The memory chip that was heating up is for the framebuffer. The framebuffer's memory is also connected to the RAMDAC. If the memory chip is being powered, but the RAMDAC it is connected to is not, you can get all sorts of weird side effects. Chips are full of static clamp diodes and parasitic structures that can latch-up and allow current to flow in all kinds of ways it's not supposed to when unpowered.
Thanks for your comment. Very interesting! That makes sense and I think you are definitely on the right track with that. It was way too much of a coincidence that the issue disappeared after power was restored to the DAC. Power to the DAC's power plane was fed though FB2, but FB1 energized something I couldn't see so there is that variable too. At any rate, I'm really glad it resolved itself. I haven't been able to reproduce that issue again after many hours of use now. I'm thinking of just leaving the chip as-is unless I have more of a reason to replace it. Cheers!
This issue is called backdriving. In most cases as Unimportant mentioned, high side clamp diodes on inputs of disabled chip will flow current into dead power circuit when such inputs will be driven high. This casue massive current draw from source driving those inputs.
Just a tip: use enameled wire for bodges. No insulation to worry about making the wire thicker and stiffer then it needs to be and they are available in such thin gauges that they can be soldered even onto those thin traces for a much cleaner repair.
I have not found enamelled wire that works and isn't a total pain in the arse. Apparently my local supplier thinks i'm gonna wind some really feisty transformer with it and the enamel barely budges at 450°C. I hate enamel wire with a passion. Maybe i need a shittier supplier.
3dfx going above and beyond with their debugging logs. Few software developers would ever need such stuff when writing software for a voodoo, but it has turned out to be invaluable for diagnosing board faults which is what it was probably meant for as board partners would need it.
Amazing how electronics can be highly maintainable, when the engineers making the cards aren't explicitly instructed to make the cards unmaintainable (as they so often are today)! The early days of 3D accelerators were the golden age of computing for more than just graphics.
Its always the basics that hang you up. Thou shall check voltages! Always a great place to start when trouble shooting. Would had stopped the replacement of the crystal. But then again hey, mistakes are only bad when you dont learn from them and there was no harm no foul, Just a learning experience not to jump the gun.
The algorithm recently started recommending your channel and I have to say I’ve really been enjoying the content! Great video and well done on repairing what others might have considered a lost cause!
Repairing thise VGA traces with really thin wire or even using special trace repair kit pad for those and covering it with solder mask would be way more elegant way to fix it :)
I think I've seen the ram heating issue before with other types of electronics where a broken power connection makes those disconnected circuits become a load through a different source, that being a component that is connected to the dead power rail somehow and becomes a resistor.
Thanks man. I just fixed my Voodoo 2 card which I bought in the flea market back in 2017. It was running but with artifacts. I've put it in a box and Yesterday i wanted to do an SLI setup and the board was not running at all games. Voodoo not present error, and no voodoo menu missing in the video card properties menu. I was not aware of the SDK kit. TMU 0 was 0mb. Found out it was cold joints on the TmU chip. Reflowed with my gordak station and workes as it should. Now I fabricated a SLI cable out of a floppy cable. Runs great 1024x768. Thanks again!
Mike, I'm kind of shocked to learn your iron and repair skills started in 2020, you've learned so much so quickly, it's really impressive. You've apparently learned well from good folks. Thanks for doing this, as the number of these things in the world are rapidly decreasing, it's good to see what would have been tossed get saved. Fantastic project sir, enjoy that feeling.
Thanks so much! :) .. Yeah, I really struggled with even basic soldering tasks back then. I've still got a lot to learn but definitely feel confient enough to take on a lot of things I would never have tried before. Getting lots of practice (and having lots of patience) made all the difference. Of course, getting better tools, and understanding the importance of good quality flux really helped too.
@@vswitchzero Troubleshooting appears to be somewhat intuitive to you as well. Spending a lot of time on enthusiast communities like VOGONS can make it seem like everyone is so much more knowledgeable, but you are in a somewhat exclusive group now, there are truly not that many people that could have troubleshot and fixed that card, given the same tools. I honestly assumed you were an experienced engineer or hardware tech of some sort irl. You also captured and explained the process so well that this video makes a GREAT troubleshooting teaching tool. It's much more palatable than other folks vides doing the same thing. Don't want to make your head big, but your humility about all of it is also endearing hahaha. I hope your channel explodes dude. Edit: Even your comments section is educational, you're doing something right when your youtube comments are smart of friendly. I think @Unimportant nailed it with the Back driving latch-up, it explains why the current disappeared when the DAC got proper power, good stuff man! Glad it didn't destroy that memory, as that shit can induce chip destroying current quickly.
@@spladam3845 That's really kind of you to say all this, I really appreciate the encouragement! It means a lot. I actually did back-line (upper tier) technical support at VMware for many years, so troubleshooting comes somewhat naturally to me. Even though its software vs hardware, many of the same concepts apply :) .. Totally agree about the comments section. I've learned a ton from viewers. Thank you again!
