PPRW-2022-223.jpg PPRW-2022-224.jpg PPRW-2022-225.jpg PPRW-2022-226.jpg PPRW-2022-227.jpg PPRW-2022-228.jpg PPRW-2022-229.jpg PPRW-2022-230.jpg PPRW-2022-231.jpg PPRW-2022-232.jpg PPRW-2022-233.jpg PPRW-2022-234.jpg PPRW-2022-235.jpg PPRW-2022-236.jpg PPRW-2022-237.jpg PPRW-2022-238.jpg PPRW-2022-239.jpg PPRW-2022-240.jpg PPRW-2022-241.jpg PPRW-2022-242.jpg PPRW-2022-243.jpg PPRW-2022-244.jpg PPRW-2022-245.jpg PPRW-2022-246.jpg PPRW-2022-247.jpg PPRW-2022-248.jpg PPRW-2022-249.jpg PPRW-2022-250.jpg PPRW-2022-251.jpg PPRW-2022-252.jpg PPRW-2022-253.jpg PPRW-2022-254.jpg PPRW-2022-255.jpg PPRW-2022-256.jpg PPRW-2022-257.jpg PPRW-2022-258.jpg PPRW-2022-259.jpg PPRW-2022-260.jpg PPRW-2022-261.jpg PPRW-2022-262.jpg PPRW-2022-263.jpg PPRW-2022-264.jpg PPRW-2022-265.jpg PPRW-2022-266.jpg PPRW-2022-267.jpg PPRW-2022-268.jpg PPRW-2022-269.jpg PPRW-2022-270.jpg PPRW-2022-271.jpg PPRW-2022-272.jpg PPRW-2022-273.jpg PPRW-2022-274.jpg PPRW-2022-275.jpg PPRW-2022-276.jpg PPRW-2022-277.jpg PPRW-2022-278.jpg PPRW-2022-279.jpg PPRW-2022-280.jpg PPRW-2022-281.jpg PPRW-2022-282.jpg PPRW-2022-283.jpg PPRW-2022-284.jpg PPRW-2022-285.jpg PPRW-2022-286.jpg PPRW-2022-287.jpg PPRW-2022-288.jpg PPRW-2022-289.jpg PPRW-2022-290.jpg PPRW-2022-291.jpg PPRW-2022-292.jpg PPRW-2022-293.jpg PPRW-2022-294.jpg PPRW-2022-295.jpg PPRW-2022-296.jpg PPRW-2022-297.jpg PPRW-2022-298.jpg PPRW-2022-299.jpg PPRW-2022-300.jpg PPRW-2022-301.jpg PPRW-2022-302.jpg PPRW-2022-303.jpg PPRW-2022-304.jpg PPRW-2022-305.jpg PPRW-2022-306.jpg PPRW-2022-307.jpg PPRW-2022-308.jpg PPRW-2022-309.jpg PPRW-2022-310.jpg PPRW-2022-311.jpg PPRW-2022-312.jpg PPRW-2022-313.jpg PPRW-2022-314.jpg PPRW-2022-315.jpg PPRW-2022-316.jpg PPRW-2022-317.jpg PPRW-2022-318.jpg PPRW-2022-319.jpg PPRW-2022-320.jpg PPRW-2022-321.jpg PPRW-2022-322.jpg PPRW-2022-323.jpg PPRW-2022-324.jpg PPRW-2022-325.jpg PPRW-2022-326.jpg PPRW-2022-327.jpg PPRW-2022-328.jpg PPRW-2022-329.jpg PPRW-2022-330.jpg PPRW-2022-331.jpg PPRW-2022-332.jpg PPRW-2022-333.jpg PPRW-2022-334.jpg PPRW-2022-335.jpg PPRW-2022-336.jpg PPRW-2022-337.jpg PPRW-2022-338.jpg PPRW-2022-339.jpg PPRW-2022-340.jpg PPRW-2022-341.jpg PPRW-2022-342.jpg PPRW-2022-343.jpg PPRW-2022-344.jpg PPRW-2022-345.jpg PPRW-2022-346.jpg PPRW-2022-347.jpg PPRW-2022-348.jpg PPRW-2022-349.jpg PPRW-2022-350.jpg PPRW-2022-351.jpg PPRW-2022-352.jpg PPRW-2022-353.jpg PPRW-2022-354.jpg PPRW-2022-355.jpg PPRW-2022-356.jpg PPRW-2022-357.jpg PPRW-2022-358.jpg PPRW-2022-359.jpg PPRW-2022-360.jpg PPRW-2022-361.jpg PPRW-2022-362.jpg PPRW-2022-363.jpg PPRW-2022-364.jpg PPRW-2022-365.jpg PPRW-2022-366.jpg PPRW-2022-367.jpg PPRW-2022-368.jpg PPRW-2022-369.jpg PPRW-2022-370.jpg PPRW-2022-371.jpg PPRW-2022-372.jpg PPRW-2022-373.jpg PPRW-2022-374.jpg PPRW-2022-375.jpg PPRW-2022-376.jpg PPRW-2022-377.jpg PPRW-2022-378.jpg PPRW-2022-379.jpg

