mkarcher wrote on 2024-03-16, 20:41:

So, that settles the HiNT vs. PLX question. In fact, HiNT got bought by PLX in 2003. The G450 PCI DVI I recently had at hand uses a HiNT branded PCI/PCI bridge. To get it run stable at 40MHz (e.g. for an 5x86 at 160MHz), I needed to add a heatsink to that bridge chip.

Makes sense as my Parhelia 256 pci uses a HiNT branded chip but most of the Parhelia 256 pci I see use the PLX branded ones, I always figured my card was a earlier version than most I see.

I am facing a very strange problem with my G200PCI too.

Within win98 I can not use a dos-fullscreen program, everytime I go back to the desktop the machine freezes completely.
I tested different drivers, different directx-versionen, bios-defaults, loading the vesa-dos-driver or without that driver, it stays the same.

So I took out the G200-PCI and put a 2064W Millenium in that machine (TX97-XE with K6 III+) and it shows the same issues....strange.
I did not have changed the PCI-Slot, but I don't think that that is the issue...

I took out the millenium too and put an old ATI Rage Pro PCI (Mach64) in that machine and everything seems to be fine...strange!

Any idea where the problem might come from ?

Enabeling/Disabling busmaster in the driver did not change a thing, also checked for delayed transaction...still the same, lockup back from dos.

I'd start with a different distribution of Win98.
Then move to testing on a completely different machine... if possible. Even completely switching manufacturers (intel, AMD, via, etc...). Also monitor, peripherals, everything.

On the topic of stuff behaving weird:
I have a Win98SE CD, that crashes on boot PCs that have a Voodoo2 with the latest official drivers installed.
I've seed cases of PC's not posting because of a mouse, keyboard, or a USB device..
I also happened to witness first hand, a long time ago, a K6-2 system not booting Win98 while plugged into one 220V wall socket (with several attempts made)... but worked just fine in the other socket that was 2 meters away.

Sooo... yeah... IMO, nothing is to small to rule out.

Thx, there are lot's of thing to consider... this exact version of win98se I have installed hundred times in several machines...but I will give a go for the first and not the se version.

I will try a mga mystique next...

To be fair, Matrox G450 PCI has problems with VIA only in Windows 98. It works fine in Win2k+ environment. So Matrox probably did not pay much attention to Win9x at that point.

I went for a ATI Rage Pro, this is 100% working with no issues in Win9x...now Amithlon is the problem...damn! VESA with new kernel, no acceleration...

I recently installed a Matrox Millennium G450 DualHead DVI PCI (32MB) in my HP Vectra VLi8 (Pentium III 650MHz) and it works great so far. The mobo is a FIC KZM-6120 (Intel 440ZX chipset) with PCI 2.1 slots and a Matrox MGA-G200 AGP on-board.

I dual boot Windows 98SE and SCO UnixWare 7.1.1. Under Windows, I use Matrox driver package 6.83.017. VBIOS is 1.3 b05. Bus mastering is enabled. I tested DESCENT3 and PowerDVD V4, both worked flawlessly.

From UnixWare:

1# /usr/X/bin/VideoHelp 
2 IBM COMPATIBLE MATROX/Matrox G450 VGA/VBE BIOS (V1.3) b05
3Copyright (C) 1998, Matrox Graphics Inc.
4Copyright (C) LSI Logic Corporation 1990-1991
5DATE: 12/12/01
6Revision: 0.05 
7VGA/VBE BIOS, Version V1.3

The video quality is great and I really like the fact that I can drive a HDMI display (via DVI) at 1376x768x32bpp (1.79:1).

Starcat wrote on 2024-10-20, 06:54:

I recently installed a Matrox Millennium G450 DualHead DVI PCI (32MB) in my HP Vectra VLi8 (Pentium III 650MHz) and it works gre […]
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I recently installed a Matrox Millennium G450 DualHead DVI PCI (32MB) in my HP Vectra VLi8 (Pentium III 650MHz) and it works great so far. The mobo is a FIC KZM-6120 (Intel 440ZX chipset) with PCI 2.1 slots and a Matrox MGA-G200 AGP on-board.

I dual boot Windows 98SE and SCO UnixWare 7.1.1. Under Windows, I use Matrox driver package 6.83.017. VBIOS is 1.3 b05. Bus mastering is enabled. I tested DESCENT3 and PowerDVD V4, both worked flawlessly.

From UnixWare:

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1# /usr/X/bin/VideoHelp 
2 IBM COMPATIBLE MATROX/Matrox G450 VGA/VBE BIOS (V1.3) b05
3Copyright (C) 1998, Matrox Graphics Inc.
4Copyright (C) LSI Logic Corporation 1990-1991
5DATE: 12/12/01
6Revision: 0.05 
7VGA/VBE BIOS, Version V1.3

The video quality is great and I really like the fact that I can drive a HDMI display (via DVI) at 1376x768x32bpp (1.79:1).

Please do 2 benchmark rounds in 3Dmark2000: with, and without Bus Mastering turned on from the BIOS.
Normally, Bus Mastering enabled, should boost the performance by at least 50%, than with it turned off.

But if the results will be the same, then it means that somehow the drivers (or the motherboard) disables Bus Mastering regardless of what is set in the BIOS.