VOGONS


Voodoo 2 SLI not working

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First post, by jheronimus

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Hi, all

My issues with the Slot 1 build keep on coming up.

This time I've got an SLI bridge from eBay and tried to stick it into my identical 12MB STB Voodoo 2 cards. However, Quake 1 will just freeze with the screen turning off (not going black, but acting as if there is no signal as soon as I launch the game). The "3DFX" tab in Display Properties also doesn't work. Here is what I've tried:

1) reinstalling Windows 98SE from scratch
2) trying different drivers. I've tried the last V2 reference drivers, the drivers from the CD the cards came with and FastVoodoo2 4.6 drivers
3) removing all cards but the AGP videocard and the Voodoo 2s
4) sticking Voodoo 2s in different PCI slots
5) switching my Matrox G250 for NVIDIA Riva TNT2

There are no hardware conflicts in my system. Both cards work fine individually. My specs are PIII-500, 256MB of RAM and Supermicro P6SBA (440BX, AMIBIOS).

What else can I try? The cable itself looks fine, though feels like it's DIY (there are marks around one of the floppy clamps).

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Reply 1 of 10, by meljor

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Reverse the cards (master becomes slave and vice versa), make your own sli cable from a floppy cable. That's what i would try.

Also had some succes in the past by simply putting the sli setup in the lowest 2 pci slots.

asus tx97-e, 233mmx, voodoo1, s3 virge ,sb16
asus p5a, k6-3+ @ 550mhz, voodoo2 12mb sli, gf2 gts, awe32
asus p3b-f, p3-700, voodoo3 3500TV agp, awe64
asus tusl2-c, p3-S 1,4ghz, voodoo5 5500, live!
asus a7n8x DL, barton cpu, 6800ultra, Voodoo3 pci, audigy1

Reply 2 of 10, by AlaricD

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jheronimus wrote:

This time I've got an SLI bridge from eBay and tried to stick it into my identical 12MB STB Voodoo 2 cards.

Individually, do they work? Maybe one of the cards has some kind of problem that may be slow to reveal itself. Extended benchmarking with only one installed at a time could bear this out.

It could also be a power supply issue, with running both cards at once (probably a long shot on that one, but worth examining).

Reply 3 of 10, by jheronimus

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Yes, they work individually.

I also forgot to mention that I’ve tried making my own cables, but always failed to secure the clamps properly. My best attempt worked for a while, however — proovin that the cards can work in SLI.

I’ve tried a different PSU, switching the cards arounnd and putting them in the lowest PCI slots. Not working.

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Reply 4 of 10, by TheMobRules

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I suggest you do a continuity check on the SLI cable you bought... based on what you're describing (cards working fine on their own) it would seem there's something wrong with it.

Reply 5 of 10, by Baoran

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One thing to make sure is that there are no voodoo 2 drivers installed before you installed fastvoodoo drivers for each of the cards. I had tried to install manufacturer drivers first and after that I tried installing fastvoodoo drivers and that didn't work, but fastvoodoo drivers worked when I installed them one at the time right after reinstalling win98se.

Reply 6 of 10, by chinny22

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"The "3DFX" tab in Display Properties also doesn't work"

Sounds like a driver issue as this should work with either the reference or fast voodoo.
Are you doing a fresh install of windows between each driver?

Reply 7 of 10, by jheronimus

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Well, I've tried different sets of drivers with my previous install of Windows.

After I've reinstalled the Windows, I've only tried reference drivers — the ones that I used for a single Voodoo 2 card.

At this point I'm pretty convinced the problem lies with the cable itself. I'll try to get a refund and probably make another attempt at making one myself. I've actually failed at this five times, which is why I bought the cable in the first place.

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Reply 8 of 10, by Guigui668

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Hello, if the cable is ok, the fastvoodoo drivers display properties should indicate 'scan lines interleave" = detected.
I had the same problem, and it was the sli cable 😀

Reply 9 of 10, by jheronimus

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Yeah, I've managed to make a working cable, so it's all good now. The cable probably won't survive if I'll try to disconnect it from the Voodoos (the clips broke again), but it does its job for now.

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Reply 10 of 10, by Guigui668

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Again, same problem here (those are pretty fragile)
Resolved with a soldering tool that melt the plastic 😀