analog_programmer wrote on 2024-05-28, 06:40:

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 05:50:

Is there a way to flash a modified bios with higher CPU frequency?

Just a suggestion: if there is an original BIOS dump file from V2100 card (for example Diamond Stealth II) and a BIOS file for upgrading the very same V2100 card to V2200, maybe it would be possible to find out which bytes are responsible for setting the video chipset and memory frequencies.

Certain bios locations contain pointers to other bios locations. The internal locations of bios segments vary from bios to bios. The reference bioss are consistent though. Vendor specific ones are not.

analog_programmer wrote on 2024-05-28, 06:40:

Just a suggestion: if there is an original BIOS dump file from V2100 card (for example Diamond Stealth II) and a BIOS file for upgrading the very same V2100 card to V2200, maybe it would be possible to find out which bytes are responsible for setting the video chipset and memory frequencies.

This link contains the BIOS images 1.31, 1.35 and 1.36 for the Diamond Stealth S220. The last one for sure has the CPU clocked at 55Mhz; I don't know about the other ones.
http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=321&menustate=0

The problem is that there could be other changes besides the clock frequency, so comparing them with an hex editor or similar would be a futile exercise if we don't know where to look for.

EDIT: While looking for some info on the net, I discovered that my QDI V2200 might be using the reference BIOS. At boot it shows a rather long string at the middle of the screen. I can't read it completely, but I recall seeing the words "Phoenix BIOS". If that's the case, maybe I could use another reference BIOS with a higher clock, if it exists...

The Phoenix bit is in every Rendition BIOS.

Try running this redirecting output to a file ( I don't know whether it'll exit Graphics mode. If it doesn't wait a minute or two and reboot):
https://nirvtek.com/downloads/SETMODE.20240304.005.zip
MD5: c46d34c486d014a7d664133c714177da

If you see something like this this:
Successfuly read VESA blockSignature:"VESA"
Version:200
OEM name:"Rendition Verite 1000"
Capabilties:0002
RAM: 4000 (KB)
oemVersion: 3031
Vendor:"Rendition Incorporated"
Product:"Verite 1000 Reference Board"
Revision:"Reference Board Rev 2"

There was a version of this app which didn't work on V2000 boards (didn't report the reference strings). I'm not sure whether it's this.

I think there were two Stealth II boards which had different frequencies, maybe, a V2100 and V2200. You could compare the two and see which bytes are different and check in a hex editor which bits aren't strings, "Stealth II S220" and so on. I might be wrong though. Two different boards from the same manufacturer of the V2100/V2200 variety will vary only in clockspeed, and RAMDAC frequencies, unless they've done something funky. In any case a reference BIOS for a V2000 will work on any V2000.

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 08:36:

This link contains the BIOS images 1.31, 1.35 and 1.36 for the Diamond Stealth S220. The last one for sure has the CPU clocked […]
Show full quote

analog_programmer wrote on 2024-05-28, 06:40:

Just a suggestion: if there is an original BIOS dump file from V2100 card (for example Diamond Stealth II) and a BIOS file for upgrading the very same V2100 card to V2200, maybe it would be possible to find out which bytes are responsible for setting the video chipset and memory frequencies.

This link contains the BIOS images 1.31, 1.35 and 1.36 for the Diamond Stealth S220. The last one for sure has the CPU clocked at 55Mhz; I don't know about the other ones.
http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=321&menustate=0

The problem is that there could be other changes besides the clock frequency, so comparing them with an hex editor or similar would be a futile exercise if we don't know where to look for.

EDIT: While looking for some info on the net, I discovered that my QDI V2200 might be using the reference BIOS. At boot it shows a rather long string at the middle of the screen. I can't read it completely, but I recall seeing the words "Phoenix BIOS". If that's the case, maybe I could use another reference BIOS with a higher clock, if it exists...

I'll check those out.

I don't know about overclocking, but I did manage to solve my BIOS dependency problem with Dosbox-Rendition. It can now use any V1000 BIOS with stock game binaries and any V2000 BIOS with V2000 patched games.

There're a lot of differences between the S220 BIOSes.

sharangad wrote on 2024-05-28, 09:29:

The Phoenix bit is in every Rendition BIOS. […]
Show full quote

The Phoenix bit is in every Rendition BIOS.

Try running this redirecting output to a file ( I don't know whether it'll exit Graphics mode. If it doesn't wait a minute or two and reboot):
https://nirvtek.com/downloads/SETMODE.20240304.005.zip
MD5: c46d34c486d014a7d664133c714177da

If you see something like this this:
Successfuly read VESA blockSignature:"VESA"
Version:200
OEM name:"Rendition Verite 1000"
Capabilties:0002
RAM: 4000 (KB)
oemVersion: 3031
Vendor:"Rendition Incorporated"
Product:"Verite 1000 Reference Board"
Revision:"Reference Board Rev 2"

There was a version of this app which didn't work on V2000 boards (didn't report the reference strings). I'm not sure whether it's this.

