VMEBus Video Card Wanted

[Darryl]

Hi all,

After posting on another group I've been told to try posting on here.

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me.

I'm looking for a video card for an old printing press we use
occasionally in work. The interface is not any of the standard ones. The
machine is from about 1995. I've taken a few pictures of the interface.
I've been told this is a VMEbus interface.

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/Slot01.jpg

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/slot02.jpg

Do you have a VGA card that will fit and what price?

Failing that any thoughts on anyone who may be able to help? I'm in the
UK but will consider help or purchase from anywhere!

Thanks

Darryl

PS if its of any help the machine runs an odd OS called OS9!

 

[Andrew Tweddle]

Hi all,

After posting on another group I've been told to try posting on here.

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me.

I'm looking for a video card for an old printing press we use
occasionally in work. The interface is not any of the standard ones. The
machine is from about 1995. I've taken a few pictures of the interface.
I've been told this is a VMEbus interface.

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/Slot01.jpg


http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/slot02.jpg


Do you have a VGA card that will fit and what price?

Failing that any thoughts on anyone who may be able to help? I'm in the
UK but will consider help or purchase from anywhere!

Thanks

Darryl

PS if its of any help the machine runs an odd OS called OS9!

What machine is it?
Do any of the cards have Motorola, Force or other manufacturers written.
Have you got the original card?
I used to work on specialist computing equipment many years ago. And
service this type of thing.
If you were a little closer I would just repair the old card, as this
may well be the simplest way to get you going!

Andrew

 

[Darryl]

What machine is it?
Do any of the cards have Motorola, Force or other manufacturers written.
Have you got the original card?
I used to work on specialist computing equipment many years ago. And
service this type of thing.
If you were a little closer I would just repair the old card, as this
may well be the simplest way to get you going!

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I'm not sure of the make of the card. I'll try and take one out and get
a picture of it. I've been told these cards are obselete. Do you think
that maybe these cards can, if they get damaged, be repaired?

I'll hopefully post back with more information on the card tomorrow.

Thanks

Darryl

 

[Aidan Grey]

Hi all,

After posting on another group I've been told to try posting on here.

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me.

I'm looking for a video card for an old printing press we use
occasionally in work. The interface is not any of the standard ones. The
machine is from about 1995. I've taken a few pictures of the interface.
I've been told this is a VMEbus interface.

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/Slot01.jpg

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/slot02.jpg

Do you have a VGA card that will fit and what price?

Failing that any thoughts on anyone who may be able to help? I'm in the
UK but will consider help or purchase from anywhere!

Thanks

Darryl

PS if its of any help the machine runs an odd OS called OS9!

The VME bus was an older standard that was used in some high end equipment.
It
was used in some high priced Unix workstations I think.

I don't know if any VME card could interface to a standard VGA monitor.
Most of
those VME workstations used specialized non-standard monitors.

So, you are looking for a video card that:

a. Uses the VME bus,

b. Has a driver for OS9, and

c. Will work with whatever brand of monitor you have right now.

Do you have the monitor that was originally used with this equipment? If
so, post
the make and model. Someone may be able to give you advice on whether it is
VGA compatible or not.

Did this equipment originally have a video card and monitor? Some
equipment
from that era used a serial port and an RS-232 terminal. In fact, I think
OS9 was text based,
and I don't know if it had any graphic support. Think of it as more like DOS
than
Windows.

There is probably a newsgroup for OS9. Someone there might help you if you
need
help with operating system commands.


Aidan Grey

 

[Darryl]

What machine is it?
Do any of the cards have Motorola, Force or other manufacturers written.
Have you got the original card?
I used to work on specialist computing equipment many years ago. And
service this type of thing.
If you were a little closer I would just repair the old card, as this
may well be the simplest way to get you going!

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Picture of the card is here:

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/videocard.jpg

and

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/videocard-side.jpg

So far the card we have is working but we are trying to get a backup
card in case it goes down.

The machine is a printing press. Various pictures here

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/cabinet01.jpg

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/cabinet03.jpg

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/control.jpg

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/prod/dialspace/town/pipexdsl/q/aqzz33/pix/vga/display.jpg

Hope these might be of help.

Thanks once again for you help so far.


Darryl

 

[Andrew Tweddle]

Hi Andrew,

I'm not sure of the make of the card. I'll try and take one out and get
a picture of it. I've been told these cards are obselete. Do you think
that maybe these cards can, if they get damaged, be repaired?

I'll hopefully post back with more information on the card tomorrow.

Thanks

Darryl

What a ripper,

My advice from across the ocean is look for any old DOS VGA cards of a
similar vintage for that cirrus logic chip. The buss driver IC's are
still available as surplus, also from other similar vintage VME cards.
The IC in the bottom corner is probably a VGA memory chip (I can't read
the number). That leaves IC12 and 14 which will be custom to the board.

If this is really a concern then trying to contact the manufacturers of
the card, and getting a spare is a good idea.There seem to be a number
of company's in existence. A phone call may be all that is required. If
the company don't service the product any more then maybe they can put
you on to a service tech who will gladly take your money, (who may well
of put such a card away).

Andrew