More later? We will see what the future has in store for us. 😀

Reply 829 of 844, by Robert B

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Indeed! 😀

I used a couple of them on two different Slot 1 motherboards though and on all of them I had issues with Win 98. Corruption of data after I finished the Win 98 installation. Registry ...bla bla. I tried different Win 98 SE versions but this solved nothing.

I reduced their capacity with Hitachi F-Tool to make them usable on 440BX boards. The boards I used were Abit BE6, ASUS P3B-F. When I put back my old Quantum Fireball AS 40GB all my troubles went away. Maybe they are too fast and the ATA 33 on 440BX causes issues or maybe the HDDs themselves require something that the older controllers do not have. On Win XP on the same system I had no problems.

Even with the ATA66 controller on the Abit BE6 I had the same issues with Win 98 and these WD drives but none with the Quantum.

I even tried some PCI - ATA adapters but I had various issues and in the end I settled on using older drives in my test systems.

WD160-08.jpg WD160-09.jpg WD160-10.jpg

Reply 830 of 844, by zapbuzz

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Robert B wrote on 2022-12-30, 20:13:
Indeed! :) […]
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Indeed! 😀

I used a couple of them on two different Slot 1 motherboards though and on all of them I had issues with Win 98. Corruption of data after I finished the Win 98 installation. Registry ...bla bla. I tried different Win 98 SE versions but this solved nothing.

I reduced their capacity with Hitachi F-Tool to make them usable on 440BX boards. The boards I used were Abit BE6, ASUS P3B-F. When I put back my old Quantum Fireball AS 40GB all my troubles went away. Maybe they are too fast and the ATA 33 on 440BX causes issues or maybe the HDDs themselves require something that the older controllers do not have. On Win XP on the same system I had no problems.

Even with the ATA66 controller on the Abit BE6 I had the same issues with Win 98 and these WD drives but none with the Quantum.

I even tried some PCI - ATA adapters but I had various issues and in the end I settled on using older drives in my test systems.

WD160-08.jpg WD160-09.jpg WD160-10.jpg

yes windows 98 and other dos windows cannot run on partitions larger than 120gb so a patch is needed and can be obtained here: https://www.philscomputerlab.com/rudolph-r-loew-patches.html

Reply 833 of 844, by Heatvent

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Sorry, but why did you have to remove the bios chip?

I have a dead 9500 I am trying to read the bios from ... same chip (Help Saving ATI Radeon 9500 128MB AGP Card).

At first, I was getting the error messages about voltage and not seated correctly. After several attempts to make sure I had the clamp on just perfectly my TL866II+ started to read with no problem. Well, no problem except it showed the chip as blank. I did not have the card in a board but after reading your post, I am thinking the bios chip may need to be removed????

