Resolved ATI FireGL X3 flashing issues

[Traace]

Hi,

I bought a FireGL X3 because every ppc website/forum claims its compatible with mac after a proper bios reflash. Unfortunatly flashing doesn't work well for me...

Pin 3 and Pin 11 are disabled.
its a HP brand card with deviceid 4A 4D, just like this one http://themacelite.wikidot.com/fireglx3

What did I tried already:
- FireGL X3 reduced bios -> result: Graphicellerator in Safe Mode(Tiger and Leopard) doesn't allow to flash, because file size is a little bit to big, getting [ERROR programming Devices: Slot-SLOT-1:R420] afterwards. | PC with DOS and atiflash can flash this bios, but strings are empty (May reduced roms have no version strings)
- X800XT reduced bios -> result: Graphicellerator in Safe Mode(Tiger and Leopard) does allow to flash but getting error: [ERROR programming Devices: Slot-SLOT-1:R420] (Picture is below). | PC with DOS and atiflash can flash this bios, but strings are empty (May reduced roms have no version strings)
- Couple of PRAM resets...
- Flashing stock bios still works just fine via PC...

Both Bios give me black screens on my G4 DP MDD. VGA and DVI... Card getting recognized in System Overview, but only small info like deviceID is shown.

Can someone please help me get this card running? Would be awesome

 

[LightBulbFun]

Hi,

I bought a FireGL X3 because every ppc website/forum claims its compatible with mac after a proper bios reflash. Unfortunatly flashing doesn't work well for me...

Pin 3 and Pin 11 are disabled.
its a HP brand card with deviceid 4A 4D, just like this one http://themacelite.wikidot.com/fireglx3

What did I tried already:
- FireGL X3 reduced bios -> result: Graphicellerator in Safe Mode(Tiger and Leopard) doesn't allow to flash, because file size is a little bit to big, getting [ERROR programming Devices: Slot-SLOT-1:R420] afterwards. | PC with DOS and atiflash can flash this bios, but strings are empty (May reduced roms have no version strings)
- X800XT reduced bios -> result: Graphicellerator in Safe Mode(Tiger and Leopard) does allow to flash but getting error: [ERROR programming Devices: Slot-SLOT-1:R420] (Picture is below). | PC with DOS and atiflash can flash this bios, but strings are empty (May reduced roms have no version strings)
- Couple of PRAM resets...
- Flashing stock bios still works just fine via PC...

Both Bios give me black screens on my G4 DP MDD. VGA and DVI... Card getting recognized in System Overview, but only small info like deviceID is shown.

Can someone please help me get this card running? Would be awesome

did you make sure to run the run me first app?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ati-firegl-x3-nos-on-ebay.1840152/page-3#post-20651642 Grab this .zip run the run me first then run the ATI multi flasher, it has the proper FireGL X3 ROM installed inside of it already.

also finally I understand from your other posts that you bought this setup to Do Linux Debian testing?

if so Keep in mind that the X800/X850 and FireGL X3 cards (aka anything R420/R481) do not work in PPC Linux sadly, the Radeon driver just hard crashes and locks up the system.

would be great if they did work but sadly they dont.

 

[Traace]

Bad they dont work on linux. Something I can investigate. Is there a bug why they dont work?
Else I can still get another G4 with a linux compatible gpu, its np



//EDIT: Working now. Your provided bios/flasher package help me to understand, thanks .


Step by step what I did:

- I choose reduced X800XT rom by gotoh and edit the bios (deviceid) via hex editor before flashing because FireGLX3 by Tome was a few byte to large.
- PC Bios cards give kernel panic since osx tiger if trying to flash even in safemode,therefore I needed to corrupt the FireGL X3 first with a MAC Bios on a PC running DOS, the application that supports special mac flashing mode is ATI flashrom 2.40[flashrom -pm 0 romname.rom -f] (Dont confuse it with ATIflasher for DOS, or even flashrom for mainboards). Got empty strings after that flash, its not good, but at least its a half working MAC card now that supports flashing under Tiger and Leopard.
- Removed Resistor R2 & R4 on GPU Board, this disables Pin 3 & 11 = forcing AGP 4x . Way better then tape it.
- Booted up my G4 MDD with Tiger in safemode.
- Unfortunatly its Tiger without any updates, there is a bug, Apple Remote Desktop dont start in safemode, but SSH does . Connect to SSH and enable Apple Remote Desktop via terminal.
- Connect to PM G4 MDDs Desktop via Apple Remote Desktop and a iMac G5
- Start "Run me first", wait 1-2min so kext can get loaded.
- Then start Graphiccelerator, choose the flasher and Bios.
- My FireGL X3 has Infineon Ram, they have lower specs then Samsung Ram on a X800XT Card, therefore in Graphiccelerator set Memory Clock to 279Mhz, click on "save!" and start ATI Multi Flasher. If we run stock memory clock with this bios and Infineon Ram, it gives a lot of artifacts.

