Hi! Very nice video! A fellow Swede here! And not done much of repairs, only a very few and no troubleshooting needed :) Just got ahold of 2x voodoo2 (Powercolor evilking I think) with ram only on one side like the first one in this video. Bought it from someone I trust and they tested it before shipping fully tested. One card works OK, only some vertical banding(if that's the word) mostly noticed in Quake 1 not so much in Quake 2 for some reasons). But the other one is showing some artifacts on Quake 1 and Quake 2. The screen is not completely garbled, only certain parts, like the HUD in quake 1 and the credits screen in Q1 and Q2 and more ocations but not the whole screen. So my guess how it got broken is rough handling by PostNord(in this specific case) :( I'm no electronics guy, but I can handle a soldering iron "fairly well"(and a hot air station and a very small hotplate) and not afraid to try, since I can't get much joy of one of the cards as it's now anyway. But I have no clue when it comes to measuring stuff with a multimeter other than continuity :D Any recommendation on where to start would be greatly appreciated? Is it: 1. gentle push on the components while powered on to see if there that changes anything(microscopic cracks?) 2. what's next? :D
Год назад+1
Have you checked the rest of the YT videos about Voodoo2? I have a few more. Static black pixels or pixels in general on the textures are often just broken resistors between ram and TMU's. You have 2x4 resistor arrays between ram and TMU, check them, also check the normal SMD resistors that migth be next to the resistor arrays. Just follow the traces from EDO ram to TMU's and check all types of resistors for a value less then 100ohm (usually 22-47 is what they used if I recall). Measure them or just re-flow them with hot air. If a corner is broken re-flowing them usually makes the crack obvious because it will split. Its not that uncommon for the resistor arrays to crack from what I have noticed and the TMU closes to the front of the case seems to be the one getting damaged most. You can try and toggle Multi texturing on and off in Quake2, if I recall when its off it will not use the TMU closes to the front of the PC case. If its artifact free then you can focus on that TMU and its components.
Thanks! I just went over and measured all resistors on the card, just to be sure :) But all seem fine. Also tried turning off multi texture in quake 2, but still the same amount of artifacts. So perhaps next step is to use hot air and try and reflow all the resistors leading to/from the TMU closest to the back of the case. I’ll make sure to watch your videos again before so I don’t miss anything. If you have any other tips or ideas I’m all open for them :)
Год назад
@@nizce1 check for cracked solder joints on the ram, I seen it once, also there might be cracks in solder joints for the pins to the TMU's. Usually the IC's are fine.
Год назад
@@nizce1 Also if you still have artifacting with Multitexturing in off Quake 2 then the problem is on the TMU closest to the VGA ports assuming its texture artifacting, or its a FBI problem, the chip closest to the PCI connector.
Thanks! Found the link to your steam engine application, and it runs well, so FBI should probably be fine(for now at least). :) Reflow of ram and resistors didn’t help, and can’t see any cracks, but doesn’t mean there aren’t any. I’ll bring out my soldering iron and go over the FPU closest to the VGA port and test after that. And just cross my fingers that I’ll manage to sort out the bridges 😂 Last thing to try after that if it doesn’t work is probably to remove and resolder the TMU RAM. Thanks for all the input and your very helpful videos!
Great Job saving those cards, great feeling when you repair these old cards and they work fine, recently repaired a ti500 and 2x gf4's successfully, the 5900xt I got in the same lot is causing me headaches though, enjoy your videos, keep it up. 👍👍
Great video and great filming quality too, nice work!
2 года назад
Nice of you to say that! In reality tough the microscope is half the time not working due to quality issue and the main camera will never focus(auto or manual) unless zoomed in 2-3x minimum (good thing I film small stuff half the time) and well light, need proper lighting to film because shadows and stuff is an issue. One day I might have a budget for some proper lights and cameras but atm I just use stuff I traded for so I guess my camera gear is retro to LOL! XD
Great job. Love your videos. I actually came across a Voodoo2 that seemingly looks fine but crashes the computer after some runtime. It crashes midway through 3Dmark 2k. Could be overheating. Have any idea what the culprit may be?
