Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box required)

[Rob Malpass via Hampshire]

From: Hampshire [mailto:hampshire-boun...@mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of 
James Courtier-Dutton via Hampshire
Sent: 25 January 2019 23:54
To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List
Cc: James Courtier-Dutton
Subject: Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box 
required)

 

>Have you ever tried it?

No

>When you plug a graphics card in, it will automatically disable the on board 
>one.

>What type of expansion slots do the old PCs have?  PCI, AGP or what?

There is no slot to plug a graphics card into.   These are some Dell servers I 
got very cheap (Poweredge something or other) and they have no such slots.

 

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Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box required)

[James Courtier-Dutton via Hampshire]

On Sat, 26 Jan 2019 at 12:28, Rob Malpass via Hampshire <
hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> *From:* Hampshire [mailto:hampshire-boun...@mailman.lug.org.uk] *On
> Behalf Of *James Courtier-Dutton via Hampshire
> *Sent:* 25 January 2019 23:54
> *To:* Hampshire LUG Discussion List
> *Cc:* James Courtier-Dutton
> *Subject:* Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box
> required)
>
>
>
>
>
> >Another option, is to find an old graphics card that does DVI, and
> install it in the old PCs.
>
>
>
> Said machines all have onboard graphics so not an option.
>
>
>
>
Have you ever tried it?
When you plug a graphics card in, it will automatically disable the on
board one.
What type of expansion slots do the old PCs have?  PCI, AGP or what?

Kind Regards

James
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Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box required)

[Rob Malpass via Hampshire]

 

 

From: Hampshire [mailto:hampshire-boun...@mailman.lug.org.uk] On Behalf Of 
James Courtier-Dutton via Hampshire
Sent: 25 January 2019 23:54
To: Hampshire LUG Discussion List
Cc: James Courtier-Dutton
Subject: Re: [Hampshire] VGA to HDMI in low res modes (Clever Video box 
required)

 

 

>Another option, is to find an old graphics card that does DVI, and install it 
>in the old PCs.

 

Said machines all have onboard graphics so not an option.

 

>Another option, is to buy a better display, that supports VGA and HDMI inputs.

 

I have one but these are becoming increasingly hard to find – and often (in my 
experience) while they have a VGA input, they cannot handle the BIOS text modes 
as they’re so low-res.

 

>Another option, is to stop using the old PCs entirely, and get newer ones.

>You don't explain why you need the old PCs.

 

Cost.  This is part of an Advanced PhD project.   To upgrade the entire cluster 
to newer machines (even if they weren’t completely new) would still be funds 
than I can spare.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 at 11:56, Rob Malpass via Hampshire 
 wrote:

Hi all

 

Does anyone know of a clever video “upscaler” which converts very low res (i.e. 
text) VGA to HDMI.   I have a lot of still working old kit which is outputting 
VGA.   The trouble is the BIOS screen (these are nigh on 10 years old machines) 
is not UEFI, it’s still text mode VGA.   I have tried various HDMI solutions 
(including going VGA to SCART and SCART to HDMI – which works fine on a BBC 
Micro btw!) but none of my HDMI monitors can handle this.   They can handle 
things fine when these old machines get into a graphics mode – but on a text 
mode like the BIOS (or running Ubuntu server) – no dice.

 

Of course, given it’s old hardware, it’s quite often the BIOS that needs 
checking for CMOS battery, RAM failure etc.   

 

At present, I have a nasty hack where I send the output of a given old machine 
to a mechanical KVM which switches the video output between a 14” monitor that 
can handle these text modes and a monitor with VGA to HDMI conversion (which 
handles anything over 640x480 fine but can’t handle lo-res text modes).   So 
when it boots to lo-res mode, I use the 14” monitor and the moment it switches 
to a graphics mode – I flick the KVM over to a (VGA converted to HDMI) modern 
monitor.

 

Any ideas anyone?   FWIW the upscaler I’ve tried is [1]

 

Cheers

Rob

 

[1] 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCART-HDMI-to-HDMI-720P-1080P-HD-Video-Converter-Adapter-UK-Plug-For-DVD-STB/183573964461?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170912102056%26meid%3D22a8ffe8c8e94938b3e80082bdf22309%26pid%3D100753%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D183573964461
 

 &_trksid=p2045573.c100753.m4841

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