Octagon 2430 User Manual

NOTICE

The drivers and utilities for Octagon products, previously provided

on a CD, are now in a self-extracting zip file located at the Octagon

Systems web site on the product-specific page. Download this file to a
separate directory on your hard drive, then double click on it to extract
the files. All references in this manual to files and directories on the CD

now refer to files in the Utilities zip file.

2430 Super VGA Video Card

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 1

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 1994-2003—Octagon Systems Corporation. All rights
reserved. However, any part of this document may be reproduced,
provided that Octagon Systems Corporation is cited as the source.
The contents of this manual and the specifications herein may
change without notice.

TRADEMARKS

Octagon Systems Corporation®, the Octagon logo, th e Micro PC logo
and Micro PC are trademarks of Octagon Systems Corporation.

NOTICE TO USER

The information contained in this manual is believed to be correct.
However, Octagon assumes no responsibility for any of the circuits
described herein, conveys no license under any patent or other right,
and makes no representations that the circuits are free from patent
infringement. Octagon makes no representation or warranty that
such applications will be suitable for the use specified without
further testing or modification.

Octagon Systems Corporation general policy does not recomm end
the use of its products in life support applications where the failure
or malfunction of a component may directly threaten life or injury.
It is a Condition of Sale that the user of Octagon products in life
support applications assumes all the risk of such use and
indemnifies Octagon against all damage.

Doc. Order #03973 Rev. 0603
Westminster, CO Tech. Support: 303–426–4521

R

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 2

IMPORTANT!

Please read before installing your product.

Octagon's products are designed to be high in performance while
consuming very little power. In order to maintain this advantage,
CMOS circuitry is used.

CMOS chips have specific needs and some special requirements that
the user must be aware of. Read the following to help avoid damage
to your card from the use of CMOS chips.

Using CMOS Circuitry in Industrial Control

Industrial computers originally used LSTTL circuits. Because many
PC components are used in laptop computers, IC manufacturers are
exclusively using CMOS technology. Both TTL and CMOS have
failure mechanisms, but they are different. This section describes
some of the failures which are common to all manufacturers of
CMOS equipment. However, much of the information has been put
in the context of the Micro PC.

Octagon has developed a reliable database of customer-induced, field
failures. The average MTBF of Micro PC cards exceeds 11 years, yet
there are failures. Most failures have been identified as customer­induced, but there is a small percentage that cannot be identified.
As expected, virtually all the failures occur when bringing up the
first system. On subsequent systems, the failure rate drops
dramatically.

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 3

■

Approximately 20% of the returned cards are problem-free.
These cards, typically, have the wrong jumper settings or the
customer has problems with the software. This causes
frustration for th e customer and incurs a testing charge from
Octagon.

■

Of the remaining 80% of the cards, 90% of these cards fail due to
customer misuse and accident. Customers often cannot pinpoint
the cause of the misuse.

■

Therefore, 72% of the returned cards are damaged through some
type of misuse. Of the remaining 8%, Octagon is unable to
determine the cause of the failure and repairs these cards at no
charge if they are under warranty.

The most common failures on CPU cards are over voltage of the
power supply, static discharge, and damage to the serial and parallel
ports. On expansion cards, the most common failures are static
discharge, over voltage of inputs, over current of outputs, and
misuse of the CMOS circuitry with regards to power supply
sequencing. In the case of the video cards, the most common failure
is to miswire the card to the flat panel display. Miswiring can
damage both the card and an expensive display.

■

Multiple component failures - The chance of a random
component failure is very rare since the average MTBF of an
Octagon card is greater than 11 years. In a 7 year study,
Octagon has never found a single case where multiple IC
failures were not caused by misuse or accident. It is very
probable that multiple component failures indicate that they
were user-induced.

■

Testing “dead” cards - For a card that is “completely
nonfunctional”, there is a simple test to determine accidental
over voltage, reverse voltage or other “force d” current situations.
Unplug the card from the bus and remove all cables. Using an
ordinary digital ohmmeter on the 2,000 ohm scale, measure the
resistance between power and ground. Record this number.
Reverse the ohmmeter leads and measure the resistance again.
If the ratio of the resistances is 2:1 or greater, fault conditions
most likely have occurred. A common cause is miswiring the
power supply.

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 4

■

Improper power causes catastrophic failure - If a card has
had reverse po larity or high voltage applied, replacing a fail ed
component is not an adequate fix. Other components probably
have been partially damaged or a failure mechanism has been
induced. Therefore, a failure will probably occur in the future.
For such cards, Octagon highly recom mends that these cards be
replaced.

■

Other over-voltage symptoms - In over-voltage situations,
the programmable logic devices, EPROMs and CPU chips,
usually fail in this order. The failed device may be hot to the
touch. It is usually the case that only one IC will be overheated
at a time.