Im happy. A Fire GL X3 with 279mhz memory clock still outperform my older Radeon 8500 without Core Image support easy

 

[highvoltage12v]

Bad they dont work on linux. Something I can investigate. Is there a bug why they dont work?
Else I can still get another G4 with a linux compatible gpu, its np



//EDIT: Working now. Your provided bios/flasher package help me to understand, thanks .


Step by step what I did:

- I choose reduced X800XT rom by gotoh and edit the bios (deviceid) via hex editor before flashing because FireGLX3 by Tome was a few byte to large.
- PC Bios cards give kernel panic since osx tiger if trying to flash even in safemode,therefore I needed to corrupt the FireGL X3 first with a MAC Bios on a PC running DOS, the application that supports special mac flashing mode is ATI flashrom 2.40[flashrom -pm 0 romname.rom -f] (Dont confuse it with ATIflasher for DOS, or even flashrom for mainboards). Got empty strings after that flash, its not good, but at least its a half working MAC card now that supports flashing under Tiger and Leopard.
- Removed Resistor R2 & R4 on GPU Board, this disables Pin 3 & 11 = forcing AGP 4x . Way better then tape it.
- Booted up my G4 MDD with Tiger in safemode.
- Unfortunatly its Tiger without any updates, there is a bug, Apple Remote Desktop dont start in safemode, but SSH does . Connect to SSH and enable Apple Remote Desktop via terminal.
- Connect to PM G4 MDDs Desktop via Apple Remote Desktop and a iMac G5
- Start "Run me first", wait 1-2min so kext can get loaded.
- Then start Graphiccelerator, choose the flasher and Bios.
- My FireGL X3 has Infineon Ram, they have lower specs then Samsung Ram on a X800XT Card, therefore in Graphiccelerator set Memory Clock to 279Mhz, click on "save!" and start ATI Multi Flasher. If we run stock memory clock with this bios and Infineon Ram, it gives a lot of artifacts.

Im happy. A Fire GL X3 with 279mhz memory clock still outperform my older Radeon 8500 without Core Image support easy

Do you still have your ROM, it sounds like the same Card as mine. I will try to follow your advice later. Thanks

 

[NETHERCODER]

Bad they dont work on linux. Something I can investigate. Is there a bug why they dont work?
Else I can still get another G4 with a linux compatible gpu, its np



//EDIT: Working now. Your provided bios/flasher package help me to understand, thanks .


Step by step what I did:

- I choose reduced X800XT rom by gotoh and edit the bios (deviceid) via hex editor before flashing because FireGLX3 by Tome was a few byte to large.
- PC Bios cards give kernel panic since osx tiger if trying to flash even in safemode,therefore I needed to corrupt the FireGL X3 first with a MAC Bios on a PC running DOS, the application that supports special mac flashing mode is ATI flashrom 2.40[flashrom -pm 0 romname.rom -f] (Dont confuse it with ATIflasher for DOS, or even flashrom for mainboards). Got empty strings after that flash, its not good, but at least its a half working MAC card now that supports flashing under Tiger and Leopard.
- Removed Resistor R2 & R4 on GPU Board, this disables Pin 3 & 11 = forcing AGP 4x . Way better then tape it.
- Booted up my G4 MDD with Tiger in safemode.
- Unfortunatly its Tiger without any updates, there is a bug, Apple Remote Desktop dont start in safemode, but SSH does . Connect to SSH and enable Apple Remote Desktop via terminal.
- Connect to PM G4 MDDs Desktop via Apple Remote Desktop and a iMac G5
- Start "Run me first", wait 1-2min so kext can get loaded.
- Then start Graphiccelerator, choose the flasher and Bios.
- My FireGL X3 has Infineon Ram, they have lower specs then Samsung Ram on a X800XT Card, therefore in Graphiccelerator set Memory Clock to 279Mhz, click on "save!" and start ATI Multi Flasher. If we run stock memory clock with this bios and Infineon Ram, it gives a lot of artifacts.

