• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Different 8-bit ATi EGA and VGA cards

aitotat

Experienced Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
351
Location
Finland
Here is something I found on ebay:
ATi EGA Wonder 800
ATi VGA EDGE

I also got some manuals with them:
ATi EGA Wonder and EGA Wonder 800+ manuals
ATi VGA88 and VGA Wonder manuals
Paradise PVGA 1024x768 manual
(and these too)

The EGA card is definitely not Wonder 800+ and the VGA card is not VGA Wonder. EGA Wonder manual has diagram that looks just like the EGA Wonder 800 card I got. VGA88 manual has diagram that could very well be the VGA EDGE.

Most likely even those two manuals don't belong to the cards I got. How many different 8-bit EGA and VGA cards did ATi release and what are their differences? Even if those two manuals are not for those exact cards, maybe they are so close that the manuals could be used for them?
 
What I see in your pictures are:
ATI EGA Wonder 800
ATI VGA Wonder-8 Rev.1

The VGA wonder card you have goes under several names. It was initially called VGA Wonder-8 Rev.1 (as of I have understood), as stated above, then it was renamed VGA EDGE (and VGA-88?) when later revisions came by. In addition, without a DAC/VGA-capabilities, it was sold as the EGA Wonder 800+.

The problem is that there aren't too much info present about this, so I can not say I am completely sure on some of those points.
 
Block diagram in EGA Wonder 800+ manual is the same as in VGA 88 manual except that the EGA diagram doesn't have VGA connector. How was the 800+ better than the 800? The 800 has feature connector and composite output that the 800+ doesn't have. Surely the 800+ must be better at something?
 
Block diagram in EGA Wonder 800+ manual is the same as in VGA 88 manual except that the EGA diagram doesn't have VGA connector. How was the 800+ better than the 800? The 800 has feature connector and composite output that the 800+ doesn't have. Surely the 800+ must be better at something?

The 800+ uses the chipset from the VGA Wonder family of cards (thus sharing the same board), thus it had some of the capabilities of the VGA Wonder which the EGA wonder 800 didn't have.

It's basically like running the VGA Wonder with just digital monitors.
 
What VGA Wonder capabilities? Both can do 800x600 graphics and 1056x352 text modes on multisync monitors. Both can double scanlines from 200 to 400 and neither can display more than 16 simultaneous colors*. 800+ sounds more like a cost reduced card (no composite output, no light pen support, no feature connector) rather than improvement over 800.

*edit: Expect when modifying palette registers while displaying frame. This makes possible to display all 64 EGA colors on single frame. 256 colors is not possible on 800+ even though it uses VGA chip.
 
Last edited:
I think the big difference is in the low-level stuff more than the standarized stuff. The EGA 800 emulates the IBM EGA and enhnces it some more, while the EGA 800+ can do that while having some additional hardware capabilities the 800 don't have.

The VGA Wonder chipset has some registers you can handle using the driver. Those registers will allow you to tweak several things, like how well it does CGA emulation, different sync-posibilities, and it is more cross compatible when it comes to video-modes and monitor combinations.
 
Does anyone have software for EGA Wonder 800 and VGA EDGE? I'd prefer disk images created from original diskettes but anything will do. I have three 360 kB diskettes for some ATI VGA 1024 if someone is interested in those.

Are there any Hercules, CGA and EGA compatibility differences between EGA Wonder and VGA EDGE? I'm planning to use the other card with IBM 5151 MDA monitor and the other with IBM 5154 EGA monitor. I'd like perfect Hercules compatibility to the one with MDA monitor and perfect CGA compatibility (excluding snow) to the other.
 
Does anyone have software for EGA Wonder 800 and VGA EDGE? I'd prefer disk images created from original diskettes but anything will do. I have three 360 kB diskettes for some ATI VGA 1024 if someone is interested in those.

Are there any Hercules, CGA and EGA compatibility differences between EGA Wonder and VGA EDGE? I'm planning to use the other card with IBM 5151 MDA monitor and the other with IBM 5154 EGA monitor. I'd like perfect Hercules compatibility to the one with MDA monitor and perfect CGA compatibility (excluding snow) to the other.
The drivers can be found on the internet, if you do some digging. You may want to use web.archive.org to help you as many of the sites that previously hosted drivers are no longer online. The drivers you would look for will of course be the drivers for the EGA Wonder 800, and any of the VGA Wonders. Note that I could not get the drivers for the VGA Wonder XL24 to run on my XT, so if you plan to use the card in a 8-bit machine, I suggest you only go after the earlier VGA EDGE driver.

The VGA EDGE/88/Wonder[rev1] is at least capable of doing any of the digital formats to any monitor in the same manner as the Small Wonder Graphics Solution is capable of doing all pre-EGA modes to any digital monitor. I am not sure about the EGA 800 one, but my guess is that it is mostly like the Small Wonder plus EGA capabilities.

What I do know is that when I put my VGA Wonder-16 in CGA mode, cyan appears way more greenish than expected. It may be a fault with my card, or something wrong with the driver.
 
Last edited:
After a lot of searching I found EGA Wonder 800+ v1.00 driver disks here. Here I found a picture of 16-bit VGA Wonder and there was 1024 printed on the BIOS! That means that my original ATi 1024 diskettes were actually VGA Wonder disks. They were version 1.05H. VGA Wonder manual mentions v1.02 and only two disks. The 1.05 has three 360 kB disks.

I'll try tomorrow if the 800+ drivers work with 800.

I'm sorry to say, but the 800+ drivers will not work with the 800, however, they should work with the VGA EDGE.

It's no surprise that the VGA 1024 disks are the same as the VGA Wonder disks, as the 1024 series was the budget version of the VGA Wonder (using the same PCB and chipset, but with the mouse port and digital output removed)
 
i have one of these ega wonder graphics cards... can anyone tell me which displays will work with this card??
i want to use my 386dx40 and i cant untill i figure out a monitor that will work or find an adapter??
please help!

http://www.vogons.org/download/file.php?id=20802&mode=view
here u can see the graphics card that i have.. 9 pin ega output + composite.. i dont know what the connections are.. the 2 rca connections.. whether they are inputs or outputs?
 
After a lot of searching I found EGA Wonder 800+ v1.00 driver disks here. Here I found a picture of 16-bit VGA Wonder and there was 1024 printed on the BIOS! That means that my original ATi 1024 diskettes were actually VGA Wonder disks. They were version 1.05H. VGA Wonder manual mentions v1.02 and only two disks. The 1.05 has three 360 kB disks.

I'll try tomorrow if the 800+ drivers work with 800.

Hi,

This is Mauro from Italy.

I'm a new member of this great Community.

Recently I came across the same EGA Wonder 800+ card and I'm looking for both Drivers and Utilities disks.

Do you still have a digital copy of both disks?

Kindly,

Mauro
 
Back
Top