FIC VA-503+ revisted

Discuss software and how to tweak more performance out of your system.
James
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Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

I will try that tonight and update. Thanks for the tip.
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

I thought I would give an update. In the BIOS, there is no option for different AGP speeds. I do recall seeing something like that in the original BIOS, but not the eSupport BIOS. Id did have luck putting in the K6 III+ 450 CPU. It is currently running at 450Mhz.

On a side note, one thing I noticed with the case open, is that when I press the rest button for a warm reboot, or do a reboot from inside of Windows, the CPU fan turns off. Not sure if anyone has seen this with the FIC VA-503+. I will be careful in the future not to do warm reboots or perhaps have CPU fan run off of a MOLEX plug.

If anyone does indeed have FIC VA-503+ and can execute DXDIAG with no issues, it would be good to know. I am not sure if it is due to flaky VIA AGP, Windows XP, or both at this time. I am thinking of installing OpenBSD at this time and forgetting about building it as a retro "Y2K" game box for running programs from 10 years ago.
Jim
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Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Right now I am in the process of trying to fix Sonja's computer which her son screwed up severely. Once that is done, I will hook up my FIC-VA103+ machine, (Win NT4) and try runing directX diag and see what happens. I will also check the bios to see if there are AGP settings with the bios I am using, which unless I am mistaken is the JE4333.

Apart from that, you can use WPCredit to set the AGP settings. You can find that program in the downloads section, and you can find instructions on how to use it HERE :

http://www.k6plus.com/index.php?name=PN ... pic&t=1440

And you can find a large selection of the necessary VIA chipset "PCR Files" HERE :

http://www.k6plus.com/index.php?name=PN ... pic&t=1702

Though you'll have to scroll down a bit to find them.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

I have downloaded WPcredit and the PCR file for MVP chipset. I'll try that before I remove Windows XP. Not sure on the time frame. I understand you have your hands full also. I was thinking about putting Windows 98SE on it as I do have the Nvidia driver for my EVGA 6200 AGP card. I've also thought about a clean install of Windows XP, VIA 4-in-1, and video driver (remove all .NET, etc.) as another thing to try.


Regards,
James
Jim
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Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

I used to use Win98-SE -- WinXP-PRO dual boots on my DFI machine. You can find how I did it here :

http://www.k6plus.com/index.php?name=PN ... c&start=15

Though again you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the download.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

That is a good read. I had run into a number of those issues mentioned. The first being the system crash with a mouse click and IE. I had thought that a resource conflict. I had looked in Event Viewer and saw errors for ACPI. I then setup Windows to be "standard PC" and not be an ACPI machine. Little did I realize it, but ACPI would have been resolved with BIOS update, which I did much latter via eSupport.com. I then booted system with only the ATI video card, first with no IRQ for VGA, reboot, and then with IRQ for VGA, before adding back components one at a time after reboots. This allowed the BIOS to assign resources properly (my logic). Using "Standard PC" will show a black screen with Windows logo stating it is OK to turn off PC, which is great for AT power supply. That resolved the crashes with IE for me and Windows XP, but led me to the BSOD when doing any Direct3D with DXDIAG program.
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Hooked up Superpuppy 1 last night, (K6-2 550+ on FIC VA503+ w/ 512 Meg Ram), and encountered one problem after another. Managed to get DOS 622 to boot, found a Windows 3.1 Partition, but couldn't get it to boot, found a WINNT4 partition but couldn't get it to boot, etc.

Possible reasons : 1) Needs new Mobo Battery 2) Needs new IDE cable 3) Needs Passwords reset 4) Needs IDE Controler Card Driver reinstalled 5) Needs Bios Cleared to reset Bios passwords

This thing is a fairly complicated machine, with 1 five Gig Boot Drive and 3 other eight Gig Drives, 2 of which are on the Controller Card. It has 2 WinNT4 boots, one on the Five Gig Drive and one on the Primary Controller Card Drive.

I set it up so that one boot, (the one on the Controller Card), is HIDDEN, and only becomes visible if you go into the bios, enter a password, (which I have forgotten), and reset the boot sequence to SCSI first, because to hide that boot, I only installed the Controller Card Driver on the primary drive on the Controller Card, so for those drives to become visible you have to boot from the Hidden Boot.

