README MATROX GRAPHICS INC. February 12, 1997 Millennium/Mystique MGA PowerDesk for Windows 95 Revision 3.40.007 Table of Contents ----------------- - Description of This Release - Floppy Contents - Installation - Registry Settings - Notes, Problems, and Limitations - MGA Diagnostic program - IRQSET.EXE program Note to users of localized versions: This file may contain some last minute information not translated into your language. We apologize for the inconvenience. Description of This Release --------------------------- This is the MGA PowerDesk software version 3.40, for Windows 95. This product includes a Windows 95 display driver AND the Matrox PowerDesk for Windows 95, which allows: virtual desktop, hardware pan and zoom, DirectDraw/Direct3D driver and more... Floppy contents --------------- Basic Driver files (installed in \Windows\System): MGAPDX64.INF Installation support file MGAPDX64.DRV MGA Win95 Driver MGAPDX64.VXD MGA miniVDD MGALLX64.DLL MGA initialization dll MGAXDD.DRV MGA DirectDraw 32-bit driver MGAXDD32.DLL MGA 32-bit DirectDraw/Direct3D component MGAXDD.VXD MGA VxD DirectDraw component PowerDesk files installed in \Windows\System: MGASHEET.DLL MGA Display Property Sheet (replaces regular sheet) M_SHEET.DLL Text strings for MGASHEET.DLL MGASHEET.HLP Help file for Property Sheet MGAMON.DLL MGA Monitor Selection Property Sheet M_MON.DLL Text strings for MGAMON.DLL MGAMON.HLP Help file for MGA Monitor Selection MGACTRL.EXE MGA Control Center (for PowerDesk) MGACTRL.DLL MGA Keyboard hooker (for PowerDesk hotkeys) M_CTRL.DLL Text strings for MGACTRL.EXE MGAPREV.BMP MGA Pixel Depth Preview Bitmaps MGABKGND.BMP MGA Background bitmap for property sheets SXCIX64.DLL Matrox 3D library PowerDesk files installed in \Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk: README This file ONLINE.DOC Documentation \Mon MGA.MON MGA Monitor File MGA.BIN Compressed MGA.MON monitor File \DNav MGADNAV.EXE MGA Win95 Desktop Navigator program M_DNAV.DLL Text strings for MGADNAV.EXE \QDesk MGAQDESK.EXE MGA Win95 QuickDesk program M_QDESK.DLL Text strings for MGAQDESK.EXE \Color HGCCTL95.EXE MGA Color resident program HGCCPL.DLL MGA Color Property Sheet page HGCCPL.HLP Help file for MGA Color Property Sheet Installation ------------ The installation is covered in the "online.doc" file. You can view this file with WordPad. The installation process can be customized by modifying the "mga.ini" file on the diskette. Examples of customization options include: default installation path, default driver performance switches, default schemes, etc. The file is self-documented. This type of customization should be carried out by advanced users only. Registry Settings ----------------- PowerDesk settings are kept in the Windows 95 registry, under the keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\POWERDESK HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\DESKNAV HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\COLOR CONTROL Notes, Problems, and Limitations -------------------------------- - DirectDraw, Direct3D and DirectVideo support The DirectDraw driver we provide is compatible with DirectX 2 and includes Direct3D support. For our DirectDraw/Direct3D driver to be called, and benefit from hardware accelerations, Microsoft DirectX 2 MUST be installed, even for applications originally made for DirectX 1. For your convenience we have placed a copy of the Microsoft DirectX 2 redistributable code on our Web site. If you are getting this driver from a Matrox CD-ROM, you will also find a copy of DirectX 2 on the CD. If you have a Millennium card, the DirectX 2 setup will detect it and print the following messages: "Setup has detected display drivers that have not been tested with DirectX. To get the best game performance, Setup can replace your existing drivers." "Replace existing display drivers with DirectX drivers?" Answer "No" to the question. Otherwise, DirectX 2 would install its Millennium display driver which is not as optimized and does not support PowerDesk. Note that the Microsoft DirectX 2 code does not include DirectVideo-enabled codecs. Hence for faster playback of Indeo and Cinepak AVI files, you should install the Microsoft DirectVideo redistributable files. This package is available on our Web site and on our latest CD-ROM. - Bus Mastering support under Matrox Mystique The Matrox Mystique supports bus mastering, which can accelerate 3D frame rate and video playback in Windows 95. A switch is available in the MGA Advanced Settings sheet to enable/disable bus mastering. Please take note of the following regarding bus mastering in this version: - bus mastering support is not yet implemented for video playback, hence performance will be the same whether the switch is on or off. - bus mastering support is however implemented in Direct3D and upcoming Mystique bundled games. - some early PCI systems do not properly assign an interrupt to graphics