----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator Diamond Fire GL1 Video Driver for Windows 2000 Release 1.09 (0500) Driver Version 5.12.2195.1100 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please read the entire contents of this document. Information in this file may not appear in printed documentation or online help. This READ-ME file contains the following information: 1. GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Installing the Diamond Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator 2. INSTALLING THE DIAMOND Fire GL1 VIDEO DRIVER 2.1 Installing the Fire GL1 Video Driver with the SuperCD 2.2 Installing Fire GL1 Video Drivers downloaded from Diamond's Website 3. CHANGING THE VIDEO SETTINGS 3.1 Setting Resolution and Color Depth 3.2 Choosing Display Refresh Rates with Windows 2000 3.3 Adjusting the Monitors' Display 4. UNINSTALLING THE DIAMOND Fire GL1 VIDEO DRIVER 5. CONFIGURATION FEATURES AND INFORMATION 5.1 Diamond Information Dialog 5.2 Diamond Configuration Menu (for experienced users only!) 6. ENHANCEMENTS & KNOWN LIMITATIONS 7. SERVICE, SUPPORT, AND SOFTWARE UPGRADES 8. SUPPORTED RESOLUTIONS, COLOR DEPTHS, AND REFRESH RATES 1. GENERAL INFORMATION ---------------------- 1.1 Installing the Diamond Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator ------------------------------------------------------- Refer to the User's Guide of your computer to install the Diamond Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerator in your system. NOTE: If you want to install the Fire GL1 card to replace your existing graphics solution it may be helpful to set your display driver to standard VGA before you shut down your PC and remove a previously installed card. If you plan to set up a multi-monitor system: With the drivers provided you can operate a maximum of four Fire GL1 Graphics Accelerators. !!! WARNING !!! There is no HW accelerated Open GL support in multi-monitor configuration. Microsoft Generic Open GL driver is active! 2. INSTALLING THE DIAMOND Fire GL1 VIDEO DRIVER ----------------------------------------------- You need to install the basic driver software for Windows 2000 - if you install the card to your system - if you are re-installing or upgrading the operating system. IMPORTANT: You must have Microsoft Windows 2000 installed prior to installing the Fire GL1 drivers. NOTE: Before installing the Diamond Fire GL1 video driver, please close all open application programs and disable any anti-virus software that is running on your computer until the driver installation is complete! 2.1 Installing the Fire GL1 Video Driver with the SuperCD ----------------------------------------------------------- 1. After Windows 2000 reboots, it detects your Fire GL Series Graphics Accelerator and gives the message that new hardware was found. It then compiles a driver database. The 'Found New Hardware Wizard' appears. Click 'Cancel.' 2. Click the 'Start' button in the task bar, click 'Run' and then select 'Start.exe' from the root directory of the SuperCD. 3. Click 'Start Installation'. 4. Click the button corresponding to the type of installation you want. If you select 'Custom', a list of software components will be displayed. Select the check boxes to specify the components you want to install. 5. Click 'Next' to continue the installation. 6. When the DIAMOND Install dialog displays the components to be installed click on 'Next'. (Depending on which components you chose different windows might appear. Click on the corresponding buttons to continue with the installation.) 7. When the 'INSTALLATION COMPLETE' message appears click 'Next' again. This will restart your computer. 8. After Windows 2000 reboots, the 'Found New Hardware' message displays. The 'Digital Signature Not Found' dialog prompts you 'Do you want to continue the installation?'. Click 'Yes'to install and start the drivers. The 'Found New hardware' message will appear one time for each Diamond Fire GL Series card installed in the system. Click 'Yes' each time it finds a Fire GL Series card. 9. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Settings, or right-click on the Windows desktop, and select 'Properties' and 'Settings'. Set the resolution (Screen area) and color depth, that best suit your requirements and your monitor's performance. NOTE: For a multimonitor configuration first click on the monitor icon that corresponds to the graphics accelerator you want to set. 10. Click OK. NOTES: If you have added Fire GL Series cards to your system for a multi-monitor configuration after the video driver is loaded, you do not need to install the video driver again for each card. The additional cards will be autodetected when Windows 2000 is rebooted the first time after the additional cards are installed. You can select the refresh rates individually for each monitor in the Windows 2000 'Monitor' dialog - see 3.2. 