Awesome repair. I remeber assembling a couple of systems using these cards back when they were new. I think the cost of them new was in the vicinity of $300!
Good Job. As others said, your channel is a hidden gem. I hope it grows and that you keep doing what you do and most importantly enjoy it. I am an I.T. Netowork admin who's recently rebuilt some vintage PC's... I have super socket 7 board that needs to be recapped and... I learned that I am absolutely terrible at this. I also filmed myself to try starting some videos... In short I just want to say that I fully appreciate your work and recognize some of the different challenges. You have a great voice, your work is super helpful and inspiring. Take care!
@@vswitchzero And I really appreciate your work. After trying to make some videos myself, either related to reviewing cars or the process of building a vintage computer... I found that it's so much more work then what most people even realize. To Script or not to Script. To talk and record, or to record and add the voice (or both) and of course the editing with whatever software of choice... and the knowledge that goes with it. Hopefully I will eventually dedicate more time to it in the future and learn how to properly edit and post my stuff :)
I commented last time on how much I enjoyed watching the soldering, so I REALLY enjoyed this video. I have ordered some practice soldering boards, including smd boards, and purchased kapton tape and your flux. Hopefully I can make similar progress. I also want to say how I enjoyed seeing you return to your train wreck card after seeing the other video and knowing some of the backstory. I could feel the real sense of accomplishment when the 3d properties page loaded and again when gaming worked. I'm very happy for you!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the kind words, it means a lot. It was a real joy to finally get this card working after all these years. That’s great that you got some practice boards, it’s a great way to get more experience. Cheers! 🙂👍
DAC on a Voodoo is not only responsible for generating VGA signals, but also it generates frequencies for the whole card. One way to diagnose dead DAC - check temperatures of FBI/TMU ICs, if those are cold, there is no clock thus the problem with the DAC. I assume that FBI without clock had memory controller stuck in a weird mode and without any clock it somehow caused that DRAM IC to overheat. As long as you fixed the DAC and FBI got its clock - RAM regeneration became normal and that DRAM IC started working fine.
Very interesting! Thanks for your comment. Yeah I was thinking something similar about the FB memory controller being in a weird state. It would have been interesting to check the clock signal on the 3dfx ICs as well. Have you ever seen data sheets for the TMUs/FB? Cheers!
@@vswitchzero nope, I didn't see any datasheets. But I'm looking into Linux drivers for Voodoo and trying to write my own low-level test software for Voodoo2. To test links between FBI and TMUs, to run memory check on RAM to detect bad ones without desoldering. It's in early development now.
Congratulations 👏 I am aviation electronic engineer, i find you good at troubleshooting, especially with log file . I hope you explain the log file method in more detail in the future. Thank you. Keep it coming
Thanks very much! I went through the debug level logging and system variables for troubleshooting in more detail in my previous video if you’d like to check it out. Cheers! 👍
Thank you for the cool video! I am currently restoring two Voodoo 2 video cards, several Voodoo 3. All cards with severe mechanical damage. But one Voodoo 2 has already been fixed!
I am really glad to have found your channel! Around the same time you got this card, I had found one of these in a box buried deep in my "collection" in very similar condition. I have put hours into that card, and never got anywhere. This video has given me some ideas, and more importantly some inspiration to take another stab at it. Unfortunately one of the pins on the frame buffer was broken off, there is a tiny bit of the pin left, hopefully I can bridge it to the pad somehow. I have another V2 that has terrible texture issues, that I need to work on as well. Thanks for the excellent content!!!
Thanks very much! Best of luck with your V2. I know the FB chip has really brutally fine pitch pins, but if there is even a tiny bit of pin remaining, there should be some hope for it. Let me know how it goes :)
Epic. Now I REALLY want one of those microscopes! I have so many things to repair, a lot of them motherboards with battery damage, so the more quality tools I have the better for tackling those. I'm actually surprised that the mechanical stress didn't cause more components to fail, so I'm really glad you were able to resolve the issue. That schematic, though - what a Godsend! I have a couple of CT6670s myself so that's reassuring. Congrats!
Thanks so much! It’s a great investment. Similar models to what I have cost about $100-120CAD, which is quite reasonable. Can be a total game changer for fine pitch soldering work 👍
I had the 12mb version of this card back in the day, since the 3dfx chips ran hot, I added resized heatsinks off old motherboard chipsets to make them run cooler. A little quirk of the 12mb vs the 8mb card in Need for Speed II when using the in-car camera view, the 12MB card displayed the car's dashboard but the 8MB card didn't. I also remember it giving me an unfair speed advantage in multiplayer Moto Racer.
Awesome. Love it. I am due to fire up some Glide on my P200, and now I am trying to remember if the V2 in that machine is 8MB or 12MB. Hmm... Well if it is 8MB, I guess I will be awaiting your upgrade video!
Super video, I really enjoy watching your process and your narration is very laid back and well told. Great work getting Train Wreck working again - I would say it was very much worth the purchase - I find the biggest wrecks teach you the most - I'm still not done learnining from some of my bust-up-tech 'projects'! Look forward to your next one, thanks for sharing.
