1. Patch218.zip Driver
2. VLGX400A.TXT File Contents

VLGX400A.TXT Driver File Contents (Patch218.zip)

VideoLogic SmartTools for Windows 95 
====================================
& GrafixStar 400
================

27th September, 1996.


This ReadMe file contains late-breaking information and tips on using
VideoLogic's SmartTools for Microsoft Windows 95. For a detailed explanation
of the functions and operations of SmartTools please consult the on-line help.

Please note that, in the GrafixStar 400 User Guide, step 12 of Installing 
the GrafixStar 400 hardware is only for reinstalling or upgrading GrafixStar 
400. For first-time installation, ignore this step, so that, after switching 
on your computer and monitor, you are ready to install the software.

The SmartTools are a new set of applications designed to allow you to get the 
most out of the powerful capabilities of your GrafixStar graphics card. The
SmartTools give you more control over the appearance and behaviour of your 
Windows desktop.

Contents
========
1. An overview of SmartTools
2. Installation / Deinstallation
3. Troubleshooting
4. GrafixStar 400 Drivers


1. An overview of SmartTools
============================
1.1.  SmartTools
================
SmartTools lets you create toolbars to give you more control and quicker 
access to your Windows applications and documents.

With SmartTools you can:

    -	Use toolbars for other Smart applications, and customize these toolbars 
        to suit your needs.

    -	Create toolbars for other applications, adding buttons for the 
        programs, documents and files you use most.

    -	Assign hotkeys for the commands that you use most often.

1.2.  SmartDisplay
==================
SmartDisplay makes it easier and quicker for you to set up the display 
properties for your monitor.

SmartDisplay gives you:

    -	A SmartDisplay Wizard, which guides you through a step by step 
        procedure that helps you find the ideal display properties for the 
        kind of work you are doing.

    -	A SmartDisplay setup procedure for advanced users, which allows you 
        to select the display size, color palette, refresh rate, desktop size, 
        connectivity, monitor alignment and properties for your display.

1.3.  SmartDesktop
==================
SmartDesktop is an application which controls the appearance and behaviour 
of your desktop.

With SmartDesktop you can:

    -	Use a virtual desktop, where the desktop size is larger than the 
        display size. SmartDesktop controls the way you move around the 
        desktop and reach the off-screen portion of your desktop.

    -	Change the display size at the touch of a button, allowing you to zoom 
        in and zoom out while you are working.


2. Installation / Deinstallation
================================
The GrafixStar 400 software for Windows 95 users is supplied on the VideoLogic 
Software Library CD in the folder GS400\Win95. This contains two sub-folders, 
Disk1 and Disk2, which contain the following:

	Disk1 -  SmartTools and GrafixStar 400 Driver
	Disk2 -  Disk 2 of the SmartTools installer

These folders can be copied to your hard disk, or to 3.5" disks, and intalled 
in the same way as from the CD. If you are doing this, remember to use the
path to the files you are using, not the path to the files on the CD shown
below ([drive]:\GS400\Win95).

Before installing SmartTools, you must install the latest graphics drivers 
for your GrafixStar card (found in [drive]:\GS400\Win95\Disk1 of the CD). 
This is explained in detail below. 


2.1.  Installation
==================

2.1.1.  Installing the GrafixStar 400 Drivers for the first time in Windows 95
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  Switch your computer on and start Windows 95.
2.  Windows 95 will detect that you have a new graphics card and ask you for
    a driver for the new hardware.  Choose the option 'Driver from disk provided 
    by hardware manufacturer'. Click OK.  
3.  Insert the CD into your system.
4.  Choose Browse and locate the folder [drive]:\GS400\Win95\Disk1 on the CD,
    choose OK twice, select GrafixStar 400 GrafixMAX from the list and click OK.
5.  When the GrafixStar files have been copied to your PC, a message will appear 
    asking you to restart Windows. Choose OK.
6.  Windows 95 will restart and a 'VideoLogic GrafixStar Installation' dialog box
    will appear, allowing you to install SmartTools, DirectVideo which includes
    DirectDraw, or to Cancel the options.  Choose the desired option:-

    SmartTools:
    VideoLogic SmartTools installation will be executed on selection of this option.
    Please follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

    DirectVideo:
    Microsoft DirectDraw v1.0 installation will be executed on selecting this option
    which will install DirectVideo.  In order to utilise this software, the user 
    needs to restart Windows 95.

7.  Open the Display Properties control panel (the quickest way is to click the 
    right mouse button on the Windows desktop and select Properties).
8.  Select the Settings tab and click on Change Display Type. 
9.  Make sure that the Monitor Type line contains the name of your monitor.
    If not, choose Change Monitor Type, select your monitor from the list 
    and click OK.

