VOGONS


First post, by janskjaer

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I've tested a Matrox Millennium G200 8MB AGP (G2+/MILA/8I) on my Chanitech 7VJL APOGEE and when powering up, there is no signal output to any of the (only LCD) screens I've tested it with.

There is no signal output to the display from powering on, not even the BIOS POST screen is visible.

I've tried the same hardware setup with the following cards and they work fine:
- 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1 32MB (AGP 4X)
- 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 16MB (AGP 2X)
- 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 16MB (AGP 2X)

The motherboard has an AGP Pro slot so is capabable of using any AGP card and voltage.
I put the Matrox down to being a duff card, but then I just tried it with another brand new G2+/MILA/8I that was sealed from 1998. That is also doing exactly the same thing.

I don't suspect it is a refresh rate out of range issue otherwise my displays would have said so.
I don't have another system to try the cards out with, nor do I have any CRT monitors kicking around to prove my theory.
My only option now is to install my 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI in order to boot into Windows 98 and see if the Matrox card is actually being recognised in the OS.

Has anyone come across such similar (compatibility?) issues with Matrox G200 AGP cards?

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 1 of 18, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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Maybe an issue with the card(s) bios - I've had to run the bios recovery floppy on my Matrox G200 AGP (G2+/MILA/8BI/20 with 8 + 8MB SGRAM) before as it seemed to have gone slightly loopy (blank screen) in storage.

Reply 2 of 18, by aaronkatrini

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I've had through my hands many G100 and G200. About 80% of them didn't work (post).
IMO they're one of the most faulty ones on the Matrox G Line... G400, G450, all the Millenium and Mystique editions almost always work.

Reply 3 of 18, by janskjaer

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I didn't realise they were so unreliable. I thought perhaps the problem occurred because I'm attempting to run the the card on LCDs and I may need the Flat Panel add-on but I don't think that is the case as there would be a lot more "no signal" reports than there is.

Can I run the Matrox's BIOS recovery while running the OS from another (PCI) card?

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 4 of 18, by the3dfxdude

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I have two G200 PCI cards that I know both worked. Well trying both out a few weeks ago after sitting a few years in storage, one works and the other doesn't, in the machines they came in 23 years ago. Please share the steps for BIOS recovery and I will try it.

Reply 5 of 18, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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Unzip the attached in a new directory, and follow the instructions in the text file. When you come to finally boot & run the recovery floppy, if you want to see any screen output you'll need a different primary video card too (ideally not Matrox) but the process works just as well 'running blind' with only the Matrox card and ends with a forced reboot.

Filename
Matrox Recover Utility.zip
File size
907.03 KiB
Downloads
338 downloads
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 6 of 18, by H3nrik V!

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Yes, I've done that a couple of times, with both G100 and G400 cards. Both showed no picture in text (DOS) mode - but worked fine when booted into windows???

Both run with BIOS recovery disk "in the blind".

Please use the "quote" option if asking questions to what I write - it will really up the chances of me noticing 😀

Reply 7 of 18, by Errius

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I bought two G200 AGP Millenniums some years ago on Fleabay and both were DOA. One had visible damage (missing surface mount components) but the other had no obvious problems.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 9 of 18, by DrSwizz

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I have a G200 card that does not work 100% alright with all systems. On some system it does not show any picture when used as a primary card, but if I install another card and use it as a primary card I can still get the G200 up and running once windows is up and running. I never bothered to find what is wrong with it, but I figured maybe updating the ROM/BIOS might fix the problem.

Reply 10 of 18, by janskjaer

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So I installed the 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 PCI first, then I inserted the Matrox Millennium G200 Into the AGP slot. The VGA cable is connected to the Voodoo3 to see what is going on.

The system never makes it into Windows 98. after the BIOS POST and during the Windows 98 bootup, I receive the error: "Windows protection error. You need to restart your computer". Interesting.

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 11 of 18, by janskjaer

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I solved the Windows protection error. A residual 3Dlabs driver was trying to control the AGP bus while the Matrox card was plugged in.
I'm now able to see the G200 in Windows 98 and have installed the drivers for it. When switching VGA over to that card, it is now displaying output.

