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IBM 5150  -  VGA Cards


Requirements
Cards that are known to work in the IBM 5150
Possible resource conflict



Requirements


Requirement #1 - 5150 motherboard configuration

• The IBM 5150's motherboard must have the third BIOS revision, the 10/27/82 one.
• The two video switches on SW1 (shown here) must be set for:  5=ON, 6=ON


Requirement #2 - Suitable VGA card

The second requirement is a VGA card that is known to work in the IBM 5150.

• You must not assume that because a particular VGA card works in an IBM 5160 (IBM XT), that the same card will also work in an IBM 5150.
• The documentation for some 16-bit VGA cards indicate that they work in an 8-bit expansion slot.  You should not expect that to mean all 8-bit slots.  Some of those cards are intended only for an 8-bit slot within an AT-class computer, and will not work in an IBM 5150.  The maker's documentation for the card will indicate whether the card will work in an IBM 5150.
• Some people have discovered that certain 8-bit compatible 16-bit VGA cards can be made to work in a 5150/5160 if the 8088 CPU on the motherboard is upgraded to a V20 CPU.
And some people have discovered that it does not work.
Note that such a CPU upgrade can sometimes cause a problem (example).


Requirement #3 - VGA card configuration

• Some VGA cards have configuration switches and/or jumpers.  An example is here.  Refer to the card's documentation to ensure that those switches/jumpers are set appropriately.  For the switches, do not confuse the off position with the on position.
• 16-bit VGA cards that are known to work in an IBM 5150, sometimes need to be manually configured to run in 8-bit mode.  Refer to the card's documentation, because configuration is done differently on different cards.



Some VGA cards that are known to work in the IBM 5150

This is where things can get tricky.  For example, when I tell you that I have a Video Seven VEGA VGA card that works in my 5150, you must not assume that all Video Seven VEGA VGA cards work in a 5150.  It could be, for example, that a design change in later revisions of the card results in 5150 incompatibility.  However, I think that you would have to be very unlucky to encounter that, but the fact may be important to you if you about to spend $100 on a card that you will not be able to return.

Make Model 8/16-bit Card's
FCC ID		 V20
Required ?		    Information source    Comment
AST VGA 8-bit   No AST document at here.  
AST VGA Plus 16-bit   No AST document at here. SW2 needs to be off
ATI VGA Wonder 16-bit   No Operation Manual at here. "it will also automatically configure itself in an 8-bit slot of an IBM PC, XT"
Hercules ????? 8-bit   ? Post #11 of the VCF thread at here. Member mikey99 of the VCFF.
Hercules GB500 8-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member stangman517 of the VCFF.
IBM PS/2 Display Adapter 8-bit   No IBM document at here.  
Laser ????? 8-bit IFS80-2383-30 No Member offensive_Jerk of the VCFF.
Lestina ? ????? 16-bit J6QVGAADAPTERIVI No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Micro Labs Ultimate VGA 16-bit HO5MLIUV21 No Member mmruzek of the VCFF. Part number: UV2.1       JP2=OFF, JP3=OFF, JP4=PART
Monotech PC XT-SVGA 8-bit   No Member river of the VCFF.   Warning: See note 7 below.  
Oak OTI-037C ??? 8-bit   ? Post #3 of the VCF thread at here.   Warning: See note 5 below.  
Oak VGA-KO77 16-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.  The card has "REV: A" on it.
Octek ????? 16-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Octek ????? 16-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Orchid ProDesigner IIs 16-bit   No Page 1.3 of the user's manual at here.  
[Sergey] ISA Super VGA 8-bit   No Web page at here.   Warning: See note 6 below.  
STB Systems VGA 640 ??? 8-bit EKS451A2 No Member mmruzek of the VCFF. The card has "REV F" on it.
Tseng Labs ????? 16-bit   No Me.  I have this card and it works in my 5150. See note 1 below.
Video Seven VEGA VGA 8-bit D2A62L1989V5 No Me.  I have this card and it works in my 5150.
Video Seven VGA-16 16-bit D2A62LVGA16 No Various pages of the user's guide.   Warning: See note 2 below.  
Video Seven VGA 16E 16-bit D2A62LVGA16E No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Video Seven VGA 1024i 16-bit   No Various pages of the user's manual. Example: Page 11 contains, "an IBM PC or PC/XT".
Video Seven V-RAM VGA 16-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. The information at here indicates that switches 6 and 7 both need to be OFF.
Wang 3050 ??? 16-bit   Yes Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.  "Wang 3050" appears on top-left corner.
Wave Mate ????? 8-bit   No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Western Digital ????? 8-bit DBM5UEPS2V00001 No Post #1 of the VCF thread at here. Member prime of the VCFF.
Western Digital Paradise
VGA Professional		 16-bit DBM5UEVGAPROF No Post #8 of the VCF thread at here. See note 3 below.  Member offensive_Jerk of the VCFF.
Western Digital Paradise VGA Plus 16 16-bit [none] No Posts #19 and #21 of the VCF thread at here. See note 4 below.  All switches down.  Member programmer6502 of the VCFF.


Note 1 Printed on the PCB is, "TSENG LAB INC." and "P/N 8927".
On power up, the card displays, "VGA-4000".
Set the BIOS8/BIOS16 jumper to BIOS8 (force BIOS ROM reads into 8-bit mode).
   
Note 2 I have one of these cards.  The VGA-16 user's guide indicates 5150 (IBM PC) compatibility, and indicates how to force the card into 8-bit operation.  But whilst I can get my card to operate in a 16-bit slot, I have been unable to get my card to operate in 8-bit mode (fitted to a 5150/5160/5170).  Maybe my card is faulty.
Also, I have noted that the user's guide indicates an FCC ID of D2A62LTJWBJC, whereas my card has the FCC ID of D2A62LVGA16.  Maybe I have a later version of the card, in which 8-bit operation was dropped!
   
Note 3 Model based on the fact that Western Digital released a card known as the 'Paradise VGA Professional', and the FCC ID of the subject card.
   
Note 4 Model based on the fact that Western Digital (WD) released a card known as the 'Paradise VGA Plus 16', and printed on the subject card is 'PVGA PLUS-16'.
Possibly a non-WD copy, because: 1.  No FCC ID, and 2.  BIOS stickers do not look to me like the kind of thing that WD would use.
   
Note 5 'OTI037C' is on the main chip.
Not necessarily the model/part number of the card.
Some card makers may have used the OTI037C chip on their card, but not made their card compatible with the IBM 5150.
   
Note 6 From the web page:
"PCB Version 1.0 requires a rework for compatibility with the original IBM PC and IBM XT computers, please see the Errata section below.  This errata was fixed in the PCB Version 1.1"
   
Note 7 Same as Sergey's 'ISA Super VGA' card, and so is expected to work in an IBM 5150.  However, like that card, for IBM 5150 compatibility, the XT-SVGA needs to be of at least revision 1.1 (look for "Rev1.1" printed on the XT-SVGA card).



Possible resource conflict

If your IBM 5150 contains an XT-class hard disk controller, then be aware that some VGA cards may have a resource conflict with it.

This possibility is described in the 'Possible BIOS ROM conflict - hard disk controller and VGA' section at here.    [That particular section applies equally to IBM 5150 and IBM 5160.]