Im happy. A Fire GL X3 with 279mhz memory clock still outperform my older Radeon 8500 without Core Image support easy

It would be super helpful if you could upload that ROM, because mine is the same and I can't get it to work no matter what I do. The closest I could get was using the X800XT Reduced ROM, which does flash, but won't output anything via display.

 

[NETHERCODER]

OKAY I HAVE IT WORKING AND HERE'S HOW I DID IT:

Prerequisits:

• I've only verified that this works on Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5, so I'd go with those for flashing.
• Unfortunately, I no longer have a Quicksilver to verify this, but it seems that this card may not work reliably or at all on Quicksilver models. I'd place the highest chance of success with this card using an MDD G4 or a G5.
• I used a second PCI-based graphics card in this procedure so that I could have video during the flashing. You may be able to use Remote Desktop, but I cannot verify this.

Exacly What I Used:

• PowerMac G4 MDD FW800 1.42Ghz, 2GB RAM
• ATI Rage 128 (from a B&W G3, for PCI video)
• Apple Cinema Display (1680x1050, Single-Link DVI)
• Mac OS X Leopard, fully updated with ATI Display Drivers installed
• Tome's Reduce FireGL X3 ROM
• Graphiccelerator 1.3.4
• Hex Fiend

Some Notes:

• Despite some speculation, I've found that the Tome ROM is actually fine in most cases. It appears a little too big but it's actually okay. I tried using the gotoh X800XT ROM but, while that did allow the card to initialise correctly, it couldn't use any of the video outputs and would cause instability.
• Some models of FireGL X3 have Samsung memory and some have Infineon memory. There are some people who are saying that the Infineon memory can't handle the full memory clock speed, and they're right. However, I have seen some reports that the Samsung cards have issues with artifacting, though I can't verify this as mine is an Infineon-type. What's important is that the generally accepted clock speed for your card's memory (which you can set using Graphiccelerator) should be 279Mhz - this is a far cry from the 454Mhz it should be able to do, but I'm afraid this is what is usually stable. You can play around, if you'd like, but start at 279Mhz and go up slowly. You don't want to damage your card.

Procedure:

• With your machine at stock, download and install the ATI Display Utility and Drivers. You may obtain these from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ati-displays-control-panel (they're all in one package)
• Download and unpack Graphiccelerator. You may obtain this from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/graphiccelerator
• If you don't have one already, download a hex editor. I like to use HexFiend, which you can obtain from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hex-fiend
• Download the ROM, which you can obtain from this link: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/local--files/wikidownloads2/FireGL_X3_mac.rom.zip (It may be convenient to place this in the folder alongside Graphiccelerator)

*

• Shut the system down and install the FireGL X3 into your AGP slot, ensuring that pins 3 & 11 are somehow disabled if you are using a G4 (see resources linked below). Also ensure that it has power via molex.
• Install your PCI graphics card, close the system up and connect the basics (display, keyboard and mouse)
• Boot Mac OS X in Safe Mode by holding down left shift as the computer boots. This may take significantly longer than a usual boot sequence, but you must bare with it.

*

• Once into Mac OS X, DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY FLASHING UNTIL YOU HAVE A BACKUP OF THE ORIGINAL ROM. Seriously, it's just worth doing for if something goes wrong.
• To backup your ROM, open the app 'Run Me First' as this will allow Graphiccelerator to interface with the hardware for reading/writing ROMs - you will need to do this once for every time you restart the system while flashing/dumping. It apparently may take a few minutes for this extension to load, so if you cannot open 'ATI Multi Dumper' immediately (i.e. it closes as soon as it opens) then you may need to rerun 'Run Me First' and wait a few minutes. For me it was instant however, so just see what happens.
• When you successfuly run 'ATI Mutli Dumper', you will find the ROM of every video card installed your system copied and dumped into the folder alongside 'ATI Multi Dumper', with a txt file to match each one. The name of the ROM from your FireGL X3 will likely be more non-descript than your PCI video card, like "pci1000,2" or something, given that the system doesn't know what it is yet. Make sure you save this PC ROM file somewhere, as well as the txt document that comes with it.