2 года назад+2
If your using AMD cpu like K6-2/3 or Athlon select the software TnL option instead of the 3Dnow! version in 3Dmark2000. Slower but its stable. I seen that issue with multiple AMD processors and Voodoo2 cards.
@ Sorry, its a Pentium II 450mhz. Actually it freezes at the same spot every time. The multi-texturing fill rate demo. Maybe the two TMUs can't talk to each other?
2 года назад
@@aublak7492 Will Quake 2 or Quake 3 run fine for a long time with Multitexturing on? (its on by default) I wish I know the solution to the problem.
Great video and subscribed! Btw I'm in the process of making my voodoo2 work again. Progress so far: - Your FBI demo works (3dfx logo artifacts only) - voodoo display proprieties shows correct memory values and TMU units - quake 2 runs at 640x480 max and shows artifacts/points on textures - unreal runs at 512x384 max with artifacts/points on textures Two questions: 1 - I have a s3 2mg with slots to test memories (2 slots = 1mg), what is/are the best software to guarantee everything is fine on the s3 memories? 2 - Should I put my effort only on the TMU memories and ignore frame buffer ones? (de solder them and text them on the s3) Thank you!
2 года назад
Removing chips is not the first thing you should do. Artefacting textures usually means there are broken resistors/resistor arrays on the data/address lines between TMU and RAM chip. Resistors are usually 10-47 ohm range for ram so check with a multimieter. ruclips.net/video/hK80Vq0PYxQ/видео.html Timestamped the video, but basically check all pins on TMU that have traces going to RAM, also check any resistors/resistor arrays (blue 2x4 pin components on my card) along those traces. I never tested Voodoo2 ram in any other card because the ram has never been broken unless it was broken in half by someone but that dont need testing XD
could you please let me know where I can download this test program you are using ?
2 года назад+5
www.dropbox.com/s/k7y60vpedhp9rl1/Steam_engine_v1.0.rar?dl=0 Its here. Dont forget to copy the opengl32.dll from the voodoo2 (the folder is in the win32_x86 folder) folder in to the Win32_x86 folder or the program might run on your nvidia or other card instead or worse windows software opengl. You can use any other program that has no textures and there are ways to turn of textures with environmental variables for the voodoo cards. So there is nothing special with this demo other then it runs no textures at all and its quick and dirty way of testing. Its technically running in a window BUT 3dfx Voodoo1/2 dont support that so it seems like its fullscreen but its not so you can minimize it by mistake if the mouse is out side of the "window" if you click around.
Du måste göra nya videos snart! Detta var underbart att ligga och titta på i sängen, lödning+retro hårdvara ❤
2 года назад+1
Tack! Har lite dåligt med grejor att laga just nu. Har ett par grafikkort med småproblem jag sammlar delar till som ska göras videos av är tanken när jag har allt hemma. Men så fort jag har nåt att laga eller modefiera så gör jag en video på det!
@ Ja, absolut ingen brådska eller så, men du får inte sluta med dem bara, bara de kommer så småningom 😃Tittade precis klart på din 3dfx Voodoo Banshee GPU swap and reballing, riktigt skoj att se den fungera. Aldrig jobbat med bollar förut, ser lätt ut men känns ändå så svårt, kul att se andra som kan dock! 😃
2 года назад
@@ChrisFredriksson Kan å kan XD Enda gången jag bytt en GPU och det fungerat. Övade lite på gammalt skrot som en router med BGA chip och så. Testade först den GPUn på en fint svart Banshee där jag inte kunde hitta nåt fel alls annat än att det postade och man presande ner på GPUN vid ett tillfälle. Var inga trasiga SMD rsistorer, dåliga lögningar etc men med uteslutnings metoden var det nog PCB'n som var kass (nåt lager internt) på det kortet då GPU'n fugnerade fint på Creative Banshee kortet. Så jag har väldigt lite erfarnehet med reballing men ja vill man så går det att göra hemma men räkna med att spendera några dagar med att öva på gammalt skrot först och sedan kostar ju utrustningen några tusenlappar med. Orsaken det sällan blir reballing är ju delvis att det oftast inte behövs, sedan ska man få tag i chip när det behövs och fins dom på ebay kostar dom ofta 5-700Kr för ja ebay priser.... så då är enda alternativet ett donator kort med kass PCB tex så vad fallet i den videon.