Nice video. One soldering hint, you only need to use extra flux for very specific things like those ICs with very dense connections, the flux in the tin is more than enough for everything else. To desolder, new tin in the connections, heat, extract, wick and clean with iso.
I've had my Voodoo 2 for 25 years now including a Diamond Monster Fusion card, both still function. I'm currently trying to put together a win98 gaming pc but all old mobos no longer work, both MSI 845 & 865 boards along with a qdi with leaky capacitors...my cpus are good though, i have to look for some new boards! Nice channel, good info, thanks!
Thanks! Indeed, I’m very curious what happened to it. I assume it just got tossed into a box without an anti-static bag. The bend in the PCB probably means a bunch of other things we’re sitting on top weighing it down too.
Having access to that schematic so many years later really shows the importance of right to repair. Let's be honest, without something telling you what gave power to the ramdac, would it realistically have been repairable, at least without tearing your hair out? But with the schematic, and the pinout of the ramdac, you're able to have a reference that shows you what to check. Otherwise that Voodoo 2 would have been destined for the parts bin, or the recycling bin. It'd be nice if all of our electronics had this information available so that we can have a shot at repairing it, rather than tossing it when something goes bad. The more stuff we can reuse, the less that ends up in the recycle bin, or worse, our landfills.
Excellent, well done, and do not berate yourself for slightly miss aligning the components, remember they are placed by precision robots, we are human beings with shaking hands at the microscopic level when under the microscope, you did ok. The hot memory chip certainly is a mystery though, Bob UK
Thanks very much! I tend to be picky about those sorts of things but it’s true. Really not easy keeping a steady hand with components that small. Cheers! 🙂👍
Nice repairing job you've done there. Your repair videos has something entertaining but also calming in the same time. I've also done some electronic repairs in my life that I'm proud of, but not in front of the camera. Anyway, good job. You have gained a subscriber.
Great job on the card repair, these kinds of multiple error cards usually teach u the most and are the most rewarding to get working , have a MSX console with same amount of issue and is my nemesis :P, will probably make a video on it at some point keep up the good content
Thank you! This gives me a lot of hope. Between this and your video about BIOS bit rot, I'm anxious to try and repair a couple of Voodoo3 PCI cards I acquired that were also listed as "untested". I too confirmed the hard way that it meant "doesn't work". I'm hopeful that the issues with my cards aren't quite this extensive as my surface-mount soldering experience is limited.
@@vswitchzero Indeed, I hope so too. My concern is that the BIOS chip was physically removed from one of the boards before I got it, indicating someone already had a go at "fixing" it. I ordered a replacement BIOS chip and considered using a socket in case the board wasn't alive enough to reflash in place. I was able to write a 3dfx BIOS to the chip in an external programmer but wanted to work out some sort of test harness rather than surface solder my only working chip. The second 3dfx card shows more promise... it also came without any BIOS chip installed but that's because it's apparently a card from an arcade cabinet. Golden Tee Golf or something like that. If I put a 2D card in the system, I can get into Windows and it recognizes something on the PCI bus, but I'm guessing without the BIOS chip, the card cannot be initialized. Either way, it'll be a fun project when time permits.
Awesome channel! Subbed and on a binge watch! Kinda reminds me of a cross between EEVBlog, LGR, and RCM with a bit of techmoan thrown in. Love it. Keep it up.
A few years ago I had boxes of pc parts in various stages of broken. I honestly wish I'd taken the time to check them over and see if I could fix them. I think, like you I would have learned a fair amount. Very entertaining watching you work and manage to get things up and running as good as new again. Well done. Awesome vid.
Fantastic! Just discovered your channel and can't stop watching. Great format and voice over. If all this channel did was repair 3dfx graphics cards I'd still keep watching lol. Btw that ram chip sure took a beating. Guess it goes to show how heat tolerant components truly are.
There's a phenomenon in the automotive world where a bad ground in the electrical system can cause other components to take the ground load. I'd guess a similar phenomenon here, where it was trying to sink or source missing interconnects.
The shortcut to getting passives off is use the 6mm blade, that people throw away - lol -. Basically it's 6mm long it can reach both ends of a passive at once, ie, rest it on the side and push the part off.
Great job =D I suspect that RAM chip went nuclear due to the missing power rail. I've seen that type of behaviour before when a power rail or ground is missing - current can end up passing through protection diodes in the IC (since it has no VCC, its possible reverse switching might occur on some connection which is clamped in a specific direction), and the location of the IC means one ends up taking the brunt of the current, despite the fact the other RAM is wired in the same way etc. I've explained that very badly - bottom line is clamping diodes internal to the IC can end up allowing a path of current that only normal occurs if over or under voltage occurs (eg. when ESD hits).
