Installing and Using Windows 95 with Matrox Millennium


Overview
This document addresses questions and problems with using Windows 95 and the Matrox Millennium. Other Matrox products are covered in the "Installing and Using Windows 95 with Matrox Ultima, Ultima Plus, Impression, Impression Plus and Impression Lite Products " document. Windows 95-specific drivers for running Matrox products are included with Windows 95 (version 1.00). Matrox also supplies a version of the driver which supports Powerdesk features similar to our Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers for MGA. These drivers are supplied with Matrox Millennium boards manufactured after August 24, 1995. These drivers may also be downloaded from our BBS (514-685-6008) or CompuServe (GO MATROX), or our ftp site ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/. Note that the MGA Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers cannot be used to run Windows 95.

Which Driver Should You Use
In general, you should use the latest driver from Matrox. However, if you did not receive it with your Millennium board and you cannot obtain this driver easily, you can still use the Version 1.0 driver which is supplied with Windows 95 CD. Please note that this driver is not supplied with the floppy disk version of Windows 95. The primary additions to the Matrox driver are:

MGA Property sheet (Windows 95 compatible)
MGA Quick Access (practical floating tool bar)
MGA Monitor Program (more control)
DDC-2b and Windows 95 monitor support (Plug and Play)
Improved performance (fast)
The MGA Settings sheet in the Display Properties dialog box complements the Windows 95 Settings sheet and provides access to the Powerdesk features:
A Desktop area that supports display resolutions up to 1600 x 1200, to expand the working area beyond the limits of the monitor.
PixelTOUCH, for hardware pan and zoom (x2 to x4).
PanLOCK, to lock the working area of the virtual desktop. · CenterWINDOW and CenterPOPUP, to center application windows and popup windows in the currently-visible area on the monitor.
An almost unlimited number of Display Schemes, to easily switch between your preferred configurations.
In addition, the following programs are included with the Powerdesk software:
- The MGA Quick Access program, which is a re-positional iconic menu which complements the hotkeys to allow quick access to various Powerdesk functions, including four preset modes.
- The MGA Monitor program, which is an advanced program which can be used in place of the standard Windows 95 Monitor selection process, for users who wish to benefit from optimum refresh rates of their monitor and graphics accelerator through interactive testing and adjustment.

Installation Tips for Version 1.0 Driver
1) The Version 1.0 driver is included with the Windows 95 CD in the \DRIVERS\DISPLAY\ MATROX directory. If you are installing Windows 95 on a system with a Millennium product already installed and want to use the Version 1.0 driver, follow these steps:
Start the Windows 95 Setup program. As part of the installation, a hardware detection process will detect an "Oak Technology SuperVGA" board. There is no cause for alarm - your computer will reboot in standard VGA mode (640 x 480 with 16 colors), which is supported by the Millennium.
Once the Windows 95 installation is complete, install the Millennium Version 1.0 driver. For more information on changing the display driver, select Help from the Windows 95 Start button and select "Display, driver, adding or changing" from the index. Remember that you must select the driver from the \DRIVERS\DISPLAY\MATROX directory.
DO NOT attempt to install the driver for the Matrox boards that appear in the Select Device list since they only work with MGA Ultima\Ultima+\Impression+ models.
2) If you are adding the Matrox graphics accelerator to a system with Windows 95 already installed, when you restart the system the hardware detection capabilities of Win95 should detect a new product has been installed. The hardware detection will detect an Oak Technology Super VGA as above. Follow the steps in paragraph 1 to correctly install the Version 1.0 drivers.
3) When you install the Version 1.0 drivers for your Matrox card, it will only support a 60 Hz refresh rate regardless of the Windows 95 monitor type selected (selected from the Settings sheet in the Display Properties). You can obtain higher refresh rates by using an MGA .INF file. This is created by our Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers or by our DOS Setup program and is normally found in the \MGA\SETUP directory.
To use this file, the following variable must be set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET MGA=C:\MGA\SETUP. As well, create a [MGA.DRV] section in your SYSTEM.INI file and add the line MGA_INF = 1 to it. DDC type monitors do not automatically work under Windows 95 with the Version 1.0 driver. They must be configured like any other monitor.


Known Problems or Limitations of the Version 1.0
Check Microsoft's knowledge base at www.microsoft.com.

Known Problems or Limitations of the Version 3.13 Driver
There are currently no known problems or limitations with the 3.13 driver.

Problems with Applications and Windows 95
If you discover a problem running an application that you think is related to the video card such as screen corruption, there is a simple test you can do before contacting Matrox support. You can disable the card's acceleration features to see if this is the cause of the problem. To do this, start the System properties from the Control Panel and select the Performance sheet. Click the "Graphics" button and slide the hardware acceleration button to None. Close everything and restart the system. If the problem still persists, then the problem comes from the application or from Windows 95. Contact the application vendor or Microsoft. If the problem disappears, then the problem is may be with the MGA video driver. To confirm this, try changing to the VGA drivers (640x480x16 colors) and see if the problem persists. If the problem disappears, you should report the problem to our technical support department. If possible, send a fax to 514-685-2853 or email to graphics.techsupport@matrox.com.


Bottom toolbar
Copyright © 1996 Matrox Graphics Inc. All rights reserved.
Send all questions and comments regarding this site's construction to webmaster@matrox.com