I am testing two Number nine ISA VGA cards. In the photo, the top card works OK. The bottom card does not work. The top card shows a "good" green light, but the bottom card displays a "bad" red light. For the GXE card, when I look at the monitor, it says: Out of range - 50 khz / 111 hz, and I cannot see anything. The PC boots up OK however. Any ideas please people?
Are there any scratches on the PCB?
Yes, there are a couple of scratches on the back of the card. Also, one of the ISA contacts has a small piece of gold missing. Also, on the main S3 chip, one of the tiny pins looks a bit bent, and it's nearly touching its neighbouring pin. I think there's a tiny gap between the 2 pins, however.
Maybe that card's just seen too rough a time at some point in it's life. Inspect scratches in the PCD to make sure they're not deep enough to sever any traces. After that, check the chip again with a magnifier just to be sure none of those pins touch.
what does the jumper on the card do ?
Guardian of the Sacred Five Terabyte's of Gaming Goodness
The jumper on the faulty card sets the wait state. I've tried it in both positions: 0 or 1 wait states. The jumpers on the working card sets the IRQ, and also the wait state.
