------------------------------------------------------------------ #9 HawkEye for Windows for the #9 Imagine128 Product line Version 2.31 ------------------------------------------------------------------ This file contains the latest information about the Imagine128 Windows disk. The entire contents of this file should be read because information in this file may not appear in printed documentation or on-line Help. In addition, the following informational text files are provided to supplement this READ_ME.TXT: ZOOM.TXT An overview of Zoom performance by color depth and resolution. FILELIST.TXT A complete list and description of all the Imagine128 files on your Imagine128 Windows Installation Disk. NETWORK.TXT Network and manual installation details. NOTE: These files will be automatically copied to the NUMBER9 subdirectory (under your Windows directory) when you install the Imagine driver by running SETUP.EXE. ------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTACTING NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE UPGRADES USING THE NUMBER NINE BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE (BBS) INSTALLING IMAGINE 128 DRIVERS DCI SUPPORT FOR VIDEO FOR WINDOWS BEFORE CALLING TECHNICAL SUPPORT TROUBLESHOOTING KNOWN PROBLEMS TO BE FIXED IN FUTURE RELEASES OTHER PROBLEMS (APPLICATION-SPECIFIC) OTHER PROBLEMS (GENERAL) ------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTACTING NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY ------------------------------------------------------------------ Technical Support (USA) 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, EST/EDT, Mon.-Fri. Phone: (617) 674-8595 Please be prepared with as much information about your #9 Imagine128 and PC as possible. Fax: (617) 674-2919 Please send fax inquiries to the attention of Technical Support. * * * Sales / Marketing (USA) 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, EST/EDT, Mon.-Fri. Phone: (617) 674-0009 Fax: (617) 674-2919 Please send fax inquiries to the attention of Sales * * * European Technical Support and Sales (Germany) Phone: +49 89 614 491 0 Fax: +49 89 614 491 99 * * * MAIL (USA) NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY 18 HARTWELL AVENUE LEXINGTON, MA 02173 USA * * * MAIL (EUROPEAN OFFICE) NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY GMBH INSELKAMMERSTR. 10 82008 UNTERHACHING B. MUNCHEN GERMANY ------------------------------------------------------------------ SOFTWARE UPGRADES ------------------------------------------------------------------ Even though you may have just received your Number Nine software, newer versions may be available. Free upgrades are provided to all Number Nine customers on the Number Nine Bulletin Board System (BBS). To see if you have the latest version, compare the version number of your software (on the label of the provided diskette or in #9 Status under #9 Imagine128 Windows Disk ID) with the version number of the corresponding software on the BBS. ------------------------------------------------------------------ USING THE NUMBER NINE BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE (BBS) ------------------------------------------------------------------ (USA) Dial: (617) 862-7502 Baud Rates: Up to 14,400 baud Compression: HST, v.32 and v.42 supported Modem Setup: 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity Required: PKUNZIP 2.04g to decompress files (EUROPEAN OFFICE) Dial: + 49 89 614 491 66 Baud Rates: Up to 14,400 baud Compression: HST, v.32 and v.42 supported Modem Setup: 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity Required: PKUNZIP 2.04g to decompress files The BBS has a separate file area for each Number Nine product. The latest driver updates can be found in each product's file area, and files of general interest (shareware, etc.) can be found in the General library. An E-mail system is available for technical questions about Number Nine products or about the BBS in general. A complete listing of available files can be downloaded by invoking the "Download List of Files" command from any file library menu. On the US BBS, RIP graphics are supported, and a RIP compatible terminal program is available in the General library (RIPTM154.ZIP). Many files are self-extracting, but some files will require the latest version of PKUNZIP to decompress. PKUNZIP is available in the General library (filename PKZ204G.EXE), and can also be found on most on-line services such as CompuServe and America Online. ------------------------------------------------------------------ INSTALLING IMAGINE 128 DRIVERS ------------------------------------------------------------------ SETUP.EXE will perform an automatic driver installation for you. 1) From diskette: - Insert the Imagine128 Windows Diskette into your floppy drive. - In Windows Program Manager: select the File menu select Run type A:setup, press Enter 2) After a Number Nine BBS download: - Decompress files with PKUNZIP (see Imagine128 read_me.text