Nice Video… very happy to see that the card is fully operational… man what a journey. I am about to try to fix the Voodoo2 12MB which I won in a bid… there are 2 faults with it, one of the legs of RAM chip is broken off at the casing - I tried to bend it back and ouch circuit path broke off the board (is still there but is loose) so I have to glue it back somehow, In any case I will have to dremel out the casing of the memory chip to get to the broken leg and uncover enough of it to be able to solder some wire to it and connect it to the circuit board or to the other side chip’s leg as it is connected in parallel… should be good. I checked and I will not get anymore the some kind of RAM chips. If it will work I will not bother with changing the whole RAM chip. Another problem is very simple, just missing 4.7uF capacitor which replacing is very easy. Man this video just encouraged me to come back to my Voodoo 3 2000 which is not working correctly… and I just left for better times.
Congrats, so uplifting to see this kind of revival. I had a look on my dead STB card and I found two missing caps thanks to you. And to think I replaced the GENDAC chip and never saw those first. Off to Vogons to hopefully find a schematic for my card. One step closer
🎉 great work, it´s always great if you invest so much work and it starts working again, by the way i dońt know the schematic, but as you said the ram is on 5V too, maybe there is some connection on which the ics on the broken AVDD try to get power from, or one of the framebuffer hangs in initalization and keeps refreshing this chip, so it could be ok that the ram got warm, but this must check someone how knows more about the card, at least it is not totally impossible that it is normal
So satisfying! Great work! Really appreciate all the knowledge sharing here. I’m never gonna repair these cards, but it’s just so helpful to see amateur board level electronics repair. Especially when you include misdiagnoses like the crystal.
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Your channel is the very definition of a hidden gem! You deserve lots and lots of subscribers sir. Kudos!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! 😀
The memory chip that was heating up is for the framebuffer. The framebuffer's memory is also connected to the RAMDAC. If the memory chip is being powered, but the RAMDAC it is connected to is not, you can get all sorts of weird side effects. Chips are full of static clamp diodes and parasitic structures that can latch-up and allow current to flow in all kinds of ways it's not supposed to when unpowered.
my bet was on latch-up too
This is exactly what I thought as well. 👍
Thanks for your comment. Very interesting! That makes sense and I think you are definitely on the right track with that. It was way too much of a coincidence that the issue disappeared after power was restored to the DAC. Power to the DAC's power plane was fed though FB2, but FB1 energized something I couldn't see so there is that variable too. At any rate, I'm really glad it resolved itself. I haven't been able to reproduce that issue again after many hours of use now. I'm thinking of just leaving the chip as-is unless I have more of a reason to replace it. Cheers!
This issue is called backdriving. In most cases as Unimportant mentioned, high side clamp diodes on inputs of disabled chip will flow current into dead power circuit when such inputs will be driven high. This casue massive current draw from source driving those inputs.
Yup. Guessing ramdac was drawing power through that ram chip…
Just a tip: use enameled wire for bodges. No insulation to worry about making the wire thicker and stiffer then it needs to be and they are available in such thin gauges that they can be soldered even onto those thin traces for a much cleaner repair.
Thanks for the tip! Will definitely look into enameled wire for future repairs.
I have not found enamelled wire that works and isn't a total pain in the arse. Apparently my local supplier thinks i'm gonna wind some really feisty transformer with it and the enamel barely budges at 450°C. I hate enamel wire with a passion.
Maybe i need a shittier supplier.
@@SianaGearz Get wire that isn't rated for high temp applications.
80c rating is enough.
Kynar wire is another option. The insulation is much more resistant to heat
Major props for not giving up on this card, it was very satisfying to see it working in the end. Can't wait for the 12 meg upgrade!
Thanks so much! 😁👍
3dfx going above and beyond with their debugging logs. Few software developers would ever need such stuff when writing software for a voodoo, but it has turned out to be invaluable for diagnosing board faults which is what it was probably meant for as board partners would need it.
Amazing how electronics can be highly maintainable, when the engineers making the cards aren't explicitly instructed to make the cards unmaintainable (as they so often are today)!
The early days of 3D accelerators were the golden age of computing for more than just graphics.
Analytical thinking at its best! Good job, sir! 🙂
Thanks very much! 🙂
Its always the basics that hang you up. Thou shall check voltages! Always a great place to start when trouble shooting. Would had stopped the replacement of the crystal. But then again hey, mistakes are only bad when you dont learn from them and there was no harm no foul, Just a learning experience not to jump the gun.
😮 This is an amazing repair job. I envy your detective skills (and patience!).
Thank you very much! 😁👍
Yeah. I watched till the very end. I like those old systems alive again.
The algorithm recently started recommending your channel and I have to say I’ve really been enjoying the content! Great video and well done on repairing what others might have considered a lost cause!
Awesome, thank you! 😁👍
Amazing video! 25 minutes of pure repairing satisfaction
Congrats for not throwing the thing up. Sometimes we just do that and many months later notice what could've been done.
Absolute labour of love, this one. Congrats for getting it going again. Many of us would have thrown in the towel.
Thanks so much! 👍
Well done! you're doing such important work helping others repair and preserve these cards.
Thank you! 🙂👍
As someone who has never soldered any components at all, that was super interesting!
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks! :)
Amazing! Great job, another card saved! And those ferrite beads were to blame, who would have thought!