Any advice would be appreciated!

Robert B wrote on 2018-05-05, 08:43:
Shimmer - To Be As One […]
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Shimmer - To Be As One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEbFy902v9Q

ATI special...kind of...my ordeals with ATI cards continue...8500/9500/9800

The title of this episode is self explanatory.

Yep. Plain and simple, me and ATI have started on the wrong foot. Back in '99 I bought a mighty Celeron A 366MHz and a 440BX motherboard model MSI-6154. The system came with an ATI Rage II C 4MB graphic card. Soon after I received my PC I saw how weak the RAGE II C was. I had a small budget and I didnt want to buy a K6-2 no matter what. Pentium II/III or a K7 were out of discussion. A year later, on my birthday I bought an ACorp nVIDIA VANTA 8MB and THAT was everything I wanted. Carmagheddon ran like a dream!

The differences between ATI RAGE II C and VANTA were like night and day. That was the first moment I really tasted what meant to have a 3D accelerator. It was AS GOOD AS IT GETS!. I will never forget that VANTA. A few years back I recovered my card from my cousin and now it sits in her box together with her sisters 😀

As you probably have already noticed, you wont see too many ATI cards in my collection. Also they do not pop up at the flea market very often. This is why when I find them I buy them without having second thoughts.

After the ATI Rage II C moment I never bought an ATI card until this day. In the future I might be tempted to try an ATI, who knows. My bias toward nVIDIA cards and the cycle at which I purchased graphic cards, made that I only bought nVIDIA.

Cirrus Logic-ATI-nVIDIA-nVIDIA-nVIDIA-nVIDIA-nVIDIA-nVIDIA-nVIDIA.

The three cards I'm about to present are the result of three separate visits I took at the flea market this year.

1. Ati Radeon All-In-Wonder 8500DV 64MB
2. Ati Radeon 9500 64 MB - PN 109-94200-30
3. Ati Radeon 9800 PRO 256MB - PN 109-A09400-00

Ati Radeon All-In-Wonder 8500DV 64MB

This beauty caught my eye as soon as I noticed it. I lifted her from the rag it was sitting on and I inspected her thoroughly. It was impecable and for a very low price it was mine! . "Lucky" flea market find....yeah my A$$...pfffffttt...

At that moment I was 99.9999999% sure that it was working. What could possibly go wrong? such a nice and clean graphic card. A dumpster find usually isnt that clean.

I decided to clean only the heatsink and the fan and tidy up the PCB with a soft dry brush and a few cotton sticks dipped in isopropyl alcohol 99%. I wanted to preserve the markings on the top of the capacitors for the sake of authenticity.

The heatsink was held in place with thermal glue. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!

After I cleaned the card I powered it up and I waited anxiously for the happy boot beep and a clear image.

...

The unthinkable became reality in just a few seconds. Check out those cool artefacts on the mighty 20" LCD. A+++

To make matters worse a burnt smell came from the area of the graphic chip ... 🙁 the card still worked though...

Nothing more to add. Another one for the section of deceased cards.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/1ktsn7ows/

ATI-_AIW-8500-01.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-02.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-03.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-04.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-05.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-06.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-07.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-08.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-09.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-10.jpg ATI-_AIW-8500-11.jpg

gallery 2: https://imgur.com/a/jaakFsG

Ati Radeon 9500 64 MB - PN 109-94200-30

I found this red card tossed in a dirty suitcase. Intially my pulse spiked as I thought it was a faster card but the label on the back soon brought me down to EARTH. 9500 NON PRO 64MB.

I placed it back in the suitcase and went away. Not long after that, I was back and bought it for a very low price. After I paid for the card, I had a feeling like the one you have when you buy something that in fact you dont want 😁 Obviously, higher forces were playing with me and were telling me to buy it 😁 . In the end it seems they were right after all...

