3dfx Archive - Rampage dongle

Tim God Member Offline Posts: 1065 Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #30 - 09.01.12 at 10:27:53 Good job Loeschzwerg, Gary. Keep it coming, this should be awesome.
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Loeschzwerg

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #31 - 09.01.12 at 20:41:09

Finished the output today and did a first test run:

Unfortunately it is not working 100% yet:

The first picture shows an inverted bios screen. As you can see the colors are inverted nearly correct. The image is very faint... I measured the supply voltage and it is just 4.43V. This low voltage results in a far to low output voltage. I will see if I can fix this by using a variable resistor.
The second picture shows the image when I connect the RGB lines directly. This was a test to see if the H/V-Sync does work correctly and if there are any EMC issues.

Still a little work to do, but I think I'm on the right way

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Quaker763 Junior Member Offline It really is kind of ridiculous Posts: 67 Australia Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #32 - 10.01.12 at 11:12:04 I'm Itching to see the Rampage in action. Do you have a lineup of programs/games that you are going to test it with (Quake 3 is on my Obvious list lol) I CANT WAIT
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Loeschzwerg

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #33 - 10.01.12 at 20:29:38

Well I still have some problems with image quality... At the moment I'm stuck, I don't know how to improve it any further.

-> What the dongle does at the moment. Far better than yesterday but still not good enough...
-> normal RGB pass through
-> image of normal RGB inverted with PAINT.NET

So if anyone does have a brainchild, please let me know.

Maybe I need to use an other transistor type or the circuit needs to be done on an etched PCB to prevent irradiation?!?!

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trevormacro

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #34 - 11.01.12 at 20:17:41

@All :

I just have this very rare adaptor very interesting for Rampage card I think.

When the dongle will be ready ...

Albatron ATOP AGP8x to PCIexpress16x adaptor will be compatible with 3dfx Rampage AGP 4x Card ?

Pictures :

nb. I think AGP8x slot is compatible with AGP4x card @1,5V but I am not sure.

The chip under the heatsink :

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« Last Edit: 11.01.12 at 20:44:47 by trevormacro »

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trevormacro

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #35 - 12.01.12 at 00:30:56

@Loeschzwerg :

Now, very well. As you guys found out the real purpose of the adapter (actually inverter), you can build it quite easily. All what Loeschzwerg has to do is do the math and use the correct parts, not some random ones. Nicely done, though. Do you have anyone with the dongle? High-res pic of it can make all the difference in the world. What exactly is meant with "normal RGB pass through" which is apparently all right?

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Loeschzwerg

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #36 - 12.01.12 at 07:38:36

The Rampage should work with this ATOP adapter since it is a native AGP4x part. Maybe the jumper settings have to be changed.

With "normal RGB pass through" I did connect the color lines directly from input to VGA output, just to see if shielding is a problem.

Yesterday I did test a lot with an improved shielding for the dongle, but without success. I think the problem now are wrong/slow transistor parts.

At the moment I'm drawing a circuit that can be printed on PCB (which I will do by myself btw). Of course I will use SMD parts, this will help to prevent irradiation and it is also easier to do reworks on a clean circuit.

Do you guys know fast SMD transistors I could use?

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trevormacro God Member Offline Voodoo5k6 Gold SE, Legend & Mystical Edition Posts: 622 Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #37 - 12.01.12 at 13:16:32 @Loeschzwerg : About direct connecting input to output, does it mean color signals does not need to be inverted? Only sync? The problem will be both speed AND characteristics of transistors, shielding won't be much to bother with clock like VGA uses.
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Loeschzwerg Senior Member Offline AAlchemy PSU maker :-) Posts: 396 Germany -> Bavaria -> Augsburg Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #38 - 12.01.12 at 13:38:24 No, H/V-Sync do not need to be inverted, only RGB-Lines need to.
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trevormacro God Member Offline Voodoo5k6 Gold SE, Legend & Mystical Edition Posts: 622 Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #39 - 12.01.12 at 16:11:21 @Loeschzwerg : OK, now you lost me. On the pics with direct connection is positive image, while it should be negative if RGB lines need inversion.
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Loeschzwerg

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #40 - 12.01.12 at 17:09:03

The inversion is shown in the first picture. Here all RGB lines are connected to the PCB. When I did wrote "normal RGB pass through" I did connect the RGB lines from the TFT and from the VGA card directly, so no connection to PCB except the H/V-Sync.

The RGB needs to be negative and this what my circuit does. But it seems there are problems with the frequency and the TFT is not able to generate the image properly.

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goriath God Member Offline Ruggedized Retro Gamer Posts: 599 Italy/Slovenija Gender:	Re: Rampage dongle Reply #41 - 12.01.12 at 17:52:43 I think the circuit needs more integration as well. Loeschzwerg wrote on 12.01.12 at 17:09:03: The RGB needs to be negative and this what my circuit does. But it seems there are problems with the frequency and the TFT is not able to generate the image properly. Don't you have a CRT monitor to inquire further this issue?
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trevormacro

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #42 - 12.01.12 at 20:04:07

Loeschzwerg wrote on 12.01.12 at 07:38:36:

The Rampage should work with this ATOP adapter since it is a native AGP4x part. Maybe the jumper settings have to be changed.

According to this website : http://forums.techarena.in/monitor-video-cards/1121946.htm
Rampage card is AGP4x 2.0 (1,5 volts).
AGP8x slot run @0.8 volts and Rampage card run @1,5 volts.
Is it compatible ?
Do you think Rampage Drivers will work with ATOP adaptor ?

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« Last Edit: 12.01.12 at 20:15:21 by trevormacro »

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Loeschzwerg

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #43 - 13.01.12 at 07:52:15

@goriath: What do you exactly mean with integration? More layer to prevent interferences?
Sadly I don't have any CRT at home anymore, but I this should be no problem to test

@trevormacro: The AGP3.0 spec should be compatible downwards to AGP4x, so the adapter should work in theory. What I don't know for sure is how the Nvidia HIS bridge behaves here. But you could test the adapter with an Voodoo 4500 Wink

If it works you are good to go. Or use an other native AGP4x card, like a Geforce 3/4.

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trevormacro

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Re: Rampage dongle
Reply #44 - 17.01.12 at 16:46:27

@Loeschzwerg :

I found two graphics card

- ATI Radeon 7000 VE Family AGP8x
- Nvidia Riva TNT2 Model 64 Pro AGP4x

If I put these 2 cards in my ATOP adaptor to test it if they run properly, is it dangerous ?
Imagine my ATOP adaptor can have only 0,8 Volts on AGP8x slot, can it burn my TNT2 card (1,5 Volts) ? or just doesn't boot ?
Do you think AGP8x slot support 1,5 Volts too ?
I will test them tonight on my asus Maximus 4 Extreme MB.

Look this website :
http://www.directron.com/15agpguide.html

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« Last Edit: 17.01.12 at 16:47:28 by trevormacro »

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