*

• Now, unzip the new Tome ROM and, with the hex editor, open it.
• For more information on this section and editing the hex values within your ROM files, I recommend looking at the XenonWiki page linked at the bottom of this post.
• The txt that was written alongside your original ROM contains information about your card, and will most importantly tell you the Device ID of your FireGL X3. This is likely to be either '4A4D' or '4A48'.
• Whatever it says, the Tome ROM has '4D4A' written to it by default. This is a strange catch that it's written backwards in the file compared to how it is reported, thanks to the fact that PowerPC systems read numbers backwards, so you'll want to write in your Device ID to the ROM the same way.
• Hex values are split into pairs of two here, so '4A48' would become '484A' and '4A4D' would become '4D4A'.
• You can use Cmd+F to find all occurances of the existing Device ID in the ROM and replace them - there should be just two near the top of the file. If there are more, double check what you wrote and make sure that it's set to Hex mode and not ASCII mode.

*

• If for whatever reason you haven't yet, run the 'Run Me First' app. Then, open the 'Graphiccelerator' app.
• In the menu bar of Graphiccelerator, there is a 'Misc' tab. Under here, there is an option to "Install Mac ROM in ATI Flasher...". This option will open a Finder browser to select your new ROM file. After that, another Finder browser will open to location the 'ATI Multi Flasher' application - this is because the application must be preloaded with a ROM before it is run. It may ask you to overwrite the ROM currently stored in the flasher. Select yes.
• After the Flasher application is loaded with your new ROM, you can use Graphiccelerator open the ROM we just put inside - this option is a button on the main window. What this will do is display what the ROM is set to program the clock speeds for. My card, an Infineon-type card, should be set to 491Mhz Core Frequency and 279Mhz Memory Frequency. Refer to the XenonWiki guide at the bottom of this post for more possible configurations. In any case, if you see artificating or crashing afterwards this is likely the culprit and you will need to lower the clocks set in Graphiccelerator before saving the ROM and flashing again.
• Finally, once everything is set, you can launch the flasher application directly. It will ask you if you wish to flash 'R420' something or other. Select yes. It will also ask you if you wish to flash your other graphics cards, however many your system has installed alongside the FireGL X3. Select no for all of them.

*

• With this, you should be able to reboot into normal Mac OS X and see that your FireGL X3 now registers as a Radeon X800XT!
• If you get no video, use your PCI video card to check System Profiler. If it shows as anything other than an X800XT, double check the ROM to see if you rewrote the Device ID correctly.
• If you system crashes or hangs, boot back into Safe Mode and try a different clock speed configuration in the ROM and flash again.

Here are the links to the resources I used:

• Dealing with Pins 3 & 11 (for PMG4s): http://themacelite.wikidot.com/pins-3-and-11
• Original Tome MacElite Guide: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/fireglx3
• Forum Thread for Using a FireGL X3 in a G4: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-a-ati-firegl-x3-in-a-mdd.1900971/
• Forum Thread for Flashing a FireGL X3: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/flashing-firegl-x3.2280857/
• Wiki Page for Editing the ROM on a FireGL X3, as well as Clock Speeds: https://www.xenonwiki.com/FrankenXenon

Shoutout to bitbullshop in Germany for linking me to a bunch of these resources and providing me with the FireGL X3!

 

[Nothing78]

OKAY I HAVE IT WORKING AND HERE'S HOW I DID IT:

Prerequisits:

• I've only verified that this works on Mac OS 10.4 and 10.5, so I'd go with those for flashing.
• Unfortunately, I no longer have a Quicksilver to verify this, but it seems that this card may not work reliably or at all on Quicksilver models. I'd place the highest chance of success with this card using an MDD G4 or a G5.
• I used a second PCI-based graphics card in this procedure so that I could have video during the flashing. You may be able to use Remote Desktop, but I cannot verify this.

