Voodoo5 6000 Testing or Repair

[neurocrash]

Greetings,.

Is there anyone capable of testing and possibly repairing a Voodoo5 6000?  

The computer that mine was installed in became unstable due to swollen capacitors, so I sent it off to be re-capped.  The 6000 worked the last time I tested it.

The computer works since the repairs, but the 6000 is not functioning properly.  It boots and works fine in 2D, but any time I run a 3D application it either hangs with a corrupted screen or also with short blue vertical lines.  I don't have any other system compatible with this card, so I can't tell if the problem is the card or my computer, or if anything can possibly be done about it.

This system will not boot with either of my Voodoo5 5500 cards.

Thanks for your consideration

[m14radu]

it sounds that the Mobo is nuked.
normaly if the voodoo5 5500 is working fine, the 6000 should go.
Please change the mobo, and let us know if is working.

Dont sent to repair / touch the 6000, until you are not sure about the mobo !

[neurocrash]

I can recall that a previous motherboard that I tried would work with the 5500, but not the 6000, so I wasn't sure if this was relevant as this board boots with the 6000 but not the 5500.

I'm not sure how I can test the motherboard since it was re-capped, works, and is stable.  The other motherboad I bought as an alternate did not work at all, and I'm not sure where to get a known working and V5 6000 compatible board.  All of the boards I have ever had from this time period suffer from capacitor plague (where all the caps were made with a sabotaged formula that leaks or swells) and therefore no longer work.

Thanks

[Glide]

Hi all.

- neurocrash:

I understand your concern on the Voodoo5 6000's health status, but your first topic "pushes me" to think that the motherboard is causing the issues with your 3dfx card. So I agree with m14radu.

Also because you're writing

The 6000 worked the last time I tested it.

so I cannot imagine the Voodoo5 6000 becames broken while it is not working.

So you need to find, or to buy, also on line, a certainly compatible motherboard. You can choose a second-hand hardware that allows you to re-use the current cpu, RAM, and so on, to minimize the costs.

Al last, please try to boot the system with your current mobo as well as the Voodoo5 6000 card with one only (full working) DIMM module, a minimal set of internal and I/O devices, and a good PSU.

Bye bye

[neurocrash]

Hi,

The current system does boot and operates on the desktop, passes DirectDraw tests, and only malfunctions when a 3D/Glide application is run.  I don't know if there may be a diagnostic utility for Voodoo5 cards, but that would help since my guess is bad memory that is only used for 3D applications.

I've also run this motherboard with an Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra and a running Direct3D demo for more than six hours without any problems.  I've run memtest for several hours without error.  I haven't yet found any indication that this motherboard has a problem.

I have tried two standard PSUs, as well as a combination of a dedicated VGA PSU and standard PSU.  I have tried a molex adapter power connector as well as a hard wired 12v connector from the VGA PSU.  There is no difference, which may mean that power is not involved.

I have unfortunately had hardware that failed on its own while not in use, such as one of my Voodoo5 5500 cards and countless other random components.  I keep a crate of video, ethernet, sound, firewire, and other cards for the purpose of having spares in this kind of situation.  Unfortunately the one thing that is irreplaceable is the 6000.

I do have another motherboard on order, but since this will be my fifth try, I'm not confident that it will be in better condition that the one I have currently.  I would take suggestions if there is a make and model known to be 6000 compatible that may have been unaffected by the capacitor plague.

Thanks

[m14radu]

Well, i do have also a v5 6000 that is very "demanding" when it comes to the motherboard choose thematic.
I did also try a lot of mobo, and only an poor ECS board is working correcly with mine. I know, it's not an Epox, or Asus, or tyan...but i'm happy with it !
Here you can find a topic related to the motherboards compatibility problems, based on user experiences.

http://www.voodoo3dfx.com/Foro_V6k/viewtopic.php?t=8&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75

First of all, hope that you voodoo is ok, and try to borrow or buy the models that the most v56k users have.

After your description, it could be also driver problem.
Try to do a fresh install, with the SFFT or Amigamerlin drivers. They are the best
if this not work install win98Se and give a try. Mine is working with this OS better than with the WinXP.

