README MATROX GRAPHICS INC. January 15th, 1996
MGA Windows 95 Display Driver
Revision 2.01.010
Table of Contents
- Description of This Release
- Floppy Contents
- Installation
- Registry Settings
- Notes, Problems, and Limitations
Description of This Release
---------------------------
This is the MGA Windows 95 PowerDesk software, version 2.0.
This product includes a MGA Windows 95 driver AND the Matrox
PowerDesk for Windows 95, which allows: virtual desktop, hardware
pan and zoom, Quick Access panel and more...
Floppy contents
---------------
Basic Driver files (installed in \Windows\System):
MGAPD.INF Installation support file
MGAPD.DRV MGA Win95 Driver
MGAPD.VXD Win95 miniVDD
MGAPD.DLL MGA initialization DLL
PowerDesk files installed in \Windows\System:
MGASHEET.DLL MGA Display Property Sheet (replaces regular sheet)
MGASHEET.HLP Help file for Property Sheet
MGACTRL.EXE MGA Control Center (for PowerDesk)
MGACTRL.DLL MGA Keyboard hooker (for PowerDesk hotkeys)
M_SHEET.DLL Text strings for MGAEXT.DLL
M_CTRL.DLL Text strings for MGACTRL.EXE
MGAPREV.BMP MGA Pixel Depth Preview Bitmaps
PowerDesk files installed in \Matrox\MGA:
README This file
ONLINE.DOC Documentation
PANELOFF.REG MGA PowerDesk uninstall file
RAMBIOS.SYS MGA BIOS Shadowing Utility
\MON
MGASET.EXE MGA Win95 Monitor Program
M_SET.DLL Text strings for MGASET.EXE
MGASET.HLP Help file for Monitor Program
MGA.MON MGA Monitor File
ULTIMA1A.MON MGA Ultima 1/A Monitor File
\QA
MGAQUICK.EXE MGA Win95 QuickAccess program
M_QUICK.DLL Text strings for MGAQUICK.EXE
DirectDraw files installed in \Windows\System:
MGADD.DRV MGA DirectDraw hooks
MGADD16.DLL MGA DirectDraw thunk layer
MGADD32.DLL MGA DirectDraw accelerations
DirectDraw files installed in \Windows\System\VMM32:
VFLATD.VXD MGA DirectDraw new virtualize flat frame buffer device
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\MGA and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\QUICKACCESS
Notes, Problems, and Limitations
--------------------------------
- Microsoft MGA Ultima/Impression driver
The Microsoft MGA Ultima/Impression driver v.1.0 does not have, or support,
the PowerDesk enhancements. In the "Adapter Type" list, the MGA driver is
called the "Matrox MGA Ultima/Impression", while the PowerDesk one is
called "Matrox MGA PowerDesk".
- Windows 95 "display.txt" file
Windows 95 comes with a readme file called "display.txt" containing
valuable information related to display adapters.
Note that the remarks about the Matrox MGA adapters refer to the Microsoft
MGA Ultima/Impression driver, not to your MGA PowerDesk driver.
- 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.
- Windows 95 SuperVGA monitors not supported
Windows 95 provides "Standard monitor types". This includes various
SuperVGA monitors supporting resolutions from 800 X 600 to 1600 X 1200.
These monitor types do not specify refresh rate ranges, which causes
our driver to reject them and work as if there is no monitor selected.
In this case, the driver will output resolutions up to 1600 X 1200,
which might not be supported by your actual monitor. Therefore the
SuperVGA monitor types SHOULD NOT BE USED WITH THE MGA POWERDESK DRIVER.
Instead, try to find your specific monitor name (or type) in the Windows 95
list, or use one of the generic monitors from the MGA Monitor Program.
- Monitor Refresh rates with a virtual desktop
When working with a virtual desktop, the refresh rate used for the
Windows 95 monitor will be derived from the virtual desktop resolution
("Desktop area") rather than from the display resolution ("Display
area"). This typically will result in an inferior refresh rate, and if
the virtual desktop resolution is not supported by your monitor
(e.g. 1600 X 1200), the default refresh rate of only 60 Hz will be used.
This limitation does not occur when using the Matrox MGA Monitor Program,
where the refresh rates are taken from the display resolution.
- 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.
- MGA Rev.1 boards, Impression Plus AT-Bus
If you have a MGA Rev.1 board or an Impression Plus AT-Bus, you MUST use
the RAMBIOS.SYS program (or some other form of shadow BIOS) when the MGA
board is configured with the on-board VGA enabled, in a single-screen
configuration, at the default base address of AC000. The RAMBIOS.SYS
utility must be loaded through the CONFIG.SYS file (CONFIG.SYS file must
contain the line: device=c:\Matrox\MGA\RAMBIOS.SYS).
- MGA ULTIMA/1/A Users
If you have a MGA-ULT/1/A board (1Mb VRAM), you must use the Matrox Monitor
Selection program rather than the Windows 95 monitor selection. Furthermore,
you must use the special ULTIMA1A.MON Monitor file, located in the
\Matrox\MGA\MON directory. Simply copy this file over the MGA.MON file, then
call the Matrox Monitor Program to select a monitor from that list.
- Repaint problems with PanLOCK
We have noted erratic window repainting problems with the PanLOCK feature.
The problem is related to Windows main message queue, and happens more
easily with the "window dragging" feature of the Win95 Plus Pack. It has
been seen so far in Lotus 4, Access and AMIPro. There is no workaround
other than to avoid using PanLOCK.
- Microsoft DirectDraw
The MGA DirectDraw driver is included with this release. It provides
the necessary hooks to accelerate upcomming DirectX games.
- MGA ULTIMA/PCI
If you have a PCI based computer and are experiencing system lock-ups on the
first boot after installing your PCI display adapter, in "fail-safe boot", or
when your display is set to 640x480, 16 colors, then you should copy a
special version of the Windows 95 VGA display driver. It works around a
compatibility problem between the Intel "Triton" PCI controller and the
MGA ULTIMA/PCI. The file is located in \DRIVERS\DISPLAY\VGA on the Microsoft
Windows 95 CD-ROM. Just copy this version of VGA.DRV over the version already
in your Windows\system directory.
- 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.
- 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
\Matrox\MGA folder.
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.