IBM 350 - P90 Video Card Advice

[Haemogoblin]

Hi guys

A couple of years ago, I got my hands on an old 90's IBM 350 desktop computer. It's a lovely little machine, perfect for when I get the retro gaming itch. The only problem I have with it, is that I dont seem able to use an ISA or PCI video card. The motherboard seems locked to using the onboard S3 Virge chip. For now, I've compansated by installing an Orchid Rightous 3D card and a P133 CPU, which helps take care of a lot of the 3D grunt work. I was however hoping to use a Matrox video card.

Is there anyway to force the machine to use anothe video source?

 

[mojorific]

Tried searching and found a technical manual here: ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/IBM_PC_BBS/commercial_desktop/s30h1721.pdf

No mention of a dip switch or jumper that will disable on-board video. However the manual does state:

Matrox Millennium PCI Graphics Adapter (used in PC 360—Pentium Pro (150 MHz) systems. The Matrox Graphics adapter card is preinstalled in PCI slot 4.

Perhaps try to install your card in PCI slot 4?

I would think that you could install a graphics card and it auto-detect it. Have you tried multiple cards to determine if one maybe faulty Beyond this, perhaps there is a bios setting to disable on-board.

 

[Haemogoblin]

Hi

Thanks for that, I have the manual for the 350 but some how managed to miss that! lol Just goes to show what a fresh pair of eye can do.

I dont have many PCI video cards, but I shall have a look at what I have and how the respond to going in slot 4