Great video! I have an 8MB Voodoo 2 I'm trying to repair. It has a problem with one of the TMUs or its memory. It reports zero memory for that TMU in the glide diagnostics SDK. I wanted to try out the steam engine program you used there. I can't seem to find it anywhere, any ideas where I might find it? Thanks!
Год назад+1
Check for broken SMD resistors including the resistor arrays between the ram chips and the TMU and also check the TMU for lose pins. Usually thats the problem. I made the program for fun, I use it because it uses colored polygons instead of textures so works without TMU's. www.dropbox.com/s/k7y60vpedhp9rl1/Steam_engine_v1.0.rar?dl=0 Its here. Dont forget to copy the opengl32.dll from the voodoo2 (the folder is in the win32_x86 folder) folder in to the Win32_x86 folder or the program might run on your nvidia or other card instead or worse windows software opengl. You can use any other program that has no textures and there are ways to turn of textures with environmental variables for the voodoo cards. So there is nothing special with this demo other then it runs no textures at all and its quick and dirty way of testing. Its technically running in a window BUT 3dfx Voodoo1/2 dont support that so it seems like its fullscreen but its not so you can minimize it by mistake if the mouse is out side of the "window" if you click around.
@ Very cool! I didn't realize that you created that - nice. Thanks I will give it a try. This card is a Diamond Monster 3D II, but a very early A1 revision (even has a bodge resistor added). The previous owner took good care of it and it is very clean. I checked all TMU legs under a microscope and they seem solid. Not seeing any loose legs on the memory or any missing SMD components either. If it was visibly damaged somehow it would at least be easier to diagnose :) .. by the way, do you know what TMU is TMU0 vs TMU1 on the card? I was thinking to reflow the TMU1 anyway, and if it doesn't work, replace all 4 chips on TMU1 (which reports 0MB). I tried to disable texturing via environment variable but didn't seem to resolve the issue. I was using Tomb Raider 3dfx demo in DOS for testing. A good V2 card works without textures, but the bad one just hangs the system with no video output. But maybe this is normal because initialization fails according to the debug logging. Anyway, thanks again for your advice!
Год назад+1
@@vswitchzero Im not sure what is TMU0. But the Drawings say that TMU0 is U9 on the card and TMU1 is U8. U8/TMU1 is the one at the VGA Connectors. U9/TMU0 is the one facing the front of your PC Case. This is for reference design cards. If its the same order in "software(drivers)" idk because I never checked. But Quake 2 is good because you can toggle multitexturing on and off. I do it in my videos. When Multitexturing is on both TMU's are used and wen its off only the one close to the VGA ports (U8/TMU1) is used so if it works properly with mulitexutring off it should be the one facing the front panel of the PC (U9/TMU0) that is the problem. If its still has TMU problems I try to fix the one closest to the VGA connectors first. Also you will probably not see if a resistor array is broken. I had one that measured fine and everything, but when I got hot air on it the corner fell off, replaced it and the TMU stooped artefacting. Replaced those resistor arrays on a few cards, seems to crack on the TMU facing the front of the PC. Also seen the normal SMD resistors next to them crack. Anyways cracks in SMD stuff can be hard to see even with a microscope at times. Its often faster to reflow them, drag solder or hot air because there so few between ram and TMU's and that way you know if they are cracked or not. If there is a crack they will fall apart. So fare every card I fixed had nothing but missing legs and cracked RAM due to abuse, have not seen chips just go bad. I do have a Voodoo1 with a shorted out FBI tough that looks mint so chips can sure go bad. You wont know until you find the problem, I can only say what I found to be the most common problem on the cards i fixed and it was never the RAM or the Chips them self but everything in between. So for me the damage is usually from people tossing the card around in a box over the years unprotected. That and corrosion from being stored in bad environment.
