The Software Area - DOS VGATV

Last updated on June the 4th, 2001.

  • VGATV for DOS driver
      The original driver, made for MS-DOS back in 1997. Followed by the Windows version later. Is usually more up to date since it's a hell of a lot easier to debug (and to reboot after the system gets messed up).
  • Compatibility list:

      After adding support the best I can to a specific card equipped with a certain chipset, I'll be updating the table on this page on how it performs. As usual, video mode combinations are not complete as some cards have some unusual video modes available. Therefore the table is not complete.

      Also note that these results were achieved by running a picture viewer program with VESA support. Different software might work differently in a way that might not be VGATV compatible. When possible choose standard SVGA resolutions and avoid "tweaked" VGA modes: VGATV already tweaks VGA beyond most people's expectations :-)

  • Driver
    Get the latest full version (2001.0604) here.

      - Added support for Western Digital's WD90C30 (Paradise PVGA1D) chipset.
    On version 2001.0408:

      - Fixed bug that prevented interlaced mode from being set on UMC cards. A crucial line got somehow deleted...
    On version 2001.0317:

      - Intel i810 interlace setup changed. Needs confirmation from someone, but apparently it is set as if it wasn't in interlaced mode. So far only the Tseng Labs cards work the same way. Follows the same change on the Windows driver.
    On version 2001.0213:

      - Tseng Labs ET4000 chipset now supported. 256 colors tops. That's the best the card I have can do. If it works with more, great! In any case, all modes are supported. Up to 1280x1024.
      - Text mode in this card behaved very strangely. In retrospective, its the correct way :-) So, I had to change the code a little bit. So far it works ok, but you never know...
    On version 2001.0204:

      - Trident code checked and fixed. Was monumentally screwed up. I can't figure out what was wrong, but many modes weren't working anymore like I left them some time ago (just read down below in this page...).
      - Trident cards 8900CL, 9000i and 9440 were used for testing. Other cards in between will also probably work. I also found out the BIOS on at least the 8900 prevented the 512x480 modes from working because of the way they were setup. Some other BIOS version might have this fixed.
    On version 2001.0130:

      - UMC 85C408 support added.
      - Western Digital Paradise WD90C00 support. I don't know how or if later chipset revisions work...
      - Tseng Labs ET3000 support. ET4000 probably works too. Haven't a clue about ET6000.
      - Some fixes: Oak OTI037 now always supports the 7Mhz clock, allowing for proper aspect ratio 320x200x16 colors.
      - Previous /037A switch removed altogether, since there is no more reason for its existence.
      - Modes with 768 pixels per line should work be properly supported now. Before, I would assume 1024 lines, since I only have seen this horizontal resolution in 768x1024 modes. However, its quite possible it exists with other resolutions, probably 768x576 (4:3 aspect ratio) so I gave it a bit more intelligence here.
      - DOC updated finally! Lets see if I can keep it up to date...

      - ET3000: besides not working properly in 640x480x256 , my board also seems to have a buggy BIOS. Hey, this is from 1988!! So, I had to add some code to circumvent an issue regarding interlace. The BIOS wouldn't reset it, so I had to do it. Unfortunately this means that some modes that use interlace by default, may not work correctly. The ET3000 board I have doesn't have any other resolution above 640x480 so I couldn't test this. I'm hoping to test an ET4000 soon, so I'll clear up my doubts. Unless you do it first, of course :-)

    On version 2001.0107:

      - Small change that should allow 32-bit colour modes to work on the Cirrus GD-CL5446 cards.
      - /037A switch added to change behaviour when a Oak 037C chip is present on a board that doesn't support the proper clocks. If you start the driver on this chipset and standard video modes won't work, use this switch. Text mode will work regardless.
    On version 2001.0106:

      - Humm...had to change the version name scheme. Again...
      - Anyway, I've fixed the support for the GD54xx Cirrus Logic graphics chipsets, which had been incomplete for the last, say, 3 years or so...:-) The only modes that don't work are HiColor 1024x768 for the same reason they don't on some other chipsets.
      - In addition, the chipset known as Acumos AVGA2 is also known as CL-GD5402, a Cirrus chipset of the same line as the 542x. It worked fine, except I had a problem with mode 1024x768x16 colours. It wouldn't work on my picture viewer program which I use to test video modes on, but would work fine both when called as a VESA mode and its native video mode number, from WHATVGA, Finn Thoegersen's test program. So I guess it's not a driver bug.

      For stuff done before, click here.