BBS section...above) onto a 1.44Mb floppy disk. - Insert the disk into your floppy drive. - In Windows Program Manager: select the File menu select Run type A:setup, press Enter (Do NOT store these files in a DIRECTORY called C:\NUMBER9 as it will create a conflict with the configuration FILE of the same name!!!) 3) To install drivers manually, see the MANUAL INSTALLATION section at the end of this document. NOTE: Files ending with extension ".EXX" must be renamed with the extension ".EXE" before being used. Likewise, files ending with a "#" must be decompressed using the UNSQUISH utility. These files will automatically be translated during a Windows #9 SETUP installation. ------------------------------------------------------------------ DCI SUPPORT FOR VIDEO FOR WINDOWS ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Imagine Windows driver supports the Display Control Interface (DCI). DCI allows application software to send data to hardware directly, (bypassing Windows) thus improving performance. Video for Windows v1.1d is an example of an application that provides support for DCI. When DCI is enabled, Video frames (both stretched and unstretched) are accelerated for improved performance. Version 1.1d is the first version of Video for Windows which uses DCI. Previous versions will not work properly with the Imagine128 windows driver. Video for Windows 1.1d is available on the Number Nine BBS. The Imagine128 SETUP program will automatically enable DCI support. For a manual installation, 1) You must now manually copy the files UDH.DLL and DCIMAN.DLL from the Imagine128 drivers disk to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Example: XCOPY A:UDH.DLL C:\WIN31\SYSTEM XCOPY A:DCIMAN.DLL C:\WIN31\SYSTEM 2) Edit the WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI file and make the following changes: In the [DRIVERS] Section, add or modify the following lines: VIDS.DRAW=udh.dll DCI=display In the [Imagine-128] Section, add or modify the following lines: DCI=1 4) SAVE those changes and launch Windows. The DCI driver should now be enabled. ------------------------------------------------------------------ BEFORE CALLING TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are experiencing a problem, please run the MS Windows Setup from DOS and select VGA as the display type. If the problem still occurs in VGA mode, then the problem is most likely being caused by Windows or other hardware/software and not with the #9 Imagine128 Windows driver. When in VGA mode, select #9 Status from the HawkEye Control Panel. The information provided by this feature will be of great assistance to Technical Support. If a problem is application specific, please have vendor information and application version information readily available. Number Nine Visual Technology has qualified this driver with over 200 applications, but a multitude of new applications enter the market every day. If you encounter problems during driver initialization, (e.g. the driver hangs or the DOS prompt appears) please add the following lines to SYSTEM.INI: [Imagine-128] Verbose Init=1 This places the driver in "Verbose" mode. In Verbose mode, initialization strings are sent to the VGA screen. A copy of the expected "Verbose" strings is contained in VERBOSE.TXT. Verbose Mode will significantly slow down Windows initialization. After Verbose Mode is used to isolate an initialization problem, Verbose Mode should be disabled. ------------------------------------------------------------------ TROUBLESHOOTING ------------------------------------------------------------------ Problem: One or more of the following HawkEye DOS applications will not run: DACSNOOP.EXX IRESET.EXX UNSQUISH.EXX Solution: These files must be renamed with an ".EXE" extension before they can be used: DACSNOOP.EXE IRESET.EXE UNSQUISH.EXE * * * Problem: While trying to run ireset (C:\windows>ireset) or during driver installation the following error message is displayed: Unable to find #9 configuration file Solution: You may have created a temporary DIRECTORY called Number9 in your ROOT directory (C:\Number9). Our configuration FILE is called Number9 and is located in the ROOT directory (C:\Number9). Rename the Number9 directory in the root directory to another name. * * * Problem: A Windows application either does not animate correctly or no animation appears. Solution: Several Windows applications (in particular those using Quick Time for Windows) perform animation by writing directly to VGA hardware. This can cause problems with the Imagine128 because the VGA memory is not interleaved with the high resolution memory. Adding the following lines to QTW.INI, in your Windows directory, will fix animation problems in these applications (including MYST). [Video] optimize=driver If adding these lines does not fix the problem, then consult the documentation (the READ_ME file) distributed with the application. * * * Problem: The Imagine128 board is properly installed in your system, but you receive the following error messages when trying to go into Windows using the Imagine128 Windows driver: Failed to find the PCI BIOS!! A non standard driver may be conflicting with PCI BIOS interrupt. Hit any key to continue. Solution: If your memory manager has remapped the F000-F7FF segment of memory (in an attempt to increase DOS memory space), Windows will be unable to execute PCI BIOS interrupts. Therefore, you may need to exclude the F000-F7FF segment from use by your memory manager and/or obtain an updated version of your memory manager. 