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1992-10-13
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Date: 09/25/92
Status: Beta 2.0.06
Trident
TVGA 8900/9000 PM Display Driver Package
for OS/2 Version 2.0
IMPORTANT: Before installing any of the programs in this package, make
^^^^^^^^^ sure that you read through this document once.
Download Info
-------------
The drivers and utilities are compressed in serveral different
files. Instead of downloading the all these files listed below (which
might consume a lot of connection time), we recommend that you choose
those drivers that meet your current needs and system configuration.
After downloading any of the files in this package, please
use the PKUNZIP.EXE utility to unpack them. All the files listed
below are available from Trident BBS:
README.EXE - LHA self extractable README.DOC
*W800.ZIP - W800.DLL (800x600-16 Seamless DISPLAY.DLL)
W800SL.DRV (Seamless SWINVGA.DRV)
W800.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV)
W1024.ZIP - W1024.DLL (1024x768-16 DISPLAY.DLL)
W1024C.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV)
W8514.ZIP - W8514.DLL (1024x768-16 DISPLAY.DLL with
8514 type fonts and icons)
W1024F.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV
with 8514 type fonts and icons)
T640.ZIP - T640.DLL (640x480-256 DISPLAY.DLL)
T640C.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV)
T768.ZIP - T768.DLL (768x1024-256 DISPLAY.DLL-portrait)
T800.ZIP - T800.DLL (800x600-256 DISPLAY.DLL)
T800C.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV)
T1024.ZIP - T1024.DLL (1024x768-256 DISPLAY.DLL)
T1024C.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV)
T8514.ZIP - T8514.DLL (1024x768-256 DISPLAY.DLL with
8514 type fonts and icons)
T1024FC.DRV (WinOS2 full screen VGA.DRV
with 8514 type fonts and icons)
T640V512.ZIP - T640V512.DLL (1024x512-256 Virtual Desktop
DISPLAY.DLL on 640x480 physical screen,
for 512 KB memory ONLY)
T640V.ZIP - T640V.DLL (1024x1024 Virtual Desktop
DISPLAY.DLL on 640x480 physical screen,
requires 1MB or more)
T800V.ZIP - T800V.DLL (1024x1024 Virtual Desktop
DISPLAY.DLL on 800x600 physical screen,
requires 1MB or more)
UTILS.ZIP - DESKMAN.EXE: PM desktop manager (supports
zoomable virtual desktop)
DESKDLL.DLL: library used by DESKMAN.EXE
DISPINFO.EXE: shows WinOS2 display info
SMODE.EXE: set mode for both OS/2 and DOS
POLARITY.COM: DOS TSR to change 800x600-16
mode sync polarity for some of monitors
TRIDENT.EXE: identifies which type of
Trident TVGA controller is installed
FIXES.ZIP - OS2LDR: OS/2 system loader fix
VSVGA.SYS: virtual VDD fix
SVGA.EXE: .PMI generator fix
PATCH256.EXE: patch desktop trash (256 color)
8900BFIX.COM: patch for some 8900B boards
(* from Beta 2.0.01. unmodified)
Please note, the files W1024C.DRV, T640C.DRV, T800C.DRV,
T1024C.DRV and T1024FC.DRV are for TVGA 8900C only. Use your own
regular Windows 3.0 drivers (with your TVGA card) is preferred.
This package may also be available from the following
BBSes or Internet FTP archives (could be different file names):
IBM NSC BBS: (404) 835-6600
Fernwood: (203) 483-0348 (east cost)
OS/2 Shareware: (703) 385-4325
Greater Chicago:(708) 895-4042 (central)
Bay Area OS/2: (510) 657-7948 (west cost)
CompuServe IBMOS2 forum
ftp-os2.nmsu.edu (anonymous FTP)
novell.com (not day time) (anonymous FTP)
mtsg.ubc.ca (anonymous FTP)
archive.latrobe.edu.au (anonymous FTP)
funic.funet.fi (anonymous FTP)
usenet news system: comp.os.os2.binaries
Newer releases of OS/2 drivers will be posted on Trident
BBS later. Please check the date and status of the driver files.