■

Power sequencing - The major failure of I/O chips is caused
by the external application of input voltage while the Micro PC
power is off. If you apply 5V to the input of a TTL chip with the
power off, nothing will happen. Applying a 5V input to a CMOS
card will cause the current to flow through the input and out the
5V power pin. This current attempts to power up the card.
Most inputs are rated at 25 mA maximum. When this is
exceeded, the chip may be damaged.

■

Failure on power-up - Even when there is not enough current
to destroy an input described above, the chip may be destroyed
when the power to the card is applied. This is due to the fact
that the input current biases the IC so that it acts as a forward
biased diode on power-up. This type of failure is typical on
serial interface chips.

■

Serial and parallel - Customers sometimes connect the serial
and printer devices to the Micro PC while the power is off. This
can cause the failure mentioned in the above section, Failure
upon power-up. Even if they are connected with the Micro PC
on, there can be another failure mechanism. Some serial and
printer devices do not share the same power (AC) grounding.
The leakage can cause the serial or parallel signals to be 20-40V
above the Micro PC ground, thus, damaging the ports as they
are plugged in. This would not be a problem if the ground pin is
connected first, but there is no guarantee of this. Damage to the
printer port chip will cause the serial ports to fail as they share
the same chip.

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 5

■

Hot insertion - Plugging cards into the card cage with the
power on will usually not cause a problem. (Octagon urges
that you do not do this!) However, the card may be damaged
if the right sequence of pins contacts as the card is pushed into
the socket. This usually damages bus driver chips and they may
become hot when the power is applied. This is one of the most
common failures of expansion cards.

■

Using desktop PC power supplies - Occasionally, a customer
will use a regular desktop PC power supply when bringing up a
system. Most of these are rated at 5V at 20A or more.
Switching supplies usually require a 20% load to operate
properly. This means 4A or more. Since a typical Micro PC
system takes less than 2A, the supply does not regulate
properly. Customers have reported that the output can drift up
to 7V and/or with 7-8V voltage spikes. Unless a scope is
connected, you may not see these transients.

■

Terminated backplanes - Some customers try to use Micro PC
cards in backplanes that have resistor/capacitor termination
networks. CMOS cards cannot be used with termination
networks. Generally, the cards will function erratically or the
bus drivers may fail due to excessive output currents.

■

Excessive signal lead lengths - Another source of failure that
was identified years ago at Octagon was excessive lead lengths
on digital inputs. Long leads act as an antenna to pick up noise.
They can also act as unterminated transmission lines. When 5V
is switch onto a line, it creates a transient waveform. Octagon
has seen submicrosecond pulses of 8V or more. The solution is
to place a capacitor, for example 0.1 µF, across the switch
contact. This will also eliminate radio frequency and other high
frequency pickup.

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 6

DESCRIPTION

The 2430 Super VGA Card is a small, low power, video card that
supports a wide variety of CRT and panel displays for high
performance applications. The 2430 has 1 MB of video display
memory.

The 2430 interfaces easily with standard VGA monitors with analog
inputs using a DB–15 connector by using the 2430 CRT Adapter,
Octagon P/N 4000. Flat panel displays are connected to the 2430
using a 50–position IDC connector.

MAJOR FEATURES

• Fully VGA, EGA, CGA, MDA and Hercules compatible.

• Supports analog CRT monitors, interlaced and non–interlaced,
up to 800 x 600 x 256 colors, or 1024 x 768 x 256 colors.

• Supports monochrome LCD, EL and plasma flat panels up to
1280 x 1024 with 64 gray scales.

• Supports simultaneous CRT & flat panel display.

• Includes adjustable bias supply for LCD panel.

• PC/104

• 5V operation

• –40° to 85° C

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

The 2430 SVGA Video Card is installed on a 4010 or on any platform
accepting a PC/104 type device.

WARNING:

Octagon assumes no responsibility for any damage
caused to flat panel displays and/or Micro PC video

cards if the display is connected incorrectly.

2430 Super VGA Video Card – 7

Equipment

You will need the following equipment (or equivalent):

• 2430 SVGA Video Card and utility disk

• PC control card with a PC/104 interface

• *VGA compatible monitor with cable or flat panel display with cable

• PC SmartLINK

•Your PC

*NOTE:

If you are using an analog CRT monitor, you must

purchase the CRT adapter from Octagon.

To install the 2430:

1. Please refer to Figure 1 for the location of various conn ectors

before installing the 2430.

Flat Panel

Display

J1

U1

65540

W2

W1

EN DIS

Bias Voltage

Adjustment

Potentiometer

Bias Polarity

Select

= Pin 1

BIOS
Enable/
Disable

J2

Video

Memory

U4

U3

U6

Video BIOS

EEPROM

Analog Monitor via
2430 CRT Adapter

R11

Figure 1—2430 Component Diagram