Technical Note No. 055 - Tips for using ATI Windows 3.0 Drivers

          Technical Support Department
          Technical Note No. 055 - Tips for using ATI Windows 3.0 Drivers
          _______________________________________________________________

          March 19, 1991

          INTRODUCTION

          This document contains tips about  installing and using the  high
          resolution Windows  3.0 drivers for the VGAWONDER.  It covers the
          most  commonly asked questions and  explains how to  get the most
          out of the drivers.

          AVAILABLE DRIVERS

          This  initial  release  of   Windows  3.0  drivers  contained  an
          800x600/16 colour driver,  which is supported by  all versions of
          the  VGAWONDER & VGA EDGE. It also contained a 1024x768/16 colour
          planar driver which requires  an analogue multisync monitor, 512k
          video memory and  a VGAWONDER  V4, V5 or  VGAWONDER+. The  latter
          driver is not supported on a VGAWONDER V3.

          The November 5, 1990  release of Windows 3.0 drivers,  contains 2
          new drivers and  a revised driver. The 640x480/256  colour driver
          requires a VGA or analogue multisync monitor and a 512k VGAWONDER
          (any version). The 800x600/256 colour driver requires an analogue
          multisync  monitor  and  a  512k  VGAWONDER  (any  version).  The
          1024x768/16 colour  driver has  been  revised to  use the  larger
          8514/A  type fonts  rather  than VGA  type  fonts. A  1024x768/16
          colour packed pixel driver is planned  for later in the year.  It
          will be supported on all 512k VGAWONDER's, including the V3.

          OBTAINING THE DRIVERS

          Drivers  for Windows  3.0  have been  included  with the  utility
          diskettes  provided with  each VGAWONDER  starting with  diskette
          version 1.07.  Updates are available by placing  an order through
          ATI Technical Support (416)  756-0711 or by downloading by  modem
          from  the ATI BBS (416)  756-4591 {9600/2400/1200 bps,  8 data, 1
          stop bits, no parity}.

          INSTALLING THE DRIVERS - CREATING THE DISPLAY DRIVER DISKETTE

          ATI makes use of a facility built into Windows 3.0 for installing
          third party video drivers. An option in the Windows SETUP program
          allows the  user to select a  driver from a  Display Driver Disk.
          There are  3  ways  to  obtain  a Display  Driver  Disk  for  the
          VGAWONDER.
          i)        If you have a set of VGAWONDER utility disks containing
                    Windows  3.0 drivers,  run VDRIVER  and select  Windows
                    3.0. The  VDRIVER program will create  a Display Driver
                    Disk on a blank, pre-formatted disk.

                                          1







          ii)       If you  have ordered a Windows 3.0  driver upgrade disk
                    from  ATI, it  is ready  to use  as the  Display Driver
                    Disk.

          iii)      If you have downloaded the Windows 3.0 drivers from our
                    BBS,  the INSTALL.BAT  will create  the  Display Driver
                    Disk on  a blank,  formatted disk.  You will require  a
                    copy of  the PKUNZIP  un-compression program  which can
                    also be downloaded from the ATI BBS.

          FIRST TIME INSTALLATION

          This  section applies to users who have not yet installed Windows
          on their  hard driver  or users  who wish  to reinstall from  the
          diskettes.

          A  Display Driver  Disk should  be prepared  as described  above.
          Windows  should  be  installed  as described  in  the  Installing
          Windows  with SETUP section in the Windows User's Guide. A screen
          will appear asking the  user to verify the system  configuration.
          The user  should use the cursor keys to move the highlight bar to
          "Display:  VGA" and should then hit the enter key.  A window will
          appear  containing a  number  of display  options.   The  correct
          option is  "Other" (this is usually the last option in the list).
          The  program  will then  prompt the  user  to insert  the Display
          Driver Disk).  The SETUP program  may request this  disk (without
          referring  to  the  name)  again later  during  the  installation
          especially  if it  is being installed  on a  386 system  and/or a
          networked system.

          FIRST TIME INSTALLATION continued

          Select  an   appropriate  driver  from  the   list  and  complete
          installation.

          WINDOWS ALREADY INSTALLED

          This section  applies to users who have already installed Windows
          on their hard drives and do not wish to do a complete reinstall.

          Many configuration options of Windows can usually be changed with
          the  Setup  option  in  the  Windows  Main  Group.  However,  ATI
          recommends  that  display  driver   be  changed  by  running  the
          SETUP.EXE program in the Windows  directory. Refer to the Running
          setup  from MS-DOS section in the Using Setup to Maintain Windows
          chapter in the Windows Users Guide.

          Install drivers  as described in  paragraph 2  & 3 of  FIRST TIME
          INSTALL.




                                          2







          SWAPPING DRIVERS

          This  section applies  to users  who may  wish to  change display
          modes on occasion. Users may wish to use a certain  mode for some
          applications and another mode for other applications.

