#Diamond Viper
16 messages in this thread
>> Have you or anyone else had any luck with Diamond Viper PCI w/NT? They
>> worked with 3.5 but not at all (so far) with 3.51.
James,
Well I finally found someone else with the same problem as I have. NT has
VIPER PCI listed in the hardware compatibilty section. Diamond says it
should work and has sent me the newest BIOS (3.13). Still EVERYTHING I've
tried to get my Viper PCI (2MB) to run under WIN NT, does not work. NT even
recognizes the Weitek P9000 (and Brooktree Bt4?? chip) on the card, but
when tested my monitor goes black (actually goes into sleep mode as if
there is no VGA signal!).
It is interesting that yours worked in NT 3.5 though. I wonder if it's the
same driver?
I do not know where to turn now, except to buy a new card (Viper SE or Stealth
64 VRAM). Please let me know if you find out anything (spending an extra
$4-500 on a new card when the Viper works perfect in DOS, 3DS, and W4WG
doesn't make me happy!)
Ralph
Ralph
Actually, the Viper worked OK (tho slow), with 3.5. Gave me a bit of
overconfidence at the time, I guess. At lest it does EXACTLY the same things as
you describe, so I feel slightly less retarded. I wish I didn't have 4 of the
bloody things, tho.
One of the ugliest sights I've ever seen is 640x480x16 colors on my NEC 6FG's.
It is readable from across the room, tho.
JB
If you hear of a fix…..
>> One of the ugliest sights I've ever seen is 640x480x16 colors on my NEC 6FG's.
<BG> I'll say! Gotta love that dither, huh?
Not to make you feel bad, but it _was_ kind of heartening to know someone else
was having this problem. <g>
>> If you hear of a fix…..
Likewise, James.
Ralph
>Well I finally found someone else with the same problem as I have. NT has
VIPER PCI listed in the hardware compatibilty section. Diamond says it
should work and has sent me the newest BIOS (3.13). Still EVERYTHING I've
tried to get my Viper PCI (2MB) to run under WIN NT, does not work. NT even
recognizes the Weitek P9000 (and Brooktree Bt4?? chip) on the card, but
when tested my monitor goes black (actually goes into sleep mode as if
there is no VGA signal!).<
I have a Diamond Viper VLB using the P9000 chip. I installed NT 3.5, when the
video selection came up during install it detected my Viper. When it ran the
test my screen stayed black, like yours. I installed NT again and selected
cancel when the video selection came up. It used the 640×480 VESA/VGA mode
(yech). I could change it to 800×600 VESA/VGA, still not the resolution I
wanted. The NT3.5 Service Pack 2 fixed the bug and I can run my Viper at
1600×1200. After installing the Service Pack I installed the new driver under
Control Panel. My Viper was bought when they first came out and my bios is old,
Event Viewer says my Viper BIOS is down level or something funky, but it works.
Under NT 3.51 Step Up I haven't had any problems with the Viper still.
>It is interesting that yours worked in NT 3.5 though. I wonder if it's the
same driver?<
I don't know if the PCI bus has anything to do with it. What version of NT are
you running?
Tim,
>> Event Viewer says my Viper BIOS is down level or something funky, but it
works.
I get the same message. I have had only one minor "video" problem to date.
Every now and then when I boot to NT, I do not get the NT image and my screen
stays a light blue. When a window pops up and I click ok, it does not go away,
and additional windows just get overlaid. To fix this I have to open up an
application full screen and when I close the app, the screen will be fixed.
Kind of an odd little querk, but not a serious one.
Andrew
Tim,
I really appreciate this info. So you got your P9000 based Viper to run
(not in vga mode) in high res/high color mode.
If you could just explain what the NT3.5 Service Pack 2 is and where I can
obtain it I would appreciate it.
The bios on my Viper PCI was 3.10 and Diamonds first suggestion was to
upgrade to the latest (3.13) which I did. In fact I have recieved 3 new
bios chips so far to date. (I didn't think I stired it up that much <g>) I
also have a Viper VLB in the other system and just now checked its bios. It
is 3.09 and the chip looks just like the PCI chip. Hey, the boards must be
the same as the PCI upgrade chip works great in the VLB. This also seems to
indicate that your fix for the VLB should work for my PCI.
JamesB, did you catch this message?
Thanks,
Ralph
>I really appreciate this info. So you got your P9000 based Viper to run
(not in vga mode) in high res/high color mode.<
Yes, I had to use the vga driver until I installed SP2. I'm not talking about
the boot options that allow you to choose vga mode, I mean not selecting a
video driver when installing NT.