At the end, don't forget that this cards are prototypes and they were never released to the market. Their test phase was not finalized...

My advice: Do not flash or attempt to repair the card until you did not check all these points.

[neurocrash]

Hi,

I will try another of the same motherboard when it arrives, but keep in mind that this motherboard was working with the 6000 for years until I had to have the caps replaced since I was concerned it would damage the card.  I can buy more motherboards, but the expense gets ridiculous since compatible ones often sell for close to $200, which is a lot for experimentation.  I've tried about five boards already just trying to find one that was actually working and compatible with a Voodoo5 at all, and all of them had capacitor problems.

I will try a clean installation, but again this system was working when I took it apart to replace the motherboard, and the installation was not changed.  I do have a ghost image backup of the working installation, and can also try reinstalling Windows98 onto a clean drive.  I would not want to mess with WindowsXP with the games I intend to use, and I wish to avoid additional complications.

I would not have attempted to flash the card since it boots and runs fine in 2D and therefore seems to be good in that regard.  I would only attempt to have it repaired if there is someone qualified to do so, who can test the card in a known compatible system, and first replicate the problem that I have observed.  

This card was originally repaired by Hank, and worked flawlessly for years until the computer itself became unstable.  I thought this was due to a flaky Windows installation until I noticed capacitors on the motherboard were bad and stopped using the system until I could do something about it because I didn't want to damage the card.

The repaired board is extremely stable, as I ran it for about 20 hours yesterday running memtest, a Direct3D game for 7 hours (with an Nvidia card), a Voodoo5 5500 PCI card, and a wide variety of other activities.

I would like to know if there is anyone still around that I can pay to fix this card if it is in need of something like ram replacement.  I have three Voodoo5 5500's that I would gladly sacrifice if parts were needed.

Thanks

[neurocrash]

Maybe I have found something - when I sent the motherboard out for repair, the technician had to install his own CPU as he thought mine was defective.  It is likely that he reset the BIOS, which may have enabled AGP 4X and possibly AGP Fast writes.

Will a Voodoo5 hang if either of these are enabled?

I won't be able to test for a number of hours...

[Glide]

Originally posted by neurocrash
It is likely that he reset the BIOS, which may have enabled AGP 4X and possibly AGP Fast writes.

Will a Voodoo5 hang if either of these are enabled?

The AGP Fast Write is not a problem in general, while the AGP 4X setting could be it.

Let us know.

Bye bye

[neurocrash]

Unfortunately this did not help when switched from 4x to 2x or 1x.  I also disable some shadowing options as one post recommended, although I have no idea what else could be in the BIOS that may be responsible for the problem.

In any game that I try to run there are some form of horizontal lines (red or blue), usually on a black screen, and the system hangs.  Everything 2D seems fine with no corruption at all.  I tried a backup of my installation and there is no change.  I still have to try a clean instllation while I wait for another motherboard to try.

Cheers

[m14radu]

wait for the Mobo and let us know what is the result.
What type of mobo did you ordered ?

Anyway...try to install Win98 too.

[neurocrash]

I ordered two MSI MS-6561 745 Ultra and a Soyo SY-KT333 Dragon Ultra since my previous one worked for several years.  The other boards said to be compatible were $150-200 each.  Installing Windows98 <> joy

Cheers

[Glide]

OK, we are here: please let us know when you can test the card with a new mobo. However I continue to believe that this issue is related to new caps...

Bye bye.

[neurocrash]

Hi,

Is there any reason that good caps would make the V6k crash?  Otherwise, is it possible that changing a cap somewhere, such as the one near the AGP port, may fix this problem?

Thanks

[neurocrash]

Just a small update: a replacement Soyo Dragon SY-KT333 motherboard arrived and is functional with an Nvidia card.  Will not work with a Voodoo5 5500 and give one long, two short beep code which means "video problem".  

Is it possible that there is a bios setting that is causing this?  I had to reset the bios to default in order to get the CPU to work, and I don't know all the settings that might affect Voodoo5 compatibility.

The Voodoo5 6000 behaves the same with this board as with the last, where it will boot and run Windows, but hangs when a game is executed, usually with horizontal bands on a black screen.

Thanks