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From: aaron@jessica.stanford.edu (Aaron Wallace)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: 16-colour 1024x768 driver for Trident 8900?
Message-ID: <1991Feb5.002828.26193@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 5 Feb 91 00:28:28 GMT
References: <91029.141451KTK-VK@finou.oulu.fi> <BiTRw1w163w@wiffle.techbook.com>
Sender: Aaron Wallace
Organization: Academic Information Resources
Lines: 54

In article <BiTRw1w163w@wiffle.techbook.com> waynet@wiffle.techbook.com (Wayne Tilton) writes:
>KTK-VK@finou.oulu.fi (Vesa Komulainen) writes:
>
>> I have just upgraded from a Trident 8800-based video card to a 1MB Trident
>> 8900. The disks that came with the card only had a 256-colour driver for the
>> 1024x768 resolution for Windows 3. While the driver does function properly,
>> I would very much like to have a 16-colour driver which, so I have been told,
>> should be available. I assume it might be faster than the 256-colour one. Can
>> anyone out there help me to get such a driver?
>> 
>> Vesa Komulainen (ktk-vk@finou.oulu.fi)
>
>Current versions of all drivers for the Trident 8900 boards are
>available from the Trident BBS in Sunnyvale at 1-408-736-5483,
>2400-8-n-1.  They have 16 and 256 color drivers for 640x480, 800x600,
>and 1024x768 for Win3.  They also have a 'large font' 1024x768 driver
>(uses the 8514 font) that makes 1024x768 usable.  Two things to be
>aware of before you download the drivers:
>
>1. The 800x600x256 driver only works with boards w/1MB of memory.
>
>2. News on the BBS indicates they will have faster versions of the
>   256 color drivers available in March.  Might be worth waiting if
>   it's long distance.
>

Since no one raised legalistic-type objections, I put TVGA2b.ZIP on
cica.  This is the set of drivers I pulled off their BBS. 

Impressions:
They seem solid--I've noticed only one non-reproducible glitch (a window
frame didn't redraw; who knows who's to blame...)

Their speed is usable.  I'm still used to the snappy response of the Herc,
but the 16-color 800x600 is fine for me.  The 256 color drivers are of course
slower.  They'll be good for drawing, but are a bit slow for word processing 
(with a lot of scrolling).

The 1024x768x16 seems *slower* than the 256-color version.  Dunno why, but
if you have a meg I'd go the extra 4 bits.

In general, I'm glad that all major resolutions and depths are supported--
and being improved still further, supposedly.

Might I just add that instead of using their setup procedure, go into the
SETUP.INF file, add a new disk in the [disks] section for the Trident
driver disk (copy it from the Trident oemsetup.inf and change the number),
copy over the pertainent entried from the [drivers] section, making sure to
change disk numbers as needed, copy the [TVGA.GR3] section, and run Setup
from within Windows.  This will allow you to change modes w/in Windows, so
you can use the 16-color drivers for real work and the 256 color ones for
displaying Yoda or whatever on the background.

Aaron Wallace