>If you could just explain what the NT3.5 Service Pack 2 is and where I can
obtain it I would appreciate it.<
NT 3.5 SP2 is various bug fixes and upgrades for NT 3.5. If you have NT 3.51
you don't need it. Since the NT 3.51 Workstation Step-Up is only $19.95 I would
suggest upgrading, then you won't need NT3.5SP2. There is an NT3.51SP1 out now.
Using NT3.51 allows you to install the Win95 Shell.
The Service Packs are on the MS ftp server or in the NT forum on CIS. Since
they are pretty big (8MB) I don't think you would want to d/l them from here.
>The bios on my Viper PCI was 3.10 and Diamonds first suggestion was to
upgrade to the latest (3.13) which I did.<
I think my bios is 1.09 or 2.0x, I can't remember, but it is old. Yes, the PCI
or VLBus shouldn't make a difference.
Tim,
Well I tried the Service Pack 1 for NT 3.51, but the Viper is still a no go.
The service pack you used (SP2 for 3.5) would have been incorporated into
3.51 (or at the very least SP1 for 3.51). BTW, the 3.51 Service Pack 1 is
about 2MB.
My new Stealth is working fine <G>
Ralph
Thanks Ralph
I forgot to tell you that I have no problems w/my Viper VLB. It's only the PCI
versions that are are turning me into a schizoid.
I spent about 1.5 hrs on the tele w/Diamond tech. They walked me thru the
install 2-3 times (using their just out of beta drivers (p9nt12.zip at
diamondmm.com), but still no joy. They said they'd "check into it and get back
to me…….." Actually, I think they may; they did seem sincere in wishing to
resolve this.
JB
The Viper VLB is on my daughter's 486. She boots to Dos.
>> I spent about 1.5 hrs on the tele w/Diamond tech. They walked me thru the
>> install 2-3 times (using their just out of beta drivers (p9nt12.zip at
James,
Lets hope they do resolve this. I went and DLed the Service Pack 1 for NT
3.51 and installed that, all to no avail.
Got tired of all this and went and bought a new 4MB Stealth (my Viper was
2MB). I am planning on using the Viper again when this gets worked out, on
the 2nd system. That system is a 486-66 for now but am thinking of
replacing my main systems MB with a dual CPU and dropping this P90 MB into
the 486. Of course I'll have to find an inexpensive way to change out 32MB
of 30pin SIMMs to 72 pin (but thats another story <g>)
By the way, there is a message in the NT forum now about this Viper problem.
We'll see what happens.
Anyway NT is up in high res/true color with the beta 95 shell! Looks great!
Just got done with this session of Tapcis under NT, and am currently
installing my most used WIN 3.11 apps under NT. I chose to NOT install NT
over my 3.11 directory, as I figured it would give me the safest way to
transition, and still use my system as before.
Good luck,
Ralph
>Got tired of all this and went and bought a new 4MB Stealth (my Viper was
2MB).<
I've got an S3 based card and they are much faster than the Viper. If you have
full-drag on the whole window image will drag, not just the outline. On the
Viper it is dog slow, on the cards like yours it is quick. Reminds me of my
Amiga.
Tim, my Viper has absolutely no problems showing the full Window image during
Window moves in NT when set to full drag.
Please be a bit more careful about inaccurate blanket statments like this as
many folks rely on this forum for information regarding hardware purchases.
Thanks!
-Alan
>> I've got an S3 based card and they are much faster than the Viper.
Yes, it seems to be a bit faster at certain tasks. Each card has it's own
quirks though. Although I sure love 1024 by 768 at 24 bit in Photoshop with
this 4MB board.
Ralph
Ralph
>> Got tired of all this….Anyway NT is up in high res/true color with
the beta 95 shell!
Yeah, me too. Installed some 2mb ATI's that I had and all's well. Going forward
is more fun than backward. Finally.
I've got NT installed – 1. over windows
2. On a separate FAT drive
3. On a separate NTFS drive
I'll let you know what I think works best; at least for me.
JB
>> Installed some 2mb ATI's that I had and all's well. Going
>> forward is more fun than backward.
Boy, I'll say! Nothing is more frustrating than deadend after deadend.
Couple of quirks with the S3 968 Stealth but… I'm on my way.
And do keep us informed about your NT install(s). I'm curently setting up
NT with my most used Win 3.11 apps and some DOS apps also. Corel Draw v3
wont install under NT yet so I would expect there are both pluses and
minuses about installing over (or separately) from Win 3.11.
Next is to get the PAR working with NT. Now where were those drivers?
Later,
Ralph
>I've got NT installed – 1. over windows
2. On a separate FAT drive
3. On a separate NTFS drive
>I'll let you know what I think works best; at least for me.<
I found that a seperate partition formatted NTFS works best until I can rid my
machine of DOS and Win3.1.