I think there were two Stealth II boards which had different frequencies, maybe, a V2100 and V2200. You could compare the two and see which bytes are different and check in a hex editor which bits aren't strings, "Stealth II S220" and so on. I might be wrong though. Two different boards from the same manufacturer of the V2100/V2200 variety will vary only in clockspeed, and RAMDAC frequencies, unless they've done something funky. In any case a reference BIOS for a V2000 will work on any V2000.

I've tried this app but it reports many funny characters in the strings. Also, mem size isn't correct.

As in the other thread, I attach the output generated by both boards in my possession.

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 14:18:

sharangad wrote on 2024-05-28, 09:29:

The Phoenix bit is in every Rendition BIOS. […]
Show full quote

The Phoenix bit is in every Rendition BIOS.

Try running this redirecting output to a file ( I don't know whether it'll exit Graphics mode. If it doesn't wait a minute or two and reboot):
https://nirvtek.com/downloads/SETMODE.20240304.005.zip
MD5: c46d34c486d014a7d664133c714177da

If you see something like this this:
Successfuly read VESA blockSignature:"VESA"
Version:200
OEM name:"Rendition Verite 1000"
Capabilties:0002
RAM: 4000 (KB)
oemVersion: 3031
Vendor:"Rendition Incorporated"
Product:"Verite 1000 Reference Board"
Revision:"Reference Board Rev 2"

There was a version of this app which didn't work on V2000 boards (didn't report the reference strings). I'm not sure whether it's this.

I think there were two Stealth II boards which had different frequencies, maybe, a V2100 and V2200. You could compare the two and see which bytes are different and check in a hex editor which bits aren't strings, "Stealth II S220" and so on. I might be wrong though. Two different boards from the same manufacturer of the V2100/V2200 variety will vary only in clockspeed, and RAMDAC frequencies, unless they've done something funky. In any case a reference BIOS for a V2000 will work on any V2000.

I've tried this app but it reports many funny characters in the strings. Also, mem size isn't correct.

As in the other thread, I attach the output generated by both boards in my possession.

Yup, I got you a broken version. I have so many versions of this test app I've lost track now. Used it to figure out how speedy3d worked with the help of some board owners. Haven't used it in months

I think I have better version, a 32 bit one.

I'll dig it up tomorrow.

Speaking of clock frequencies, Verite boards use the classic programmable PLL synth seen in many Cirrus/S3/Tseng board of early 90's: these are some working parameters that can be used to overlock the board under Windows. Mileage may vary, especially for the memory chips.

Memory speed = 14.318*m/(n*MClk) MHz
CPU speed = 14.318*m/(n*SClk) MHz

Mem/CPU(MHz) m n SClk MClk

100/40 14 1 5 2 (v2100 default?)
90/45 25 2 4 2
93/46.5 26 2 4 2
96/48 27 2 4 2
100/50 28 2 4 2 (V2200 default?)
104/52 29 2 4 2
107/53.5 30 2 4 2
111/55.5 31 2 4 2 (S220 last BIOS?)
114/57 32 2 4 2
118/59 33 2 4 2
122/61 34 2 4 2
125/62.5 35 2 4 2 (Hercules Thriller 3D?)
100/60 21 1 5 3

Is the DOS o'c tool MCLK.EXE compatible with V2x00 cards?

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 15:37:

Speaking of clock frequencies, Verite boards use the classic programmable PLL synth seen in many Cirrus/S3/Tseng board of early […]
Show full quote

Speaking of clock frequencies, Verite boards use the classic programmable PLL synth seen in many Cirrus/S3/Tseng board of early 90's: these are some working parameters that can be used to overlock the board under Windows. Mileage may vary, especially for the memory chips.

Memory speed = 14.318*m/(n*MClk) MHz
CPU speed = 14.318*m/(n*SClk) MHz

Mem/CPU(MHz) m n SClk MClk

100/40 14 1 5 2 (v2100 default?)
90/45 25 2 4 2
93/46.5 26 2 4 2
96/48 27 2 4 2
100/50 28 2 4 2 (V2200 default?)
104/52 29 2 4 2
107/53.5 30 2 4 2
111/55.5 31 2 4 2 (S220 last BIOS?)
114/57 32 2 4 2
118/59 33 2 4 2
122/61 34 2 4 2
125/62.5 35 2 4 2 (Hercules Thriller 3D?)
100/60 21 1 5 3

What do you use to overclock on Windows?

analog_programmer wrote on 2024-05-28, 15:52:

Is the DOS o'c tool MCLK.EXE compatible with V2x00 cards?

No. I've tried. The board is not recognized

sharangad wrote on 2024-05-28, 15:56:

What do you use to overclock on Windows?

I haven't tried myself as I've acquired these boards only recently and I've yet to run in a PC with Windows installed, however I read that with certain drivers all you have to do is create a text file named 'Verite.INI" that contains that parameters and put it in the Windows folder. I don't know if it was a vendor specific feature or with what driver release it works.

EDIT: Apparently Diamond distributed a small utility that creates the .INI overclocking file for you. Luckily, it was still available via the Time Machine.

