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PARADISE 8-bit VGA PVGA1A-JK

J

jonnymacuser

Experienced Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
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california
I am attempting to get this 8-bit VGA card working in either a 5150 PC or 5160 XT.

It looks similar to the card here:

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/graphics-cards/P-R/PARADISE-SYSTEMS-INC-VGA-PARADISE-OEM-8-VGA.html

But mine does not have any DIP switches:

photo.jpg

The 5150 motherboard settings for monitor configuration should be at SW1/5 ON, SW1/6 ON ... for no monitor?

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/I/IBM-CORPORATION-8088-MODEL-5150.html


And lastly, are there drivers involved with running a card like this to a VGA LCD monitor?
 
jonnymacuser said:
The 5150 motherboard settings for monitor configuration should be at SW1/5 ON, SW1/6 ON ... for no monitor?
http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/I/IBM-CORPORATION-8088-MODEL-5150.html
Click to expand...
A quick explanation of that MONITOR CONFIGURATION table:

"None" ----------> EGA or VGA or PGA (video card with its own BIOS)
"Monochrome" ---> MDA
"40 x 25 color" --> CGA at 40 x 25 chars
"80 x 25 color" --> CGA at 80 x 25 chars

So, Stone's "Yes, ON, ON is correct" is definitely the setting to use.
 
jonnymacuser said:
I am attempting to get this 8-bit VGA card working in either a 5150 PC or 5160 XT.
Click to expand...
What symptoms?
"Out of sync" message displayed on monitor?
"No input" message displayed on monitor?

If the card's ROM is in a socket, have you tried reseating the ROM ?

jonnymacuser said:
But mine does not have any DIP switches:
Click to expand...
Configuration may have been done via a DOS program that was supplied with the card.

jonnymacuser said:
And lastly, are there drivers involved with running a card like this to a VGA LCD monitor?
Click to expand...
Well, not required to see some kind of display appear when the 5160 is booting.
 
modem7 said
So, Stone's "Yes, ON, ON is correct" is definitely the setting to use.
Click to expand...
I'm not arguing with the table in the manual.
I'm simply curious if other settings, specifically the 80x25, have been tried. It's certainly simple enough to do, and not like it's going to hurt anything.
patscc
 
modem7 said:
What symptoms?
"Out of sync" message displayed on monitor?
"No input" message displayed on monitor?
Click to expand...

It shows a "No Signal". NEC MultiSync LCD 1550V.


modem7 said:
If the card's ROM is in a socket, have you tried reseating the ROM ?
Click to expand...

Have not. Is the ROM the chip with the white sticker labeled "WDC '89"?


modem7 said:
Configuration may have been done via a DOS program that was supplied with the card.
Click to expand...

I was lucky enough to get images of two 5 1/4 floppies from another vcf member ... there's a program on there VGA.EXE that I was told would do the configuration ... it runs when I use my old 5151 CGA and says that the wrong video setting are being used or something. The tricky part is using it blindly when you swap out the CGA card for the VGA one.

modem7 said:
Well, not required to see some kind of display appear when the 5160 is booting.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I should see the memory being counted out at boot?
 
Yes you should see the memory being counted.

If possible test this card in another machine. That will quickly eliminate a lot of questions.
 
Drivers aren't required for the use of these cards. No 8 or 16-bit VGA cards like those that I've had in XT and AT (especially my 5170) have needed and drivers to work.
 
jonnymacuser said:
Have not. Is the ROM the chip with the white sticker labeled "WDC '89"?
Click to expand...
Yes.

jonnymacuser said:
I was lucky enough to get images of two 5 1/4 floppies from another vcf member ... there's a program on there VGA.EXE that I was told would do the configuration ... it runs when I use my old 5151 CGA and says that the wrong video setting are being used or something.
Click to expand...
Hopefully the VGA.EXE you have is in fact valid to use on your particular model Paradise card, and that you'll be able to use it to reconfigure the card.

If there is a setting named something like "Monitor type", then note that setting it to "Auto" may not work. Setting "Auto" may make the card look for the old monitor ID signals from the VGA monitor, signals that won't be on an LCD VGA monitor. More information on that is in earlier posts in these forums. One post is [here].

DOS lives on!! said:
Drivers aren't required for the use of these cards.
Click to expand...
I was reluctant to use a definitive statement like that, because in some situations, drivers are required. For example, WordPerfect (for DOS) needs card specific drivers if you want to do something like view a document in WYSIWYG at 800x600. That's why I worded my response carefully (scoping it to boot up time).
 
Don't forget all of the drivers for AutoCad, extended column dos modes, etc.
Although since most of these are loaded at OS boot-time, shouldn't you see something when booting, even if it's just unsynched roling ?
This brings me to another question.
There isn't, by any chance, another video adapter, like a MDA, already in there ?
patscc
 
patscc said:
Don't forget all of the drivers for AutoCad, extended column dos modes, etc.
Although since most of these are loaded at OS boot-time,
Click to expand...
I would have said that most were application specific and invoked only when needed by the 'owning' program.

patscc said:
shouldn't you see something when booting,
Click to expand...
Yes, once the inititialisation code in the card's BIOS extention ROM has been called during POST. Then one might see the card displaying something like, "ACME VGA Copyright 1992". Irrespective of whether or not the card's inititialisation code displayed something or not, what then is expected to be seen is the 5160 motherboard POST doing its RAM check.

patscc said:
even if it's just unsynched roling ?
Click to expand...
Depends. If an LCD monitor (what the OP has), or later generation CRT monitor, isn't happy with the presented video signals, I would expect a message on-screen (e.g. "sync out of range").

patscc said:
There isn't, by any chance, another video adapter, like a MDA, already in there ?
Click to expand...
In where?
 
Based on "No Signal" being displayed by the LCD monitor, and assuming that "No Signal" means exactly that (no signal whatsoever), then I see some possibilities being:

1. 5160 motherboard switches 5/6 not set correctly
2. VGA card - hardware failure
3. VGA card - configuration loss - needs to be reconfigured
4. VGA card - relies on presence of 'vintage' Monitor ID signals, and LCD monitor doesn't have those.
5. Faulty video cable
6. LCD monitor - has multiple inputs (e.g. "DVI", "HDMI", "VGA") but the wrong input is selected
7. LCD monitor - does not have a "VGA" input - a VGA/DVI-A adapter (e.g. ebay 160878853068) is being used, but the LCD monitor's DVI port is DVI-D only
 
modem7 said
Now everyone knows of our affair
Click to expand...
Oh, so now I'm something to be ashamed of or kept hidden away ? Men, they're all the same... :(

Re. 5 I think the card predates DDC, so I don't think it's expecting anything from the monitor anyway.
Re. Others. Looking at the monitor, it only has an analog input to begin with (OP, is this correct ?)

What color is the power on light on the monitor when the computer is on/off ?
OP, what test equipment do you have ?
patscc
 
modem7 said:
I was reluctant to use a definitive statement like that, because in some situations, drivers are required. For example, WordPerfect (for DOS) needs card specific drivers if you want to do something like view a document in WYSIWYG at 800x600. That's why I worded my response carefully (scoping it to boot up time).
Click to expand...
I was meaning in the sense of basic operations. Like booting up and navigating in DOS. Programs that don't display their interface right may indeed need drivers to be able to work with the specific video card. (Thanks, Compaq Portable III.)
 
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