IBM 5150 - VGA cards

IBM 5150 - VGA Cards

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. Many such 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 usually (not always) 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.

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.

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
Hercules	?????	8-bit		?	Post #11 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member mikey99 of the VCF.
Hercules	GB500	8-bit		No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member stangman517 of the VCF.
Laser	?????	8-bit	IFS80-2383-30	No	Member offensive_Jerk of the VCF.
Lestina ?	?????	16-bit	J6QVGAADAPTERIVI	No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
Micro Labs	Ultimate VGA	16-bit	HO5MLIUV21	No	Member mmruzek of the VCF.	Part number: UV2.1 JP2/JP3/JP4: OFF/OFF/PAR
Oak	OTI-037C	8-bit		?	Post #3 of the VCF thread at [here].	'OTI037C' is on the main chip. Not necessarily the model/part number of the card.
Oak	VGA-KO77	16-bit		No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
Octek	?????	16-bit		No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
Octek	?????	16-bit		No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
STB Systems	VGA 640 ???	8-bit	EKS451A2	No	Member mmruzek of the VCF.	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		No	Various pages of the user's guide.	See note 2 below.
Video Seven	VGA 16E	16-bit	D2A62LVGA16E	No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
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 VCF. "Wang 3050" appears on top-left corner.
Wave Mate	?????	8-bit		No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
Western Digital	?????	8-bit	DBM5UEPS2V00001	No	Post #1 of the VCF thread at [here].	Member prime of the VCF.
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 VCF.
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 VCF.

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 configure the card for 8-bit operation. But whilst I can get my card to operate in a 16-bit slot, I have been unable to get the card to operate in 8-bit mode (fitted to a 5150/5160/5170). I have come to the conclusion that 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.