Old computer problem

AtomBomb

And I mean OLD. I need to see what video is coming off of a monochrome video card with a jack like this:



The oldest monitor I have still has a VGA connector like this:



Is there a quick and dirty way that I can get this to work? It doesn't have to be pretty. I also have a few VGA and 9 pin cables that I can sacrifice to the cause.

Thanks!

DrFrylock

I'm pretty sure you can't get there from here. The signal types on the old Monochrome (and CGA, and some EGA) monitors were completely different than what we have today. The old monochrome adapters put out a TTL signal and VGA-and-later monitors expect an analog input. I did some searching but could not find anybody who makes an adapter, even one that has logic in it, like a powered box.

You'd probably be better off scavenging for an old monochrome monitor. Alternatively, depending on the age and type of the machine, you might be able to replace the monochrome card with like an old 8-bit ISA VGA card, which would still work with modern monitors.

PirateJon

I did some searching but could not find anybody who makes an adapter, even one that has logic in it, like a powered box.

It's like the second hit - google "cga to vga"

http://www.converters.tv/products/cga_to_vga/480.html

AtomBomb

Hmm, I took a look at the page PirateJon linked, and now I'm wondering if cga is similar enough to component that maybe I could hook it up to a TV. Is there a way I can splice this into a somewhat normal tv type input? I recall that the old Tandy monitors were basically s-video, so that gives me a bit of hope.

Additional info that may or may not be helpful: This is for an old (around 1994) voicemail system that was working until a couple of days ago. It usually runs headless. I just need to see what pops up on the screen when it starts up. It's just text, so it doesn't have to be pretty, and the solution doesn't have to be permanent. Speed is important though, so while I could get an ISA video card off of ebay I don't want to leave this down for that long if I can avoid it.

Thanks for all the help so far.

PirateJon

Nope. Turns out CGA is a digital signal. That's why you need a converter box.
http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_Monitor_Buses.html


You sure it's video and not a terminal port ala cisco? Even back in 94 CGA was obsolete.

AtomBomb

I think it is a monitor port, but I'm not 100% on anything. Here's what I'm working with (forgive the shitty scans and drawings, I left my camera at home):

2 outputs on what I assume is the video card.


One side of the card. There are 3 main chips on it. (edit- After some googling I think the 2 NEC chips are the VRAM. I can't find out much about the Tamarack, accept that it apparently is also a pretty tree.)


Other side of the card.


There is a sticker label on the case which is where I got the idea that this was a monochrome video card. Can't scan it so here is a crap drawing.


The output should look something like this:

PirateJon

That's a CGA card alright. And that's a part of a Strata DK 280.


I think adding an ISA VGA card is the best bet.

AtomBomb

Thanks for all the help. I was able to pick up an ISA video card at this really shady place for $10. After that I was able to get into bios/cmos and after a hard drive swap and tracking done some obscure files it's working again.

I need to get another power supply for it as the one it has is getting kind of noisy (plus it's 15 years old). When I do that I thought I might as well replace the hard drive with something solid state since the drive I have in there now is an old 3gb of unknown orgins. I thought I might use this ide adapter with this compact flash card. Anyone know of any issues I should watch out for? The system it is going into is a 386 with DOS 6.21. What values should I use for the cylinders, heads, sectors, etc. for the card? Is there a good program or series of commands to clone the drive onto the card (the sizes are different, so it's not a straight "clone")? It's FAT16 if that makes a difference. I could pull the drive out and put it in a Windows box, which I'm guessing would be easier and faster. I remember using Western Digital's and Maxtor's disk tools back in the Windows 95 days, but I think this drive is a Quantum.

I do have Ghost 2003, but it seems to have turned to bloated crap. I suppose an old version of that could work, if I could find one.

PirateJon

DOS 6.21? haha good times...

Fat16 has a max size limit of 2GB. No idea about the disk info.

Once the BIOS sees the disk, the OS should be able to access it. FDisk it to make a partition and make it active. then format /s to make it bootable. Then just xcopy from old to new with the subfolder and hidden/system files options on - that's it, no fancy shit like GUIDs or anything.

I seem to recall that occasionally after swapping drives like this I'd need to re-fdisk and make the partition active again, but this is recalling from the early 90s.

bowen

PirateJon wrote: »

DOS 6.21? haha good times...

Fat16 has a max size limit of 2GB. No idea about the disk info.

Once the BIOS sees the disk, the OS should be able to access it. FDisk it to make a partition and make it active. then format /s to make it bootable. Then just xcopy from old to new with the subfolder and hidden/system files options on - that's it, no fancy shit like GUIDs or anything.

I seem to recall that occasionally after swapping drives like this I'd need to re-fdisk and make the partition active again, but this is recalling from the early 90s.

I've had to do the same a few times too. I wish it was still that easy to fix problems sometimes.

PirateJon

I've had a PC since the original IBM XT, but ease of use has me looking hard at macs.