List of working/non working hardware combos for your Arcade VGA

[danny_galaga]

To save me going through this again, and save others the bother, post here what hardware you have had success with using an arcade vga. If you can, list motherboard, processor, OS etc. Or if a pre-built PC, what brand/model etc. And if it works but wasn't plain sailing, list what you had to do to get it going. Then I can (and others hopefully) gather the parts to build a no-fuss mame pc, o buy one that is pretty much guaranteed to work with the avga.

For my two cents worth, obviously I think it is worth steering away from motherboards with onboard video 

Just looked up the mobo specs:

it's an Acer-Q45T-AM

So there's your first spec you can cross off the list!

WORKS

Dell optiplex with a Pentium 3 and xp (upgraded from 95) (FIRST GEN AGP AVGA)
Sony Vaio pentium 4 with XP. (pci-e Arcadevga 3000)



DOESN'T WORK

Acer Veriton (acer-Q45T-AM mobo) with onboard video (PCIE AVGA 5000)

[danny_galaga]

Hmmm, I take it no one has had any success with this card?

[ark_ader]

Hmmm, I take it no one has had any success with this card?

I would just concentrate on what kit you can afford as this card I believe is an ATI HD6X type of card, thus it should work on a majority of mother boards, abiet without onboard VGA 

AMD or Intel?  You can pick up something inexpensive with a standard PCI-E slot and you should be golden.  Old crappy HP or similar main boards just make the problem more complicated especially with a weak 300W PSU.  Look for a vendor with an easy return policy, and go do some testing. 

[bulbousbeard]

I really can't understand why anyone would use an ArcadeVGA in April 2015 when GroovyMAME setups are both superior and cheaper.

 

[Malenko]

I really can't understand why anyone would use an ArcadeVGA in April 2015 when GroovyMAME setups are both superior and cheaper.

 

He really wants to play MKX on an IPAC

[mgb]

I'm not really much in the know on the alternatives to the ArcadeVGA, as I've been using an arcadevga for nearly 10 years. But I'd think these other solutions like Groovymame make just as much or more sense than the arcadevga.

But to your question, I was running the first gen AGP arcadevga on an old dell optiplex with a Pentium 3 and xp (upgraded from 95)
My current setup I've been running now for a good number of years is a pci-e Arcadevga 3000 on a Sony Vaio pentium 4 with XP.
I've always found this setup very easy and solid performing with my kortek multisync but if I was building new and fresh, I'd explore the other possible routes.

Just curious about the comment of onboard video issues. Both of my PCs also had onboard video and I've had no problems.

[RandyT]

When I upgraded my system from 98 w/ an old AGP ArcadeVGA card, to a newer machine with PCIE, I decided to see what other options I had for my 15khz monitor.  So, I picked up a couple of new pull ATI 4850 HD  cards for $30 each, flashed them with Calamity's ATOM15 firmware and use his CRT Emudriver for XP.  It provides a perfect 15khz boot screen, and the VMMaker / Arcade OSD app let me tweak each of the resolutions to look the best for my specific monitors capabilities.  It's a little time consuming to do, but the results are worth it.  The second monitor output even works well for my active marquee display.  I don't even use GroovyMAME to take advantage of what this setup offers.  Every emulator/app I have tried, where setting full screen resolutions is possible, has worked like a charm, and the image quality is excellent, even at the desktop.  The 4850 cards are also very capable in the 3D realm, so I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

Installation also went pretty well on my motherboard with on-board video, once it was fully disabled. Some MB's will have a physical jumper on the MB to do this (mine did) so you'll probably want to make sure you check the MB documentation to make sure this is done first.  This applies for any 15khz solution, so check for those jumpers, as well as disabling the internal display hardware / giving priority to the PCIE card in the BIOS!  Then, always have a regular VGA monitor standing by, in case something gets set wrong, or the 15khz display gets sent to the wrong output on multi-display cards.  I had to do a bit of swapping and configuring to get the correct outputs set up for my monitors, and it's impossible to fix a problem without another monitor close by.  But once it's set up properly, it'll just work.

 

[danny_galaga]

I really can't understand why anyone would use an ArcadeVGA in April 2015 when GroovyMAME setups are both superior and cheaper.

 

I'm having trouble even with this 'plug and play' solution'. How do you think I'd go with all that other malarky. And yes I did try the software alternative. After five minutes I thought to myself '---fudgesicle--- this ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---' 

 We don't all have the same skill set you know 

I'm not really much in the know on the alternatives to the ArcadeVGA, as I've been using an arcadevga for nearly 10 years. But I'd think these other solutions like Groovymame make just as much or more sense than the arcadevga.

But to your question, I was running the first gen AGP arcadevga on an old dell optiplex with a Pentium 3 and xp (upgraded from 95)
My current setup I've been running now for a good number of years is a pci-e Arcadevga 3000 on a Sony Vaio pentium 4 with XP.
I've always found this setup very easy and solid performing with my kortek multisync but if I was building new and fresh, I'd explore the other possible routes.