Thank you! Cheers! 🙂👍
Repairing thise VGA traces with really thin wire or even using special trace repair kit pad for those and covering it with solder mask would be way more elegant way to fix it :)
I think I've seen the ram heating issue before with other types of electronics where a broken power connection makes those disconnected circuits become a load through a different source, that being a component that is connected to the dead power rail somehow and becomes a resistor.
This is like a technical detective story. Well done and congratulations on the fix.
Thanks so much 👍
Men! You just give me the courage to face my long time box saved broken voodoo 2. So many thanks for your video! Greetings from Argentina
Thanks very much! Best of luck with your voodoo 2!
Awesome job persevering with that repair! Allways good to see some old hardware brought back from the dead like that.
Thanks very much! 😁
Thanks man. I just fixed my Voodoo 2 card which I bought in the flea market back in 2017. It was running but with artifacts. I've put it in a box and Yesterday i wanted to do an SLI setup and the board was not running at all games. Voodoo not present error, and no voodoo menu missing in the video card properties menu. I was not aware of the SDK kit. TMU 0 was 0mb. Found out it was cold joints on the TmU chip. Reflowed with my gordak station and workes as it should. Now I fabricated a SLI cable out of a floppy cable. Runs great 1024x768. Thanks again!
Awesome work! Always great to hear about another 3dfx card saved 👍
I had two of these cards back in the day and ran an SLI setup. It was thoroughly enjoyable for several years.
Mike, I'm kind of shocked to learn your iron and repair skills started in 2020, you've learned so much so quickly, it's really impressive. You've apparently learned well from good folks.
Thanks for doing this, as the number of these things in the world are rapidly decreasing, it's good to see what would have been tossed get saved. Fantastic project sir, enjoy that feeling.
Thanks so much! :) .. Yeah, I really struggled with even basic soldering tasks back then. I've still got a lot to learn but definitely feel confient enough to take on a lot of things I would never have tried before. Getting lots of practice (and having lots of patience) made all the difference. Of course, getting better tools, and understanding the importance of good quality flux really helped too.
@@vswitchzero Troubleshooting appears to be somewhat intuitive to you as well. Spending a lot of time on enthusiast communities like VOGONS can make it seem like everyone is so much more knowledgeable, but you are in a somewhat exclusive group now, there are truly not that many people that could have troubleshot and fixed that card, given the same tools. I honestly assumed you were an experienced engineer or hardware tech of some sort irl. You also captured and explained the process so well that this video makes a GREAT troubleshooting teaching tool. It's much more palatable than other folks vides doing the same thing. Don't want to make your head big, but your humility about all of it is also endearing hahaha. I hope your channel explodes dude.
Edit: Even your comments section is educational, you're doing something right when your youtube comments are smart of friendly. I think @Unimportant nailed it with the Back driving latch-up, it explains why the current disappeared when the DAC got proper power, good stuff man! Glad it didn't destroy that memory, as that shit can induce chip destroying current quickly.
@@spladam3845 That's really kind of you to say all this, I really appreciate the encouragement! It means a lot. I actually did back-line (upper tier) technical support at VMware for many years, so troubleshooting comes somewhat naturally to me. Even though its software vs hardware, many of the same concepts apply :) .. Totally agree about the comments section. I've learned a ton from viewers. Thank you again!
No words, just positive emotions
I really enjoy your repair videos. Keep them coming.
You know enough to be really dangerous. Great job saving this card brother.
hell yeah. good to see another vogon user duking it out with some vintage tech. look forward to your future adventures
Thanks very much! 🙂👍
The real value of the purchase was in the knowledge you gained along the way :)
Awesome repair. I remeber assembling a couple of systems using these cards back when they were new. I think the cost of them new was in the vicinity of $300!
I watch/listen to a good amount of repair videos but this one got me excited like few others! Cool fix.
Thanks so much, it means a lot 😁👍
Great work , another piece of tech saved from the landfill.
Good Job. As others said, your channel is a hidden gem. I hope it grows and that you keep doing what you do and most importantly enjoy it.
I am an I.T. Netowork admin who's recently rebuilt some vintage PC's... I have super socket 7 board that needs to be recapped and... I learned that I am absolutely terrible at this. I also filmed myself to try starting some videos... In short I just want to say that I fully appreciate your work and recognize some of the different challenges.
You have a great voice, your work is super helpful and inspiring. Take care!
Wow thank you so much for the very kind words. Feedback like this really means a lot, and it helps to keep me going! Much appreciated! :)
@@vswitchzero And I really appreciate your work. After trying to make some videos myself, either related to reviewing cars or the process of building a vintage computer... I found that it's so much more work then what most people even realize. To Script or not to Script. To talk and record, or to record and add the voice (or both) and of course the editing with whatever software of choice... and the knowledge that goes with it.
Hopefully I will eventually dedicate more time to it in the future and learn how to properly edit and post my stuff :)
I commented last time on how much I enjoyed watching the soldering, so I REALLY enjoyed this video. I have ordered some practice soldering boards, including smd boards, and purchased kapton tape and your flux. Hopefully I can make similar progress.