Год назад+1
@@vswitchzero BTW I just remembered that my last card also refused to show image, black, someone had "crushed one RAM chip for the FRAME Buffer". I saw it only by looking from the side with a microscope, cracked solder joints. Removed the chip, unbent the legs, resoldered it and it worked. So yea Get the FBI going first, you can use my demo or anything else not using Textures then once you have that fixed tackel the TMU's. Because none working FBI like a singel ram chip not being connected properly will just wast your time. If I recall my card reported all the RAM so there was no hint that the FBI ram was not connected properly. FBI first, TMU second, repairing in that order has worked the best for me and saves time and headache. This card is in one of my videos, should be the one where I fix 3 voodoo2 cards at once If I recall.
@ After doing some more probing I think I may have found the issue! One of the 22ohm RNs at the back of the card is bad. One resistor in the array is broken and measures >1M ohms. I followed the traces and it’s a connection between a pin on the FBI and TMU1 (the bad one).. Will try a quick 22ohm bodge across the pads to see if it fixes it. Will let you know how it goes 🙂👍
I have 2 Voodoo² 12MB cards that need repair.(Both aren't detected by DXDIAG & no image but do show up in Device Manager/driver). When my first card failed years ago, I bought a replacement, but that one died as well about 2 years ago. Is there any chance you would take a look at them? Maybe make a video ;) ? If not, any clue as to what may cause this problem on the board? (seems weird to me that they both failed in the same way, tried other systems, nothing worked, got yet another card, everything works again.)
Your channel is the best retro PC hardware repair channel ! Congrats on saving those 1998 best 3D accelerators
Another 3 cards saved from the trash. Nice work!
Ahh, great to see some nice cards working again
Hi!
Very nice video!
A fellow Swede here!
And not done much of repairs, only a very few and no troubleshooting needed :)
Just got ahold of 2x voodoo2 (Powercolor evilking I think) with ram only on one side like the first one in this video. Bought it from someone I trust and they tested it before shipping fully tested. One card works OK, only some vertical banding(if that's the word) mostly noticed in Quake 1 not so much in Quake 2 for some reasons).
But the other one is showing some artifacts on Quake 1 and Quake 2. The screen is not completely garbled, only certain parts, like the HUD in quake 1 and the credits screen in Q1 and Q2 and more ocations but not the whole screen.
So my guess how it got broken is rough handling by PostNord(in this specific case) :(
I'm no electronics guy, but I can handle a soldering iron "fairly well"(and a hot air station and a very small hotplate) and not afraid to try, since I can't get much joy of one of the cards as it's now anyway.
But I have no clue when it comes to measuring stuff with a multimeter other than continuity :D
Any recommendation on where to start would be greatly appreciated?
Is it:
1. gentle push on the components while powered on to see if there that changes anything(microscopic cracks?)
2. what's next? :D
Have you checked the rest of the YT videos about Voodoo2?
I have a few more.
Static black pixels or pixels in general on the textures are often just broken resistors between ram and TMU's.
You have 2x4 resistor arrays between ram and TMU, check them, also check the normal SMD resistors that migth be next to the resistor arrays.
Just follow the traces from EDO ram to TMU's and check all types of resistors for a value less then 100ohm (usually 22-47 is what they used if I recall). Measure them or just re-flow them with hot air.
If a corner is broken re-flowing them usually makes the crack obvious because it will split.
Its not that uncommon for the resistor arrays to crack from what I have noticed and the TMU closes to the front of the case seems to be the one getting damaged most.
You can try and toggle Multi texturing on and off in Quake2, if I recall when its off it will not use the TMU closes to the front of the PC case.
If its artifact free then you can focus on that TMU and its components.
Thanks!
I just went over and measured all resistors on the card, just to be sure :)
But all seem fine. Also tried turning off multi texture in quake 2, but still the same amount of artifacts.