Descriptions:
-------------
( The following descriptions assume that OS/2 2.0 is installed on
the target system, drive C:. )
The file W800.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 800x600-16 color mode PM Desktop session. This file (if 800x600 16
color mode is chosen as the desired display mode) will replace the default
DISPLAY.DLL (640x480-16 color standard VGA mode) file in directory
C:\OS2\DLL. This driver is fully compatible with 2.0 display driver spec
and is capable of running seamless Windows applications. To run seamless
Windows apps on 800x600-16 workplace shell, you need also install
W800SL.DRV. To run WinOS2 full screen in 800x600-16 mode, you have to
replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM\VGA.DRV by W800.DRV.
The file W1024.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 1024x768-16 color mode PM workplace shell. This file will replace the
default DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full
screen in 1024x768-16 mode, you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM
\VGA.DRV by W1024C.DRV.
The file W8514.DLL is similar to W1024.DLL, which supports the
1024x768-16 color mode PM workplace shell. However, it contains 8514
compatible type of fonts and icons. This file will replace the default
DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full screen
in 1024x768-16 mode using 8514 compatible type of fonts and icons,
you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM\VGA.DRV by W1024F.DRV.
The file T640.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 640x480-256 color mode PM workplace shell. This file will replace the
default DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full
screen in 640x480-256 mode, you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM
\VGA.DRV by T640C.DRV.
The file T768.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 768x1024-256 (portrait mode) color mode PM workplace shell. This file
will replace the default DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. Special
SVGADATA.PMI parameters are required to run this mode.
The file T800.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 800x600-256 color mode PM workplace shell. This file will replace the
default DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full
screen in 800x600-256 mode, you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM
\VGA.DRV by T800C.DRV.
The file T1024.DLL is a customized PM display driver which supports
the 1024x768-256 color mode PM workplace shell. This file will replace the
default DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full
screen in 1024x768-256 mode, you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM
\VGA.DRV by T1024C.DRV.
The file T8514.DLL is similar to T1024.DLL, which supports the
1024x768-256 color mode PM workplace shell. However, it contains 8514
compatible type of fonts and icons. This file will replace the default
DISPLAY.DLL file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. To run WinOS2 full screen
in 1024x768-256 mode using 8514 compatible type of fonts and icons,
you have to replace C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM\VGA.DRV by T1024CF.DRV.
The file T640V512.DLL is a Virtual Desktop PM display driver which
supports 1024x512-256 color PM workplace shell through a physical 640x480
256 color display screen. This file will replace the default DISPLAY.DLL
file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. This driver supports 'zoomable' feature.
This driver should be used on TVGA boards with 512KB memory, since zoom
might not work correctly on 1MB boards. (For more info on Virtual Desktop,
see Appendices below.)
The file T640V.DLL is a Virtual Desktop PM display driver which
supports 1024x1024-256 color PM workplace shell through a physical 640x480
256 color display screen. This file will replace the default DISPLAY.DLL
file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. This driver supports 'zoomable' feature.
(For more info on Virtual Desktop, see Appendices below.)
The file T800V.DLL is a Virtual Desktop PM display driver which
supports 1024x1024-256 color PM workplace shell through a physical 800x600
256 color display screen. This file will replace the default DISPLAY.DLL
file in directory C:\OS2\DLL. This driver supports 'zoomable' feature.
(For more info on Virtual Desktop, see Appendices below.)
The file W800SL.DRV (zipped in W800.ZIP) is a customized WINOS2
display driver which supports Windows applications running on PM workpalce
shell seamlessly. The PM workplace shell should run in 800x600-16 mode
(using W800.DLL as DISPLAY.DLL). This file will replace the default
SWINVGA.DRV in directory C:\OS2\DLL.
TRIDENT.EXE is a DOS utility which identifies the type of Trident
TVGA card on your system. Run it under DOS full screen only.
DESKMAN.EXE is a PM program which provides display driver info
and virtual desktop control. With this release, the virtual desktop
drivers supports zoom-in and scroll lock functions (see appendices for
detailed descriptions).
