Getting started on a home cockpit (Photo)

[Guest FS_freak]

I currently have a setup consisting of an Athlon 650mhz 256RAM + Voodoo 3500 card connected to a 17" Viewsonic monitor, linked through a TCP/IP protocol to a Pentium MMX233 32RAM on a TXpro-II mobo + 4MB onboard vid + 17" Hyundai monitor. For the time being I am using FreeFD and am getting very slow frame rates on my PFD and ND displayed on the P233 machine. I recently bought two Nvidia TNT2 M64 16MB PCI cards (an auction at ebay) for my P233 but I couldn't get the puter to boot. Can someone tell me if these cards have a compatibility issue with the P233MMX processor? or the TXPro-II mobo? They have been tested on the Athlon and work fine. I am in dire need to get better frame rates from the P233 and can't spend any more $ since I'm saving up for a home cockpit due to be released very soon by a local company. I have attached a photo just in case anyone's interested.Thanks,Mauricio

[PeterR 9]

I'm not sure about any compatibility problems with multi-card use on that CPU or motherboard but that's a very cool pedestal/panel unit you have there.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator[table border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1][tr][td][table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0][tr][td bgcolor=#540000]http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/logo75t.gif[/td][td align="center" bgcolor=#FFFFF6]Bush Flying Unlimited"At home in the wild"Looking for adventure? Come join us! * [link:bfu.avsim.net|Web Site] * [link:www.cafepress.com/bfu,bfu2,bfu3,bfu4|BFU Store] * [link:bfu.avsim.net/join.htm]Join!][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table

[Guest]

I'm running a TNT2 M64 PCI card on a Pentium 233 to display instruments and it's working fine. Have you tried just one card to see if the problem is with the multiple cards?Peter

[Guest FS_freak]

Thanks guys, I probably didn't make myself clear. I bought the two TNT2 PCI cards but I didn't install them on the P233 at the same time. I wouldn't expect this computer to run a multimonitor setup. I tried both cards one at a time and the P233 system wouldn't boot. They were tested on the Athlon and there is no problem with the cards. Knowing that Peter (pholt) runs a system similar to mine, I guess the problem lies in my mobo or bios settings. It is not a compatibility issue. As I said before, I run the P233MMX with 32MB RAM on a TxPro-II mobo with 4MB onboard VGA. I tried changing jumper settings and disconecting the onboard VGA belt to no avail. Any Bios settings you could recommend, Peter? Maybe a copy of your VGA related bios settings? Other ideas?As for the cockpit unit it is being offered by a Colombian Company although no price has been set yet. Check it out at: http://www.kirvit.comMauricio

[Guest]

There's only one VGA-related BIOS setting that I could find on my machine and that's 'Assign IRQ to VGA' which is set to 'Enabled'. Which jumpers have you tried changing?Peter

[Guest]

Mauricio,great job! A little work and you could turn that baby into an awesome Bombardier RJ sim!Michael

[Guest FS_freak]

Hi Michael,Can't take credit for the cockpit module. I'm just another potential buyer waiting for a price to be announced. It should not be that expensive in view of the general situation here in Colombia. I've heard people say it should go for anywhere between $300 and $600 but that still remains to be seen.Peter, the Txpro-II board has a jumper which enables or disables onboard VGA. Couldn't get the system to boot with the TNT2 card even after disabling this jumper. The worse part is that the puter wouldn't boot after returning to the original settings and removing the TNT2 card from the PCI slot. Had to change the battery to get the system to boot again with the onboard VGA. Short circuit? Who knows. I'll try the Bios setting you suggest and will get back to you. Thanks again and sorry for the inconvenience.Mauricio