Exacly What I Used:

• PowerMac G4 MDD FW800 1.42Ghz, 2GB RAM
• ATI Rage 128 (from a B&W G3, for PCI video)
• Apple Cinema Display (1680x1050, Single-Link DVI)
• Mac OS X Leopard, fully updated with ATI Display Drivers installed
• Tome's Reduce FireGL X3 ROM
• Graphiccelerator 1.3.4
• Hex Fiend

Some Notes:

• Despite some speculation, I've found that the Tome ROM is actually fine in most cases. It appears a little too big but it's actually okay. I tried using the gotoh X800XT ROM but, while that did allow the card to initialise correctly, it couldn't use any of the video outputs and would cause instability.
• Some models of FireGL X3 have Samsung memory and some have Infineon memory. There are some people who are saying that the Infineon memory can't handle the full memory clock speed, and they're right. However, I have seen some reports that the Samsung cards have issues with artifacting, though I can't verify this as mine is an Infineon-type. What's important is that the generally accepted clock speed for your card's memory (which you can set using Graphiccelerator) should be 279Mhz - this is a far cry from the 454Mhz it should be able to do, but I'm afraid this is what is usually stable. You can play around, if you'd like, but start at 279Mhz and go up slowly. You don't want to damage your card.

Procedure:

• With your machine at stock, download and install the ATI Display Utility and Drivers. You may obtain these from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ati-displays-control-panel (they're all in one package)
• Download and unpack Graphiccelerator. You may obtain this from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/graphiccelerator
• If you don't have one already, download a hex editor. I like to use HexFiend, which you can obtain from this link: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hex-fiend
• Download the ROM, which you can obtain from this link: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/local--files/wikidownloads2/FireGL_X3_mac.rom.zip (It may be convenient to place this in the folder alongside Graphiccelerator)

*

• Shut the system down and install the FireGL X3 into your AGP slot, ensuring that pins 3 & 11 are somehow disabled if you are using a G4 (see resources linked below). Also ensure that it has power via molex.
• Install your PCI graphics card, close the system up and connect the basics (display, keyboard and mouse)
• Boot Mac OS X in Safe Mode by holding down left shift as the computer boots. This may take significantly longer than a usual boot sequence, but you must bare with it.

*

• Once into Mac OS X, DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY FLASHING UNTIL YOU HAVE A BACKUP OF THE ORIGINAL ROM. Seriously, it's just worth doing for if something goes wrong.
• To backup your ROM, open the app 'Run Me First' as this will allow Graphiccelerator to interface with the hardware for reading/writing ROMs - you will need to do this once for every time you restart the system while flashing/dumping. It apparently may take a few minutes for this extension to load, so if you cannot open 'ATI Multi Dumper' immediately (i.e. it closes as soon as it opens) then you may need to rerun 'Run Me First' and wait a few minutes. For me it was instant however, so just see what happens.
• When you successfuly run 'ATI Mutli Dumper', you will find the ROM of every video card installed your system copied and dumped into the folder alongside 'ATI Multi Dumper', with a txt file to match each one. The name of the ROM from your FireGL X3 will likely be more non-descript than your PCI video card, like "pci1000,2" or something, given that the system doesn't know what it is yet. Make sure you save this PC ROM file somewhere, as well as the txt document that comes with it.

*

• Now, unzip the new Tome ROM and, with the hex editor, open it.
• For more information on this section and editing the hex values within your ROM files, I recommend looking at the XenonWiki page linked at the bottom of this post.
• The txt that was written alongside your original ROM contains information about your card, and will most importantly tell you the Device ID of your FireGL X3. This is likely to be either '4A4D' or '4A48'.
• Whatever it says, the Tome ROM has '4D4A' written to it by default. This is a strange catch that it's written backwards in the file compared to how it is reported, thanks to the fact that PowerPC systems read numbers backwards, so you'll want to write in your Device ID to the ROM the same way.
• Hex values are split into pairs of two here, so '4A48' would become '484A' and '4A4D' would become '4D4A'.
• You can use Cmd+F to find all occurances of the existing Device ID in the ROM and replace them - there should be just two near the top of the file. If there are more, double check what you wrote and make sure that it's set to Hex mode and not ASCII mode.