DESKDLL.DLL is the dyna-link library called by DESKMAN.EXE.
DISPINFO.EXE is a WinOS2 program which displays the WinOS2
display driver information.
SMODE.EXE is a set video mode utility for both OS/2 and DOS.
POLARITY.COM is a DOS TSR program to adjust DOS session 800x
600-16/256 mode horizontal and vertical polarity. By default, video
BIOS set the horizontal and vertical polarities to both negative in
these two modes. But some monitor requires positive vertical sync
polarity. If you encounter screen too small problem in these two
modes, you can put this program in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and run SVGA ON
to generate a new C:\OS2\SVGADATA.PMI file.
OS2LDR, VSVGA.SYS, SVGA.EXE are video fixes. They should
replace C:\OS2LDR, C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS and C:\OS2\SVGA.EXE.
PATCH256.EXE is a patch for all 256 color drivers. Those
Trident driver users who experience screen trash problems during DOS
full screen to PM or OS/2 full screen to PM switching, this patch
will cause the PM desktop to refresh automatically, therefore removes
trash from the screen. The patch applies only to 256 color drivers
including: T640.DLL, T768.DLL, T800.DLL, T1024.DLL, T8514.DLL, T640V.DLL,
T640V512.DLL and T800V.DLL. To patch the above drivers, save a copy of
the original drivers, then run PATCHTRD.EXE from OS/2 session on each
of them. For example,
PATCHTRD T800.DLL
will modify T800.DLL. If screen trash problem does not occur on your
system you don't need to apply this patch.
8900BFIX.COM is a DOS TSR program which might be used to fix
certain screen-trash problem on some Trident OEM 8900B cards. These
problems happen because current SVGA VDD driver (VSVGA.SYS) does not
correctly handle the hardware state save/restore. These problems do
not happen on most cards. But if they do occur on your system, you can
try the 8900BFIX.COM. A convenient way to apply this fix automatically
when a DOS session is initiated is to put it into you AUTOEXEC.BAT.
BVH driver support, which is a nice feature with our 1.x drivers,
is no longer included in this package since OS/2 2.0 has build-in Trident
SuperVGA support.
PMFIX for 1.x should not be executed under 2.0.
OS2CRTC, which is used to adjust video parameters for 1.2/1.3
OS/2 drivers is not available at this time. However, there is an
alternative. See descriptions in "Appendices" below.
Installation:
-------------
0. Install OS/2 2.0 GA version with TVGA card on system
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(The following descriptions assume the startup drive is C:)
1. Run TRIDENT.EXE in DOS full screen session to determine
if the video card is Trident. Trident PM drivers supports
Trident TVGA cards only
2. Make a backup copy of the following OS/2 drivers:
C:\OS2LDR (need to run ATTRIB -S -H -R OS2LDR first)
C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
C:\OS2\SVGA.EXE
C:\OS2\DLL\DISPLAY.DLL
(PM display driver)
C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM\VGA.DRV
(WINOS2 full screen driver)
C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2\SYSTEM\SWINVGA.DRV
(WINOS2 seamless driver)
We recommend that the backup be put on a floppy
3. Unzip (*.ZIP) the Trident drivers/utilities/fixes to be
installed
4. Install the new OS2LDR, VSVGA.SYS and SVGA.EXE:
COPY OS2LDR C:\OS2LDR
COPY VSVGA.SYS C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
COPY SVGA.EXE C:\OS2\SVGA.EXE
5. Go to a DOS Full Screen session, run system command
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SVGA ON
A file called SVGADATA.PMI will be generated in C:\OS2