386MAX Users: The version of the 386Max memory manager that addresses this PCI issue is version 7.01 or greater. However, it requires a minor modification to function with the Imagine128 board. The modification is to remove the "USE=F000-F800" statement that MAXIMIZE may have put into the profile file 386MAX.PRO (located in the directory where 386MAX was installed, default is C:\386MAX). EMM386 Users: The version of the EMM386 memory manager that addresses this PCI issue is version 4.49 or greater. To view your EMM386.EXE version: In DOS (or Windows DOS prompt) a) Move to the directory where EMM386.EXE is located (usually the Windows or DOS directory) b) Type: EMM386 In addition, EMM386.EXE has an option called "HIGHSCAN" for its command line. This option is often inserted into the CONFIG.SYS file after running MEMMAKER.EXE. This option has the same effect as the "USE=F000-F800" statement in 386Max. Therefore, the "HIGHSCAN" statement must be removed for the Imagine128 card to function properly. QEMM386 Users: Quarterdeck is aware of the PCI BIOS problem and will address it. In the meantime they suggest that users modify the C:\CONFIG.SYS file to exclude the F000-F7FF segment as follows: "DEVICE=QEMM386.SYS X=F000-F7FF" //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// Memory Manager: 386MAX EMM386 QEMM386 Company: Qualitas Microsoft Quarterdeck Versions: 7.01 or 4.49 or pending greater greater Notes: remove the remove add X=F000-F7FF USE=F000-F800 HIGHSCAN to the end of the statement from DEVICE=QEMM386.SYS from 386MAX.PRO CONFIG.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS \\\\ \\\\\ \\\\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\ \\\\ * * * Problem: The Imagine128 board is properly installed in your system, but you receive the following error messages when trying to use the Imagine128 Windows driver: Failed to find the #9 Imagine128 board!! Make sure that ISA VGA is not conflicting with Imagine128 VGA. Hit any key to continue. Solution: It is possible that the Imagine128 on-board VGA is conflicting with the VGA on the ISA bus. In this case, the ISA VGA will be detected, but the entire Imagine128 board will be disabled. The VGA jumper JM8 on the I-128 board should be set to the DISABLE position to use ISA bus VGA. * * * Problem: When you run Windows, the screen appears blank. However, when you press Alt-F4/ several times, the DOS prompt eventually re-appears. Solution: There is an ISA VGA in the system which is conflicting with the Imagine128 VGA. In this case, the VGA output will appear correctly, but the high resolution modes will not appear. * * * Problem: The Imagine128 board is properly installed in your system, but the monochrome board is no longer working. Solution: In order to use a monochrome card with the Imagine128 you must do the following: 1) Set Imagine128 VGA jumper JM8 to the DISABLE position. 2) Install your monochrome card AND install a VGA card. * * * Problem: The Program Manager appears briefly when you start Windows. Then Windows exits to DOS. Solution: 1. There may be a problem with the #9 HawkEye Control Panel. The Control Panel is loaded when Windows is started, so a problem could occur after the Windows driver has been loaded and the Program Manager (or another Windows shell) is presented. To prevent HawkEye from loading when Windows is started, delete the reference to HawkEye from the "load=" line in the [windows] section of the WIN.INI file in the WINDOWS directory. This will determine whether the problem is with the HawkEye Control Panel, or other software. The line looks similar to the following: load=c:\WINDOWS\NUMBER9\HAWKEYE.EXE nwpopup.exe Delete WINDOWS\NUMBER9\HAWKEYE.EXE from the line, then exit Windows. If the problem persists when you restart Windows, refer to Solution 2. 2. The HawkEye initialization file (HAWKEYE.INI) may be corrupted. In this case, rename HAWKEYE.INI in the WINDOWS directory to HAWKSAVE.INI (for future reference). Then copy HAWKEYE.INI from the Imagine128 Windows Installation Disk to the WINDOWS directory. This reinstates the original HawkEye configuration. * * * Problem: Your monitor resolution is not the resolution you selected. Solution: Resolution Exchange (in #9 HawkEye for Windows program group) must be used to change the resolution. This changes the resolution in the Imagine128 configuration file, which determines what your monitor resolution will be. To use Resolution Exchange to change the resolution: 1. Press the hot key you assigned to Resolution Exchange or double click on the Resolution Exchange icon in the HawkEye for Windows program group in the Windows Program Manager. 