README.WIN MATROX GRAPHICS INC NOVEMBER 5, 1998
Millennium/Millennium II/Mystique MGA Windows Drivers and PowerDesk
Revision 1.53.011
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