Save this file on a floppy disk
6. Switch to OS/2 protected mode session and start
DDINSTAL
7. Follow the instructions to finish the rest of the procedures
8. You need to shut down and re-boot the system before the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
driver takes into effect
9. Before installing T768.DLL, T640V512.DLL, T640V.DLL and
T800V.DLL, read the special discussions below
10.Copy SMODE.EXE, DESKMAN.EXE, DESKDLL.DLL etc to a directory
on you OS/2 PATH (eg. C:\OS2\APPS)
Appendices:
----------
1. Files in the package:
.Zipped format:
W800 ZIP
W1024 ZIP
W8514 ZIP
T640 ZIP
T768 ZIP
T800 ZIP
T1024 ZIP
T8514 ZIP
T640V512 ZIP
T640V ZIP
T800V ZIP
UTILS ZIP
FIXES ZIP
README EXE
.Unzipped format:
README DOC -- Read this first
W800 DLL -- 800x600-16 color PM driver
W1024 DLL -- 1024x768-16 color PM driver
T640 DLL -- 640x480-256 color PM driver
T768 DLL -- 768x1024-256 color PM driver
T800 DLL -- 800x600-256 color PM driver
T1024 DLL -- 1024x768-256 color PM driver
T8514 DLL -- 1024x768-256 color PM driver
with 8514 compatible resources
T640V512 DLL -- 640x480-256 color PM driver
with 1024x512 virtual desktop
T640V DLL -- 640x480-256 color PM driver
with 1024x1024 virtual desktop
T800V DLL -- 800x600-256 color PM driver
with 1024x1024 virtual desktop
W800SL DRV -- 800x600-16 seamless WINOS2 driver
W800 DRV -- 800x600-16 full screen WinOS2 driver
W1024C DRV -- 1024x768-16 full screen WinOS2 driver
T640C DRV -- 640x480-256 full screen WinOS2 driver
T800C DRV -- 800x600-256 full screen WinOS2 driver
T1024C DRV -- 1024x768-256 full screen WinOS2 driver
T1024FC DRV -- 1024x768-256 full screen (large font)
W800 DDP -- Device Driver Profile (for DDINSTAL)
W1024 DDP
T640 DDP
T768 DDP
T800 DDP
T1024 DDP
T8514 DDP
T640V512 DDP
T640V DDP
T800V DDP
TRIDENT EXE -- Trident TVGA chipset finder
DESKMAN EXE -- Desktop Manager
DESKDLL DLL -- used by DESKMAN.EXE
DISPINFO EXE -- WinOS2 display info
SMODE EXE -- Set video mode for OS/2 and DOS
POLARITY COM -- Change sync polarity for some displays
OS2LDR -- OS/2 loader fix
VSVGA SYS -- VSVGA.SYS fix
SVGA EXE -- SVGA.EXE fix
PATCH256 EXE -- fix 256 color desktop trash
8900BFIX COM -- fix some 8900B problems
2. On board video memory requirements (8900/9000)
driver resolution min. mem (KB) chipset
W800.DLL 800x600 -16 256 8900/9000
W1024.DLL 1024x768-16 512 8900/9000
T640.DLL 640x480-256 512 8900/9000
T768.DLL 768x1024-256 1024 8900
T800.DLL 800x600-256 1024 8900
T1024.DLL 1024x768-256 1024 8900
T8514.DLL 1024x768-256 1024 8900
T640V512.DLL 640x480-256 (1Kx.5K) 512 8900/9000
T640V.DLL 640x480-256 (1Kx1K) 1024 8900
T800V.DLL 800x600-256 (1Kx1K) 1024 8900
Fail to comply with the above requirements may cause
system hangup during OS/2 boot. In case this happens,
use a bootup diskette to boot from drive A, restore OS/2
default DISPLAY.DLL driver (the saved one), then boot
OS/2 again.
3. Some useful tips for trouble shooting
. Use TVGA 8900C/9000 chips or newer.
8900B chip works in most cases.
. Use OS/2 2.0 GA version only.
OS/2 installation should be done after the install-
ation of TVGA card.
. Do not forget to backup original OS/2 drivers
. Do not forget to run SVGA ON system command from
DOS FULL SCREEN session.
. Alt-F1 on system boot time will erase SVGADATA.PMI
Back up the .PMI files before trying Alt-F1
. Make sure your TVGA board has enough memory for
the designated PM display mode.
. Expierenced users may choose to manually copy the
driver files to \OS2\DLL. Make sure DISPLAY.DLL and
Seamless WINOS2 drivers use the same resolution
and color. Full screen WINOS2 driver may use
different display mode.
