SVGA Diagnostic Utility Ver 1.0
Written by Eric Jorgensen (1994)


      ***********  DO NOT RUN THIS PROGRAM UNDER WINDOWS ************
   ************* IT WILL PROBABLY CAUSE THE SYSTEM TO HANG *************



INTRODUCTION

     I recently published my first shareware product called _Terrain Maker_,
  an SVGA based utility for generating random landscapes.  For the graphics, 
  I used an excellent library called SVGACC (by Stephen Balkum and Daniel Sill) 
  which, among other things, automatically configured itself to run on a wide  
  variety of video hardware, including VESA compitible video cards.  

     I discovered that many machines were able to run my software without
  any problems, but I also foud that there is a significant population 
  of computers out there that had trouble with the graphics.  Further 
  investigation revealed that while many of these claimed to be VESA SVGA
  compatible, they failed to perform standard VESA functions properly.  

     I wanted to investigate the scope of this problem as well as put
  pressure on video card manufactures to put more effort toward the DOS
  end of the SVGA market, so I set out to write SVGADIAG.EXE, a self-
  contained piece of software that extracts information about the
  configuration, compatibility, and performance of a PC SVGA video
  system.  My intent is to have this information emailed back to me
  so that I can compile it and publish it freely on the net to provide
  valuable information to programmers and card buyers.

WHAT THIS PROGRAM DOES

     This diagnostic utility basically gathers as much information
  about your computer and video hardware as it can by checking the
  VESA BIOS, running various graphics functions in a 640x480x256color 
  graphics mode, trying out other SVGA modes, and finally by asking
  you questions about what you saw and what your system is like.

HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM

     First, you will need a 386 or better with an SVGA card (preferrably
  VESA compatable).  A Microsoft compatible mouse would be nice, too.

     Simply type "SVGADIAG" at a prompt in  the directory where this
  program resides.  It will create a text file that contains the
  results of it's internal tests.  It will also prompt you a few times
  to verify that the graphics are behaving properly.

     When the program is completed, you will need to edit the output
  file called "SVGAOUT.TXT" and fill in information about your computer 
  system.  (You can use a standard text editor like EDIT that comes with
  MSDOS.)  When you have saved your additions, please email the file to:

               smeagol@rt66.com

  I will compile all the results and publish them some time in early January.
  Inn the meantime, though, you might want to read more of the output
  file, because it contains interesting information about your system and
  some numbers tat give a clue of how fast your graphics are.  If you want
  to compare, here are the numbers from my Diamond Stealth Pro VLB running
  on a 486 DX2/66:

  blkget: 3374.5 Kpxls/sec
  blkput: 7352.7 Kpxls/sec
  drwbox: 345.9 Kpxls/sec
  drwfillbox: 6618.2 Kpxls/sec
  drwline: 2785.5 Kpxls/sec
  drwpoint: 156.5 Kpxls/sec
  getpoint: 158.9 Kpxls/sec

WHAT IF THIS PROGRAM CRASHES ON MY COMPUTER?

     Please send the output file to me anyway, since it may contain clues
  as to why the program crashed.  Plus this will help me identify video
  cards that don't handle SVGA very well, whic is one of the goals of my 
  survey.

     This program is fairly simple and has been beta tested on several 
  computers of varying configurations to make sure that no gross bugs exist.  
  In all likelyhood, if the graphics mess up, or if the program 
  crashes, your graphics drivers or video BIOS are to blame.  This was
  the case with my Diamond Stealth Pro. Fortunately, when I called 
  Diamond about it they gave me a free BIOS update and my problems went 
  away.  I suggest that you try the same with your video card manufacturer.

     Some particular problems I have seen that are graphics driver related:

          - mouse leaves trails on the screen
          - page flipping does not work
          - verticle or horizontal bars of crud across the screen

THIS IS THE WORST BIT OF CODING I'VE EVER SEEN!  
I COULD WRITE SOMETING WAY BETTER!

     By all means, please contribute!  Since this is version 1.0 of
  this diagnostic/survey software, I expect to learn a lot in the process of 
  releasing it to the public.  Any code, helpful hints or bug reports are
  welcome.  Please send them to smeagol@rt66.com


SPECIAL THANKS

     To Daniel Sill for providing VESA interrupt information and
          support for SVGACC.

     To the Beta Testers:  Augusto Roman, Neil Breeden, and Daniel Sill.

     To YOU! for trying out my program.