The card was cleaned well. The testing session went smoothly. On the PIII-800 the card couldnt stretch its legs but the most important thing is that it is alive and kicking.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/3bisokan0/

ATI-9500-01.jpg ATI-9500-02.jpg ATI-9500-03.jpg ATI-9500-04.jpg ATI-9500-05.jpg ATI-9500-06.jpg ATI-9500-07.jpg ATI-9500-08.jpg ATI-9500-09.jpg ATI-9500-10.jpg ATI-9500-11-_T.jpg ATI-9500-12-_T.jpg

gallery 2: https://imgur.com/a/PZuMivP

Ati Radeon 9800 PRO 256MB - PN 109-A09400-00

I honestly dont know what I was thinking when I bought this card 😁. I was attracted by the size, the silver heatsinks and the RED PCB of the damn thing.

I checked her for a while and I placed it back on the stand.

It was in a horrible state. Dirty, scratched, a capacitor was hanging for dear life, the heatsinks had bent fins, the fan was missing, ... in short: DO NOT BUY!

The only clean part was the area where the missing fan stood. I still wonder why people take the fans off electronics especially the ones with a proprietary design. MAN is a strange beast. This fact reminded me of the case of the motherboards I bought which were stripped of jumpers. What could you possibly do with a bag of jumpers???!!!

While I browsed the wares at the flea market I still thought of the BIG RED CARD. In the end I haggled a bit and bought it for a very low price.

So it was mine. Like glue BO$$!

Look at it! terrible, terrible, terrible 😁

ATI-9800_PRO-256-01.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-02.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-03.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-04.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-05.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-06.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-07.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-08.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-09.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-10.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-11.jpg

I used a dry soft brush to remove much of the dirt from the surface. I was very gentle with the card.

ATI-9800_PRO-256-12.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-13.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-14.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-15.jpg ATI-9800_PRO-256-16.jpg

Next I tackled the cooling of the card. The BIG problem was the missing fan. The asymmetric holes where the original fan stood, already signaled the difficulties ahead. I scratched my head and I wondered how am I going to solve this ...

The heatsink was loose and after I removed it I saw the bent push-pins.

I washed the heatsink well and I straightened all the fins.

I didnt have a replacement for the missing fan so I started searching in my cooling BOX-O-PARTS. I stopped at a DeepCool V50 but I soon realised I couldnt use it as the original heatsink had a rised area that made contact with the die of the graphic chip. The flat V50 was of no use to me. I tried other coolers but to no avail. I didnt want to remove the silver frame from the graphic chip.

Hmmmm...it looks like I'm stuck with you...

I looked for a fan...and nothing fit.

In the end I decided to use THE LEGEND 😁

At a first look it fit the bill. Silent and stronger than the original fan. It fitted with almost no room to spare.

I wanted to attach it with just a screw and this was a fail. Like i didnt know that...

Still searching for solutions I came up with the idea of "a frame" on which I can attach the fan and I wanted to make it from a sheet of aluminium. This would've involved too much work so I looked for alternatives.

I remembered I had a few sheets of thin textolite. BINGO!

To save time I wanted to make the frame in a triangle shape but that would've reduced the cooling capacity of the heatsink as the airflow woulnd't've reach the area under the fan. In the end I took the difficult path and I made three textolite extensions.

My first try was about 90% of what I wanted.

My second attempt was a WIN.

I searched for black screws and I used a black marker to conceal the "scaffolding".

The tolerances were small but in the end I prevailed. A JOB WELL DONE!!!

I returned the push-pins to their original shape. I used a pair of pliers and a couple of small pieces of textolite. I inserted the textolite at the base of the push-pins and with the pliers I clamped the tip. The brass was cooperative and I saved the push-pins 😁

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I soldered the capacitor, I used some Arctic MX-4 thermal paste and the card was ready for its test. (The capacitor had bent feet so I decided to attach it as well as I could for the testing session and after a successful run I was going to remove it and do a proper job.)

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On the first power-up the fan wasnt running. WTH?!?!? The fan header was flipped. I put it in the correct position and the fan sprung to life.