. Whenever the TVGA board configuration is changed,
such as adding or removing display RAM, setting
jumpers, you need to run SVGA ON again to replace
.PMI file. The best way for this is to run SVGA OFF,
restore the original VGA (640x480-16) DISPLAY.DLL,
erase old .PMI file first. Change the hardware
configuration. Then boot and run SVGA ON from DOS
full screen session. Install the SVGA driver
and reboot.
. T768.DLL (portrait mode) needs a special .PMI
entry that currently can not be generated by
SVGA.EXE. If you have problem installing this
driver, contact our technical support.
. If abnormal display occurs when running apps,
please try to duplicate the problem. You may
also want to try the same apps under the original
VGA DISPLAY.DLL which comes with your OS/2. If the
problem is still there, there is a high chance
that this is an application's bug. Otherwise,
please report the problem to our technical
support.
. Bugs can usually be fixed within days. But for
stability, the drivers may not be available to
the public immediately until the next major driver
release. Private build can be obtained on individual
bases for evaluation.
. If you cannot get TVGA driver for WINOS2 working,
check to see if the driver is compressed. A regular
size (just like the W800SL.DRV) is about 73000 bytes.
If yours is considerably smaller, you need to uncompress
it first. Try the EXPAND.EXE program in GA Disk 9 to
uncompress the .DRV file.
4. Advanced topic: adjusting video parameters
In most cases, TVGA card matches display monitors
perfectly. However, some monitors cannot sync under
default video parameter settings. Some can sync but
the picture shifted to one side of the screen. Other
monitors support high refresh rates, that reduces
flickering (like 70 Hz vertical frequency). To get
the best display result, you may want to go through
the following procedures to adjust video parameters.
Unless this is necessary, and you fully understand
how this works, we recommend that you skip this
operation.
. Boot OS/2 with the default DISPLAY.DLL (640x480-16).
. Use the TVGACRTC.EXE utility (on TVGA Driver/Utility
Diskettes, also available from Trident BBS) under OS/2
DOS FULL SCREEN.
It will generate TVGACRTC.SYS file and insert a line
DEVICE=path\TVGACRTC.SYS
in the CONFIG.SYS.
. Shutdown OS/2 and reboot the system.
. Open a DOS full screen and run
SVGA ON
This will generate a "corrected" .PMI file.
. Remove DEVICE=TVGACRTC.SYS statement from CONFIG.SYS
. Shutdown OS/2 and boot again.
5. Advanced topic: Vertual Desktop Display Driver
Virtual Desktop Drivers (T640V512.DLL, T640V.DLL and
T800V.DLL) are a new type of OS/2 display drivers.
The driver enables user to work on a larger desktop
which cannot be supported directly by the video display
hardware. For example, your VGA monitor does not support
high resolution, or your VGA adapter is not able to set
video resolution higher than 1024x768 256 color. Also on
a smaller monitor (say 14"), you may not want to use the
highest resolution mode but still want a bigger dimension
desktop.
Typical 256 color Virtual Desktop dimensions on TVGA
chipset are 1024x1024 for 1MB RAM, 1024x512 for 512KB
RAM. Larger sizes may be supported on future TVGA
chipsets.
Since the physical screen (the viewport) is smaller than
the virtual desktop, there must be a way to move the
viewport around the desktop to display different parts
of the desktop. Current driver design allows the user
to move mouse pointer beyond the boundary of the viewport,
to the direction of the part of desktop to be viewed.
The display driver will follow the mouse pointer and
adjust the position of viewport accordingly.
Some users may not like Virtual Desktop Drivers, for
various reasons. They can use the T640.DLL or T800.DLL
instead.
To install T640V512.DLL, T640V.DLL or T800V.DLL, you need
to edit the .PMI file. Make sure that you understand the
structure of .PMI file before editing it. First make a
copy of the current .PMI file (in case you want to go back
to T640.DLL or T800.DLL). Then use an editor to open
C:\OS2\SVGADATA.PMI.
If you are installing T640V512.DLL, find the mode entry
for 640x480-256 color mode from SVGADATA.PMI file:
[comment]
Graphics Mode: 640 x 480 x 256 colours.
and change the [modeinfo] section to:
(Be careful not to change any other lines in the file!)
