RELEASE NOTES FOR THE BETA 2 MACH8 FLEXDESK WINDOWS DRIVER ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC 3761 Victoria Park Ave Scarborough, Ont. CANADA. M1W 3S2 Head Office, Sales and Marketing ...... (416) 756-0718 Customer Support ...................... (416) 756-0711 FAX ................................... (416) 756-0720 ATI BBS ............................... (416) 756-4591 Compuserve............................. GO ATITECH Corilee Fox....................... 76004,3656 Beta Coordinator Fred Weigel....................... 74740,652 Engineering Allan Nelson...................... 74740,667 Customer Support Rob Levings....................... 74220,2561 Multimedia .............................................................................. Contents 1.0 Introduction and Installation 2.0 Bug Reporting 3.0 Contents of Distribution Diskette 4.0 Requirements 5.0 Manual Installation of Files 6.0 Configuration Settings 7.0 Crystal Font Installation 8.0 Errors 1.0 Introduction and Installation This is the second beta release of the mach8 FlexDesk Windows Driver. The mach8 FlexDesk Windows Driver is an enhanced mode driver that will work only on 80386 and 80486-based systems. Unlike previous mach8 drivers, where the user must go into Windows Setup and select another driver every time a resolution or font environment change is required, the mach8 FlexDesk Windows driver is a single driver that contains all resolutions, font environments, color depths, and additional features. Once the mach8 FlexDesk driver is installed and Windows is started, you will notice an ATI Utlities Group that contains the ATI mach8 FlexDesk icon. Clicking on the icon will open the FlexDesk Control Panel. This panel gives you easy access to color depths, screen resolutions, CRYSTAL Fonts in all resolutions (256 color modes only), different font environments (in logical dots per inch - LDPI), and the ability to disable the color pallette for greater performance. The FlexDesk Control Panel will automatically edit the WIN.INI file and restart Windows. We are confident this beta release will solve most of the problems you have been experiencing with the current mach8 drivers, as well as provide more features, flexibility, and significantly increased performance. If you do come accross any problems, please report them as soon as possible by fax or CompuServe to the mach8 beta coordinator, using the attached form. This will give us the opportunity to clear up any remaining problems and ensure that the production release of this driver is as clean as possible. Installation To install this release, if it was downloaded from Compserve, please unpack the distribution files onto a diskette, or to a separate directory, prior to running the INSTALL Program. (See next paragraph) Run the supplied INSTALL.EXE utility. Specify the diskette or directory containing the driver, then your Windows directory. Use the Microsoft Windows SETUP utility (from DOS), and select the "ATI mach8 Driver". This will complete the driver installation. To restore your previous display driver, run SETUP, and reselect the old driver. To change resolution or color depth, please run the FlexDesk Control Panel that was installed into Windows. The driver initially comes up in 640x480 16 color mode. Other modes can be easily selected from the FlexDesk Control Panel. This driver supports the ATI 38800 (mach8) with 512KB or 1MB of memory. Both 16 and 256 color modes are supported in resolutions of 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768. 1280x1024 support is provided in 16 colors only. Only modes supported by your card will be enabled in the FlexDesk driver. Unsupported modes will be greyed out. FlexDesk will only work with Windows in 386 Enhanced Mode. To use the mach8 on a 286 based processor, or in Windows Standard Mode, use the supplied Microsoft 8514/A driver. Crystal Fonts is supported in this beta. 2.0 Reporting Bugs When reporting problems with this driver, please reference the driver build number. When in doubt about the build number, call up the FlexDesk Control Panel, and read the build number. If the build number is not available (NA), then (a) You may not be running the FlexDesk driver. Check that one of the MACH-??.DRV files is referenced in SYSTEM.INI. (b) Your bug may be preventing the Control Panel from reading the driver build number. Try restarting Windows, and if this does not remedy the problem, report the Date, Time and Size of the driver (MACH.DRV file). (c) You may be using BitStream Facelift 2.0. If you are using this Typeface Manager, report the Date, Time and Size of the driver (MACH.DRV file). BETA TESTER'S RESPONSIBILITIES In order to make the mach8 Beta Program successful, ATI needs your prompt action on the following: - Install and