2.2 Installing Fire GL1 Video Drivers downloaded from Diamond's Website ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You must have Microsoft Windows 2000 installed prior to installing the Fire GL1 drivers. To install the video drivers: run the executable (*.exe) file that came with the download and follow the instructions on the screen. 3. CHANGING THE VIDEO SETTINGS ------------------------------ The following dialogs in the 'Display Properties' menu allows setting and adjusting the video settings to suit your requirements best. Settings: set resolution and color depth Settings/Advanced/Monitor: choose monitors and display refresh rates Settings/Advanced/Adjustment: adjusting the monitors' display To access the 'Display Properties' menu: 1. Start Windows 2000. 2. After Windows 2000 has finished starting, click on the START button, select 'Settings,' and then click on 'Control Panel.' 3. Double-click on the 'Display' icon. The 'Display Properties' window appears. Note: You can also display the 'Display Properties' window by right-clicking the Windows Desktop background and then selecting the 'Properties' option from the pop-up menu. 3.1 Setting Resolution and Color Depth -------------------------------------- Select the 'Settings' dialog in the 'Display Properties' window. Set the resolution (screen area) and color depth that best suit your requirements and your monitor's performance. NOTES: For multi-monitor configurations, drag the monitor icons to match the physical arrangement of your monitors. In a multi-monitor configuration click the corresponding monitor icon to set resolution and color depth individually for all monitors. Check the documentation of your monitors and make sure that each monitor supports the resolution and color depth setting selected for it. Use the Windows 2000 'Monitor' dialog (see 3.2) to select the display refresh rates individually for all monitors in a multi-monitor configuration. Use the Diamond 'Adjustment' dialog (see 3.3) to adapt the display of the monitors connected to the Fire GL Series Graphics Accelerators in your system. Refer to your Windows 2000 online help and documentation for further information on using the 'Settings' dialog. 3.2 Choosing Display Refresh Rates with Windows 2000 ---------------------------------------------------- Select the 'Monitor' dialog via Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Monitor. For a multi-monitor configuration click the corresponding monitor icon in the 'Settings' dialog before clicking the 'Advanced' button. In the 'Monitor Settings' section set the refresh rate for each monitor connected to the Graphics Accelerator(s) in your system. Warning! Selecting a refresh rate that your monitor does not support can permanently damage the monitor. Check the documentation of your monitor and make sure that the monitor supports the selected resolution and refresh rate. NOTE: Refer to your Windows 2000 online help and documentation for further information on using the 'Monitor' dialog. 3.3 Adjusting the Monitor's Display ----------------------------------- Select the Diamond 'Adjustment' dialog via Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Adjustment. For a multi-monitor configuration click the corresponding monitor icon in the 'Settings' dialog before clicking the 'Advanced' button. For each Fire GL Series Graphics Accelerator in your system you can adjust the display of the connected monitor. You can find more information on adjusting the monitor's display in the context sensitive online help. A. Monitor Tuning With the buttons in the 'Move' and 'Size' sections you can tune the position and size of the monitor's display for the indicated resolution and refresh rate. NOTE: Use the hardware setting controls on your monitor, if available, to adjust your display size or position - instead of the software controls in 'Adjustment - Monitor Tuning.' Check the documentation of your monitor for information on your monitor's hardware controls. NOTE: Resizing the display slightly changes the actual refresh rate. If you operate a fixed-frequency monitor check the documentation of your monitor for information on refresh rate tolerances. Sync Polarity: If you do not get a satisfactory display with the default sync polarity setting for the current resolution, you may try and change the settings. Undo: Click this button to undo the last change you made (i.e. when you clicked 'Apply'). Default: Click this button to set the 'Monitor Tuning' to the manufacturer's default settings. NOTES: Press the ESC key on your keyboard to undo the changes if your monitor has lost synchronization. If you change the resolution (in 'Settings') and/or the refresh rate (in 'Monitor'), you may need to re-adjust the monitor's display. B. 