[ModeInfo]
ModeAttributes = 0x18
BytesPerScanLine = 80
XResolution = 1024
YResolution = 512
TextRows = 30
BitsPerPixel = 8
NumberOfPlanes = 1
PageLength = 524288
SaveSize = 524288
InterlaceMode = 0
BufferAddress = 0x0a0000
All other steps are similar to installing T640.DLL.
If you are installing T640V.DLL, find the mode entry
for 640x480-256 color mode from SVGADATA.PMI file:
[comment]
Graphics Mode: 640 x 480 x 256 colours.
and change the [modeinfo] section to:
[ModeInfo]
ModeAttributes = 0x18
BytesPerScanLine = 80
XResolution = 1024
YResolution = 1024
TextRows = 30
BitsPerPixel = 8
NumberOfPlanes = 1
PageLength = 1048576
SaveSize = 1048576
InterlaceMode = 0
BufferAddress = 0x0a0000
All other steps are similar to installing T640.DLL.
If you are going to install T800V.DLL, find the mode
entry for 800x600-256 color mode from SVGADATA.PMI file:
[comment]
Graphics Mode: 800 x 600 x 256 colours.
and change the [modeinfo] section to:
[ModeInfo]
ModeAttributes = 0x18
BytesPerScanLine = 100
XResolution = 1024
YResolution = 1024
TextRows = 37
BitsPerPixel = 8
NumberOfPlanes = 1
PageLength = 1048576
SaveSize = 1048576
InterlaceMode = 0
BufferAddress = 0x0a0000
All other steps are similar to installing T800.DLL.
6. Zoomable Virtual Desktop
Zoom feature for Virtual Desktop is designed to increase
the usability of the drivers and the productivity of
users. Since the Workplace Shell has no knowledge about
the difference of virual desktop and physical screen
resolution, the original virtual desktop drivers was
inconvenient when a window is bigger than the physical
screen size or too small that could hide itself beyond
the visible area. With the new virtual desktop drivers
and the DESKMAN utility, this problem is greatly
alleviated. DESKMAN does three jobs. First it shows
desktop/driver informations so that the user always
knows what drivers he/she is using and the desktop , screen,
icon, mouse dimensions and number of colors. Second,
the driver can disable desktop panning so that moving the
mouse pointer out of screen will not cause the visible
desktop area to slide away. Whenever you want to focus
on working on a desktop area, press the SCROLL LOCK key
will lock the screen. Press that key again undo the
locking. You also have the option of temperarily reverse
current locking state by press and hold both SHIFT and
CTRL keys. Try press and hold these keys and move the
mouse pointer to where you want and release both keys.
Third, DESKMAN can zoom in the big desktop into the
whole screen area so that the user is able to get overview
of the entire desktop. The virtual desktop driver does
this by shrink itself into the screen. Typically a 1024
by 1024 desktop will shrink to 512 by 512, and 1024 by
512 to 512 by 512. Screen data is not lost and can be
instantly restored. User can even work on most functions
when screen is zoom-in'ed. One usage for this feature is
to find a small off-screen window by zoom in the desktop,
move mouse to the window of interest the zoom back to
normal size. The hot keys for zoom-in are CTRL-ALT.
By press and hold CTRL-ALT, the desktop is zoomed in.
Release CTRL-ALT to undo it.
To obtain zoomable feature, DESKMAN.EXE should run first.
Since DESKDLL.DLL is loaded at runtime by DESKMAN.EXE,
it should be in the same directory as DESKMAN.EXE or on
your OS/2 LIBPATH. With DESKMAN stays 'resident', the
zoomable features are always available with one keystroke
away! Typically, after invoking DESKMAN, you just minimize
(hide) it so that it will not shown on desktop. We
recommend that you put it into the STARTUP folder (within
system folder) and make it 'minimized on startup'.
7. Questions and Answers
Q: How do I know my card is Trident ?
A: If your are using Impact III card, it is Trident.