So perhaps next step is to use hot air and try and reflow all the resistors leading to/from the TMU closest to the back of the case.
I’ll make sure to watch your videos again before so I don’t miss anything.
If you have any other tips or ideas I’m all open for them :)
@@nizce1 check for cracked solder joints on the ram, I seen it once, also there might be cracks in solder joints for the pins to the TMU's.
Usually the IC's are fine.
@@nizce1 Also if you still have artifacting with Multitexturing in off Quake 2 then the problem is on the TMU closest to the VGA ports assuming its texture artifacting, or its a FBI problem, the chip closest to the PCI connector.
Thanks!
Found the link to your steam engine application, and it runs well, so FBI should probably be fine(for now at least). :)
Reflow of ram and resistors didn’t help, and can’t see any cracks, but doesn’t mean there aren’t any. I’ll bring out my soldering iron and go over the FPU closest to the VGA port and test after that. And just cross my fingers that I’ll manage to sort out the bridges 😂
Last thing to try after that if it doesn’t work is probably to remove and resolder the TMU RAM.
Thanks for all the input and your very helpful videos!
i fixed mine the exact same way few months ago, it was so satisfying!!
Great Job saving those cards, great feeling when you repair these old cards and they work fine, recently repaired a ti500 and 2x gf4's successfully, the 5900xt I got in the same lot is causing me headaches though, enjoy your videos, keep it up. 👍👍
Hej. You inspired me to look on my faulty 8mb card. Two broken off caps replaced but show frozen logo very far away when starting a game.
Extremely helpful, Thank you greatly.
Great video, i love it!
Great video and great filming quality too, nice work!
Nice of you to say that!
In reality tough the microscope is half the time not working due to quality issue and the main camera will never focus(auto or manual) unless zoomed in 2-3x minimum (good thing I film small stuff half the time) and well light, need proper lighting to film because shadows and stuff is an issue.
One day I might have a budget for some proper lights and cameras but atm I just use stuff I traded for so I guess my camera gear is retro to LOL! XD
Your videos are very interesting and teach a lot
Great job. Love your videos.
I actually came across a Voodoo2 that seemingly looks fine but crashes the computer after some runtime. It crashes midway through 3Dmark 2k. Could be overheating.
Have any idea what the culprit may be?
If your using AMD cpu like K6-2/3 or Athlon select the software TnL option instead of the 3Dnow! version in 3Dmark2000.
Slower but its stable.
I seen that issue with multiple AMD processors and Voodoo2 cards.
@ Sorry, its a Pentium II 450mhz.
Actually it freezes at the same spot every time. The multi-texturing fill rate demo. Maybe the two TMUs can't talk to each other?
@@aublak7492 Will Quake 2 or Quake 3 run fine for a long time with Multitexturing on? (its on by default)
I wish I know the solution to the problem.
Great video and subscribed! Btw I'm in the process of making my voodoo2 work again.
Progress so far:
- Your FBI demo works (3dfx logo artifacts only)
- voodoo display proprieties shows correct memory values and TMU units
- quake 2 runs at 640x480 max and shows artifacts/points on textures
- unreal runs at 512x384 max with artifacts/points on textures
Two questions:
1 - I have a s3 2mg with slots to test memories (2 slots = 1mg), what is/are the best software to guarantee everything is fine on the s3 memories?
2 - Should I put my effort only on the TMU memories and ignore frame buffer ones? (de solder them and text them on the s3)
Thank you!
Removing chips is not the first thing you should do.
Artefacting textures usually means there are broken resistors/resistor arrays on the data/address lines between TMU and RAM chip.
Resistors are usually 10-47 ohm range for ram so check with a multimieter.
ruclips.net/video/hK80Vq0PYxQ/видео.html
Timestamped the video, but basically check all pins on TMU that have traces going to RAM, also check any resistors/resistor arrays (blue 2x4 pin components on my card) along those traces.
