Hardware·19,031 discussions

[yttaprellim]

KT7a-RAID v1.0 has NO VGA video output

Tags: Community, Hardware

I have acquired a retro desktop PC with the KT7a-RAID v1.0 motherboard which has a 3dfx video card (VGA 0nly). The card is stamped with: “2000 3dfx INTERACTIVE, INC”. I have no signal output to my NEC MultiSync LCD1830 monitor. My NSP-201SE power tester shows me that the power supply is ok.

I believe that the least expensive way to check if my video card is good is to buy\try a different video card. My question is: should a generic ATI Rage XL 8MB PCI VGA Video Card CL-XL-B41 function with my KT7a?

Thank you!

• This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by yttaprellim.

Topic

Re: video card

In reply to KT7a-RAID v1.0 has NO VGA video output

Worth a try. The PC and the card are both at least 20 years old, so might be compatible. I see the card for some USD 10 on Alibaba.

But you might have a problem to find a suitable driver for the OS that’s on the PC.

Reply To: KT7a-RAID v1.0 has NO VGA video output

In reply to Re: video card

Thanks muchly! Per the person that I acquired from, the O/S was windows XP and the PC was working ok when it was stored.

How do you know it’s the video card?

In reply to KT7a-RAID v1.0 has NO VGA video output

Troubleshooting gear is hard enough but here you are looking at 20+ year old gear.

I’d have to have a working PC that had PCI slots to test out that video card.

About the only good news is that such PCs go for less than 99 bucks (much less) on ebay. Heck I have this 80486 in the garage as standby for such testing.

If you are getting into retro PCs you need more than one so you can swap parts till you find the problem.

____——> But at this age the usual failure I see are the DEAD CMOS BATTERY stopping the boot as well as our old friend and PLAGUE called BAD CAPS (google BAD CAPS!)

Problem Solved

In reply to KT7a-RAID v1.0 has NO VGA video output

Much more work to do but it appears that I am now only missing an O/S to get a working system. My existing 3dfx card is okay. I smartened up a bit and did two things . . . . .

1. I changed the keyboard to an actual PS/2 keyboard instead of USB

2. I tried the card in a different slot.

Now I have to try reinstalling Win XP before proceeding to a truly reliable PC with an O/S & some spare parts as rproffitt suggested.

Thank again for all of your quick replies and your help!

Re: reinstall XP

In reply to Problem Solved

You can’t activate XP any more. So you’re stuck with an OS that needs to be restored every 2 months or so, when the trial period ends.

I hear that you can still activate by phone.

In reply to Re: reinstall XP

Hello international calling fees!

“Please hold. Your call is important to us. Your wait time is 56 minutes.”

[Author]

Replies