Unfortunately the 9800 gave no signal on the ABIT SA6 and on the the i850 I received the beep code for VGA NOT DETECTED...

I tried to use a PCI video card and rewrite the BIOS-ul of the 9800. The PC refused to ouput a video signal on the PCI card when the ATI was used.

Not good...

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Hmmmmmm..............

VGA NOT DETECTED? What if this is a case of a corrupt BIOS like the V4-L?

I searched for the BIOS chip and I soon found it: SOIC 8 - STMicroelectronics ST25P05 / ST25P05V6.

I tried to use a SOIC clamp from the TL866A package while the BIOS chip was still soldered on the board. Overcurrent protection kicked in. I knew this might happen. I could've tried to rewrite the BIOS with the card powerd-up but I feared I might damage the programmer. My instinct was telling me to try something else.

I found a site where it was suggested to cut a pin from the soldered SOIC 8 BIOS chip, rewrite it and make a small solder bridge to rebuild the contact between the cut pin and the PCB pad afterwards . Because of the small area I needed to make the cut, the lack of suitable cutting tools and horror images with ripped pads that came into my mind, I said F@CK IT! and I decided to remove the BIOS chip and do a proper job.

Like it was the case with the V4-L, I first tried to remove a SOIC 8 chip from a dead motherboard. The removal of the SOIC 8 chip was a breeze.

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I did the procedure on the 9800 PRO. The removal, programming and soldering of the BIOS chip went smoothly.

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Regarding the programming of the BIOS chip I have a few thing to report. At a first VERIFY the chip looked blank and I gave the ERASE command and it completed successfully. I searched the internet for a BIOS file using the P/N number and I couldnt believe how difficult it was. Luckily TPU/TechPowerUp has a BIOS database for graphic cards. I can find BIOS files for cards older than 20 years and I cant find suitable ones for newer cards...

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

Even with the help of TPU it was difficult to find a BIOS file for my model. In the end I reduced the search area to R350 / SAMSUNG memory and the stock frequencies for Ati 9800 PRO 256MB.

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/?architec … Size=256&since=

As the card was most probably built by ATI I decided to use a stock image and I only found one.

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/23/ati-98 … amsung22-030404

NOTE. During the programming of the BIOS chip I sometimes received the error that the chip isnt oriented correctly in the socket even if it was positioned correclty. This fact gave me food for thought that maybe the BIOS chip wasnt blank and the leftover solder on the tiny feet might've made that the chip didnt fit well in the socket of the adapter. But how did the VERFIFY and ERASE commands complete successfully?...

Lets return to the matter at hand.

I had the card ready and willing. The chances that it might work were pretty high.

Power-up....and.....NOTHING...no change... drat and double drat and even a triple drat...😁

Several days have passed.

I read many articles and internet pages. I searched high and low for other BIOS files but I couldnt find anything.

I found the P/N on a old russian site...

For a fact, the card didnt work from the start and maybe the BIOS chip wasnt to blame. I'm a little pissed that when I gave the ERASE command I didnt check to see if the BIOS chip sat perfectly in the socket. Maybe I could've recovered something from it..maybe the card had a bad flash and the chip was empty...assumptions... assumptions...

After a few more days of busting my brains I said STOP but I still tried one more thing. I read a few more reviews I decided to try another BIOS file, this time from GIGABYTE.

https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/70/gigaby … -samsung-030523

I removed the BIOS chip, etc etc etc...

Unfortunately no change.

At this moment I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH! and I prepared the card for the final cleaning.

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I used isopropyl alcohol 99% but the dirt was stubborn and gave me the middle finger so I used FAIRY and HOT water. And by HOT I MEAN REALLY HOT! 😁

Finally I could see the RED FACTORY colour. F@CK YEAH! I LIKE IT! 😁

After I used Fairy and water I also washed the card with isopropyl alcohol 99%.

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FINAL RESULTS.