I never tested Voodoo2 ram in any other card because the ram has never been broken unless it was broken in half by someone but that dont need testing XD
could you please let me know where I can download this test program you are using ?
www.dropbox.com/s/k7y60vpedhp9rl1/Steam_engine_v1.0.rar?dl=0
Its here.
Dont forget to copy the opengl32.dll from the voodoo2 (the folder is in the win32_x86 folder) folder in to the Win32_x86 folder or the program might run on your nvidia or other card instead or worse windows software opengl.
You can use any other program that has no textures and there are ways to turn of textures with environmental variables for the voodoo cards.
So there is nothing special with this demo other then it runs no textures at all and its quick and dirty way of testing.
Its technically running in a window BUT 3dfx Voodoo1/2 dont support that so it seems like its fullscreen but its not so you can minimize it by mistake if the mouse is out side of the "window" if you click around.
Du måste göra nya videos snart! Detta var underbart att ligga och titta på i sängen, lödning+retro hårdvara ❤
Tack!
Har lite dåligt med grejor att laga just nu.
Har ett par grafikkort med småproblem jag sammlar delar till som ska göras videos av är tanken när jag har allt hemma.
Men så fort jag har nåt att laga eller modefiera så gör jag en video på det!
@ Ja, absolut ingen brådska eller så, men du får inte sluta med dem bara, bara de kommer så småningom 😃Tittade precis klart på din 3dfx Voodoo Banshee GPU swap and reballing, riktigt skoj att se den fungera. Aldrig jobbat med bollar förut, ser lätt ut men känns ändå så svårt, kul att se andra som kan dock! 😃
@@ChrisFredriksson Kan å kan XD
Enda gången jag bytt en GPU och det fungerat.
Övade lite på gammalt skrot som en router med BGA chip och så.
Testade först den GPUn på en fint svart Banshee där jag inte kunde hitta nåt fel alls annat än att det postade och man presande ner på GPUN vid ett tillfälle.
Var inga trasiga SMD rsistorer, dåliga lögningar etc men med uteslutnings metoden var det nog PCB'n som var kass (nåt lager internt) på det kortet då GPU'n fugnerade fint på Creative Banshee kortet.
Så jag har väldigt lite erfarnehet med reballing men ja vill man så går det att göra hemma men räkna med att spendera några dagar med att öva på gammalt skrot först och sedan kostar ju utrustningen några tusenlappar med.
Orsaken det sällan blir reballing är ju delvis att det oftast inte behövs, sedan ska man få tag i chip när det behövs och fins dom på ebay kostar dom ofta 5-700Kr för ja ebay priser.... så då är enda alternativet ett donator kort med kass PCB tex så vad fallet i den videon.
Great video! I have an 8MB Voodoo 2 I'm trying to repair. It has a problem with one of the TMUs or its memory. It reports zero memory for that TMU in the glide diagnostics SDK. I wanted to try out the steam engine program you used there. I can't seem to find it anywhere, any ideas where I might find it? Thanks!
Check for broken SMD resistors including the resistor arrays between the ram chips and the TMU and also check the TMU for lose pins.
Usually thats the problem.
I made the program for fun, I use it because it uses colored polygons instead of textures so works without TMU's.
www.dropbox.com/s/k7y60vpedhp9rl1/Steam_engine_v1.0.rar?dl=0
Its here.
Dont forget to copy the opengl32.dll from the voodoo2 (the folder is in the win32_x86 folder) folder in to the Win32_x86 folder or the program might run on your nvidia or other card instead or worse windows software opengl.
You can use any other program that has no textures and there are ways to turn of textures with environmental variables for the voodoo cards.
So there is nothing special with this demo other then it runs no textures at all and its quick and dirty way of testing.
Its technically running in a window BUT 3dfx Voodoo1/2 dont support that so it seems like its fullscreen but its not so you can minimize it by mistake if the mouse is out side of the "window" if you click around.