use the drivers promptly. - Test the product for reliability, useability, and robustness. - Complete and return the enclosed Problem Report Forms. Although we have put much effort into the verification of this driver, it is still pre-release software. We strongly suggest you back up any important existing data/programs before installing or running the mach8 driver. WARNING ! ATI is not responsible for any problems resulting from the use of this software. PLEASE MAKE COPIES OF YOUR FILES! TECHNICAL SUPPORT Technical Support for the mach8/mach32 Beta Program will be provided by ATI's Customer Support and Engineering development team. Communicating the problems you experience while using mach8/mach32 is essential. The mach8/mach32 Beta Response Form is provided for you to report problems. Make multiple photocopies of the form and use a separate form for each problem being reported. Please mail or fax your completed forms to us as soon as possible. ATI Customer Support will take complete details of problems experienced and forward them to our Engineering development team for testing and resolution. PROBLEM REPORT FORM Please complete this form and return it to ATI Technologies Inc. at the address or fax number listed below, or return via CompuServe. Make multiple copies of this form. Please attach C-INFO output to all problem reports submitted. Use a separate form for each problem being reported. ATI Technologies Inc. 3761 Victoria Park Avenue Scarborough, Ontario Canada M1W 3S2 Attention: mach8/mach32 Beta Coordinator FAX: (416)756-0720 Product Name: mach8/mach32 Windows driver Rev. Number: beta 2 Customer Name: CompuServe Address: Fax Number: Address: My Hardware is Configured as follows: CPU/Speed: Hard Disk Space: Memory: Video Adapter (Make and Model): BIOS #: Audio Adapter (Make and Model): CD-ROM Drive (Make and Model): Software: Other system/software Information: Problem description: Impact of problem: If you are sending any dumps, test cases or documentation associated with this problem, list them here: 3.0 Contents of Distribution Diskette The following files are on the distribution diskette. The files are decompressed into the appropriate directories by the INSTALL utility. install.exe Driver installation utility install.vsf Installation utility file install.hlp Installation utility help machw.lzh Mach driver components that go to WINDOWS machs.lzh Mach driver components that go to SYSTEM readme Initial Instructions readme.com Utility to read readme file lharc.exe Decompression utility 4.0 Requirements FlexDesk requires an ATI 38800 (mach8) based graphics controller. The driver is designed to work best with Windows 3.1. Windows 3.0 operation is possible, at the expense of some features and performance. Windows must be in Enhanced mode for FlexDesk to run. A minimum of 512KB of Video Memory is required for FlexDesk operation. Video Memory Required: 16 color 256 color Crystal Fonts 640x480 512KB 1MB 1MB 800x600 512KB 1MB 1MB 1024x768 512KB 1MB 1MB 1280x1024 1MB --- --- The FlexDesk Control Panel will grey out modes which are not valid based on the modes supported by your card and available memory. 5.0 Manual Installation of Files This should only be attempted if the Automatic Install Fails!! Manual installation of the FlexDesk driver is not recommended. Use the Microsoft SETUP utility to initially install the driver, and then use the FlexDesk Control Panel to make modifications to the setup. This section serves to document the various changes that are made to the SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files. For more information on the [Mach] settings, see the Configuration section. Copy all files EXCEPT mxxpanel.exe mxxpanel.hlp to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Copy the listed files to the WINDOWS directory. Modify WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI. [boot] 386grabber=mach.3gr oemfonts.fon=8514oem.fon fixedfon.fon=8514fix.fon fonts.fon=8514sys.fon display.drv=mach-80.drv [boot.description] aspect=100,120,120 display.drv=ATI mach8 Driver [386Enh] display=machvdd.386 device=mach.386 Add a section to WINDOWS\WIN.INI. [Mach] PixelDepth=8 DesktopSize=1024 ScreenSize=1024 This sets the driver up for 1024x768, 8 bpp, 120 ldpi. To use other pixel depths and ldpi settings, change the settings as appropriate. Select the [boot] display.drv from this table: 4 bpp 8 bpp 8 bpp Crystal no palette palette fonts 96 ldpi mach-46.drv mach-36.drv mach-86.drv mach-g6.drv 120 ldpi mach-40.drv mach-30.drv mach-80.drv mach-g0.drv 128 ldpi mach-48.drv mach-38.drv mach-88.drv mach-g8.drv When changing ldpi, select the fonts and aspect ratio used: Large Font DTP Small Font 120 ldpi 128 ldpi 96 ldpi [boot] oemfonts.fon= 8514oem.fon 8514oem.fon vgaoem.fon fixedfon.fon= 8514fix.fon 8514fix.fon vgafix.fon fonts.fon= 8514sys.fon 8514sys.fon vgasys.fon [boot.description] aspect= 100,120,120 100,128,128 100,96,96 Each of the shell drivers (MACH-??.DRV) has suggested Windows default colors. In order to make use of these colors, you can delete the entries in the WIN.INI [colors] section. This will prevent inadvertently selecting colors that make the menu entries disappear. 