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README.2ND
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1991-05-12
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* The "/R" and "/P" and "/SL" command line options have been changed.
Please refer to the manual forand "/P"is now the default. See #4
below regarding the "/SL" modifications and its effect on hardware
disk caching.
1) 486, 386, 386sx, 286 and AT users with extended memory SHOULD disable
"Shadow RAM". Although VGACAD is predominantly coded in assembly and C;
QuickBasic (QB) 4.00b is used as a shell and error-handler. QB v4.00b
HATES Shadow RAM for some reason and locks-up (at least on our 386sx
clone). With AMI BIOS, you can disable Shadow RAM by pressing <DEL>
during boot and changing the set-up; it is much wiser to have EMM.SYS,
QEMM.SYS or WHATEVER.SYS to manage expanded and extended RAM anyway.
With 2MB on board, we suggest you use 720KB for VDISK to emulate a fast
3.5" drive and allocate the rest as expanded memory; a 1MB system with a
384KB RAMdisk (VDISK or RAMDISK) would match 640x480x256 screens which
decompress to 307200 bytes.
Users with third-party EMM.SYS drivers should avoid mapping the ROM
BIOS to "high" RAM (i.e., Shadow RAM) or mapping extended/expanded RAM
to areas where there is no RAM (e.g., to use LOADHI). QB's runtime
module crashes (at least on our 386sx clone). We suggest that you
keep two versions of your CONFIG.SYS file; one with your usual set-up
and one with a set-up to run ALL our programs/utilities (preferably
with as much VDISK as possible). VGACAP may not work in "high" RAM.
If your system still locks-up, do a 'naked boot' ! Rename AUTOEXEC.BAT
and CONFIG.SYS (e.g., to *.BAK) then reboot TO isolate the incompatible
TSR or SYS file.
2) DOS 4.0 - Avoid using this "buggy" version of DOS; unexpected results have
been reported with file management and mouse intialization; use 4.01 !
NOTE: DOS 4.01's SHELL HAS BEEN REPORTED TO CONFLICT WITH VGACAD; AVOID
INSTALLING IT IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH VGACAD.
USING VGACAD WITH DOS 2.0 AND BELOW WILL HAVE UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS !!!
3) Fast Machines - Use VGACAD with the "/SL:n" option. Certain menus zip
right through you. THIS AFFECTS ONLY THE SPRAY FUNCTION. At DOS prompt
type "VGACAD /SL:1000"; a 1000 delay function and will be sufficient for
386's at 20MHz. All other functions will require the release on mouse
button to proceed.
4) Large/Fast Hard Disks or 'Hardware Cache' users - SEVERE problems with
IMGPRO functions involving the saving or loading of image data have been
reported. This caused the infamamous "ERROR 5 at VDISK"; in other cases
"blank" or "trashed" screens were saved to TEMP files.
The "/SL:" option now triggers direct disk/video RAM to go through slower
but safer LOW memory buffers to avoid "mix-ups" with hardware caching.
To trigger "cache-compatible" routines, ALWAYS use the "/SL:" option:
eg. VGACAD /SL:1000
5) Terminate and Stay Resident Programs - Certain TSRs (e.g., screen blanker,
BIOS interceptor, BIOS accelerator) may cause the program to hang. We
encourage getting a mouse; AVOID using the keyboard mouse emulator. SYS
files in your CONFIG.SYS file generally behave like TSRs.
6) Mouse and Keyboard - Systems that write an address for a mouse interrupt,
when no mouse exists, will cause VGACAD to 'hang'. Run KEYME.COM then
run VGACAD with the "Force Keyboard" switch ("VGACAD /FK") if you don't
have a mouse and do not get the "USE KEYBOARD (Y/N)" prompt.
Some optical mice (e.g. PC Mouse, Kraft, Quadram) are incompatible with
BIOS calls used in VGACAD. If you have mouse problems - run the MOUSE.COM
file that comes with your mouse instead of MOUSE.SYS (DEVICE=MOUSE.SYS) in
your CONFIG.SYS file; if your mouse moves erratically then adjust mouse
parameters described in COMMAND LINE usage. If your mouse "hangs" the
system, then use the "/FM" ("Force Mouse") option; it assumes your mouse
is initialized by some other program, which YOU MUST DO BEFORE RUNNING
VGACAD; make sure you have the text cursor OFF or use another graphics
program to initialize your peculiar mouse !
WARNING: SINCE KEYME.COM IS A RESIDENT PROGRAM, THERE IS A HIGH
PROBABILITY THAT UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS CAN OCCUR; THIS
HAS BEEN REPORTED PARTICULARLY WHEN USING THE IMGPRO
MODULE FUNCTIONS. WE HIGHLY SUGGEST USING A MOUSE !!!
7) Some Trident DVGA users have reported palette read/write problems with
our Beta test versions. This means that certain Trident-based VGA and
SVGA cards are BIOS-compatible at this level. The "/P" option MUST NOT
be used to avoid palatte read/write problems:
"VGACAD /P" <ret>
This is the same with old Orchid Designer VGA cards with old BIOS. This
is a similar if not weirder problem experienced by users with old Orchid
Designer VGA cards. Orchid Designer VGA users will need the resident
VGAFIX.COM program to be loaded PRIOR TO RUNNING VGACAD !
8) Printing the manual on older versions of EPSON printers will not show the
extended ASCII character set used for illustrations; we highly recommend
using a Shareware program called IMPRINT (v1.5 or higher) to print the
manual; it does an EXCELLENT job of printing the manual with LETTER-
QUALITY output on "generic" 8-pin Epson/IBM compatible printers.
A form feed character is appended to the end of every page; this was done
in consideration of Laser printers. If this causes a problem on dot
matrix printers, use any ASCII editor to search and replace the ASC
character "12" or 0x0C (hex) if you have blank pages between each
printed page.
9) GIF 89a support is implemented in the VSCRN (Virtual Screen) module only.
If GIF 89a files are accessed from the Files Menu, decoding is aborted.
Since VGACAD is a paint/image processing program not a decoder/viewer,
when a GIF 89a file is detected from the VSCRN Menu, the user is asked
whether or not the FIRST image of the GIF 89a file is to be decoded; all
extension blocks, including plain text rendering blocks, are skipped
until an 87a image block is located and subsequently decoded.
If you have any compatibility questions leave E-Mail at CompuServe.
Lawrence [73437,2372]