*

• If for whatever reason you haven't yet, run the 'Run Me First' app. Then, open the 'Graphiccelerator' app.
• In the menu bar of Graphiccelerator, there is a 'Misc' tab. Under here, there is an option to "Install Mac ROM in ATI Flasher...". This option will open a Finder browser to select your new ROM file. After that, another Finder browser will open to location the 'ATI Multi Flasher' application - this is because the application must be preloaded with a ROM before it is run. It may ask you to overwrite the ROM currently stored in the flasher. Select yes.
• After the Flasher application is loaded with your new ROM, you can use Graphiccelerator open the ROM we just put inside - this option is a button on the main window. What this will do is display what the ROM is set to program the clock speeds for. My card, an Infineon-type card, should be set to 491Mhz Core Frequency and 279Mhz Memory Frequency. Refer to the XenonWiki guide at the bottom of this post for more possible configurations. In any case, if you see artificating or crashing afterwards this is likely the culprit and you will need to lower the clocks set in Graphiccelerator before saving the ROM and flashing again.
• Finally, once everything is set, you can launch the flasher application directly. It will ask you if you wish to flash 'R420' something or other. Select yes. It will also ask you if you wish to flash your other graphics cards, however many your system has installed alongside the FireGL X3. Select no for all of them.

*

• With this, you should be able to reboot into normal Mac OS X and see that your FireGL X3 now registers as a Radeon X800XT!
• If you get no video, use your PCI video card to check System Profiler. If it shows as anything other than an X800XT, double check the ROM to see if you rewrote the Device ID correctly.
• If you system crashes or hangs, boot back into Safe Mode and try a different clock speed configuration in the ROM and flash again.

Here are the links to the resources I used:

• Dealing with Pins 3 & 11 (for PMG4s): http://themacelite.wikidot.com/pins-3-and-11
• Original Tome MacElite Guide: http://themacelite.wikidot.com/fireglx3
• Forum Thread for Using a FireGL X3 in a G4: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/using-a-ati-firegl-x3-in-a-mdd.1900971/
• Forum Thread for Flashing a FireGL X3: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/flashing-firegl-x3.2280857/
• Wiki Page for Editing the ROM on a FireGL X3, as well as Clock Speeds: https://www.xenonwiki.com/FrankenXenon

Shoutout to bitbullshop in Germany for linking me to a bunch of these resources and providing me with the FireGL X3!

This guide is really Amazing, that's why I bought a FireGL X3 for my G5 from same store and wanted to change my old Radeon 9600 128mb with a flashed one 256mb... and maybe to use on MorphOS too.
I was able to open Graphiccelerator in a Tiger Partition, let's see if I'm able to flash one card...

Edit. flashed succesfully and MorphOS recognizes the GPU as an ATI X800; I have to say I'm really happy! Thanks for the guide again!

 

[svamethyst99]

this would be very useful. i dug out my old G5 for the first time since about 2015 and i was never a fan of the 9600 pro but could never get a proper chance to get my hands on a compatible G5 mac card. i bought a fireGL X3 off of ebay not too long ago and i'm going to see if i can use one of my old AGP computers to flash it. i don't have a mac compatible PCI video card so i have to do the flash via MS-DOS.

 

[Nothing78]

this would be very useful. i dug out my old G5 for the first time since about 2015 and i was never a fan of the 9600 pro but could never get a proper chance to get my hands on a compatible G5 mac card. i bought a fireGL X3 off of ebay not too long ago and i'm going to see if i can use one of my old AGP computers to flash it. i don't have a mac compatible PCI video card so i have to do the flash via MS-DOS.

Honestly I used the G5 itself to flash it... just followthe steps to activate VNC protocols and use another PC with realVNC or Chicken VNC viewer or whatever to remote your G5...

 

[Bedaso]

Hello, I apologize if replying to old threads are frowned upon (I reread the rules since I haven't logged in for almost 2 years and didn't see anything mentioning it) but what tape would you use to cover pins 3 and 11? Electrical? or Scotch? It would be very hard to see the pins for electrical, which is why I'm asking. I don't want to damage a FireGL X3 I'm planning to get for this on accident by not seeing where the pin traces are and aren't.