'Gamma Correction': Adjust the montior's gamma correction for optimal brightness with the red, green and blue slider bars. NOTE: You cannot adjust 'Gamma Correction' for 256-color modes. When these sliders are changed the gamma correction table modifies each pixel's color value. The brightness produced at the face of the display is proportional to the input voltage raised to the power gamma. This nonlinearity must be compensated to achieve correct reproduction of the image's brightness. The effect of display gamma is to darken the midtones relative to the dark and light regions. The gamma correction adjustment affects the entire screen display. The possible setting range is 0.3 - 4.0. The default setting is 1.0. With 'Link sliders' selected, the three sliders move together as you drag any individual slider. With the check box unchecked, you can adjust colors individually by dragging the applicable slider. Click the '>1<' button - for each color - to set the gamma correction to the default value of 1.0. C. Click the 'Apply' or 'OK' button to enable your monitor settings. D. Repeat steps A through C for each monitor you want to set up. 4. UNINSTALLING THE DIAMOND Fire GL1 VIDEO DRIVER --------------------------------------------------- This section describes how to properly remove your Diamond Fire GL1 software from your system should you need to do so. NOTE: Before removing the Diamond Fire GL1 video driver, please close all open application programs and disable any anti-virus software that is running on your computer until the driver de-installation is complete! 1. From the 'Start' menu, go to Start > Programs > Diamond, then click 'DIAMOND Install/Uninstall Utility'. The 'Diamond Install' dialog appears. 2. Click 'Remove the product'. Note: Make sure that only those components are selected that you want to remove now. (Click 'Back' and 'Add/Remove components' to select specific software components for removal.) Then click 'Next.' 3. Click 'Next' to remove the software and shut down your computer. 5. CONFIGURATION FEATURES AND INFORMATION ----------------------------------------- 5.1 Diamond Information Dialog ------------------------------ Check the 'Information' dialog in Display Properties > Settings > > Advanced > Information for detailed hardware and driver information on your Fire GL1 card. These data may be helpful when contacting TechSupport. You can display the 'Information' dialog by right-clicking the Windows Desktop background and then selecting the 'Properties' option from the pop-up menu. Then click 'Settings' > 'Advanced' and select the 'Information' tab . 5.2 Diamond Configuration Menu (for experienced users only!) ------------------------------------------------------------ If you experience problems with your application, or if you want to try to optimize the performance of your system on specific applications, you may modify the configuration settings. Select the 'Configuration' dialog via Display Properties > Settings > > Advanced > Configuration. You can find more information on the settings in the 'Configuration' dialog in the context sensitive online help. You can display the 'Configuration' dialog by right-clicking the Windows Desktop background and then selecting the 'Properties' option from the pop-up menu. Then click 'Settings' > 'Advanced' and select the 'Configuration' tab. For some of the most popular applications the optimal configuration profile is factory-set by default. Select the application from the list in the 'Configuration Profiles' section. This will change the necessary Windows 2000 registry settings. Click 'Apply' and and then restart Windows 2000 if a message pops up requiring you to do so. 1. Click the 'Add' button in the 'Configuration Profiles' section and enter the new application for which you want to set the configuration parameters. 2. To modify the configuration settings of a specific application, for example, Softimage, select the application from the list in the 'Configuration Profiles' section and click the 'Modify' button. 3. In the 'Settings' section select or clear the following checkboxes according to your requirements: Overlay Planes 4-Bit double-buffered Use 4 bit double-buffered overlay planes in the depth buffers. The driver exports pixelformats with 4-bit double-buffered overlay planes for OpenGL applications. 8-Bit single-buffered Use 8 bits of each 32-bit frame buffer pixel as single-buffered overlay planes. Force copy swap Force blit copy from back to front buffer. Wait for vertical retrace Buffer swap 'synched' to vertical retrace. This improves the picture quality but reduces the view performance in, for example, benchmark testing. 4. Click the 'Apply' or 'OK' button to enable your Configuration settings. 