boards such as the Mystique. Bus mastering requires an interrupt, so failure to get an interrupt will result in 3D applications not using this performance feature. - PowerDesk MGA Settings property sheet page vs the Microsoft Settings page When selecting a vertical or horizontal desktop with the MGA Settings page, the Microsoft Settings page is not updated with the new desktop. Closing and reopening the Display Properties will refresh the Settings page. When selecting a new monitor in the MGA Monitor page, the Microsoft Settings page is not updated with the resolutions that match the monitor. Closing and reopening the Display Properties will refresh the available resolutions in the Settings page. Using the Microsoft Settings page to change from a horizontal or vertical desktop to a non-virtual desktop mode, may result in a different desktop than the expected one. Rebooting the system will fix the problem. - Media XL drivers compatibility This version of MGA PowerDesk is not compatible with the Media XL drivers 1.03 and earlier. If you want to use the MediaXL drivers and utilities, you will need to install at least version 1.10 of the Media XL drivers. The latest drivers are available on our Web site. - Adobe Type Manager limitation When Adobe Type Manager is installed, you cannot run the driver if the "Advanced Graphics Acceleration Settings" is set to none. Note that ATM is installed as part of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is an Adobe problem documented in the Windows 95 "display.txt" file. - Monitors in interlaced mode Some old monitors such as the IBM 8514 and the NEC 3D do not support non-interlaced mode in all resolutions. The MGA driver does not properly handle interlaced mode under the Windows 95 monitor mechanism, so if you own one of these monitors, please use the MGA Monitor Program. - DirectDraw and Automatic Power Management As stated in "Microsoft DirectX release Notes" dated September 30, 1995, A DirectDraw game might be unable to restore properly if it is suspended by Automatic Power Management utilities. - VESA modes: Your MGA Video BIOS supports DOS VESA SuperVGA applications and games in the following modes: Graphics Modes Mode Resolution Colors 100h 640x400 256 101h 640x480 256 110h 640x480 32K 111h 640x480 64K 112h 640x480 16.8M 102h 800x600 16 103h 800x600 256 113h 800x600 32K 114h 800x600 64K 115h 800x600 16.8M 105h 1024x768 256 116h 1024x768 32K 117h 1024x768 64K 118h 1024x768 16.8M(*) 107h 1280x1024 256 119h 1280X1024 32K(*) 11Ah 1280X1024 64K(*) (*) requires 4Mb memory Text Modes Mode Columns Rows 108h 80 60 109h 132 25 10Bh 132 50 10Ch 132 60 - More Information More information is available in the WordPad file "online.doc". This file is included on your Matrox floppy disk, and installed in your \Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk\ folder. MGA Diagnostic program ---------------------- Close all other programs before running MGA Diagnostic. The MGA Diagnostic program tests the bus mastering feature of your system and if another program is using bus mastering at the same time (a 3D game for example), a system error may occur. IRQSET.EXE program ------------------ If you have a 3D program for Windows 95 that doesn't start or stops running, you may be having a problem with bus mastering. The Matrox card needs an Interrupt Request (IRQ) number for bus mastering to work properly and some computers do not automatically give the Matrox card an IRQ. You can manually assign your Matrox card an IRQ through the IRQSET.EXE program we provide. First, check for an IRQ number: (1) Right-click on the "My Computer" icon on the Windows 95 desktop. (2) Click on the "Properties" menu item. (3) Click on the "Device Manager" tab. (4) Click on the "Properties" button. (5) Check if the MGA driver appears in the IRQ list. If it does, there is no need to manually assign an IRQ and you can stop here. IF NOT, note which IRQ number between 10 and 12 is not used and continue with the instructions below. To manually assign an IRQ: (1) Open your "autoexec.bat" file with the Windows 95 Notepad program. Your autoexec.bat file is in the root directory of your boot drive. (2) Add a line to your autoexec.bat with the path to "IRQSET", followed by the IRQ you want to use (the unused number you noted above). For example, to assign your Matrox card IRQ 10, insert the following line in your autoexec.bat (INCLUDING the quotation marks): "C:\Program Files\Matrox MGA PowerDesk\IRQSET" A (The path you use MIGHT be different if you have a customized installation of MGA PowerDesk on your computer.) The above example is for IRQ 10. To use a different IRQ, replace "A" with ONE of the following letters (capitalized): B (for IRQ 11) C (for IRQ 12) (3) Save the changes to the autoexec.bat and exit Notepad. (4) Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. For more information on bus mastering, see "Troubleshooting" in the Installation Guide.