@ Very cool! I didn't realize that you created that - nice. Thanks I will give it a try. This card is a Diamond Monster 3D II, but a very early A1 revision (even has a bodge resistor added). The previous owner took good care of it and it is very clean. I checked all TMU legs under a microscope and they seem solid. Not seeing any loose legs on the memory or any missing SMD components either. If it was visibly damaged somehow it would at least be easier to diagnose :) .. by the way, do you know what TMU is TMU0 vs TMU1 on the card? I was thinking to reflow the TMU1 anyway, and if it doesn't work, replace all 4 chips on TMU1 (which reports 0MB).
I tried to disable texturing via environment variable but didn't seem to resolve the issue. I was using Tomb Raider 3dfx demo in DOS for testing. A good V2 card works without textures, but the bad one just hangs the system with no video output. But maybe this is normal because initialization fails according to the debug logging.
Anyway, thanks again for your advice!
@@vswitchzero Im not sure what is TMU0.
But the Drawings say that TMU0 is U9 on the card and TMU1 is U8.
U8/TMU1 is the one at the VGA Connectors.
U9/TMU0 is the one facing the front of your PC Case.
This is for reference design cards.
If its the same order in "software(drivers)" idk because I never checked.
But Quake 2 is good because you can toggle multitexturing on and off.
I do it in my videos.
When Multitexturing is on both TMU's are used and wen its off only the one close to the VGA ports (U8/TMU1) is used so if it works properly with mulitexutring off it should be the one facing the front panel of the PC (U9/TMU0) that is the problem.
If its still has TMU problems I try to fix the one closest to the VGA connectors first.
Also you will probably not see if a resistor array is broken. I had one that measured fine and everything, but when I got hot air on it the corner fell off, replaced it and the TMU stooped artefacting.
Replaced those resistor arrays on a few cards, seems to crack on the TMU facing the front of the PC.
Also seen the normal SMD resistors next to them crack.
Anyways cracks in SMD stuff can be hard to see even with a microscope at times.
Its often faster to reflow them, drag solder or hot air because there so few between ram and TMU's and that way you know if they are cracked or not.
If there is a crack they will fall apart.
So fare every card I fixed had nothing but missing legs and cracked RAM due to abuse, have not seen chips just go bad.
I do have a Voodoo1 with a shorted out FBI tough that looks mint so chips can sure go bad.
You wont know until you find the problem, I can only say what I found to be the most common problem on the cards i fixed and it was never the RAM or the Chips them self but everything in between.
So for me the damage is usually from people tossing the card around in a box over the years unprotected. That and corrosion from being stored in bad environment.
@@vswitchzero BTW I just remembered that my last card also refused to show image, black, someone had "crushed one RAM chip for the FRAME Buffer".
I saw it only by looking from the side with a microscope, cracked solder joints. Removed the chip, unbent the legs, resoldered it and it worked.
So yea Get the FBI going first, you can use my demo or anything else not using Textures then once you have that fixed tackel the TMU's. Because none working FBI like a singel ram chip not being connected properly will just wast your time.
If I recall my card reported all the RAM so there was no hint that the FBI ram was not connected properly.
FBI first, TMU second, repairing in that order has worked the best for me and saves time and headache.
This card is in one of my videos, should be the one where I fix 3 voodoo2 cards at once If I recall.
@ After doing some more probing I think I may have found the issue! One of the 22ohm RNs at the back of the card is bad. One resistor in the array is broken and measures >1M ohms. I followed the traces and it’s a connection between a pin on the FBI and TMU1 (the bad one).. Will try a quick 22ohm bodge across the pads to see if it fixes it. Will let you know how it goes 🙂👍
Good job!
I have 2 Voodoo² 12MB cards that need repair.(Both aren't detected by DXDIAG & no image but do show up in Device Manager/driver). When my first card failed years ago, I bought a replacement, but that one died as well about 2 years ago. Is there any chance you would take a look at them? Maybe make a video ;) ? If not, any clue as to what may cause this problem on the board? (seems weird to me that they both failed in the same way, tried other systems, nothing worked, got yet another card, everything works again.)
Wait what you can do single tmu in quake how? I didn't know that :)
Do you offer this as a service?