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 16:06:

No. I've tried. The board is not recognized

I see, so it's only meant for older V1000 cards. I have to dump my QDI Legend Verite V2200 AGP card's BIOS (maybe NSSI will be of use here) to see what version it is, just to compare to yours.

analog_programmer wrote on 2024-05-28, 16:18:

MSxyz wrote on 2024-05-28, 16:06:

No. I've tried. The board is not recognized

I see, so it's only meant for older V1000 cards. I have to dump my QDI Legend Verite V2200 AGP card's BIOS (maybe NSSI will be of use here) to see what version it is, just to compare to yours.

According to the boot screen, my card has BIOS version ending with .144, same as the last available on Vogondrivers.

Ok, I did a few more test on my 486 system with different CPUs I've retrieved from my stash... Same Zida 4DSP board, same Verite V2100 @ 55Mhz core clock. For software mode I switched to a ET6000 VGA since the Verite VGA/VESA mode is a bit too slow and buggy.

AMD 486DX4 120MHz (WB cache version)

Quake 1.08 Demo1 (UniBE 7.1, VESA 320x200, Fastest FPS in software mode) : 13.7 FPS
VQuake 1.07b5 Demo 1 (320x200) : 16.9 FPS + 3.2 FPS

Intel Pentium Overdrive S 83 MHz

Quake 1.08 Demo1 (Same as above 320x200) : 21.8 FPS
VQuake 1.07b5 Demo1 (320x200) : 24.6 FPS + 2.8 FPS

Cyrix 5x86 120MHz

Quake 1.08 Demo1 (Same as above 320x200) : 14.4 FPS
VQuake 1.07b5 Demo1 (320x200) : 18.2 FPS + 3.8 FPS

Cyrix 5x86 120 MHZ + Optimizations (BTB=on, FPFAST=on, LSSER=off)

Quake 1.08 Demo1 (Same as above 320x200) : 16.5 FPS
VQuake 1.07b5 Demo1 (320x200) : 20.5 FPS + 4 FPS

With the exception of the Pentium Overdrive, none of the other 486 class CPUs, even when paired with a 2nd generation Verite doing some of the rendering operations, are enough to play Quake at a decent framerate.
I've also recorded the framerate at 512x384 and 640x480, but there's a noticeable framerate drop, so it's hardly worth reporting. VQuake is still too dependant on the CPU and it's not using the second generation Verite chip to its fullest. The situation may change using GLQuake but that would require a Windows installation (and with only 32MB of RAM available, there would be other bottlenecks under Windows).

The Cyrix 5x86 120MHz with optimizations on is much better than any 486, including the AMD 5x86. I'd really love to try the "mythical" Cyrix 5x86 133MHz, but I've yet to see one. For this test I used a brand new (still in its original tray) Cyrix branded 5x86-100GP manufactured by IBM which is also stable at 120Mhz. I also wanted to test the Pentium Overdrive at 100 MHz, but my sample is not stable enough at that frequency; Quake 1.08 and VQuake crash on startup; oddly enough Quake 1.06 manages to complete the timedemo once or twice before crashing or hanging. Last, my AMD 5x86 (ADZ stepping) progressively became more and more unstable at 160MHz despite a 'generous' cooling (I'm using a Socket 5 heatsink and fan), so no more testing on that chip at 160MHz. I guess it's time to hunt for a replacement...

Hi

I'm working on adding vQuake support to RReady and have both overcome one obstacle and hit another.

Could someone with a Verité board run this and post the resulting FIFO.txt file. It may take a while (copy all 3 files and run run.bat).

https://nirvtek.com/downloads/Fifo.20240614.002.zip
MD5: 337aa329b4b16c03e8f48fc752054ce6

The problem I resolved was an INT1A call which needed a 32-bit protected mode dispatch routine and the one I hit was vQuake querying a ridiculous number of probably non-existent modes.

This build *should* (fingers crossed) return the BIOS strings correctly as well as well as the BIOS responses to the strange mode queries.
(Cross-posted to RReady thread).

The modes it's querying could be z-buffered versions of vesa modes

Re: RReady (Rendition Verite wrapper) Test Build (Alpha 1)

I got a 404 not found on the link.

If you still need it, in a couple of day I should be able to run that.

Thanks dude! Try this when you can

And now possibly this:
[EDIT]
This:
https://nirvtek.com/downloads/Fifo.20240616.003.zip
MD5: b600fe0c6b98ae1faa358313eb574d95
not this
https://nirvtek.com/downloads/Fifo.20240616.002.zip
MD5: 1beade1f8250bc0421ea0efe3e012de9
[/EDIT]

I accidentally zapped the previous build.

Tried version 003 on both my V2x00 cards under dos 6.22 and it hangs.. Black screen, no response from the machine. The TXT file generated is 0 bytes long.

MSxyz wrote on 2024-06-17, 08:55:

Tried version 003 on both my V2x00 cards under dos 6.22 and it hangs.. Black screen, no response from the machine. The TXT file generated is 0 bytes long.

Ok thanks.

I'll do a real mode version which shouldn't hang.

Another 5s test for a card owner who has the time, willpower and patience to spare:

Re: RReady (Rendition Verite wrapper) Test Build (Alpha 1)