I also want to say how I enjoyed seeing you return to your train wreck card after seeing the other video and knowing some of the backstory. I could feel the real sense of accomplishment when the 3d properties page loaded and again when gaming worked. I'm very happy for you!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the kind words, it means a lot. It was a real joy to finally get this card working after all these years. That’s great that you got some practice boards, it’s a great way to get more experience. Cheers! 🙂👍
Great work repairing the card, another one saved! 👍
Thanks 👍🙂
DAC on a Voodoo is not only responsible for generating VGA signals, but also it generates frequencies for the whole card. One way to diagnose dead DAC - check temperatures of FBI/TMU ICs, if those are cold, there is no clock thus the problem with the DAC.
I assume that FBI without clock had memory controller stuck in a weird mode and without any clock it somehow caused that DRAM IC to overheat. As long as you fixed the DAC and FBI got its clock - RAM regeneration became normal and that DRAM IC started working fine.
Very interesting! Thanks for your comment. Yeah I was thinking something similar about the FB memory controller being in a weird state. It would have been interesting to check the clock signal on the 3dfx ICs as well. Have you ever seen data sheets for the TMUs/FB? Cheers!
@@vswitchzero nope, I didn't see any datasheets. But I'm looking into Linux drivers for Voodoo and trying to write my own low-level test software for Voodoo2. To test links between FBI and TMUs, to run memory check on RAM to detect bad ones without desoldering. It's in early development now.
@@fagear Very cool! That would be very useful indeed. If you ever need help with testing let me know. Cheers!
Congratulations 👏
I am aviation electronic engineer, i find you good at troubleshooting, especially with log file . I hope you explain the log file method in more detail in the future.
Thank you.
Keep it coming
Thanks very much! I went through the debug level logging and system variables for troubleshooting in more detail in my previous video if you’d like to check it out. Cheers! 👍
@@vswitchzero great 👍
Thank you
I really enjoy your videos as you show all aspects of the repair. I learn something every time I watch one of your repairs.
Thanks very much! 🙂
Excellent video, vswitch! Thank you for putting it together for us 😊
Thanks very much! :)
Thank you for the cool video! I am currently restoring two Voodoo 2 video cards, several Voodoo 3. All cards with severe mechanical damage. But one Voodoo 2 has already been fixed!
Another one saved from the dumpster. Great video. You gave me some hints on some of my own projects.
Congratulations! Really happy to see you resurrect this card.
Thanks so much! 🙂👍
I'm blown away by your skills and dedication. Great job!
Thank you very much! 😁
I am really glad to have found your channel! Around the same time you got this card, I had found one of these in a box buried deep in my "collection" in very similar condition. I have put hours into that card, and never got anywhere. This video has given me some ideas, and more importantly some inspiration to take another stab at it. Unfortunately one of the pins on the frame buffer was broken off, there is a tiny bit of the pin left, hopefully I can bridge it to the pad somehow. I have another V2 that has terrible texture issues, that I need to work on as well. Thanks for the excellent content!!!
Thanks very much! Best of luck with your V2. I know the FB chip has really brutally fine pitch pins, but if there is even a tiny bit of pin remaining, there should be some hope for it. Let me know how it goes :)
Epic. Now I REALLY want one of those microscopes! I have so many things to repair, a lot of them motherboards with battery damage, so the more quality tools I have the better for tackling those. I'm actually surprised that the mechanical stress didn't cause more components to fail, so I'm really glad you were able to resolve the issue. That schematic, though - what a Godsend! I have a couple of CT6670s myself so that's reassuring. Congrats!
I've been thinking of building a video microscope. I scored a 50mm cmount lens from China a few years back and a suitable HD webcam more recently.
Thanks so much! It’s a great investment. Similar models to what I have cost about $100-120CAD, which is quite reasonable. Can be a total game changer for fine pitch soldering work 👍
I had the 12mb version of this card back in the day, since the 3dfx chips ran hot, I added resized heatsinks off old motherboard chipsets to make them run cooler. A little quirk of the 12mb vs the 8mb card in Need for Speed II when using the in-car camera view, the 12MB card displayed the car's dashboard but the 8MB card didn't. I also remember it giving me an unfair speed advantage in multiplayer Moto Racer.
Thanks for sharing! I hope to explore and compare the difference between 8MB and 12MB at some point 👍
Congrats on getting this trainwreck fixed!
Wow, what a beat up card. Great job getting it working!
Awesome. Love it. I am due to fire up some Glide on my P200, and now I am trying to remember if the V2 in that machine is 8MB or 12MB. Hmm... Well if it is 8MB, I guess I will be awaiting your upgrade video!
Thanks for this. Your videos are going to be a nice tutorials in case I ever need to work again on my V2.
Always wonderful to see another Voodoo2 brought back to life!
Thanks! 😁👍
Love it. Man unreal tournament was just breathtaking back in the day. Great video.
Thanks! It really was. I sank many hours into Unreal and Unreal Tournament back in the day. Awesome games!