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Yep my ATI ordeals are kind of real 😁

From the 8500, 9500 NP and 9800 PRO, only the humble 9500 NP is alive and kicking. I wasnt expecting this. Even so the entire affair was a bitter pill to swallow...

The upside is that after this endeavour I still learned a lot of things. LIVE AND LEARN!

It is kind of scary how fast the information can disappear from the internet. In my attempts to recover the 9800 PRO the reviews were a valuable resource. Unfortunately on many occasions I was greeted by incomplete or blank pages, pictures that wouldnt't load, bad kinks, etc. We are speaking about a graphic card launched in 2003 and not in the 1990.

This is what it is and I cant change it 😁

More to come.

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/190eaq02k/
gallery 2: https://imgur.com/a/J75UxUo

Reply 834 of 844, by Robert B

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I removed the BIOS chip as a last resort and to be sure that I had the perfect opportunity to program it like they did at the factory. I thought that maybe it got corrupted but the card was simply dead. 😁 If I would've been more careful I might've recovered the original BIOS but I am pretty sure that that would've solved nothing. My programmer was the regular TL866A.

If you can program it without removing it from the board I see no reason not to do it. At the very least you can try different BIOS files. You said that the original BIOS was all FFs. That is not okay. You have nothing to lose. I mean the card doesn't work to begin with.

In regard to the motherboard you said you borked I am pretty sure that you borked nothing. Maybe the BIOS files you got from the internet were for another revision of the board or something else. I always make a backup copy of the original BIOS. I had quite a few instances were the bios files from the net that were for the board I was flashing simply didn't work and the backup bios saved my day. For instance the same board can have two slightly different BIOS version strings in the bottom part of the screen and that slight difference meant that it needed a different bios file. We are talking about a / - or a character difference and if you do not pay attention you will have problems.

In other turn of events I will have a looooong summer vacation during August so I will post a couple of episodes. 😁

Some not so old HW will be featured but I might squeeze something old in too. We will see. 😀

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Reply 837 of 844, by Robert B

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THE BLOODY GPU aka ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II OC - GTX680-DC2O-2GD5

We all know that dumpster diving IS a dangerous activity that may have as a result anything from a bruised ego to physical harm. 😁

Over the years I had my share of special computer parts that required my attention. I mean special in the sense that ranges from a part that it is so filthy that it is downright disgusting to a part that it is as rare as they get around the parts I live in.

I have to mention that I am a sucker for huge GPUs. HUGE air coolers are still No. 1 in my book when I have to buy a new GPU. This comes with its own problems in regard to their weight but this is not a concern to me. Looking back from where we came, GPU coolers with tiny fans and where we are now with air coolers that are in their own right works of art, we can say that we have come a long way. The limits of air coolers are well known today and this is why we have triple slot coolers on some of our GPUs and maybe quad slot in the not so distant future. Regress or progress, depends on how you want to look at this problem.

Taking into account all of the above, my choice to rescue this triple slot ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II OC 2GB was a total NO BRAINER.

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One of my suppliers of computer HW is also the one that extracts the components form their cases and usually I have to deal with dust and grime, some missing capacitors, scratches, so you can imagine my surprise when I got my hands on this bloody card. Blood was present on the ports, inside the backplate, on the shroud, on the sides and God knows where else. It didn't take me long to establish that indeed it was blood. The dark color. The deep ruby red shine it had. Not to mention the splatter pattern. All pointed to one thing. BLOOD! Well, I had my share of cuts and I made some blood offerings to the HW Gods but this was on another level. The poor fellow really did it this time. As I knew from whom the blood was and the guy is as healthy as an ox, there was no reason to panic, ..., too much. 😁

The decision to buy the card took me a fraction of a second. I mean it is BIG what it is not to like? I knew the model well and I fancied having one. So I bought it. I asked the seller how much blood he lost and he said smiling: Quite A LOT!

Looking at the pictures though you will observe that blood was the least of my concerns as the card was looking like it was run over by a truck.

