VOGONS


Voodoo 2 with mild artefacts

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First post, by MrCrocodile

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Hey, I have a Voodoo 2 12MB that displays mild artefacts. There is a bit of story behind this card, first after I installed it, it froze the computer during 3dmark benchmark so I closely inspected the card and discovered some bended pins that were shorted as well. I straightened them using a paper cutter however I can notice some artefacts in games and 3dmark (they are highlighted in the photo below). Even if I change the resolution the artefacts stay in same/similar position on the screen.

I ran the donut demo and with 2 TMUS and 1 pass selected there are no artefacts, however if I toggle it to 1 TMU and 2 passes there are artefacts (mostly black dots on the donut).

This is I'm afraid as far as I can troubleshoot it.

Is there any hope for this card? Did something fry when I turned it on with pins shorted?

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Reply 1 of 27, by dominusprog

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Post a photo of the card. It could be caused by faulty capacitors.

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Reply 2 of 27, by MrCrocodile

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The caps look okay to my eye, but here are the photos of the card. Maybe there is something else I haven't noticed.

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Reply 3 of 27, by dominusprog

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Here lies your problem.

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Duke_2600.png
A-Trend ATC-1020 V1.1 ❇ Cyrix 6x86 150+ @ 120MHz ❇ 32MiB EDO RAM (8MiBx4) ❇ A-Trend S3 Trio64V2 2MiB
Aztech Pro16 II-3D PnP ❇ 8.4GiB Quantum Fireball ❇ Win95 OSR2 Plus!

Reply 4 of 27, by MrCrocodile

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You are right! I didn't notice it before. Interestingly if you look straight from the top it's barely visible. Here is a zoomed in photo if anyone else is interested. I'll order the diodes and will replace them (probably all of them just in case the new ones have slightly different characteristics). From what I've found it's the BAV99 diodes, these have the A7 marking at the top. I'll report back after I replace them.

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Reply 5 of 27, by sdz

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Those diodes are sitting on the RAMDAC RGB lines, they won't cause artefacts. If one was shorted, the card would have a color missing. Without them present, the card will work as normal.

Reply 6 of 27, by AppleSauce

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Did it look like this?

I also had artefacts in heretic 2 with black dots.

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I was told either the ram chips need to be reflowed or replaced. So it might be the ram?

Reply 7 of 27, by MrCrocodile

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AppleSauce wrote on 2024-08-06, 08:09:
Did it look like this? […]
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Did it look like this?

I also had artefacts in heretic 2 with black dots.

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I was told either the ram chips need to be reflowed or replaced. So it might be the ram?

Yes, it looked very similar. This is what I found in other threads and forums - from what I gather artefacts are usually caused either by bad TPU or bad memory or just lack of contact and need a reflow.

Reply 8 of 27, by smola

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Check legs on both tmus, there may be bad contact, resolder if necessary all rows. Check ram chips related to each tmu, sometimes bad contact on corner chips. Check small smd resistors, especially 4-packs, sometimes have higher impedance, usually is 22r, but range 10-56 - replace if necessary. You may try decrease gpu clk to 80-85MHz and observe artifacts, sometimes helps if chips are degraded. Try also disabling 2nd tmu, you can try disable half of tmus ram to 2x2MB, it may help to locate bad ram chips. That esd diode is not related to this issue, but should be replaced too.

Last edited by smola on 2024-08-06, 18:01. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 9 of 27, by Joakim

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You've got some dirt or something there.

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Reply 10 of 27, by myne

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Given the issues pointed out so far
I'd wash it.
Standard dishwashing liquid and an old toothbrush.

Light scrub with the brush, rinse thoroughly, dry in the sun for a few hours, or by inside air for a couple of days.

Then inspect carefully - your phone's macro video can help in a pinch

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Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 11 of 27, by drone16

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Hijacking this thread 😀

I got a Diamond Monster II 8MB Voodoo 2 card. It shows these artefacts on Unreal start scene:

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I found and fixed some bent legs on bottom 3dfx chip, resoldered some missing capacitors on the back, but it is still there.
It was washed with soap and toothbrush and now is drying.

smola wrote on 2024-08-06, 17:06:

Try also disabling 2nd tmu, you can try disable half of tmus ram to 2x2MB, it may help to locate bad ram chips.

