Tseng VLB video card - is it faulty or am I missing parts? \ VOGONS

Tseng VLB video card - is it faulty or am I missing parts?

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First post, by Omarkoman

Posted on 2026-05-17, 05:06

Omarkoman Offline

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Rank: Member
Posts: 357
Joined: 2020-03-30, 20:35
Location: Sydney, Australia

I bought this vlb tseng card thinking it works but it doesnt post, tried multiple pcs, removed the additional ram chips, no post.

https://i.postimg.cc/jxWH4TsV/IMG-4146.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/qkDcKqdH/IMG-4147.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/LHQkP5Mp/IMG-4148.jpg

When looking it up on retroweb:

https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/8677

It looks like the two sockets that are empty on my card are populated in the photo on rtw.

Any suggestions?

Reply 1 of 3, by TheMobRules

Posted on 2026-05-17, 06:12

TheMobRules Offline

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Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 1658
Joined: 2016-01-19, 23:29

Unfortunately those two chips are PALs, so unless you find someone with the same card that is able to read them (or reverse engineer them, since they are usually locked) the card won't work.

I always wonder what is the point of removing random chips from old cards...

Reply 2 of 3, by Omarkoman

Posted on 2026-05-17, 06:38

Omarkoman Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 357
Joined: 2020-03-30, 20:35
Location: Sydney, Australia

Oh bummer … thanks though, at least I know where I stand.

Reply 3 of 3, by clb

Posted on 2026-05-18, 23:10

clb Offline

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Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 585
Joined: 2021-07-14, 11:45

I have a "Tseng Labs ET4000AX" card in my collection: https://oummg.com/manual/adapters.html

https://oummg.com/manual/imgs/Tseng_ET4000/Ts … ng-ET4000AX.jpg

which has a PAL16L8BNC chip on it. This looks like the same markings as one of the missing chips to the right of the BIOS on theretroweb link above.

Though given it is a PAL, it means that it would be programmed to contain some logic rules, which would have to be reverse engineered somehow.

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