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The cooler deformation looked bad but I knew that it was a simple case of bent heat pipes. The fact that the cooler was also resting against the PCB also gave me hope that the card survived. Taking into account the good price I paid for it I simply had nothing to lose except a few hours of my time.

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I embarked on a voyage to restore this GPU and I intended to use all of my skills in the process. One goal was guiding me. I wanted to see this beast POST and run like it was new.

Taking apart the card was a breeze.

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The bracket was deformed but the metal is soft so this was just a case of some light metal working.

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So easy to take apart.

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Before I go any further I have to point out one thing. Getting rid of dried blood is a serious business.

I tried HOT water but the results were disappointing.
I tried IPA 99% but again the results were disappointing.
I needed a stronger solvent but I was afraid to experiment with other chemicals as I didn't know how they would affect the plastics, the electronics or the metal. I had a few options available but I needed something safer.
Leaving the parts to soak in some liquid for many hours was not an option.

In the end I tried acetone and that did the trick. With cottons sticks and a brush I was able to quickly remove even the most stubborn specs or spots of blood. During this process even the tiniest spec of blood covered quite a big portion of the card when it was hit with acetone and the card was literally dripping with blood. I have to mention that working with blood is a dirty job and in many cases I had to clean some areas multiple times.

I recommend that you use some gloves and some eye protection goggles if you will do such an operation. I am sure though, that many of you would've taken a hard pass on this card for reasons that are quite obvious. 😁

Yep. This is blood alright. I wonder what group it was ...

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The cooler was easy to dismantle too. A few screws hidden under some small vanity metal covers that were fixed with double sided tape. I used a hair dryer to heat up the double sided tape that was holding them and with a use of a small pin I made short work of them. Be gentle if you do such an operation as you do not want to warp them.

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Dang it bro. It is looking NOT straight! 😁

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This card has a few miles under its hood. The dust gathered inside indicated that it was never cleaned since it was bought.

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A closer inspection of the heatsink had revealed the extent of the damage that this card sustained. Couple this with the deep dents in the backplate and I was quite amazed that it wasn't worse.

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Getting rid of the dust is in 99% of the cases just a matter of using a brush. Easy as that.

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Washing aluminum finned heatsinks with water is not recommended. In almost all cases you will be greeted by a salty deposit that will form on the aluminum fins almost instantly. This happens even when you use IPA 99%. In a few number of cases I was successful washing some heatsinks but in general I say that it is safer if you use a brush, patience and an air compressor.

I was quite happy that the cooling fans were in perfect condition.

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The TIM was on its last legs. This card is 11 years old.

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Now came the time to tackle the elephant in the room. The signature heatsink.

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I removed a few screws and I separated the aluminum frame from the heatsink.

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Bendy. Bent-bent. Dangerous curves AHEAD!

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I was gentle during the process of returning the heatsink to its initial shape. Also I knew that in the end I will not be able to make it good as new and that it would be a case of as good as it gets or should I say 99.99%? 😁

First I tackled the lateral deformation. I fixed the heatsink in a vice. I used two small pieces of thick cardboard to hold the aluminum block and using my hands I straightened the heatsink. Not much force was required.

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I used a small block of wood and with a gentle tap from a small hammer I was able to reduce some of the deformation.

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The results were not what I wanted so I tried another thing. The metal was simply too springy.

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In the end I did what I didn't want to do and that is to remove the aluminum fins from the deformed area. Removing the fins was quite easy as they were just press fitted. I tried not to deform them and I used a flat screwdriver left and right to move them from the heat pipes. Some small marks were left on them but they are not easily visible.

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To straighten the heat pipes I fixed the heatsink in the vice and I used my hands and a few wooden tools. I also used the vice to gently press the parts in their place.

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During the process of straightening the heat pipes some of the aluminum fins would not stay in their grooves in the aluminum block so I used a wire to guide them in place.

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After some work I was quite pleased with the results.