          The   Windows  Setup  program  allows   the  user  to  select  an
          appropriate  configuration, copies  the required  files from  the
          disks (renaming some in the process) and stores the configuration
          data. The configuration data is stored in special text files with
          the  .INI extension.  The SYSTEM.INI  file contains all  the data
          which affects the display. The items of importance to the display
          include the display driver, frame grabber, virtual device driver,
          system fonts and terminal fonts.

          ATI recommends that  users use SETUP.EXE  to create a  SYSTEM.INI
          for each  mode the user may  wish to use. The  SYSTEM.INI must be
          copied with another name or SETUP.EXE will erase the old version.
          For  example, Windows  could be  installed for  each of  the four
          modes and the  resulting SYSTEM.INI  files could be  copied to  a
          name based on the resolution. In this example they would be named
          800_16.INI,  1024_16.INI, 640_256.INI  and 800_256.INI.  The mode
          can  be swapped simply by copying  (NOT renaming) the appropriate
          file  to SYSTEM.INI before running Windows. It is not possible to
          change video modes while Windows is running.

          UPDATING DRIVERS

          ATI may from time  to time offer updated Windows  drivers for the
          VGAWONDER. These will  be announced  through our BBS  and can  be
          obtained as described in  the section with the  OBTAINING DRIVERS
          heading.  Users should be aware  that the Windows  SETUP will not
          copy new drivers with the same file name from  the Display Driver
          Disk. Therefore, you  must delete the  older ATI Windows  drivers
          from  your  SYSTEM  sub-directory  before  installing  the  newer
          drivers.

          PERFORMANCE

          Users  will notice  some  difference in  performance between  the
          different modes. This is  partly due to the different  amounts of
          graphics memory used in each mode  and partly due to the internal
          architecture of the VGA chipset.

          The  16 colour modes  are substantially  quicker than  256 colour
          modes  at the same resolution.  A 256 colour  mode requires twice
          the video memory  of a 16 colour mode at  the same resolution. In
          addition,   the  256   colour  modes   use  a   different  memory
          architecture which is  less efficient than  the 16 colour  memory
          architecture.



                                          3







          The fastest Super  VGA mode is the 800x600  /16 colour (mode 54h)
          followed  by the 1024x768 /16 (mode 55h), the 640x480 /256 colour
          (mode 62h) and the slowest is the 800x600 /256 colour (mode 63h).

          Should you require any  further information or assistance, please
          don't hesitate to contact us.

          HINTS - TROUBLESHOOTING

          Note that it is up to the user to determine  if the selected mode
          is actually available. If  Windows exits to DOS after  displaying
          the blue introduction  screen, it is likely that  the mode is not
          available.  Use the  V-INFO  program supplied  on your  VGAWONDER
          diskettes to check the  amount of display memory and  the monitor
          type.  Check  the  monitor  specifications to  confirm  that  the
          resolution desired is actually supported.

          Windows  requires more  than 512K  conventional system  memory to
          install.  It may be necessary  to edit the  CONFIG.SYS and/or the
          AUTOEXEC.BAT to remove some  device drivers and resident programs
          in order to complete the install.

          If the user continues  to have problems after checking  the items
          listed above, ATI recommends a complete new installation from the
          disks.  Be sure to remove all Windows related device drivers from
          the CONFIG.SYS  and reboot before attempting  a new installation.
          These  device  drivers  are:  SMARTDRV.SYS,  EGA.SYS,  HIMEM.SYS,
          EMM386.SYS and MOUSE.SYS.

          Users  with  third  party  386  memory  managers  may  experience
          problems installing Windows in  Enhanced mode. The memory manager
          must  be Windows 3.0 compatible. Contact  your 386 memory manager
          vendor  for upgrade  information  if the  documentation does  not
          specifically claim compatibility with  Windows 3.0. In may cases,
          Windows  will  not install  with  a  third party  memory  manager
          present  even if the memory manager is Windows 3.0 compatible. If
          so, use  HIMEM.SYS instead  during Windows installation  and then
          reinstall your memory manager.

          SCREEN COLOURS

          The  Windows environment is capable of supporting 256 colours but
          you will find that few current applications  will make use of the
          additional colours when  a 256 colour mode  is installed. Windows
          reserves 20  colours for itself and  most applications (including
          Windows Paint and  the colour function  of Windows Desktop)  will
          only  allow the user to manipulate those 20 colours. Some colours
          are created by mixing or "dithering" pure colours together.

          The remaining colours (256-20=236)  are controlled by the palette
          manager function within Windows. Only software which makes use of
          the palette  manager will  be able to  use more than  20 colours.

                                          4







          Some  of the applications which  do implement 256  colours are MS
          Powerpoint,  Publishers Paintbrush  for  Windows and  256  colour
          wallpapers can be displayed.

