3dfx bars \ VOGONS

3dfx bars

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First post, by psychz

Posted on 2017-05-01, 14:47

psychz Offline

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Got myself a Diamond Monster 3D 4mb PCI with a knocked capacitor which got replaced immediately, and decided to use it with my P100 build for DOS Glide gaming. With Tomb Raider, it appears to work, however I get dark vertical bars. Happens every time after the 3dfx switches outputs, starting when it shows the logo, and goes normal again when switching back to the S3. Could it be dry caps or something else? Also, is there any way to test its memory? I had Screamer 2 crash on me twice and noticed some weird colored pixels, a behavior which Tomb Raider doesn't exhibit at all so far. All chip legs are straight, card looks okay as far as I can tell. I'm pretty sure I've seen similar behavior on a Cirrus Logic 542x VLB before, didn't know the cause back then either, suspected bad caps but not sure.

Stojke wrote:
Its not like components found in trash after 20 years in rain dont still work flawlessly.

:: chemical reaction :: athens in love || reality is absent || spectrality || meteoron || the lie you believe

Reply 1 of 7, by Sammy

Posted on 2017-05-01, 17:05

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What Monitor are you using ?

Does it have an AutoAdjust Button ?

Can you press it when TombRaider runs ?

Reply 2 of 7, by matze79

Posted on 2017-05-01, 17:23

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does this also happen without loopcable ?

just connect your monitor directly to the 3dfx card, are there bars ?

i would replace all caps on the 3dfx.

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Reply 3 of 7, by psychz

Posted on 2017-05-01, 17:29

psychz Offline

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Yep, happens without loopcable too, auto-adjust doesn't help either. Picture is from an Acer 17" LCD monitor. Haven't tested on a CRT yet, though.

Stojke wrote:
Its not like components found in trash after 20 years in rain dont still work flawlessly.

:: chemical reaction :: athens in love || reality is absent || spectrality || meteoron || the lie you believe

Reply 4 of 7, by derSammler

Posted on 2017-05-01, 18:33

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Most likely scaling artifacts. Please try running the game in a different resolution and report if the bars disappear.

Reply 5 of 7, by Jepael

Posted on 2017-05-01, 19:38

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The reason might be different timing from the 2D card and 3D card so the monitor can't use same stored settings for displaying both cards properly.
What resolution the game uses, and what resolution the monitor reports? (hint: some monitors can be switched between 640 and 720 pixel wide modes for 400-line modes)
Also, try using manual phase or width adjust.

Reply 6 of 7, by leileilol

Posted on 2017-05-02, 00:46

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My V2 had dark vertical bars at 640x480 and I had to change the refresh rate to get rid of them.

long live PCem

Reply 7 of 7, by psychz

Posted on 2017-05-02, 13:22

psychz Offline

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Thanks a lot! Messing with the phase settings and then forcing auto-conf solved the issue. Tomb Raider and Battle Arena Toshinden work fine, monitor reports 640x480 60Hz. They aren't artifacting or crashing at all too, maybe my Screamer 2 installation is borked.

Stojke wrote:
Its not like components found in trash after 20 years in rain dont still work flawlessly.

:: chemical reaction :: athens in love || reality is absent || spectrality || meteoron || the lie you believe

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