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6400 Video Cards - Specs, Images?
- Thread starter aphetica
- Start date
Yeah.
The card has some "flash" storage on it (usually EEPROM or the like) that contains embedded software or firmware. This code can be replaced through the use of a special utility to "flash" it with new code. Many cards (though not all) can be flashed to change them from PC specific to Mac specific or vice versa.
Peace,
Drew
The card has some "flash" storage on it (usually EEPROM or the like) that contains embedded software or firmware. This code can be replaced through the use of a special utility to "flash" it with new code. Many cards (though not all) can be flashed to change them from PC specific to Mac specific or vice versa.
Peace,
Drew
These are hacks, basically, which so far as I understand replace the software for operating the card under Windows with software for the Mac; you need only Google the key words to see if anything is available for your card. If it's a Voodoo 3, there certainly is.
Flashing isn't hard, but it's definitely a major risk - any mistakes or incompatibilities will render the card virtually 100% dead.
Some cards are easier than others. The Voodoo series (at least the 3000/4000) were designed to be flashable between Mac and PC. Some retail cards from ATI can be flashed without a problem, but not all of them (mostly the RADEON 7000/8000 series and some older RAGE cards). A few retail Matrox cards and some nVidia examples can also be flashed.
However, often OE cards will have differences that keep them from being flashed, so they're not usually good choices. A good example of these would be some of the OE Adaptec PCI UW SCSI cards. While they make a Mac version of these cards (the PowerDomain), the PC OEM versions have a smaller flash chip that's incapable of storing the code for Macs. Therefore, when someone tries to flash one of these cards to work on a Mac, it results in a dead card.
This is one of the situations where you'd really want to utilize Google to its fullest extent. This here page may give you a hint as to which cards would work best. You should also spend as little money as possible on cards to be flashed (except the Voodoo 3000/4000), because if the card gets hosed, you're almost completely out of luck.
Some cards are easier than others. The Voodoo series (at least the 3000/4000) were designed to be flashable between Mac and PC. Some retail cards from ATI can be flashed without a problem, but not all of them (mostly the RADEON 7000/8000 series and some older RAGE cards). A few retail Matrox cards and some nVidia examples can also be flashed.
However, often OE cards will have differences that keep them from being flashed, so they're not usually good choices. A good example of these would be some of the OE Adaptec PCI UW SCSI cards. While they make a Mac version of these cards (the PowerDomain), the PC OEM versions have a smaller flash chip that's incapable of storing the code for Macs. Therefore, when someone tries to flash one of these cards to work on a Mac, it results in a dead card.
This is one of the situations where you'd really want to utilize Google to its fullest extent. This here page may give you a hint as to which cards would work best. You should also spend as little money as possible on cards to be flashed (except the Voodoo 3000/4000), because if the card gets hosed, you're almost completely out of luck.
EEERRRRR! Wrong. Many times if a non compatible ROM is used you can still try again. Sure, sometimes it can bugger a card permanently but not all that often.
But completely hosing a card is not as common as you say and most of the time you just have to flash back the PC ROM and either just use it in a PC or sell it(after testing of course). Don't be afraid to buy an expensive card, just make sure success has been had with a similar one first and don't mess with the ROM too much.
Now, if you wanted to try to get other cards working you would need to do some serious ROM hacking and that could allow you to kill a card pretty fast but even then, sometimes it is a simple as replacing the EEPROM although you could potentially have fried something else if you accidentally set a certain voltage too high or something.
Really though, if you look about the "The Mac Elite" forum and wiki as well as the old Strangedogs forum there is lots of into to help you ident cards to see if they have a chance of working or not.
Just remember to compare the PCB layout with a similar type of card that has already been flashed and if it matters for your card check the numbers on it. Also, if you have any questions do not be afraid to use the search feature on The Mac Elite and failing that, do not be afraid to ask about a card.
FYI the 3Dfx Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 2 cards are different than most video cards - because they're designed to work in conjunction with the original video card installed in your computer. The Voodoo 1 and 2 cards don't need to be flashed - because they're already PC and Mac compatible. The Voodoo 1 and 2 cards only function with 3Dfx Voodoo and/or OpenGl games
I'm curious about performance...I found my 6400 and 6500 to be dog slow when compared to my PCI Macs, even with 32MB Rage Pro video cards. The MacBench scores are very similar, but when playing games, the 6500, even with a G3 upgrade, was noticeably slower.
I was using MagicEngine. I'm wondering if I need to pull them out and try again...
IIRC, both Voodoo 1/2 doesn't have any flash ROM on the card so there is nothing you can "reflash".
Those cards come with a special cable that allows to switch between the on-board video and the 3D card outputs.
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