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Putting back the aluminum fins was a simple task but I was greeted with a problem. As expected they were a little loose on the heat pipes. Initially I wanted to solder them using a gas torch and solder but I dismissed this option as it might've damaged some fins or leave some marks that would've been hard to remove. As they were just press fitted initially there no reason for me to go overboard.

In the end I resorted to narrow the margins of the holes a little using wooden tools and fix some fins with super glue.

After a few hours of work I was quite proud of my work. 😀 LOOK! More b l o o d ! 😁

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The PCB received its first pass of cleaning. Tap water and Fairy lemon followed by and air compressor session. Some IPA 99% and then another session with the air compressor. During the wash cycles I also had to use acetone to clean even more blood that escaped my initial screening.

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While I dealt with this card blood was a constant. If there was a nook and cranny there was bound to be some of the red stuff.

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After I cleaned the PCB I was greeted by a common problem that affects many of the PCI-E card I buy. In many cases the tiny caps near the PCI-E connector get torn and in some cases they also take the pads with them. This translates in the card not working at all or working with reduced PCI-E lanes.

This card was no exception. Two caps missing. Three pads torn. I used some thin wires to restore some traces and I had to solder a cap a little higher than it was. The repair was then covered with a blob of nail varnish. The repair was not the most beautiful but it was strong and I didn't want to do it again.

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The PCB received its final cleaning.

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At this point in time I was so anxious to see if the card was alive that I pulled all the stops and I tested it even if I wasn't done with the other bits and pieces. I needed to know. I WANTED TO KNOW!

A few moments later I was ecstatic. After I heard the POST beep and I got a clear image I was literally over the moon with joy.

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Blood? BLOOD!

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Getting rid of the blood inside the DVI ports was quite tough. Spray after spray with acetone loosened the blood inside and the drips looked like they will never stop. I repeated this procedure many times but I am sure that some of the blood might still be inside the metal casing. This is not a worry to me as there is no reason to poke inside the metal cover of the DVI ports. The pins look clean as a whistle and that is all I need and want to know. 😁

The decorative red and black metal strips received fresh 0.2mm double sided tape.

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Looking good!

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I used a fine tip black marker to cover some of the scratches that were present on the backplate and the metal shroud of the cooler. I also used white paper corrector to cover a spot of blood that was present on the paper label on the back.

All in all the results were beyond my expectations and I was quite pleased that after about 16 hours that spanned across two days I was able to rescue this BRICK which in my book IS AN ABSOLUTE UNIT! 😁

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YES! YES! YEEEEESSSS!!! Was all that I felt when I looked at the end result.

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The final testing session revealed a card that it is @ 100%.

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This was the story of the bloody GTX 680. A first and a last I hope. Dealing with blood is not for the faint hearted. Even if I am not squeamish I didn't feel too comfortable restoring this card. I had to deal with multiple problems but in the end my efforts were paid off with a working card and that is always a good thing in my book.

If you ask if I was able to remove all of the blood I must say probably but I also must say that some of the blood will always be tied to this card and I am 100% sure that forensics will find traces of blood quite easily if they tried. The remaining traces of blood though are for sure minimal and I am not one bit bothered by this. I intend to use this card in a build but this will have to wait. At 11 years old this ASUS is not collectible or rare but in 20 it may be. Remember that in our lives everything is cyclical. As humans we are very much alike and in general we have about the same needs and wants so I am quite sure that HW that is today discarded might one day become quite rare and expensive. Not to mention collectible. Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. 30 years ago who would've thought that Socket 3 stuff will fetch quite a price on the free market? 😁 3dfx VooDoo 3 cards in demand?! What blasphemy is this? History repeats itself more than we want to believe so if you like computer parts, now it is the time to save rare or special ones.

The rescue of this card, even if it is not old or collectible was an awesome experience for me and I hope that you liked this episode. More later? Probably ... 😀

gallery: https://postimg.cc/gallery/bGDSmWy