2. Click on a Colors option button. 3. Select a resolution. Be sure you select a resolution your monitor supports. 4. Click 'OK'. 5. Restart Windows. * * * Problem: The following GPF is reported in Compton's Encyclopedia '95: MMTASK causes a GPF in MSVIDEO.DLL @ 0007:02BE Solution: Compton's Encyclopedia is not using DCI properly. To disable DCI in the Imagine driver, edit the WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI file and make the following change: In the [Imagine-128] Section, add or modify the following lines: DCI=0 * * * Problem: On a Pentium 120 with the TRITON motherboard the system hangs while playing a video clip that uses the DCI driver. The MediaStones application will hang in this configuration. Solution: The DCI hang in MediaStones on the TRITON motherboard was solved by limiting burst length during DCI data transfers to 12 DWORDs. The DCI variable in the [Imagine-128] section of \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI has been extended to control this option. This variable is now a multivalued switch rather than just a boolean flag. The bit fields are: value effect ----- ------ 0 DCI is disabled 1 DCI is enabled, uses long bursts (normal default) 3 DCI is enabled, uses short bursts (for 120MHz TRITON) In the [Imagine-128] Section, add or modify the following lines: DCI=3 * * * Problem: When trying to launch Lotus Notes, the following error message is presented: Application Execution Error: Insufficient Memory to run this application. Quit one or more Windows applications and then try again. However, Program Manager reports that you have over 2 Megabytes of memory free. Problem: Windows functions properly when a user is not logged into a network. However, windows will not boot after the network has been loaded. Solution: Windows is running out of DOS/conventional memory. (Lotus Notes uses extrodinary amount of DOS memory.) Each PC user has at most 1 Meg of conventional memory. (The actual amount varies based on drivers/TSRs loaded, memory manager used, etc.) Each Windows application requires a certain amount of conventional memory. In 386 Enhanced mode, a user will usually run out of DOS memory before running out of total memory. The Imagine128 driver can minimize its use of DOS memory. To enable this option, enter the following line in the [Imagine-128] section of SYSTEM.INI. [Imagine-128] Save Dos Memory=1 In certain configuration, this entry will improve performance. In other configurations, performance may decrease. In general, users which are running multiple applications should try to conserve DOS memory. * * * Problem: The output from a video playback card (that uses the Imagine128 VGA pass through connector) is missing or corrupted. Solution: In order to use the Imagine128 VGA pass through connector: 1. Make sure VGA jumper JM8 on the Imagine128 card is set to the ENABLE position. 2. In Windows Setup under DOS, you must select VGA as the display type and remain at 640x480x256 color resolution. Watchit Pro TV Board Users: - You may need to experiment with moving data rate jumper HDR2 (on the Watchit Pro TV board). We recommend starting with position 4 or 5. - You may also need to change Watchit's Overlay Color Key to a color that allows the video to display properly. Consult your Watchit Pro documentation or contact New Media Graphics technical support for further information. ReelMagic Users: Consult your ReelMagic documentation or contact Sigma Designs technical support for further information. * * * Problem: A video playback card that uses the VGA pass through connector on the Imagine128 graphics card is not correctly displaying the VGA palette. The colors in DOS or in VGA WINDOWS on the Video playback card are wrong. Solution: The Imagine128 card will power up with your PC's DAC Snooping disabled. This will prevent a card connected to both the ISA bus and the Video Feature connector from displaying the correct color palette. When the system's DAC Snooping is enabled, both cards can share writes to the palette and the card connected to the Video Feature connector will display the correct colors. The DOS utility DACSNOOP.EXE can be used to enable or disable the system's DAC Snooping capability. DACSNOOP.EXE is copied to the NUMBER9 directory during Windows installation. The executable also appears on the WINDOWS disk, but has been renamed DACSNOOP.EXX. NOTE: Before using the DACSNOOP executable from the WINDOWS disk, it must be renamed DACSNOOP.EXE!! Usage: Dacsnoop ["on"] || ["off"] Where: on - Enable Imagine128 DAC Snooping off - Disable Imagine128 DAC Snooping On certain machines, DAC snooping can be enabled via CMOS setup program. (Once DAC snooping is enabled, there is no need to run DACSNOOP.EXE.) See your mother board documentation for information on how to use the CMOS setup program. * * * Problem: After changing to a new resolution, an open application's icon or window is no longer visible on the desktop. Windows Task Manager (Ctrl-Esc) shows that the application is still open. Solution: 1) Hold down the Alt key and depress Tab until your application is visible. Release the Alt key to select the application. or In Windows Task Manager, select the application. Mouse-click on "Switch To" (or depress the ENTER key on your keyboard). 