Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!bu.edu!polygen!jerry
From: jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Sheckel)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386
Subject: Re: ET4000 Card (PLEASE READ THIS!)
Keywords: X386 STB PowerGraph
Message-ID: <990@stewart.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 91 19:18:56 GMT
References: <22110@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Reply-To: jerry@stewart.UUCP (Jerry Sheckel)
Organization: Polygen Corporation, Waltham, MA
Lines: 26

>
> So which is the best ET4000 card?  (And what's a good price on an 8514 card
> for comparison?)
>

UNIX Users!  Watch out for the Diamond SpeedSTAR VGA card.  This is an ET4000
card with some special speed enhancements.  It is a fantastic card, but with a
BIG SNAG:  the monitor configuration defaults to "IBM 8514" upon bootup, and
can only be changed by the supplied DOS-based program VMODE.COM.  I use SCO
ODT, and since the card thinks it's connected to an 8514, I can only use
800x600 resolution at a 56Hz refresh rate, even though it's capable of 60Hz and
72Hz.  Under DOS, I set the monitor to "Sony 1304" and away I go, but no such
capability under UNIX.  When oh when will hardware vendors realize that DOS
is not the ONE TRUE OS?

By the way, is it possible, under SCO 3.2.1 (ODT OS), to access video ports
without writing a device driver?  How does Xsight do it?
--
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
| JERRY J. SHEKHEL  | POLYGEN CORPORATION  | When I was young, I had to walk |
| Drummers do it... | Waltham, MA USA      | to school and back every day -- |
|    ... In rhythm! | (617) 890-2175       | 20 miles, uphill both ways.     |
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
|           ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry             |
|                            jerry@polygen.com                               |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+