Just curious about the comment of onboard video issues. Both of my PCs also had onboard video and I've had no problems.

Just noticed your post. Exactly the sort of info I'm after! Will add it to the list in the first post (",)

[mgb]

The only problem I did have was when I tried using the dvi port through a dvi-vga adaptor to my tv.
My tv wouldn't accept any of the resolutions for some reason. It was no big deal to me though as I was only trying it for setup reasons (to save on neck strain due to a vertical mounted monitor)

[yotsuya]

I have one of the newer ArcadeVGAs running with a JPAC out to a WG K7000 and Windows 7, and it's solid. And I was running both MAME and Daphne games on it.

[Minwah]

I have the original AGP ArcadeVGA running on Asus motherboard (Pentium 4 2.8ghz CPU) with XP.

I would expect that card to work on most if not all motherboards with AGP, but don't hold me to that...

[RandyT]

DOESN'T WORK

Acer Veriton with onboard video (PCIE AVGA 5000)

No offense, but I'm a bit skeptical of the premise of this thread.  There should be no reason why your new graphics card (or any other PCIE graphics card) shouldn't work with your system.  There's nothing really different about the graphics card hardware, and as the system has a PCIE x16 slot, it should work with a fairly basic ATi Radeon HD.  Systems without support for external graphics cards will, more often than not, omit the PCIE connector entirely from the board.

The fact that you actually got a screen with a blinking cursor would tend to imply that the system is still trying to use the on-board video for whatever reason.  One thing that's a bit wonky on some of these MB's (my C2D MB included) is the PCIE x1 support (the tiny card slot next to the PCIE x16.)  On my system, I needed to change jumpers to alter the speed of the PCIE bus, which effectively disables the x1 slot and the internal graphics.  If you have something in that x1 slot, it may be effectively locking the bus at the x1 speed.  Just something to check for.  Of course, you would also need to tell the BIOS to use the PCIE graphics card.  Documentation for your MB is woefully sparse, but I was able to ascertain that these jumpers don't exist on your MB, but there is support for the external graphics in the BIOS.  So it's possible that any switching of the bus speed is automatic and may depend on whether a monitor is attached to the internal graphics connector at boot time, or whether the x1 slot is being used.

Finally, it can have something to do with having the correct monitor attached to the correct output at boot time.  Any adapters from one type of connection to another in the mix, could make the card think there is no monitor attached, or the card may just not support the use of them.  I.e. it's an extra variable that should be removed for troubleshooting.  The other possibility is that the video card might just be defective.  If you have another system, a quick card swap and a verification of the basic BIOS screen display would probably be a good first step to verify it isn't the video card at fault.

Take this info, or leave it.  Maybe someone else will find it to be of value.  I'd just hate to see you doing this again with a new system which might end up with similar issues needing to be addressed. As for the "malarky" of installation and configuration, it's just part and parcel of the upgrade process, particularly when dealing with specialized stuff like this.  When I first set up my old system with the AGP version of your card, I too recall thinking "why is this such a pain?  I thought it would just work".  For some it might have, but when the situation includes a bunch of custom refresh rates, different 15kz monitors with different capabilities, mixing different monitors with different scan frequencies on the same card, etc., you soon realize that it can't be "plug and play" for everyone, and accept that there will be some unpleasantries involved in getting things to work  the way you want.  As a side note, the information on Calamity's site is daunting at first, but in reality, the process went no better or worse than I experienced with the "plug and play" solution

[danny_galaga]

Hmmm,

I see the small slot you are referring to. There is a jumper, but it seems to say CMOS so I don;t suppose that would be it. Here's a pic

Edit: There is another jumper labeled 'ME DISABLE'.

[Buick455]

The other possibility is that the video card might just be defective.  If you have another system, a quick card swap and a verification of the basic BIOS screen display would probably be a good first step to verify it isn't the video card at fault.

+1

The fact that the machine won't make it to post (beep) when the card is in but will post when its out makes me think this also..
If you have done this already and I missed it above, I apologize..

Do you have the motherboard model number? If you can find the manual online for the board there should be a diagram of the board, jumpers & what they do..

[Malenko]

Hmmm,

I see the small slot you are referring to. There is a jumper, but it seems to say CMOS so I don;t suppose that would be it. Here's a pic

Edit: There is another jumper labeled 'ME DISABLE'.

ME_Disable is the Manageability Engine disable, typically only used when updating the BIOS.

CMOS jumper clears the CMOS, the CMOS is where it saves all the adjustments made in the BIOS screen. Dont mess with either of them. You should be able to disable the onboard video through the BIOS.

Do you have the motherboard model number? If you can find the manual online for the board there should be a diagram of the board, jumpers & what they do..

