PCI ATI Rage 128 Pro

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Level 1

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PCI ATI Rage 128 Pro

I just bought an ATI Rage 128 Pro 32MB PCI video card for my early quicksilver G4 (733 MHz, 1GB RAM). The idea was to add a second monitor to my 15" Apple Studio Display connected to the AGP card (ATI Rage 128 Pro with ADC and VGA). Doesn't work though:

Card does not show up in System Profiler.app in either PCI or Graphics/Displays

Display does not show up in System Preferences.app - Displays tab

Quick search on Apple.com, ATI, OWC, and Google reveals no driver information for this card.

Thanks in advance,

-- Aubrey Granner

PowerMac G4, iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 21, 2008 2:53 PM

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Answer 1

motsteve

Level 2

225 points

Sep 21, 2008 3:30 PM in response to agranner

What is the origin of this board? eBay? Online? Friend's Mac? etc?

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Answer 2

agranner Author

Level 1

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Sep 21, 2008 3:57 PM in response to motsteve

Picked it up at Tiger Direct. The brand is diablotek; model# VAR128P-32P.

-- Aubrey Granner

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Answer 3

kaywayne

Level 1

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Sep 21, 2008 4:54 PM in response to agranner

According to Diablotek web page this is a PC video card.

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Answer 4

motsteve

Level 2

225 points

Sep 22, 2008 1:29 AM in response to kaywayne

Two choices. Keep board and get it reflashed or send board back and get a video card with a Mac configuration. OWC has a really nice board with a lot more horsepower than the RAGE for $110.
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=149&type=Video&TI=18 58&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades

Other route may be to go to eBay and see if someone has the Rage128 PF Pro or whatever you have in your present G4. BTW, go to your system profiler (in your Apple Menu>About this Mac> More info...) and find the exact G4 model you are using and put that in your forum profile. This aids greatly in troubleshooting problems with your Mac. Include other info like ram size if you can. You can't have too much info here.

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Answer 5

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Sep 22, 2008 4:58 AM in response to agranner

Stick with option #1 that motsteve gave you.

At least, don't even mess with the PC Rage 128. Not even worth the bother to flash it, if you could.
Just return it......

BTW, why do you want a PCI card for an AGP machine?
Replace the AGP card with a higher horsepower model, run two monitors off that, and have much better performance than any PCI graphics card will ever provide.......

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Answer 6

agranner Author

Level 1

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Sep 22, 2008 9:55 AM in response to japamac

The reason I bought this card was how I plan to use it and what I already have.

Right now, I have an older Apple Studio Display that I like and don't want to replace. It requires a Apple Display Connector, so that means I have to keep the current AGP card:

from System Profiler
ATY,Rage128Pro:
Chipset Model: ATY,Rage128Pro
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
Slot: SLOT-1
VRAM (Total): 16 MB
Vendor: ATI

Apple Studio Display:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1024 x 768
Depth: 32-bit Color
Built-In: Yes
Core Image: Not Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Not Supported

I just bought a new LCD TV and it's near the mac so I thought I'd get a VGA cable and watch videos on the new screen. I don't need the "horsepower" because I'm not doing intense graphic processing, just flat, high-resolution video (I like to watch European TV shows).

Because of these reasons I bought the cheapest PCI card I could: $20

If there's another card that will work for what I want to do without breaking the bank, please let me know.

Thanks,

-- Aubrey Granner

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Answer 7

agranner Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 22, 2008 12:42 PM in response to japamac

Follow-up

I'd appreciate your views on this idea:

I need ADC, so what if I bought an old apple card that supports two monitors. According to the Apple Specs pages, most of the NVIDIA GeForce 2/4 and ATi Radeon AGP cards from the later G4s (Dual Quicksilver, Quicksilver 2002, FW 800, MDD) support dual monitors. There are plenty of these cards on ebay. Most don't have VGA.

Will my mac be able to use these cards? Are there DVI-VGA, or DVI-HDMI adapters?

Thanks in advance,

--Aubrey Granner

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Answer 8

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Sep 22, 2008 3:47 PM in response to agranner

Hi-

OK- I understand the desire to keep the ADC....
If you can, get a Mac Edition Radeon 9000 Pro. It will have ADC and DVI. The Geforce4 Ti has some power, but it does have a few compatibility problems.
The 9000 can run a monitor and a LCD TV with a fair amount of resolution choices, and will work well in the QS.
Though currently a different card, I used a 9000 in a QS that is a media server. It is connected to a 37" LCD TV via DVI to HDMI. The 9000 worked well.....

Because the DVI port is DVI-I, it has integrated analog. A DVI to VGA adapter can be used.
Better, is to use a digital connection. A DVI to HDMI connection will work the best.
Of course, though normally HDMI has integrated audio, the DVI doesn't, so audio out is separate.

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Answer 9

agranner Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 22, 2008 5:02 PM in response to japamac

Thanks for the tip on the Radion 9000 Pro, that's one I've found on ebay. Couple of questions:

The other OE card from this period is the GeForce 4 MX. How does this compare with the ATI?

I know there are different types of DVI. What type will these cards have? What kind of cables can be used?

Thanks again,

--Aubrey Granner

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Answer 10

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Sep 23, 2008 2:43 AM in response to agranner

Hi Aubrey Granner-

The ATI Radeon 9000 is a better card than the Geforce4 MX.
http://www.barefeats.com/gr7000.html

Another good thing about ATI cards is the native drivers in OS X are better than the Nvidia drivers. The ATI Displays Control Panel is also nice for configuring the Radeon cards, and help when connected to TV's because of overscan control ability.

All DVI equipped OEM cards have DVI-I. As I said, this is both analog and digital, so analog (VGA) adapters may be used.
DVI-D is digital only.
DVI-A is analog only.

With the 9000, you will be able to use the ADC port for your monitor, and use DVI to VGA or DVI to HDMI to the TV.
Again, if at all possible, stick with a digital connection (DVI to HDMI) to the TV.

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