It is the "non-Windows" segments (BIOS, POST, MS-DOS, boot screen etc ...) of the Win98 boot sequence that are not displayed on the G200, displaying the "no signal" issue. For some reason, these cards must output an unsupported resolution and refresh rate for non-Windows.
Because of the Windows protection error I was receiving, the G200 was never getting passed the boot sequence, therefore perpetually displaying "no signal".
Strange that the G200 is the only card that generates the combination of the Windows protection error and the "no signal" (out of range?) scenario.

DELL Dimension XPS M200s
:Intel P1 MMX 200MHz
:64MB EDO
:DOS 6.22/Win95b
:Matrox Millenium II + m3D (PowerVR PCX2)
Chaintech 7VJL Apogee
:AMD AthlonXP 2700+
:512MB DDR
:Win98SE/2000 SP4
:3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP

Reply 12 of 18, by H3nrik V!

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janskjaer wrote on 2020-03-20, 21:03:
I solved the Windows protection error. A residual 3Dlabs driver was trying to control the AGP bus while the Matrox card was plug […]
Show full quote

I solved the Windows protection error. A residual 3Dlabs driver was trying to control the AGP bus while the Matrox card was plugged in.
I'm now able to see the G200 in Windows 98 and have installed the drivers for it. When switching VGA over to that card, it is now displaying output.

It is the "non-Windows" segments (BIOS, POST, MS-DOS, boot screen etc ...) of the Win98 boot sequence that are not displayed on the G200, displaying the "no signal" issue. For some reason, these cards must output an unsupported resolution and refresh rate for non-Windows.
Because of the Windows protection error I was receiving, the G200 was never getting passed the boot sequence, therefore perpetually displaying "no signal".
Strange that the G200 is the only card that generates the combination of the Windows protection error and the "no signal" (out of range?) scenario.

That is exactly the problem, I've had with both a G400 and a G100. Both solved by the bios recovery tool ..

Please use the "quote" option if asking questions to what I write - it will really up the chances of me noticing 😀

Reply 14 of 18, by bbankrablo

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Got recently a G200 AGP without screen. But it definetly booted. I was about to trash it since I got it from a "scrap box"
Searched, maybe it's a common thingie. Found this solution. (The Matrox fix)

At first, it didn't worked out with "blind mode". Done, restarted, everything remained the same. Black.
Then I added a random VGA (PCI WDC Paradise) to see what's up to.
Did it's job, restarted, monitor gone OUT OF RANGE.
Took out the extra VGA, started, and WORKS!

In short: the solution works, thank you!
Now I'l get the addon things for it, seen those too.

Reply 15 of 18, by fool

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I have recovered two G200 AGPs and one G200 PCI.
One of those AGP versions had corrupted PINS. Just flashed it with dumped pins from a working one.
The other ones AGP and PCI had no output on TFT and got those recovered with the recover utility.

Just if anyone needs:
Pins dump to file -> mxinfo.exe (or mxinfo.exe -dead)
Pins file write -> progbios.exe -i auto -s pins.txt -k

Attachments

  • Filename
    setup251.exe
    File size
    1.96 MiB
    Downloads
    103 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception
  • Filename
    MXINFO.EXE
    File size
    37.77 KiB
    Downloads
    96 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

Toshiba T8500 desktop
SAM/CS9233 Wavetable Synthesizer daughterboard
Coming: 40-pin 8MB SIMM kit, CS4232 ISA wavetable sound card

Reply 16 of 18, by sminogue

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I'm building a retro PC with an ASUS P3V4X and a G400. I was getting the same problem as the original poster. I watched a video where someone was having the same problem and they reseated their components (CPU, RAM, graphics card) multiple times in the motherboard and they got a successful POST. I tried the same and after pulling and reslotting each component 20 times, I was able to POST. The video said it was due to "oxidisation" on the contacts in the slots on the motherboard. What ever it was, it worked and I can now proceed with the rest of my build.

BTW, first post. This forum has been a great resource for researching old hardware and getting useful advice!

Reply 18 of 18, by mjw99

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One of my systems running an ABIT BH6 with a Matrox G200 AGP hadn't been powered on in over a year.
Power on now gave one long beep three short beeps and no video. I also have another G200 which I put it in
and heard the same code. Tried a GF4 TI4200 which worked just fine.

Using the Matrox Recovery diskette BOTH G200's are now working again ! I had to put in a PCI video
card along with the G200 to get it to boot from diskette and do the recovery. Really strange problem
but I'm glad to have these cards working again.