Thats an ACER Q45T-AM motherboard.

[danny_galaga]

Hey thanks for all the advice so far guys. A friend who likes to tinker with PCs had a look and he was as stumped as I am. Beginning to feel like maybe the AVGA is DOA  . I don't have another PC to try it in, but what we came up with is to get a cheap PCIE graphics card to test this motherboard. If this card works, then maybe the AVGA is dead. And since I am getting a cheap card to test it, I thought I may as well get one that works with CRT DRIVER thingy:

http://mame.3feetunder.com/windows-ati-crt-emudriver/

I have another friend who has set up at least 6 machines with that, and he has offered to set it up for me. Ironically he recommended it ages ago but I wanted to do it myself, hence I was sold on the AVGA as being the easier alternative.

I'll let you know what happens (",)

[AndyWarne]

There are three reasons why an ArcadeVGA card might not work:

Some HPs and Dells dont work with any non-branded ATI Radeon cards. This is a combination of proprietary motherboard BIOS and a specific Intel chipset. Its quite a well-known issue and the reply from Dell was that only Dell cards should be used, which is not very helpful.

A few PCs have a graphical BIOS which is a too-high resolution to be displayed on an arcade monitor. This can usually be disabled by a setting, to revert to text-only BIOS.

A few motherboards look all the way through the add-in VGA card and detect the monitor. Arcade monitors dont reply with any data so the board is never used and the on-board VGA is used instead. This is the trickiest issue and there is not really any cure. 

[SailorSat]

A few motherboards look all the way through the add-in VGA card and detect the monitor. Arcade monitors dont reply with any data so the board is never used and the on-board VGA is used instead. This is the trickiest issue and there is not really any cure.

A simple dongle with an 24lc22a (or something liek that) could get around that problem forever, however I guess the real world demand for those dongles is close to zero

[RandyT]

A few motherboards look all the way through the add-in VGA card and detect the monitor. Arcade monitors dont reply with any data so the board is never used and the on-board VGA is used instead. This is the trickiest issue and there is not really any cure.

If this were the case in this instance, he should still be seeing output on the display connected to the internal graphics controller, no?


Danny, when you got the screen with a flashing cursor, and no error beeps, did you monitor the drive activity light to see if the system was actually booting?  It would be a horribly implemented system that would simply stop dead in it's tracks without a monitor attached, as many systems are operated "headless" and their output monitored remotely.  The flashing cursor seems to indicate a functioning "secondary" display device, which doesn't get any output until the Windows drivers start using it.  If this is the case, you may be able to get the drivers installed and get something working.

[danny_galaga]

Managed to borrow a spare graphics card from a workmate. It's an Nvidia Geforce 6200. Similar kind of size and shape (I know that doesn't mean much, just that it isn't one with cooling fans or external power etc). Worked instantly.

I have kept Andy in the loop, thanks for having a look in on this thread Andy.

Since this one worked straight away, does that make it more likely the AVGA is dead? I know ideally I would test it on another PC, but struggling to find one that anyone is willing to let me fiddle with!

Edit: Have now lined up someone with a PC to test the AVGA on. If it works on that machine, then it's a compatibility issue and I might as well keep this thread up. If it doesn't work on that machine, then I think it is safe to assume the AVGA is dead.

Edit: Just went and did a bit more work on the cab. Getting so hung up about the graphics card, I'm forgetting about the fun stuff!

[danny_galaga]

Ok, tested the card at a friends. It works! I forgot to check the specs of his PC to add to the list though.So definitely a compatibility issue. He also gave me a PC, but with no hard drive or power supply. Don't think that will help me much. Not sure which way to go now. Maybe best to just find another (non onboard video!) PC.

[RandyT]

Very odd.  My guess is that the automatic sensing of the attached monitor is what is causing your grief.  I still find it very strange that the BIOS allows for AUTO and PCIE video priority selection, yet cannot be made to work with multiple video cards, and also shuts down the external card even when PCIE is selected.  Honestly, I don't think it really is doing this, as evidenced by the flashing cursor on the external card (I.e. the system is "talking" to it, or this probably would not be displayed.)  I suspect that there are ways around the issues you are having, but would require some acrobatics to get the Windows drivers installed, and you would probably not get output until Windows booted.

From what I have read, there is a "point-to-point" communication line between the monitor and the system, so there should probably be a microcontroller on a card of this nature which spoofs the system into thinking a standard monitor is always attached to the 15khz output.  At very minimum, a dongle, or modified VGA connector harness with active logic, should probably be included which does this, as this would eliminate these kinds of issues.

You can probably still get away with using a MB with on-board video, but if you go that route, look for one which has physical jumpers on the board to disable it.   Looking for MBs with this property, or no on-board video at all, is probably easier than attempting to compile lists of MBs, and limiting your options to what is on the list.