I searched for my NT4 disks last night unsuccessfully, but I know I still have them, because I found them recently while looking for something else. Have to help Mike with his machine tonight, but will get back to Superpuppy 1 tomorrow night.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
DonPedro
K6'er Elite
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:11 pm

Post by DonPedro »

james,
what driver version are you using with your nvidia card?
I have found out that using driver version above 5x.xx WILL always result in big problems (system unstable, bsod, etc.)

latest and best driver for nvidia cards is 52.16 (main caveat: you can only "drive" cards up to fx 5950. cards 6200 and up need driver version 6x.xx+)

see this thread here on k6plus, where I wrote about this problem.
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

Really appreciate your efforts. Looks like your FIC VA-503+ needs more attention than mine. I found an old 10GB drive and installed Windows 98SE to it. I only need to apply the VIA 4-in-1 drivers. I have it on USB, but not on CD-ROM. System needs USB drivers, etc. I seem to be running in circles here.

Hi DonPedro,
I was using the latest Nvidia. Wanted to find legacy drivers on Nvidia site, but they have closed their forums, etc, so I couldn't use them. Right now, I am battling Windows 98SE. I'll see if I have better luck with that for now.
DonPedro
K6'er Elite
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:11 pm

Post by DonPedro »

james,

I am ready to send the drivers to you (e-mail, ftp, whatever). do you use dropbox?

fyi: nvidia driver 52.16 for win9x is of 10mb size
Jim
K6'er Elite
Posts: 1745
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:10 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by Jim »

Keep in mind I have not even hooked it up in the last 8 years. Re USB drivers, I have them I think, will check, and if found send to you.
Superpuppy 3
K6-3+ 450 ACZ (6x100)
DFI K6BV3+/66 Rev B2 (2 Meg) w/ 2x28mm Chipset Fans
2x256 Meg PC 133 Hynix SDRAM
1x 20G Maxtor (7200)
2x 80G Maxtor (7200) Ducted w/ 2x486 Fans Mount
52/24/52/16 LG CDR/RW/DVD
8/4/3/12/24/16/32 LG Super Multi
ATI 9000 aiw Radeon AGP
SB Audigy 1 MP3 Sound
CMD 649 IDE Controller
NEC USB 2 Card
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi Jim,

Got the files and VIA 4 in 1 is installed. I'll have to admit that Win98SE is so much faster than XP. I was able to get DirectX 7 test to complete, but get a fatal error for DirectX 8. Seems I am where I was with Windows XP. Perhaps it is a driver issue.

DonPedro,
Please feel free to email me the file. Would be good to zip it up and rename it with a mail-friendly file extention.

If this comes down to a driver issue with Windows 98SE, I'll want to revist XP with an older device driver. I was thinking of pulling the EVGA Nvidia 6200 AGP and putting in the HIS ATI 9250 Pro. Might try that tonight.
DonPedro
K6'er Elite
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:11 pm

Post by DonPedro »

sure james,
just pm me your e-mail address. does your provider allow emails of 10mb size?

anyway: you can try to connect to XXX where you will find the files in question. the machine running the server-service will not be up later than 01.00 am (central european time). it will be on tomorrow again during the day .... it is a home pc.

edit:
edited out ip-adress of server, since no longer running
Last edited by DonPedro on Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
James
Junior K6'er
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:51 am
Location: N37° 54.0553', W121° 25.3657'

Post by James »

Hi DonPedro,
Thanks. I'll try the Win98SE Nvidia driver tonight or this weekend. I had been using the one from Nvida web site: "81.98_forceware_win9x_english.exe". Hopefully yours is the winner. Would be good to have these in the K6plus downloads section perhaps.

Regards,
James Cannon
DonPedro
K6'er Elite
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 2:11 pm

Post by DonPedro »

james,
remember this driver does not support cards later than fx 59xx, so your 6200 is not supported. but that is not bad at all, since you will do very fine with a 5700 or 59xx card. you also would not take a performance hit, because according to tests I have done the k6 cpu is too much a limit here.

so since you have downloaded whatever suited you - I may now put the server down?
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