To determine if the card is Trident OEM, four
ways you can try:
. The system boot up logo shows 'TRIDENT'
. Run TRIDENT.EXE utility in DOS full screen session
. Run SVGA STATUS from DOS full screen
. The big square chip on the card shows 'Trident'
Q: I just installed Trident drivers on my TVGA system,
and the system hangs on the first reboot. Give
me some tips.
A: Here is a check list:
. C:\OS2\SVGADATA.PMI exists and is about 17217
bytes long
. CONFIG.SYS contains the following three lines:
IOPL = YES (OS/2 default)
SET VIO_VGA=(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
Q: Nobody seems can get Trident drivers working
on my SVGA card, what's wrong ?
A: Is the card using Trident 8900/9000 chipset ?
Q: What do BVHSVGA.DLL and VSVGA.SYS do ?
A: From SVGA display driver point of view, BVH handles
OS/2 sessions and VSVGA handles multiple virtual
DOS sessions.
Q: I have a problem with my 8900B when opening a DOS
full screen. How can I solve the problem ?
A: Try 8900BFIX. This is a temporary solution and
might not fix your specific problem. Only newer
VSVGA.SYS can permanently fix this problem.
Q: My desktop is trashed during DOS or OS/2 full screen
to PM switch. Is this a bug in the DISPLAY.DLL ?
A: This generally indicates some incorrect operations
in VSVGA.SYS or BVHSVGA.DLL. The problem happens
mostly when using 256 color drivers and 8900B chips.
You can always apply the PATCH256.EXE to cure it
completely.
Q: GIF's on my 256 color desktop seems not as colorful
as what I expected, any comment ?
A: It depends on the image viewer you use. Trident
256 color drivers support realizable color palette
manipulation. This feature is undocumented in
OS/2 2.0, although available in OS/2 1.x. To find
if a display driver supports realizable color
palette, use
DevQueryCaps
and check the CAPS_COLOR_TABLE_SUPPORT entry. An 8
indicates it supports 256 colors. Then you can
call the following calls/undocumented calls:
GpiCreateLogColorTable
GpiRealizeColorTable
GpiUnrealizeColorTable
and be sure to include the following two lines at
the begin in of your program:
BOOL APIENTRY16 GpiRealizeColorTable(HPS);
BOOL APIENTRY16 GpiUnrealizeColorTable(HPS);
Also you need to do is to put these lines in your
.DEF file:
IMPORTS
GPIREALIZECOLORTABLE = PMGPI.100
GPIUNREALIZECOLORTABLE = PMGPI.101
Write your true 256 color image viewers and have
fun!
Q: I tried all your 256 color PM drivers, none of them
would allow me to run my 16 color graphics apps
from a DOS window. I have no problem with the OS/2
VGA display driver. Does this mean your drivers are
buggy ?
A: No. Nobody who does VGA compatible 256 color drivers
would ever try to think of supporting such features.
There is a substantial difference between 16 color
and 256 color modes in term of hardware structures.
VGA compatible 16 color modes use planar memory layout,
whereas VGA compatible 256 color modes use packed
pixel memory layout. In an OS/2 DOS windowed session,
all direct hardware access are trapped/intercepted
by the OS and the hardware operations are emulated.
This is called virtualization. Text modes are the
most easy modes for emulattion, whether the hardware
is in 16 or 256 color graphics mode. It is also
practical for software to emulate 256 color modes
when hardware is in 16 color mode. This is the case
when you use the VGA display driver and have a 256
color game running in a DOS window. But on the other
hand, trapping and fully emulating 16 color modes
with 256 color hardware settings is in practical
if not impossible. Even in the future OS/2 release
I would doubt this limitation can be overcome.
The solution is to run all DOS graphics apps from
DOS full screen if you are using 256 color desktop
driver or you will be forced to do so.
Support for 256 color windowed DOS graphics in a
256 color desktop could be included in future OS/2
releases.
Q: I need to install a dual monitor system, but hasn't
been successful in getting my mono card to work
with my TVGA card. Is it possible for this setup ?