The map creator blew my mind
Super video, I really enjoy watching your process and your narration is very laid back and well told. Great work getting Train Wreck working again - I would say it was very much worth the purchase - I find the biggest wrecks teach you the most - I'm still not done learnining from some of my bust-up-tech 'projects'! Look forward to your next one, thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much for the kind words, means a lot! 🙂👍
Nice video. One soldering hint, you only need to use extra flux for very specific things like those ICs with very dense connections, the flux in the tin is more than enough for everything else. To desolder, new tin in the connections, heat, extract, wick and clean with iso.
I've had my Voodoo 2 for 25 years now including a Diamond Monster Fusion card, both still function. I'm currently trying to put together a win98 gaming pc but all old mobos no longer work, both MSI 845 & 865 boards along with a qdi with leaky capacitors...my cpus are good though, i have to look for some new boards! Nice channel, good info, thanks!
Nice. Great job. And respect for your patience on checking all those pins.
Thanks very much 🙂
You earned this one, and thanks for teaching me a little more about electronics repair!
Awesome stuff. So many things that you just wouldn't expect.
That card must have had a very rough life before you got it.
Thanks! Indeed, I’m very curious what happened to it. I assume it just got tossed into a box without an anti-static bag. The bend in the PCB probably means a bunch of other things we’re sitting on top weighing it down too.
In my first build, I used 2 voodoo 1 cards. Loved seeing the card.
Man i have to say I'm grateful for the TH-cam algorithm serving me you channel. Keep up the videos!
Thanks so much 👍
grats that was a tough fix good on you for sticking at it.
Having access to that schematic so many years later really shows the importance of right to repair. Let's be honest, without something telling you what gave power to the ramdac, would it realistically have been repairable, at least without tearing your hair out? But with the schematic, and the pinout of the ramdac, you're able to have a reference that shows you what to check. Otherwise that Voodoo 2 would have been destined for the parts bin, or the recycling bin. It'd be nice if all of our electronics had this information available so that we can have a shot at repairing it, rather than tossing it when something goes bad. The more stuff we can reuse, the less that ends up in the recycle bin, or worse, our landfills.
Couldn’t agree more! Documents like this are a lifesaver when it comes to doing repairs. Thanks for your comment 🙂👍
This is better than a detective movie :-)
What a roller coaster
I'd love to see you stretch this card as far as it can: Increase the memory and SLI this puppy!!
Stay tuned for more 😎
That’s gotta be so satisfying. Job well done.
Amazing, just have to say kudos on the repair. Giving me more confidence on soldering
Thanks very much! :)
Excellent, well done, and do not berate yourself for slightly miss aligning the components, remember they are placed by precision robots, we are human beings with shaking hands at the microscopic level when under the microscope, you did ok. The hot memory chip certainly is a mystery though, Bob UK
Thanks very much! I tend to be picky about those sorts of things but it’s true. Really not easy keeping a steady hand with components that small. Cheers! 🙂👍
Love it! That satisfaction when you bring something back to life - priceless!
I'm glad to have found this channel. such great blend of pc nostalgia and repair therapy.
Thanks for the kind words! 🙂👍
Nice repairing job you've done there. Your repair videos has something entertaining but also calming in the same time. I've also done some electronic repairs in my life that I'm proud of, but not in front of the camera. Anyway, good job. You have gained a subscriber.
Thank you very much! Appreciate the kind words 🙂👍
That was a wild ride, very well done!
Great job on the card repair, these kinds of multiple error cards usually teach u the most and are the most rewarding to get working , have a MSX console with same amount of issue and is my nemesis :P, will probably make a video on it at some point
keep up the good content
Thanks very much :) Best of luck with your MSX!
Thank you! This gives me a lot of hope. Between this and your video about BIOS bit rot, I'm anxious to try and repair a couple of Voodoo3 PCI cards I acquired that were also listed as "untested".
I too confirmed the hard way that it meant "doesn't work". I'm hopeful that the issues with my cards aren't quite this extensive as my surface-mount soldering experience is limited.
Best of luck! Hopefully it’s just a BIOS issue. I’ve seen quite a few cards resurrected with a simple reflash. Cheers! 👍
@@vswitchzero Indeed, I hope so too. My concern is that the BIOS chip was physically removed from one of the boards before I got it, indicating someone already had a go at "fixing" it. I ordered a replacement BIOS chip and considered using a socket in case the board wasn't alive enough to reflash in place. I was able to write a 3dfx BIOS to the chip in an external programmer but wanted to work out some sort of test harness rather than surface solder my only working chip.
The second 3dfx card shows more promise... it also came without any BIOS chip installed but that's because it's apparently a card from an arcade cabinet. Golden Tee Golf or something like that. If I put a 2D card in the system, I can get into Windows and it recognizes something on the PCI bus, but I'm guessing without the BIOS chip, the card cannot be initialized.
Either way, it'll be a fun project when time permits.
Awesome channel! Subbed and on a binge watch! Kinda reminds me of a cross between EEVBlog, LGR,
and RCM with a bit of techmoan thrown in. Love it. Keep it up.
