ParaKnowYa

I think that the german article mentions something about taking care not to solder the 2 resistors next to the 168 one.
I would like to try this mod, but my Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 seems t have a differt cicuit lay out. There is a resistor there, but it is labeled 'R12', is this the correct one?

Hi tibial-pin,

I'm not familiar to that layout and it's a bit difficult to say from the picture but please have a look here:

http://www.hardtecs4u.com/reviews/2001/agp4x_e/index3.php

Can you please take a picture from the other side of the card too? TIA!

regards
PKY

PKY,

hope these pics are OK, they were done in a rush. If I get time tomorrow I'll test the A2 pin resistance and post my findings.

tibial-pin, seems like R12 is the right one but it's your decision whether or not to try it. You might damage the board. In case you take a try please let us know the results here or in the forum. Thanks a lot!

tibial-pin check out the good news! ;)Hope it works for you too!

Looks like I was beaten to it ;)
I got a multimeter to my board and as you already know the R12 is the one to bridge.
On running both WIN XP Pro and Win98 SE after bridging the R12 and flashing with the loewe(?) BIOS my Kyro was picked up as a 4500 TV out. However both OS's still failed the direct 3D DXDIAG test, but at least on XP I was able to get the screen res' to something more aceptable. I also found that the PCI to USB device query had gone from XP, still there in 98 thou'

http://www.bullet31.nildram.co.uk/store/dxdiag1.GIF

tibial-pin

hi tibial-pin, first of all thanks a lot for the feedback, seems like you have one of those board wich generate problems with AGP 4x which might be the reason why ImgTec initially disabled it. You should be able to get it working 100% again by going back to AGP 2x again. Let me know in case this still gives you errors.

AFAIK Loewe'n co will release some other bios versions for 32MB cards and non TV out boards. Might be that they work better depending on the type of your card.

The disappearing PCI to USB query is interesting though. In case you've got a different model (i.e. noTVout) and you'd like to experiment, please try the upcoming Loewe bios releases. It seems that if someone with a noTVout uses the TVout Bios those D3D errors appear so maybe that's the case here?

If that's the case please have a look at the noTVout Bios which is available here: http://www.mitrax.de/files/herc4500oTV.exe

Hi PKY, I've done some more testing and found that if I dropped my system memory from 512 to 256 the DXDIAG tests passed, but I still had stability issues with some 3D apps. there is apossible fix for this under the pvr-generations FAQ, but it did not make much sense to me :(

I will try the Loewe BIOS soon

tibial-pin, hope the other bios helps fixing the 3D app problems. Did you get those DXDIAG 512 vs 256 results before too?

i really liked this one as my kyro 2 only boots up in agp 1X since i switched to my kt400
but I'm using an apollo kyro II
do u think its possible to do the same on my board with the modded hercules bios???

Hi *Y@h00k@*,

as long as you can find R168 or R12 and your board does have 64MB you should be able to do the mod and flash with the modded bios. In case you have a 32MB board please wait as Loewe is working on bios versions for 32MB cards.

If this will allow you to use AGP 4x or 2x is not sure though it still seems that there was a reason why 4x was disabled... some cards seem to have problems even after the mod.

In case you try the mod, let us know your findings in case there are problems we might be able to help but take care as it's easy to damage things. :) Good luck! ;)

regards
PKY

did not try with 256MB RAM under win98, but the D3D test did fail with 512MB RAM before the MOD. Did not try the test under WinXP as I could not get above 640x480 res. I have tried the NoTV BIOS from Loewe, but still no joy, even after I re-installed the Hercules drivers. I will wait to see if there are any further BIOS updates, but as already metioned it looks as though I have "one of those cards" which is why the AGP4x was disabled on these cards. Looks like I will be going shopping soon :o(

funny...
i found the connector, but for some reason, it just doesnt want to flash that bios.
any other programs out there i could use to flash it???

Did you mod the card already? AFAIK this is the only way to flash the bios but only after the modification was done otherwise it won't work.

yes, the card was modded, but it just tells me the bios can not be accessed when I try to flash

Hi,
I have Jupiter Kyro 2 and I want to do AGP 4x mode on it :) But.. my card is doesn't looks like Hercules and I can't find R168 :( Can you help me ?

http://www.bullet31.nildram.co.uk/store/dxdiag1.GIF

I got a new MSI motherboard with the nForce2 chipset. I wanted to re-use my Kyro II from my last system, but couldn't get it to work until I saw the mod page here (2X vs 4X). Only problem now is... I think the flash files available for download are the same for both the TV and NO TV cards. The properties are exactly the same and if I load either one, XP always detects as WITH TV. It doesn't matter what drivers I install, it starts out fine until I do my first reboot and after loading windows it shows no signal to the monitor. I tried getting the factory NEC drivers for the display but they won't take until I can reboot with the proper video card card drivers... which I can't do. Can anyone verify if there is any differences between the two available flash versions? Any suggestions on things I can try? Thanks for any help,

Dan

I did de mod and flashed the BIOS. My card is an Hercules 4500TV Out 64Mb, with the R12 resistor soldered right now.
The mobo is an epox 8rda3+ with nForce2 Ultra 400. I wanted to use this card until a new one arrives. The system doesn't boot correctly (blank screen when entering windows), but entering fail safe mode and replacing the "AGP to PCI bridge" driver to "PCI to PCI bridge" makes it work, but only in 2D mode (windows, video and apps). Like others, the system hangs with a BSOD and an "infinite loop" error when entering 3d. DXDiag test freezes too with 512mb RAM, but not with 256, but unfortunately games or 3DMark yes.
At least now I have a colorful Windows, but I can't play anything but solitaire XDDDDD

Salu2.

PD: We need a new BIOS boyz, please someone resurrect these marvellous cards to its glory ;)
The BEST card without T&L

Thanks a lot for this guide.
I was tinkering for a while now why the card wouldn't work properly on my 8rda3+.

I sold my 9800Pro to buy me a x800XT but I'm still waiting for it and got this card from a friend. Only worked at 640*480 @ 4bit. Wasn't really worth seeing on my 21"-er...

Took that sucker out, to the solder desk, put some nem thermal paste on while it was out and slammed the sucker back in. Screen turned on, booted from floppy and it workes like a charm.
Only prob is how to get it at 1600*1200 because now it can't go higher then 1024*768...

THANKS