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Need help, ATI WONDER XL 16 bit VGA BIOS dump!

Ok, i fixed the problem (weird!) with a Hercules Graphic card in ADDITION to the VGA wonder.

Now i have:
1) Built in CGA, disabled
2) Hercules (compatible card)
3) VGA wonder

and it WORK!

Consideration:
I have ATI 28800-6 chip, so the right BIOS would be better (maybe also XL24 bios)... anyway the two BIOS (i had examined only then the two odd half) are much different...

The card thinks it has 256k (mine is 1M) but i managed the ATI registers (after every boot) and all EGA/VGA/SVGA mode work as expected (also hires 64k colors). I don't know why the card think to have 256k, i didn't find the BIOS location for this.

Obviously if i set the card to Hercules mode it complain there is a conflict. (Hercules work, and in double screen mode :) )
If i disable Hercules (leaving it on ISA bus!) it boot to monochrome MDA/HERC and refuse to get CGA/EGA/VGA to work (conflict).
If I take out the Hercules video card it boot to a blank screen as described in my last post. Also the same with his original bios (i lost).

I don't know if is a problem with PC BIOS or VGA BIOS but all is ok with i.e. a Cirrus Logic 8-bit friendly card. My humble opinion is that the Wonder go in dual screen mode & internal CGA is disabled at the very same time.

I have read that V'ger uses a similar (XL24) card on his XT retro-pc, so maybe he can help me. Also XL24 bios and any advice would be useful.
 
Nice! Did you use the existing documents about the register, or did you do some reverse-engingeering to identify the use of unknown registers?

A small side-note, I just dumped the XL24 ROM chips the other day!
 

Attachments

  • ATI VGA Wonder+ XL24.zip
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Thanks for posting XL24 BIOS. I came looking for it last year and no one had. I have one of these cards which has the 28800-6 chip & BT RAMDAC, which would suggest an XL24, but the ROMs suggest XL. I look forward to testing the XL24 BIOS in this case:

IMG_0757[1].jpg
 
per said:
Nice! Did you use the existing documents about the register, or did you do some reverse-engingeering to identify the use of unknown registers?

A small side-note, I just dumped the XL24 ROM chips the other day!
Click to expand...

I used existing DOC, but i made an util in GWBASIC to explore and test some of the registers. I can put it online if anyone interested.
I did not found unknown/useful/new registers anyway... but the documentation is quite complete...
I was exploring Hercules part and 640x300 register (B8 bit 5 & B0 bit 6) option (... but it did not work as I wanted... would be great with some game)
The most interesting thing is that you can alter i.e. the total RAM, and all work like expected! great chip and card, anyway! The only thing that miss is a HDMI connector! ;) ;)


Please send BIOS to http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/rom/rom.htm if you haven't

And thank you again!
 
These are direct read, by the way. I used something that can be described as an Arduino-based SRAM R/W cirquit, originally designed as a backup-device for GameBoy games.

The picture is from an earlier occasion.
 

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  • Snapshot_20160223.jpg
    Snapshot_20160223.jpg
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per said:
These are direct read, by the way. I used something that can be described as an Arduino-based SRAM R/W cirquit, originally designed as a backup-device for GameBoy games.

The picture is from an earlier occasion.
Click to expand...

Oh my God! I think you used a EPROM reader :)

by the way BIOS work, but it signal 256kb ram instead of 1024... the card was 1024kb right?
 
Nice!

Mine is 1024Kb yeah (comes up as "1MByte" on startup). Can you post a picture of the RAM section of your card? It's very unusual that it doesn't report more RAM, in particular since the XL24 was not even supposed to come with 256KB. Maybe your card has a faulty RAM chip in the second bank?
 
Last edited:
Simone2013 said:
I have Finally tweaked ATI register and Now I have fully functional WONDER card! Herc+CGA+EGA+VGA and full registers compatibility! WOW
I Made ATIVGA.COM program to fix registers. I also put back my card to 1024k with This!
Maybe can be useful to Someone else, If anyone is interested This is my dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m53gd805uasmn8m/ATIVGA.COM?dl=0
Click to expand...

Is it possible to display CGA/EGA mono through the VGA port? It works briefly in VCONFIG & DOS prompt (all three shades) but when I launch games or other programs it snaps back to EGA color. Obviously Herc mono displays fine through VGA port, but it would be nice to have the choice.
 
In the end I had only XL with Sierra RAMDAC, but indeed 1024kB. The are working because if I force 1024kB, all mode works correctly. I think this is an initializiation bug/error onmy PC (screen goes blank until I launch my util)

If anyone as an updated XL BIOS (better than 11201122020) plase dump!

Thank you!
 
Formulator said:
Is it possible to display CGA/EGA mono through the VGA port? It works briefly in VCONFIG & DOS prompt (all three shades) but when I launch games or other programs it snaps back to EGA color. Obviously Herc mono displays fine through VGA port, but it would be nice to have the choice.
Click to expand...

Yes, EGA/VGA mono and Hercules 720x348 & 640x400 Graphics are working on NEC multisync monitor (VGA 15 pin port!) - that's the reason because I use this wonderful card!
What are your monitor settings (inside VINSTALL)? What is your monitor?
I don't understand what you mean for CGA mono....

I had also a LCD monitor that show blank screen in textmode but is working when entering graphic modes.
 
What is the card's settings at? These are stored in an EEPROM on the card and set with the VGA Wonder utility software.
 
per said:
What is the card's settings at? These are stored in an EEPROM on the card and set with the VGA Wonder utility software.
Click to expand...

Yes, I use VINSTALL for to adjust settings for XL. I also own VGA Wonder+ as well. I am using a LCD Spire N171 monitor. I like this monitor since it is 4:3. Yes, all VGA/EGA mono settings work great in text modes but still snap back to color when running game (Test Drive, for example). However, the Herc 720x348 does not work on Wonder+, the graphics are smeared across the display.
 
Formulator said:
Yes, I use VINSTALL for to adjust settings for XL. I also own VGA Wonder+ as well. I am using a LCD Spire N171 monitor. I like this monitor since it is 4:3. Yes, all VGA/EGA mono settings work great in text modes but still snap back to color when running game (Test Drive, for example). However, the Herc 720x348 does not work on Wonder+, the graphics are smeared across the display.
Click to expand...

Now I understand your problem, I think that EGA/VGA mono mode simply redefine palette (without locking it... strange I'm sure that there is a ATI register for this!) and when a game start it redefine the palette. Same also to me... I'll try some register tweak to see if I find something. Maybe a more recent version of VINSTALL work? Or they intended mono as "text only mode" like MDA?
 
per said:
What is the card's settings at? These are stored in an EEPROM on the card and set with the VGA Wonder utility software.
Click to expand...

Yes, some parameter are stored but not the RAM total... I think... but I lack documentation about it.
I think that RAM counter will be done every initialization, but somewhat fails on my old XT...
 
Yes, it must be only for text modes. Once I attach TTL monochrome it automatically brings up the adjust grayscale feature. I have tried latest VINSTALL, as well as VCONFIG from the Wonder+ diskettes. I suppose at the time it would not have been a useful feature, but now would be quite novel, especially since the Wonder can emulate all three mono color options.
 
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