2) Now depress the hot key you assigned to #9 Place Windows. This will center the application in the monitor or virtual display (see Place Windows in the HawkEye Control Panel for more info). * * * Problem: Norton Desktop icons appear to be corrupted at high color (32K or 65K colors) and true color (16M colors). Solution: Norton Desktop 3.0 (or later): An icon refresh utility is provided with Norton Desktop. In Control Center, from the Categories list, select Quick Access, then mouse click on the Advanced button. In the Quick Access- Advanced dialogue box, under Reset Icons, mouse click on Reset. Then click on OK to rebuild icon information. Norton Desktop (older versions): Delete file ICOCACHE.DAT from the NDW directory. * * * Problem: Minor corruption is visible in a Windows application (such as Central Point PC Tools For Windows). Solution: In the [Imagine-128] section of SYSTEM.INI, a Validate Parameters control flag may be altered to improve Windows application reliability. In SYSTEM.INI, under [Imagine-128], turn Validate Parameters ON by changing 'Validate Params=0' to 'Validate Params=1'. [Imagine-128] DCI=1 Validate Params=1 Turning Validate Parameters ON (=1) forces the I128 driver to check GDI parameters before issuing a drawing command. Because most applications send valid parameters, the default for this option is OFF (=0). * * * Problem: After changing to a virtual resolution, sizable windows may be too wide and/or too tall. Solution: If you have not already done so, in the #9 HawkEye Control Panel use Hot Mouse to assign a hot key to #9 Place Windows. For most windows, pressing the Place Windows hot key once or twice will re-size the active window to full screen or smaller. * * * Problem: A DOS based game either does not function properly or does not function at all. Solution: The Imagine128 card contains 1/2 megabyte of on-board VGA memory. Some DOS based games require more memory than this on the graphics board. The solution is to use a separate VGA board that has enough on-board memory to support the memory requirements of the DOS games in question. To use a separate VGA board with the Imagine128, you must set the VGA jumper JM8 on the Imagine128 card to the DISABLE position. * * * Problem: A DOS session appears as a blank screen with no visible text (especially after or while running another program). Solution: While in the blank screen DOS session, type the following command: mode CO80 This should reset the screen colors to white text against a black background. Note: A permanent fix will replace this "work around" solution in a future driver release. * * * Problem: Corel Draw repaints are too slow Solution: To improve performance of Corel Draw repaints you need to set a performance flag in the SYSTEM.INI file. In the [Imagine-128] section of SYSTEM.INI, a ClipRect must be set to 0 to disable rectangle clipping. [Imagine-128] ClipRect=0 You must restart WINDOWS for the flag to take effect. * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------ OTHER PROBLEMS (APPLICATION SPECIFIC) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Software sometimes does not perform consistently across all resolutions and color depths. If you experience a persistent problem for which you cannot determine a cause or solution, try switching to a different resolution with Resolution Exchange. If the problem is consistent across resolutions. Please consult application documentation. Most applications are distributed with a READ_ME file similar to this file. READ_ME files usually contain a wealth of information regarding potential video conflicts. ------------------------------------------------------------------ OTHER PROBLEMS (GENERAL) ------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have a problem that is not described in this file or is unresolved when you try the suggested solutions, please call Number Nine Technical Support at (617) 674-8595, from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, EST/EDT, Monday through Friday. Please be prepared with as much information about your Imagine128 and computer configuration as possible. Our Fax number is (617) 674-2919. Please send all fax inquiries to the attention of Technical Support. Please refer to the CONTACTING NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY section at the beginning of this document. 09/05/95 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (C) COPYRIGHT 1995, NUMBER NINE VISUAL TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------