PsL Monthly 1993 December/PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM (December 1993).iso/prgmming/dos/c/xgakit.exe/XGAKIT.DOC

Text File | 1991-05-06 | 6KB | 126 lines

               XGA Programmer's toolkit - version 1.1

(Version 1.1 includes several 800x600 modes that were not in
the original release.  The 800x600 modes require a multisynch
adapter.)

This package contains a set of simple routines providing direct-video
access to IBM's new XGA adapter.  These routines have been tested on
both single-monitor and dual-monitor (XGA & VGA) setups.  If you have
multiple XGA adapter/monitors (and you can have up to eight of them!),
you'll have to modify these routines yourself - I ran out of money after
buying one XGA adapter <grin>.

The routines and detailed explanations of their operation are in
XGAKIT.ASM, an assembly module written to interface with a driving
"C" program using the medium model.  There is also a simple XGADEMO.C
program provided as proof that these routines work (XGADEMO was also an
invaluable tool for me in *getting* them to work, which is why the
commented-out function calls in it exist).

Basically, the routines provide functions for throwing an XGA adapter
into any of the modes listed below.  For the graphics modes, there are
also routines for setting the XGA palette (which is *different* from the
VGA palette), writing/reading individual pixels, and writing/reading
entire (or portions of) individual scan lines.  The routines use the
64K aperture of the XGA as opposed to its 1MB or 4MB aperture, so they're
not as fast as they could be - but they work, and they're relatively
simple.

The XGA video modes supported by these routines are:

             normal VGA text mode
             132-col VGA text mode
             1024x768x256 graphics mode
             1024x768x16 graphics mode
             640x480x256 graphics mode
             640x480x65536 graphics mode
             800x600x16 graphics mode       |  The 800x600 modes require
             800x600x256 graphics mode      |  a multisynch monitor (they've
        *    800x600x65536 graphics mode    |  been tested on a NEC 2A)

 * - but the 800x600x65536 mode doesn't work on the 2A.  The pixels are
     doubled up hirozontally so that only the left-hand side of the
     screen is visible.  No, I don't know why.  Help!


---------------------

The limitations (of both the XGA adapter and this code):

- Although the XGA adapter works just fine as a VGA adapter when it is in
a VGA mode (which it can do on single-mode setups), it has a few uglies
when it is in one of its extended modes.

For one, you can't get an XGA adapter back into a VGA mode just by
calling a BIOS INT 10H routine, because the (current) PS/2 BIOS doesn't
know about the XGA's special registers and so can't reset them - you have
to invoke 'xga_mode(0)' first to get the adapter(s) back into a "normal"
VGA mode.  On dual-adapter setups, 'xga_mode(0)' leaves the XGA image
intact but switches the focus back to the VGA monitor.

For another, when it is in an extended mode, the XGA uses its own
palette registers, which are *different* from those of the VGA.  They are
accessed differently (use 'xga_setpalette()'), they are *not* initialized
to the VGA palette (you have to set them explicitly), and they use the
*top* six bits of a byte instead of the *bottom* six bits (IE, RGB value
10,20,30 in VGA mode is the same as color 40,80,120 in extended mode).
'xga_setpalette()' uses XGA-style values - 0 thru 255.

Also, the (current) Windows drivers that are distributed with the XGA
prevent the XGA routines from working properly, probably because the
XGA register locations are not virtualized.  The monitor ID is returned
as an invalid '0000', the memory-detect routines do not work, and
everything else is equally messed up.  For the moment, if 'xga_detect()'
receives that impossible '0000' monitor ID, it just returns a "no XGA
found" and inhibits the other routines from doing anything.


         ----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------

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