A: Sure. But wait a minute. We has found that OS/2
2.0 installation incorrectly modified the CONFIG.SYS
file when SVGA is used. Before installing mono
card, OS/2 has this statement in CONFIG.SYS:
SET VIO_VGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
But after you run mono instalation, you will find
the statement has been changed to:
SET VIO_VGA=DEVICE(BVHSVGA,BVHVGA)
which will cause the next reboot to fail. You
need to manually edit CONFIG.SYS immediately after
mono installation and then reboot machine.
We also found that the OS2LDR has a problem when
both TVGA and MDA are installed. This can be solved
by using TVGA BIOS 3.x.
Q: 800x600 drivers shrink my screen to half height.
Can you help me get rid of this?
A: Put the POLARITY.COM TSR in AUTOEXEC.BAT, and open
a DOS full screen. Run SMODE 5B and see if the
problem is solved. If yes, run SVGA ON under this
session and the corrected .PMI file will be generated.
Restart your machine.
Q: When running in a DOS windowed session, my VGA
graphics apps are always suspended, why ? I am
using a 256 color driver.
A: Under 256 color PM, it is too expensive for the
virtual DOS machine to emulate 16 color hardware
operations. Run the apps under DOS full screen.
Q: My DOS or OS/2 full screen is trashed when I start
a full screen session. Am I the only one who
have this problem?
A: This problem does not happen to most TVGA owners,
but does occur to some. It has nothing to do with
the desktop driver (DISPLAY.DLL) but definitely
indicates the current VSVGA.SYS or BVHSVGA.DLL
do not handle some cards correctly.
Q: My monitor supports higher vertical frequency
(70Hz). Does these drivers allow me to utilize
this feature ?
A: Yes. The way that Trident drivers are designed
makes it especially flexible. You don't need
to download a 70 or 64 Hz driver separately.
What you need to do is to use the TVGACRTC
utility mentioned above to adjust the monitor
display to the best you want. Don't know if
your monitor can support higher vertical
frequency ? Try TVGACRTC and find it out
yourself.
Q: Are there any neat tricks for OS/2 SVGA ?
A: Find them yourself and write 'Undocumented OS/2'.
Practice: SVGA.EXE
Use DEBUG to search 'STATUS' string, you will
find SVGA.EXE supports more options other than
ON/OFF:
SVGA STATUS
SVGA WHO
SVGA ON DOS
Try these and find out what they mean.
WARNING: Improper use of undocumented features
may cause unpredictable result.
Q: I installed W800.DLL, do I have to use W800.DRV
for WinOS2 ?
A: No. You can choose any WinOS2 driver (same as
Windows 3.0 driver) for your full screen session.
However, seamless DISPLAY.DLL and SWINVGA.DRV
have to be in the same mode. Thus W800SL.DRV
can only be used with W800.DLL.
Q: I used T640V.DLL. I sometimes lose where I am
on the 1024x1024 Virtual Desktop. Any ideas ?
A: I usually place a desktop picture at the center
of my desktop (not Tiled or Scaled) so that I can
always refer to the picture to know where I am.
With this release use the ZOOMABLE feature to
increase virtual desktop usability.
Q: Does Trident has any newer high performance chips
available ? What about future OS/2 support ?
A: Yes, we have several new chips coming out soon.
They are compatible with 8900C. OS/2 and Trident
drivers has been tested and found working very
well on them. Send your inquiries to our technical
support for more info. We will continue support
our customers by providing better drivers.
Q: Where can I get additional OS/2 info ?
A: To get info from IBM, call 1-800-3IBMOS2.
If you have Internet account, join the following
news group:
comp.os.os2.misc
comp.os.os2.apps
comp.os.os2.programmer
etc.
or ftp from:
hobbes.nmsu.edu
If you do not have Internet access, try the BBSes
listed above.
*******************************
* Trident Microsystems, Inc. *
* 205 Ravendale Drive *
* Mountain View, CA 94043 *
*******************************
FAX: (415) 691-9265 Attn: OS/2 Driver Support
BBS: (415) 691-1016 (Original distribution site for this package)
File location: File Library\OS2-20
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* This package is provided by Trident Microsystems, Inc. It can be
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