Is there a way to test memory? I tried VMTCE test from floppy, but it only picks my Matrox Millennium.
How do I disable one TMU? Or disable half the memory, please?

Thanks!

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Reply 12 of 27, by myne

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There's some tools in the 3dfx dev kit that can do tests.
Some of the 3dfx command line settings can change things like memory amount available too.

There's a thread on here somewhere if you search for all the commandline settings.

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11 auto-install iso template (for vmware)
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 13 of 27, by drone16

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myne wrote on 2024-08-09, 05:45:

There's some tools in the 3dfx dev kit that can do tests.
Some of the 3dfx command line settings can change things like memory amount available too.

Thanks, I found this package - 3dfx Glide2 SDK for DOS/Win32 V2.43 here : Re: Faulty Voodoo 2?
mojo.exe output is identical to my second, good Voodoo2 card (Creative).
There is no memory tests as far as I can see...
I will look for command line settings.

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 15 of 27, by myne

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drone16 wrote on 2024-08-09, 07:03:
Thanks, I found this package - 3dfx Glide2 SDK for DOS/Win32 V2.43 here : Re: Faulty Voodoo 2? mojo.exe output is identical to m […]
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myne wrote on 2024-08-09, 05:45:

There's some tools in the 3dfx dev kit that can do tests.
Some of the 3dfx command line settings can change things like memory amount available too.

Thanks, I found this package - 3dfx Glide2 SDK for DOS/Win32 V2.43 here : Re: Faulty Voodoo 2?
mojo.exe output is identical to my second, good Voodoo2 card (Creative).
There is no memory tests as far as I can see...
I will look for command line settings.

Accurately troubleshooting video memory faults with VMTCE

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11 auto-install iso template (for vmware)
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 16 of 27, by drone16

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myne wrote on 2024-08-09, 07:32:

Yes, I saw it too, but they walk through using 3dfx Banshee, which is 2D + 3D.
In my system, Voodoo 2 + Matrox Millennium, VMTCE tests Matrox, not Voodoo 2. There is no target card selection feature.

1997 period correct retro PC build

Reply 17 of 27, by NostalgicAslinger

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drone16 wrote on 2024-08-09, 05:20:
Hijacking this thread :) […]
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Hijacking this thread 😀

I got a Diamond Monster II 8MB Voodoo 2 card. It shows these artefacts on Unreal start scene:

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I had this problem on one of my Voodoo2 cards. It was one TMU unit with dust/oxidation on the pins. After intensive cleaning with isopropyl away!
And the problem was away, after disabling one TMU unit. TMU 0 is right and TMU 1 is left if you look on the front picture of your card.

The enviromental "SSTV2_NUM_TMUS =1 " disables one TMU (left TMU on the Voodoo2), if you set it back to "SSTV2_NUM_TMUS =2" or deleting, back to both TMUs.

Reply 18 of 27, by drone16

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NostalgicAslinger wrote on 2024-08-09, 12:06:

It was one TMU unit with dust/oxidation on the pins. After intensive cleaning with isopropyl away!
And the problem was away, after disabling one TMU unit. TMU 0 is right and TMU 1 is left if you look on the front picture of your card.
The enviromental "SSTV2_NUM_TMUS =1 " disables one TMU (left TMU on the Voodoo2), if you set it back to "SSTV2_NUM_TMUS =2" or deleting, back to both TMUs.

Thanks! Will definitely try isopropyl tomorrow, but my soap wash did a good job too.
Your TMU tips are great too.
Btw, I had a closer look and found more abuse 😀. Will sandpaper and solder over these traces!

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Reply 19 of 27, by drone16

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Well, this is frustrating. So far I did:
- Clean with isopropyl
- Found and fixed 2 more missing caps and one resistor
- Used hot air to try to rework all memory and TMU pins
- Disabled left TMU via SSTV2_NUM_TMUS =1
- TMU right, retouching chips pins using soldering iron

Planning to try downclocking memory from 90MHz.
Funny thing I noticed - on Unreal start, artefacts are kind of "breathing", dots appear and disappear as camera flies around. Touching top right corner sometimes freezes the breathing until game is restarted.

Edit: Found RA34 second resistor to be broken! I got idea to check RA resistor arrays from @lemonlime video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRFucW4uB5k
And it fixed it. Ha! 😀))
Thanks all !

1997 period correct retro PC build