Haha awesome! Thanks so much 😁👍
great work, I should have kept my 3dfx manufacturing samples.
Found you through this video. Great content!
Thanks so much! :-)
A few years ago I had boxes of pc parts in various stages of broken. I honestly wish I'd taken the time to check them over and see if I could fix them. I think, like you I would have learned a fair amount. Very entertaining watching you work and manage to get things up and running as good as new again. Well done. Awesome vid.
Thanks very much! 🙂
Without the power load from the DAC, it is possible the voltage was floating a bit to high causing the memory chip to dissipate excess heat.
Great channel, just got it in my recommendations, watching a bunch of your videos now 🙂
Awesome, thank you! :-)
Beautiful troubleshooting work Mike! Another awesome video!
Really appreciate it, thanks so much! :)
Fantastic! Just discovered your channel and can't stop watching. Great format and voice over. If all this channel did was repair 3dfx graphics cards I'd still keep watching lol. Btw that ram chip sure took a beating. Guess it goes to show how heat tolerant components truly are.
Thanks very much! I really appreciate it :)
Rather enjoyable, nice to see it working in the end :)
Thank you! Cheers! 🙂👍
There's a phenomenon in the automotive world where a bad ground in the electrical system can cause other components to take the ground load. I'd guess a similar phenomenon here, where it was trying to sink or source missing interconnects.
The shortcut to getting passives off is use the 6mm blade, that people throw away - lol -. Basically it's 6mm long it can reach both ends of a passive at once, ie, rest it on the side and push the part off.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely need to pick one of those up 👍
awesome repair! i watched all your repair and build videos, i like them a lot. you're kind of Sherlock when it comes to investigating a broken pc part
Thanks so much! Means a lot 🙂👍
Great job
What a fantastic job. I would have given up much sooner.
Thanks very much!👍
Great work, happy to see another Voodoo2 come back from the grave! Always appreciate a longer video too 🙂
Thanks very much 🙂
Great video, I watch this type of video all day!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Great job =D I suspect that RAM chip went nuclear due to the missing power rail. I've seen that type of behaviour before when a power rail or ground is missing - current can end up passing through protection diodes in the IC (since it has no VCC, its possible reverse switching might occur on some connection which is clamped in a specific direction), and the location of the IC means one ends up taking the brunt of the current, despite the fact the other RAM is wired in the same way etc. I've explained that very badly - bottom line is clamping diodes internal to the IC can end up allowing a path of current that only normal occurs if over or under voltage occurs (eg. when ESD hits).
That makes a lot of sense and I think you are right about the clamping. Thanks for the comment! 👍
I'm really loving your channel, keep up the great content, most excellent repair saving the 3Dfx card.
Thanks so much, means a lot! :)
great work! altough I'm subscriber for like a week, already seen you struggle with this voodoo and it's nice to see it working. Cheers!
Thank you very much!
Nice Video… very happy to see that the card is fully operational… man what a journey.
I am about to try to fix the Voodoo2 12MB which I won in a bid… there are 2 faults with it, one of the legs of RAM chip is broken off at the casing - I tried to bend it back and ouch circuit path broke off the board (is still there but is loose) so I have to glue it back somehow, In any case I will have to dremel out the casing of the memory chip to get to the broken leg and uncover enough of it to be able to solder some wire to it and connect it to the circuit board or to the other side chip’s leg as it is connected in parallel… should be good. I checked and I will not get anymore the some kind of RAM chips. If it will work I will not bother with changing the whole RAM chip.
Another problem is very simple, just missing 4.7uF capacitor which replacing is very easy.
Man this video just encouraged me to come back to my Voodoo 3 2000 which is not working correctly… and I just left for better times.
This is a great channel. Love following your diagnosyic process. Kinda like Shango066 but with less cynicism.
Thanks very much! 🙂👍
Congrats, so uplifting to see this kind of revival. I had a look on my dead STB card and I found two missing caps thanks to you. And to think I replaced the GENDAC chip and never saw those first. Off to Vogons to hopefully find a schematic for my card. One step closer
Thanks! Best of luck with your STB card. Let me know how it goes 👍
keep the repairs coming!
great vid. if i were you i'd replace all passives, they'll just keep on failing one by one.
good work dude.
🎉 great work, it´s always great if you invest so much work and it starts working again, by the way i dońt know the schematic, but as you said the ram is on 5V too, maybe there is some connection on which the ics on the broken AVDD try to get power from, or one of the framebuffer hangs in initalization and keeps refreshing this chip, so it could be ok that the ram got warm, but this must check someone how knows more about the card, at least it is not totally impossible that it is normal
You have as new subscriber in me! FOund you by accident and am I glad I did. Well done on this repair!
Thanks so much! 😁
So satisfying! Great work! Really appreciate all the knowledge sharing here. I’m never gonna repair these cards, but it’s just so helpful to see amateur board level electronics repair. Especially when you include misdiagnoses like the crystal.
Thanks very much 🙂👍