README.WIN MATROX GRAPHICS INC July 30, 1997 Millennium/Millennium II/Mystique MGA Windows Drivers and PowerDesk Revision 1.42.028 This file contains information on the following MGA Windows software: - Display Driver - DCI Driver - PowerDesk Software - Monitor Program This readme file is copied to your hard disk, in the \mga\cpanel directory. Installation: ------------- The installation works from VGA Windows (first-time installation) or MGA Windows (upgrading from older version): - Run Windows. - Select "File", "Run", then type "A:SETUP". - Follow the instructions. For a first-time installation, the monitor program will be automatically invoked. Selecting a monitor is highly recommended. - For a first-time installation (from VGA), the program will reboot your system at the end, and you must then restart Windows manually. For an upgrade, the program will restart Windows automatically in the selected mode. - The installation creates a new Group called "MGA PowerDesk". Run the Control Panel help to see the additional features that are at your disposal. The monitor program is also available for further monitor tuning (advanced mode). The Quick Access panel is a handy replacement for many of the PowerDesk hotkeys. Modifications to the Windows .INI files: ---------------------------------------- The MGA Windows Driver installation program makes some changes to various .INI files. The changes for the default installation (1024 X 768, 8-bit) are listed below: PROGMAN.INI =========== [Groups] Group1=C:\WINDOWS\MGA.GRP WIN.INI ======= [windows] load=C:\MGA\CPANEL\MGACTRL.EXE [fonts] Small Fonts (8514/a res)=SMALLF.FON Symbol 8,10,12,14,18,24 (8514/a res)=SYMBOLF.FON MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (8514/a res)=SERIFF.FON Courier 10,12,15 (8514/a res)=COURF.FON MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (8514/a res)=SSERIFF.FON [Quick Access] ShowVertical=ON SYSTEM.INI ========== [boot] 386grabber=mgavga.3gr 286grabber=vgacolor.gr2 display.drv=mgax64.drv oemfonts.fon=8514oem.fon fixedfon.fon=8514fix.fon fonts.fon=8514sys.fon [boot.description] displayinf=oemx64.inf display.drv=Matrox MGA PowerDesk 8-bit 256 colors [386Enh] display=vddx64.386 [mga.drv] bpp=8 dpi=120 Use32Bpp=OFF Mode1Display=1024x768x8,1024x768,LARGE Mode1Key= Mode2Display=1024x768x8,1024x768,LARGE Mode2Key= Mode3Display=1024x768x8,1024x768,LARGE Mode3Key= Mode4Display=1024x768x8,1024x768,LARGE Mode4Key= ModeUsed=Mode1 ActFeatures= UseKeys= DCI Driver: ----------- The MGA DCI driver can be used to significantly accelerate the playback performance of AVI files. Take note of the following points when using Video for Windows: 1) The DCI driver will not be called unless updated codecs and Media Player are also installed. A Video for Windows 1.1D Run-time upgrade is available from Microsoft, but you can also get it from the Matrox BBS. 2) The DCI driver offers the best combination of smooth playback and color quality at 16 bpp. In true color modes: - 24 bpp does not support hardware acceleration for the video playback. - 32 bpp offers full DCI support, including hardware acceleration. You can select 32 bpp in the MGA Control Panel Avanced Setup dialog box. If you have 4Mb of memory, insure that the current resolution is less or equal to 1152 X 864, because 1280 X 1024 X 32 is not possible with 4Mb of memory. Known bugs, limitations and misc. notes: ---------------------------------------- - MaxVIEW: Some applications cache the desktop resolution when they start and use those values to redraw their maximized windows. These applications will not behave correctly when you use the MaxVIEW feature: some will maximize to the desktop, others only partially (ex.:maximized to the desktop width, but limited to the display height). - Acceleration features: - Device Bimaps The MGA driver supports a Windows 3.1 and 3.11 feature that allows bitmaps to be stored in MGA memory instead of in system memory. Device bitmaps can increase the performance of the MGA driver if there is sufficient on-board memory available. However when this feature is activated, Windows is not 100% reliable and could cause some applications to crash. You can disable the Device Bitmaps feature in the MGA Control Panel Avanced Setup dialog box. The following applications are known to have this problem: QuarkXpress 3.3, Lotus 123 Guided Tour, DeltaGraph 2.0, FreeHand 3.1, LVI, IRMA for Windows and Microsoft Word 6.0 (when resizing and dragging images). - Rectangles The MGA driver supports a Windows 3.1 and 3.11 feature that allows rectangles to be drawn in one pass, rather than two passes. However when this feature is enabled, some applications may crash because all GDI resources are exausted. You can disable the Rectangles feature in the MGA Control Panel Avanced Setup dialog box. The following applications are known to have this problem: FoxPro 2.5 and Quattro Pro 5.0. - Polygons The MGA driver supports a Windows 3.1 and 3.11 feature that allows complex polygon objects to be drawn using hardware acceleration. However when this feature is enabled, some objects may not be drawn properly within some applications. You can disable the Polygons feature in the MGA Control Panel Avanced Setup dialog box. The following applications are known to have this problem: Approach 1.01 and Aldus Persuasion 2.1. - Dual-Screen users By default, if you have two MGA cards in your system, Windows will start on the one with the VGA enabled, or if neither has the VGA enabled, it will start on the first card encountered (the one mapped at the lowest address). To control which card will get the Windows desktop, add the MGASelect switch to the SYSTEM.INI file, section [MGA.DRV]. The syntax is the following: MGASelect= n , where n = 0 for the card with VGA enabled n = 1 for the first card without VGA - VESA modes: DOS applications that require a VESA mode are not supported in a DOS full-screen session when the Device Bitmaps acceleration feature is enabled. This is to prevent corruption of bitmaps stored in MGA on-board memory. You can disable the Device Bitmaps feature in the MGA Control Panel Avanced Setup dialog box. Your MGA Video BIOS supports DOS VESA SuperVGA applications and games in the following modes: Resolution Colors 640x400 256 640x480 256, 32K, 64K, 16.8M 800x600 16, 256, 32K, 64K, 16.8M 1024x768 256, 32K, 64K, 16.8M(*) 1280x1024 256, 32K(*), 64K(*), 16.8M(*) (*) requires 4Mb memory