Documentation for Gx00VBE 0.8 - A freeware VBE3 driver for the Gx00 series
.. What?
Gx00VBE is a VESA VBE/Core V3.0 (otherwise known as VESA 3) implementation for
the G100, G200 and G400 based cards by Matrox. It completely replaces the one
supplied in the card's BIOS.
This program is a TSR, meaning that it won't flash your BIOS, only stay
resident until the next reboot. It takes up just over 7k of basemem. I
recommend you load it high manually since it doesn't do it by itself.
It works with both PCI and AGP boards.
.. Why?
The VBE2 implementation supplied by Matrox in the card's BIOS lacks all
resolutions I find useful. This is particularly the lo-res resolutions used by
older DOS games and recent demos. If you haven't had any problems with your
Gx00 in DOS applications, games or demos, this program is not for you. Be
happy.
On the other hand, if you HAVE had problems when trying to run the latest
demos or your old DOS games, this might be the solution.
.. How?
To use Gx00VBE, just run the Gx00VBE.COM file. It works well in a Windows 9x
DOS-box, but you can also install it in your autoexec.bat. It won't work in
an NT command prompt, however. NT doesn't provide the necessary PCI/AGP BIOS
interrupt.
A word of warning: always save your work in Windows before using a DOS-box!
You never know what those old DOS programs might be up to next.
As you might have guessed, the version number 0.8 means this software is not
yet feature complete. It seems stable and you shouldn't experience any crashes
or bugs though. "0.8" is merely a reflection of how far I am from my goal.
To remove it from memory, run the program with option /u on the command line.
Note that in order to use Matrox's BIOS upgrade you must unload Gx00VBE from
memory.
In this release, the following resolutions will be available to your DOS
programs after installation:
320 x 200
320 x 240
320 x 400
320 x 480
340 x 256
360 x 240
400 x 300
512 x 384
640 x 400
640 x 480
720 x 540
800 x 600
1024 x 768
1152 x 864
1280 x 1024
All in a choice of 8, 15, 16, 24 or 32 bit.
As for textmodes we have 132x25, 132x43, 132x50 and 132x60.
All in all, this gives you a total of (drumroll, please) 79 modes.
.. What next?
Further size reductions. For the final release a mode creator is also planned
and it's progressing well already.
.. Where?
You can find the latest version on my web-page:
http://hjem.get2net.dk/surfsmurf/index_g200.htm
.. Who?
Gx00VBE and documentation is Copyright 1999 by Carsten S›rensen, all rights
reserved except:
you are allowed to distribute Gx00VBE provided that...
.) it's accompanied by the documentation (that's this file)
.) this notice is intact
.) you charge no money for Gx00VBE, only the media (in the case of a physical
copy of the software)
This software was written for my own enjoyment and personal use. I provide it
free to other Gx00 users in the hope it might be useful.
NOTICE
THE AUTHOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKES IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES TO THE
PRODUCT DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENTATION AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT NOTICE. THE
AUTHOR MAKES NO WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SOFTWARE'S FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS". IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE
LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.
The author thanks you. Enjoy. (You may report bugs or request features ;-)
Carsten S›rensen
email: surfsmurf@get2net.dk
web: http://hjem.get2net.dk/surfsmurf
.. History
29 Mar 1999 - 0.1 released on comp.sys.ibm.pc.demos
31 Mar 1999 - 0.2 Many bugs fixed as a result.
06 Apr 1999 - 0.5 Cool new modes and partial VBE/Core 3.0 support.
26 Jun 1999 - 0.6 Fixed protected mode 8 bit palette call.
Experimental G400 support (haven't got one yet, so it
probably doesn't work)
Lowered refresh rate for 512x384 just a tad, should work
for everyone.
29 Jun 1999 - 0.7 New modes added: 340x256 (apparently good for emulators)
and 1152x864 + a heap of textmodes.
18 Jul 1999 - 0.8 Hardware scrolling fixed
Segment 0040 rows, columns and other fields set up properly
(many many thanks to Adrian Bente for all the great help
with spotting that one)
DI register preserved in function 01 (d'oh!)
G100 support added.
Renamed to Gx00VBE since it now supports G100, G200 and G400
and to conform to VESA's recommended naming convention.
Resident code size reduced from 11k to 8k.
Help text added.
Installation check added.
Unload feature added.
State saving and restoring added.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.