Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!motcsd!mcdcup!mcdchg!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Duped!!
Message-ID: <3405@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 18 Oct 90 21:23:06 GMT
References: <90284.232257JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> <4158@umbc3.UMBC.EDU>
Organization: Corpane Industries Inc., Louisville, KY
Lines: 40

cs472119@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs472119) writes:


>Yes, yes, yes.  I discovered this too.  If you want anything above 640x480
>/16 colors, (or 320x200 w/256 colors), you have to get a special driver
>from the BOARD MANUFACTURER for each software package you plan to run!!!
>If they go out of business, you're SOL when the next version comes out, 
>or next great program comes out.  

>I don't know how similar the drivers might be across board makers, but 
>I wouldn't stake much in doing things that way!

>-Larry

Half of the time you don't even get drivers with the board, the application
program itself has to support the board on MSDOS. For example at work we
had an Orchid Super VGA board (Prodesigner VGA). It did up to 800 x 600
with 256 colors, and 1024 x 768 in 16 colors. Nice huh? It came with drivers
for windows and ventura publisher, but that was all. Luckily I found 
deluxe paint II enhanced that supported that board in all it's resolutions.
Man it was slick! Then I upgraded the board to an Orchid Prodesigner II
(it does 1024 x 768 with 256 colors!). But it's not 100% compatible with the
Prodesigner I board. And deluxe paint II enhanced doesn't support the 
Prodesigner II board. So now I can only do normal VGA modes and I have
gotten it to work with 800 x 600 x 16 colors. But the rest of the modes
are useless to me now in Dpaint. I called electronic arts and they said
they don't have any plans to release a new version that supports the
prodesigner II any time soon. So I am SOL.

Not to mention the hassle of setting up boards on IBMs and clones. Sheesh!
A billion jumpers to set the interrupts, controller addresses, and register
addresses! Give me autoconfiguring any day! (we can't convince management
to get amigas yet)


-- 
John Sparks         |D.I.S.K. Public Access Unix System| Multi-User Games, Email
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A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of----Ogden Nash