2.1.2.  Re-installing the GrafixStar drivers
--------------------------------------------
The easiest way to install the GrafixStar Windows 95 software is using the 
Display Properties window:

   1.	Insert the CD or disk into your computer.
   2.	Open the Control Panel window. To do this, click Start, point to 
        Settings and click Control Panel.
   3.	Double click on the Display icon to open the Display Properties Window.
	Note: You can go directly to the Display Properties window by clicking 
        on the Windows 95 desktop with the right mouse button and choosing 
        Properties from the menu.
   4.	Choose the Settings page by clicking on the Settings tab. 
   5.	Choose the Change Display Type button.
   6.	Make sure that the Monitor Type line contains the name of your monitor. 
        If not, click the Change button and select the name of your monitor 
        from the list.
   7.	Click on the Change button for the Adapter Type.
   8.	Insert the GrafixStar CD into your computer and choose Have Disk from 
        the Select Device menu. Browse to the folder 
        [drive]:\GS400\win95\disk1.
   9.	Select your GrafixStar card from the list and choose OK.
  10.	When the GrafixStar files have been copied to your PC, the Change 
        Display Type window is displayed again. Choose Close.
  11.	A message appears telling you that you will have to restart Windows 95 
        for the new display type to take effect. Choose OK.
  12.	Windows 95 restarts with the new GrafixStar Windows 95 drivers and will
        allow you to install SmartTools, DirectVideo, or to Cancel these options. 

If the GrafixStar drivers have installed correctly and SmartTools have not been 
installed you will find an additional 'Advanced' page in the Display Properties 
Window.

You are now ready to install the SmartTools for Windows 95.  

Note: If you have re-installed your display drivers and you wish to use 
SmartTools, re-install SmartTools for Windows 95 to allow the correct
system changes to be configured in Windows 95.

2.1.3.  Installing the SmartTools
---------------------------------
   1.	Choose Run from the Start menu.
   2.	Insert the GrafixStar CD into your computer and browse to the folder 
        [drive]:\GS400\win95\disk1.
   3.	Type setup and choose OK.
   4.	Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

When SmartTools is installed, the Advanced page within the Display 
Properties Window is replaced by two new pages entitled 'SmartDisplay' 
and 'SmartDesktop'.


2.2.  Deinstalling the SmartTools
=================================
To deinstall the SmartTools from your system, rerun the SmartTools SetUp 
from the VideoLogic SmartTools program group and select Remove.

Note that removing SmartTools involves restarting Windows 95, so save 
any open documents before you start.

Once the SmartTools have been deinstalled, you will have to reinstall the 
GrafixStar drivers so the Advanced page reappears in the Display Properties 
Window.

3. Troubleshooting
==================

3.1  Display Properties - Settings Tab Corruption
-------------------------------------------------
As part of the SmartTools installation the Settings Tab in the Display Properties
page is modified. It has been found that some other applications may also modify
the Settings Tab, e.g. Direct X version 2. This can result in corruption of the 
Settings Tab.

To disable the SmartTools modifications to the Settings Tab use the patch file
(msstnpg.reg) included on disk 2 of the SmartTools install. To do this run the
file MSSTNGPG.REG once from within Windows 95 by double clicking on its
icon. To re-enable the SmartTools modifications to the Settings Tab, SmartTools
must first be deinstalled and then reinstalled.

3.2  Errors when running Virtual Desktops and/or changing Modes
---------------------------------------------------------------
Some applications, especially those that display video, report errors when running
a Virtual Desktop or changing modes. Every effort is made to prevent such
problems but if they do occur we recommend that you close the problematic 
application before changing mode.

3.3.  Modes
===========
3.3.1.  16-color modes
----------------------
SmartTools is not designed to work with a 16-color palette (4-bits per pixel). 

3.3.2.  Monitors
----------------
Windows 95 does not restrict the generic SVGA monitor settings to a given 
set of display sizes, so SmartTools allows any display size to be selected. 
Therefore if you have 'Standard monitor types' selected as you monitor, 
SmartTools will not restrict your display size. There is therefore a 
possibility that you could zoom out to a display size that your monitor does 
not support.

3.4.  Toolbars
==============
3.4.1.  Disappearing Toolbars
-----------------------------
When using SmartDesktop to zoom into the desktop, it is possible from time 
to time to lose sight of the SmartTools toolbars. You can relocate a toolbar 
within your current display using the 'Find Now' feature. To reach the 
'Find Now' button, select the Properties button of the toolbar on the 
Toolbar Properties page of SmartTools.

3.4.2.  Maximize in Display
---------------------------
The SmartDesktop feature 'Maximize on Display' maximizes your applications 
to the full size of your display.  However, the Windows 95 taskbar is 
necessarily kept on top of the display as a default, so part of your 
application window disappears below it.  If you use this feature, we 
recommend that you set the Taskbar to 'auto-hide'.

3.4.3.  Moving & Deleting Buttons from Toolbars
-----------------------------------------------
You can move buttons around on the toolbars by holding down the shift key 
and dragging them to the desired location. To remove a button, drag it off 
the toolbar while holding down the shift key.