6.0 Configuration Settings WIN.INI [Mach] Entries NOTE: PLEASE BE AWARE THAT CHANGES MADE TO THESE SETTINGS MAY TRIGGER ACTIONS THAT AFFECT THE OPERATION OF WINDOWS. IF PROBLEM APPEAR AFTER CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE, WE SUGGEST THAT YOU CHANGE THEM BACK TO ORIGINAL SETTINGS PRIOR TO CALLING ATI. WE ALSO SUGGEST YOU SAVE COPIES OF YOUR WIN.INI AND SYSTEM.INI PRIOR TO MAKING ANY CHANGES. The [Mach] section of WIN.INI has many switches which can be tailored to change FlexDesk. Most of the switches are alterable via the FlexDesk Control Panel, and this is the preferred way to change them. CacheCharacters = on | off Default on Allow for caching characters into the off-screen memory area. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. DesktopSize = 640 | 800 | 1024 | 1280 Default 640 Choose size of Windows work area. The screen may be smaller than the work area (see ScreenSize setting), in which case the Virtual Desktop feature is activated. Use the mouse to pan the display over the desktop. 640 selects 640x480, 800 selects 800x600, 1024 selects 1024x768 and 1280 selects 1280x1024. All modes have 4:3 aspect (which results in square pixels), except 1280. (1280x1024 is a 5:4 pixel ratio. Square pixels 4:3 with 1280 would be 1280x960). Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. Dithering = on | off Default on Allow for disabling color dithering. This results in faster performance, at the expense of color fidelity. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. DeviceBitmap = on | off Default on Allow for realizing bitmaps in the off-screen memory area. For some applications (for example BitStream Facelift), this feature must be turned off. Use the FlexDesk Control Panel to modify this setting. DeviceBitmapDraw = on | off Default off Allow the drawing engine to draw into realized bitmaps. DeviceBitmap=on must be set for this to have any effect. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. EngineBlt = on | off Default on Use the blit engine. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. ErrorFatal = on | off Default on When set on, all startup errors are treated as fatal, and will result in returning to the DOS prompt. When set to off, a message is displayed and the user is invited to press to return to the DOS prompt, or to ignore the error and continue. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. PaletteManager = on | off Default on Enable palette management when PixelDepth=8. This allows applications to control the physical palette, and permits applications such as After Dark to do palette cycling animation. When the PaletteManage is off, the color mode will use a fixed 332 (3 bits Red, 3 bits Green, 2 bits Blue) palette. Use the FlexDesk Control Panel to modify this setting. Pixel = on | off Default off Enable put and get pixel through the engine. Can improve performance when aperture is disabled. PixelDepth = 4 | 8 Default 8 Choose number of bits per pixel. 4 allows 16 colors, and 8 allows 256 colors. Use the FlexDesk Control Panel to modify this setting. Polygon = on | off Default on When set on, Polygons are accelerated by the drawing engine. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. PolyLine = on | off Default on When set on, PolyLines are accelerated by the drawing engine. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. ScreenSize = 640 | 800 | 1024 | 1280 Default DesktopSize Select the screen size (screen mode). Use the FlexDesk Control Panel to modify this setting. ScanLine = on | off Default on Use the mach8 engine to assist in scanline drawing. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. SlowDither = on | off Default off When on, VGA style dithering is used (when in 256 color palette manager enabled mode). When off, a faster dithering algorithm is used. Use the FlexDesk Control Panel to modify this setting. StretchBlt = on | off Default on Enable driver StretchBlt when on. If set to off, GDI StretchBlt will be used instead. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. VGADAC = on | off Default off Program VGA DAC in synch with 8514/A DAC registers. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. WIFE = on | off Default off Support Windows Intelligent Font Extensions (MBCS support). This allows FlexDesk to be used with Asian Windows versions. Do not turn this switch on with North American Windows. WIFE will just slow down your system. Edit WIN.INI [Mach] directly to modify this setting. CrystalFonts = on | off Default off When set on, enables the CRYSTAL Font feature. When CRYSTAL Fonts is enabled, the palette is fixed in 8 bpp non- programmable mode. 5 gradients of red, blue and green (125 colors) are available in the palette. Also the usual 20 Windows system colors are supported, and 16 shades of gray (including black and white). The remainder of the palette is unused. GSFonts = Default NONE If this entry is specified, the directory path is used to search for the CRYSTAL Font outlines. If not specified (normal), the environment variable GSFONTS is used instead. MinFontSize = Default 8 Minimum height of a font in pixels to be anti-aliased (CRYSTAL Fonts). If a font renders to less than MinFontSize, it is not anti-aliased. This allows very small characters to remain legible. SystemFont = Default HelveticaBold Allows the Windows System Font to be specified when CrystalFonts=on. This font is used for Icon titles, menus, etc. This entry should be used with Windows 3.0 only, because Windows 3.1 allows changing the System font through its own mechanism. TextGamma = Default 100 This setting controls the edge sharpness for the CRYSTAL Fonts feature. Higher values lighten up the edge pixels, giving you "thinner" characters. The following settings are recommended to maximize performance on mach8 hardware: CacheCharacters=on DeviceBitmap=on DeviceBitmapDraw=on EngineBlt=on Pixel=on Polygon=on Polyline=on ScanLine=on 7.0 Crystal Font Installation If you've installed this beta then crystal fonts is ready to go. Bring up the FlexDesk Control Panel and choose 256 colors then click on the Crystal Font button. Set this dialog box as desired and Crystal is running. To set System Font for program manager edit your WIN.INI file, [MACH] section, SystemFont value. WIN.INI file: [Mach] SystemFont= Defaults is HeveticaBold To set Icon title font and size for program manager edit your WIN.INI file, [DESKTOP] sectiont, IconTitleFaceName and IconTitleSize values. WIN.INI file: [DESKTOP] IconTitleFaceName= Defaults is MS San Serif IconTitleSize= Defaults is 8 points The CRYSTAL Fonts feature can use Windows 3.1 TrueType fonts and ATI GSF format fonts. Use of GSF fonts requires that the CRYSTAL fonts be placed in a directory. In the WIN.INI file set GsFonts in the [Mach] section to the directory the fonts are in prior to running the driver. GSFONTS are not currently distributed, as they have been superceded by TrueType. See Configuration setting of this document for details on the Crystal Fonts settings (CrystalFonts, GSFonts, MinFontSize, SystemFont and TextGamma). 8.0 Errors All FlexDesk error messages are issued at startup. The error message is displayed, and the system speaker is beeped. You are then invited to press a key to return to DOS. This behavior can be modified to allow the operator to ignore the error and proceed (see the ErrorFatal switch). Errors: The ATI FlexDesk Windows Driver requires an ATI 68800 or 38800 based video board or product. The BIOS ROM cannot be accessed. Please refer to your owners manual for hardware setup assistance. The ROM BIOS Query has returned a failure. Please ensure that the BIOS ROM is enabled, and that you have set up at least one video mode. You have insufficient Video Memory to run a ???x???/??? video mode. Run Windows SETUP from DOS and select a lower resolution mode. The ATI FlexDesk Windows Driver requires Windows to be run in 386 Enhanced Mode. Select the Microsoft 8514/A Driver to use your video board with a 286 based processor, or to use Windows in Standard Mode. If necessary, Windows Enhanced Mode can be forced on a 386 base processor by starting Windows using the WIN /3 command. This is required on machines with less than 4 Mb of system memory. The ATI FlexDesk Windows Driver cannot be started. No additional information is available. Probable cause is insufficient resources or general system failure. Please ensure system integrity and retry. If the problem persists, contact customer support services with the following error code: ???. The ???x??? mode cannot be started. Please ensure that you have installed the requested mode using the Mach8 or Mach32 INSTALL utility. Your selected monitor may not be capable of operating in the requested mode - if this is the case, run Windows setup from DOS and select a compatible mode. The ATI FlexDesk Windows Driver cannot be started. The BIOS ROM has failed to activate the requested mode. Please contact customer support services. The BIOS ROM on your ATI Accelerator does not appear to support the functions required by the ATI FlexDesk Windows Driver. Please install the Microsoft 8514/A driver using the Windows SETUP utility.