          RUNNING STANDARD APPLICATIONS

          Windows  has a  limited ability  to do  task switching  with non-
          Windows  DOS (or "standard") applications.  They can be  run in a
          window or full screen.

          Running a  standard application in  a window requires  Windows to
          convert the  screen image  of that  application into  a graphical
          representation in the  window. This is  often painfully slow  and
          many  graphics programs will not work in  the window. It is NEVER
          possible  to use  a non-IBM  video  mode (resolution  higher than
          640x480 /16 colours) program in the window even if the video mode
          is  the same  as  the  Windows  video  mode.  See  the  following
          paragraph for further explanation.

          Running  a  standard  application in  full  screen  mode  is much
          simpler  and the  vast  majority of  software  will work.  It  is
          possible to use any graphics mode in a full screen. However, task
          switching  while  using a  non-IBM video  mode  will result  in a
          trashed screen  after returning  from the Windows  desktop. Users
          should  exit these  applications  before task  swapping. The  ATI
          drivers  do not support "save and restore" of non-IBM video modes
          (required  for   task  switching)  nor  do   they  support  "mode
          conversion" of  non-IBM  video modes  (required  for  windowing).
          Addition  of these  capabilities would  be a  massive undertaking
          which would increase  the size  of the drivers  and increase  the
          memory requirements.

          NETWORK INSTALLATIONS

          Users may  experience  problems when  installing high  resolution
          drivers  for Windows on a network with  the SETUP /N option. This
          option allows the  user to  minimize the disk  space consumed  on
          individual  work stations  and  allow most  Windows  files to  be
          shared through the network.

          You may see an message appear saying !! Error Building WIN.COM !!
          during  installation. This is due to a problem with Windows SETUP
          where it will try to install the  drivers from the Display Driver
          Disk  to the  \Windows\System  directory. This  directory is  not
          created  or  used  in  a  network  installation.  The  result  is
          installation failure.

          Microsoft has been made aware of  the problem and will correct it
          in a future revision of Windows. In the  meantime, the ATI driver
          can be manually installed as shown below.



                                          5







          MANUAL INSTALLATIONS

          This section  describes how  to install  the ATI  drivers without
          using  Windows SETUP. It is  intended for advanced  users who are
          experiencing network installation  problems or  find the  Windows
          SETUP too tedious.

          1)        Install Windows  for standard VGA. Ensure  that Windows
                    is fully functional before proceeding.

          2)        Copy  the  *.DRV  and  the VDDVGA.386  files  from  the
                    Display Driver  Disk into the Windows  directory on the
                    workstation's hard drive (not the network drive).

          3)        Users running  the network  install should  ignore this
                    step.

                    Copy the following file from the Windows diskettes into
                    the Windows directory on your hard drive:

                    V7VGA.GR3

                    You  will need  to  use the  Windows EXPAND  command to
                    uncompress the font  files from the Windows disk  1. An
                    example of the command is shown below:

                    A:>EXPAND A:8514FIX.FON C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\8514FIX.FON
                    A:>EXPAND A:8514OEM.FON C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\8514OEM.FON
                    A:>EXPAND A:8514SYS.FON C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\8514SYS.FON

          4)        Use the Windows Notebook program or the ASCII editor of
                    your choice to edit the SYSTEM.INI file in  the Windows
                    directory according to the table on the next page :




















                                          6







     MODE     VIDEO         CHANGE FROM              CHANGE TO
     real or  800x600/16    [boot]                   [boot]
     standard               display.drv=vga.drv      display=win3-54B.drv

              1024x768/16   [boot]                   [boot]
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-55b.drv
                            fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon  fixedfon.fon=8514fix.fon
                            oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon  oemfonts.fon=8514oem.fon
                            fonts.fon=vgasys.fon     fonts.fon=8514sys.fon

              640x480/256   [boot]                   [boot]
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-62.drv

              800x600/256   [boot]                   [boot]
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-63.drv

     enhanced 800x600/16    [boot]                   [boot]
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display=win3-54B.drv
                            [386Enh]                 [386Enh]
                            display=*vgavdd          display=vddvga.386

              1024x768/16   [boot]                   [boot]
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-55b.drv
                            fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon  fixedfon.fon=8514fix.fon
                            oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon  oemfonts.fon=8514oem.fon
                            fonts.fon=vgasys.fon     fonts.fon=8514sys.fon
                            [386Enh]                 [386Enh]
                            display=*vgavdd          display=vddvga.386

              640x480/256   [boot]                   [boot]
                            grabber=vga.gr3          grabber=v7vga.gr3
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-62.drv
                            [386Enh]                 [386Enh]
                            display=*vgavdd          display=vddvga.386

              800x600/256   [boot]                   [boot]
                            grabber=vga.gr3          grabber=v7vga.gr3
                            display.drv=vga.drv      display.drv=win3-63.drv
                            [386Enh]                 [386Enh]
                            display=*vgavdd          display=vddvga.386
















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