3.5.  HotKeys
=============
3.5.1.  DOSBox
--------------
The SmartDesktop hotkeys will not function when a DOSBox is open and its 
window has the focus.

3.6.  Connectivity - Feature Connector
======================================
3.6.1  Feature Connector
------------------------
If you select 'Feature Connector' from the Connectivity page of SmartDisplay, 
your CONFIG.SYS file is modified to include the TSR VLENABLE.SYS. VLENABLE 
is a small utility that enables DAC snooping (i.e. your PC to register the 
appropriate hardware connections) at start up.

If your system does not have a CONFIG.SYS file, or it has one that is zero 
bytes in size, you must create a file called CONFIG.SYS at the root of your 
hard disk and make sure that it contains some data (a 'rem' line is 
sufficient), before you select 'Feature Connector'. 

When you have selected Feature Connector you must restart your system to run 
VLENABLE.

If you uncheck the Feature Connector option, the VLENABLE.SYS line in the 
CONFIG.SYS file will be disabled by changing it to a 'rem' line.

4. The GrafixStar 400 Drivers
=============================

For information on installing the drivers see section 2.1

Contents
========
4.1. Display modes with video acceleration
4.2. Using games with DirectDraw
4.3. Troubleshooting

4.1. Display modes with video acceleration
==========================================
The modes below support video acceleration:

Display size  	Colors	Refresh rate (Hz)		   

640x480		256	60, 72, 75, 85		
800x600		256	56, 60, 72, 75, 85 
1024x768	256	43, 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85

640x480		65,536	60, 72, 75, 85 		
800x600		65,536	56, 60, 72, 75, 85 	
1024x768	65,536	43, 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85

640x480		16.7m	60, 72, 75, 85

All other modes display AVI files using software only, which gives poorer 
quality playback. If you want to playback MPEG files without special 
hardware, you can obtain a FREE copy of Xing MPEG Player when you return 
your GrafixStar 400 registration card.

4.2. Using games with DirectDraw
================================
GrafixStar 400 display drivers for Windows 95 are compatible with 
DirectDraw. 

SmartTools automatically installs DirectDraw. To manually install 
DirectDraw, find the directory REDIST.IHV on disk 2 and run SETUP.EXE, 
after which Windows 95 needs to be restarted. To deinstall DirectDraw 
simply delete the following files:

		file		location
		Ddhelp.exe	[drive]:\windows\system
		Ddraw.dll	[drive]:\windows\system
		Ddraw16.dll	[drive]:\windows\system
		Dvideo.dll	[drive]:\windows\system
		Iccvid.dll	[drive]:\windows\system

4.3. Troubleshooting
====================

Upgrading the BIOS
------------------

Upgrading your GrafixStar 400 to use the latest BIOS can cure a number
of problems.

The TSR 'vlgx4upg.com' updates the GrafixStar 400 BIOS to version 1.3. 
‘vlgx4upg.com’ can be found in the VLPROD directory of a Windows 3.1/3.11 
installation and in the SYSTEM directory of a Windows 95 installation.

The TSR remains installed until the system is switched off. We recommended 
that you run it permanently, by adding a call to it in either your 
CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT.

To run from the CONFIG.SYS insert the line

	Install=DRIVE:\PATH\VLGX4UPG.COM

To run the file from the AUTOEXEC.BAT insert the line

	DRIVE:\PATH\VLGX4UPG.COM

QuickTime for Windows Version 2.XX.XX
-------------------------------------
If you experience problems when viewing QuickTime movies, run the QuickTime
Control Panel from the Windows 95 Control Panel, and follow the steps below:

- Run the QuickTime Control Panel, click the more button and select the 
  Video tab. 

- From within the Optimization section, the Draw Method setting will 
  be set to Video Hardware. Change this to Video Driver.

- close the QuickTime Control Panel.

Play AVI with MS PLUS! pack
---------------------------
If you are using a display mode which is capable of video acceleration 
(see section 4.1) and have the option 'Show Window contents while dragging' 
enabled, you will see the accelerated video displaced from the video window 
whilst dragging the video window around the desktop.  Disable the 
'Show Window contents while dragging' on the PLUS page in the display 
properties.

Monitor screen centering
------------------------
Some advanced monitors which utilize a user display setting by detecting the 
horizontal line frequency, may appear to change the size and positioning of the 
returned Window 95 screen when task switching from a DOS fullscreen session to a 
Windows 95 session.  This problem occurs when the monitor is at the borderline 
between two settings. To remedy, use the monitor screen controls to adjust the 
screen to the desired settings.

Quickres
--------
Quickres is part of a series of unsupported utilities provided by Microsoft.  
The mechanism used by Quickres to achieve color-depth switching on the fly can 
seriously impact GrafixStar 700 performance, and can make Windows 95 unstable.  
We do not recommend the use of this utility.