6. ENHANCEMENTS & KNOWN LIMITATIONS ---------------------------------- Windows 2000: Windows 2000 has a shadow on the mouse cursor. The shadow for the mouse cursor is done with a feature called cursor alpha blending. This feature is not supported in hardware on the Fire GL1 video adapter. Since the Fire GL video chip does not support alpha blending for the mouse cursor, Windows 2000 disables the hardware cursor and uses the software cursor. This can lead to flickering around the mouse cursor. To workaround this restriction, the mouse cursor shadow can be disabled with the Mouse selection in the Windows 2000 control panel. Version 1100: - Maya 3.0 Beta blue screen issue is fixed. - Twister 3D wrong color issue is fixed. - ESPRi CAD missing triangle issue is fixed. Enhancements: Limitations: Version 1096: Enhancements: - AMD Athlon 3DNow! support is added. - AutoCAD 2000 wrong shading problem is fixed. - UniGraphics 16 lighting bug is fixed. Limitations: - If SolidDesigner is run with the Fire GL Series video adapters, SolidDesigner must be selected from the Diamond Configuration tab of the Display Properties window. Otherwise, the quality of line edges can be poor with color bleeding occurring. This is caused by the fact that SolidDesigner searches for OpenGL V1.1 support and the Fire GL Series driver reports that it supports OpenGL V1.2. A future version of SolidDesigner will correct this bug. - QuickTime V3.0 will not run on the Fire GL Series video adapters. This is due to a bug in QuickTime V3.0. Apple plans on fixing the bug in the next release of QuickTime. - When playing an AVI file on the IBM Fire GL1 adapter, the sound may be intermittent and the screen jumpy at resolutions of 1600x1200 or higher. This occurs because there is not enough off-screen memory left over for the application. Version 1089: Enhancements: Limitations: - If SolidDesigner is run with the Fire GL Series video adapters, SolidDesigner must be selected from the Diamond Configuration tab of the Display Properties window. Otherwise, the quality of line edges can be poor with color bleeding occurring. This is caused by the fact that SolidDesigner searches for OpenGL V1.1 support and the Fire GL Series driver reports that it supports OpenGL V1.2. A future version of SolidDesigner will correct this bug. - QuickTime V3.0 will not run on the Fire GL Series video adapters. This is due to a bug in QuickTime V3.0. Apple plans on fixing the bug in the next release of QuickTime. - When playing an AVI file on the IBM Fire GL1 adapter, the sound may be intermittent and the screen jumpy at resolutions of 1600x1200 or higher. This occurs because there is not enough off-screen memory left over for the application. 7. SERVICE, SUPPORT, AND SOFTWARE UPGRADES ------------------------------------------ Technical support for the installation and configuration of Diamond graphic boards and multimedia products, as well as software updates or optional software packages, are available: - from the Diamond Mailbox - in the Internet - via the Diamond ExpertLine Refer to your manual for more information (addresses, phone numbers, etc). 8. SUPPORTED RESOLUTIONS, COLOR DEPTHS, AND REFRESH RATES ---------------------------------------------------------- The resolutions and refresh rates supported by the Fire GL1 are dependent on the monitor that is selected. To display the resolution that are supported and the maximum vertical refresh rate for each of your monitors, refer to the 'Monitor' dialog in the 'Display Properties' window. You can display the 'Monitor' dialog by right-clicking the Windows desktop and selecting 'Properties' and then selecting the 'Monitor' tab. The table below is showing screen resolution, pixel size, horizontal line rate and refresh rate for all modes supported under the MS NT4.0 operating system, all modes are providing full screen double buffering using the OpenGL API. +==========+=======+=======+===================+ |Resolution| Color | Alpha | Refresh Rate | | | Bits | Bits | (Hz) | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ | 640x480 | 24 | 8 | 60, 72, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ | 800x600 | 24 | 8 | 60, 72, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1024x768 | 24 | 8 | 60, 70, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1152x864 | 24 | 8 | 60, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------| |1280x960 | 24 | 8 | 60, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------| |1280x1024 | 24 | 8 | 60, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1600x1000 | 24 | 8 | 60,75 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1600x1024 | 24 | 8 | 76, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1600x1200 | 24 | 8 | 60, 70, 75, 85 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1792x1344 | 24 | 8 | 60 | +----------+-------+-------+-------------------+ |1920x1200 | 24 | 8 | 60, 75 | +==========+=======+=======+===================+ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All product names listed are trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners. ------------------------------------------------------------------- S3 Inc. / Diamond Multimedia (c) 1993-2000, All Rights Reserved Professional Graphics Division -------------------------------------------------------------------