ATTN: VESA 2.0 patch for Windows NT/2000/XP
Quote:Tired of 320x200? With this, you can play in hi-res again I bought a new computer a few days ago. It came with Windows XP. That means a lot of my old programs that used to work on Windows 98 don't work anymore.
http://www.advsys.net/ken/build.htm
Quote:Tired of 320x200? With this, you can play in hi-res again I bought a new computer a few days ago. It came with Windows XP. That means a lot of my old programs that used to work on Windows 98 don't work anymore. I didn't want to reinstall Windows 98.
Here's the problem with VESA 2.0 running under Windows NT/2K/XP: The video card BIOS says the linear framebuffer exists, but when DOS applications try to set this video mode, the application exits with this error message: "DPMI_mapPhysicalToLinear() failed!". Most people never see this message because the screen is either black or jumbled at this point. I don't know why the call fails, but I have a workaround:
NOLFB.ZIP (1351 bytes) A TSR that patches the VESA driver by fooling DOS programs into thinking the VESA 2.0 linear framebuffer modes aren't supported. Run this in the CMD prompt before you start your DOS application. You can type "MEM /C" to see if it installed in memory correctly. To remove it from memory, just type 'exit' from the CMD shell. Source code is included! Please note: I've only tested this on my own computer!
NOTES:
NOLFB will only fix DOS VESA 2.0 applications that have a fallback code that supports the segmented video modes (from VESA 1.2). If the application does not run in segmented video mode, then it will exit with a visible error message instead of a black or jumbled screen.
NOLFB does not add any new VESA modes to your computer! In fact it does just the opposite. If your graphics adapter does not support standard VESA modes (such as 640x480x8) in any DOS application, then this patch will not help you.
Here's a list of programs I've tested that are fixed by this patch (assuming the above conditions are true): Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, most of the Build engine tools, 2Draw, and some demos on my website that are linked to my DOS VESA code: "VES2.H".
NOLFB will not do much in Win95/98/ME other than cause the framerates to decrease in games. Use at your own risk!
http://www.advsys.net/ken/nolfb.zip
Quote:Tired of 320x200? With this, you can play in hi-res again I bought a new computer a few days ago. It came with Windows XP. That means a lot of my old programs that used to work on Windows 98 don't work anymore. I didn't want to reinstall Windows 98.
Here's the problem with VESA 2.0 running under Windows NT/2K/XP: The video card BIOS says the linear framebuffer exists, but when DOS applications try to set this video mode, the application exits with this error message: "DPMI_mapPhysicalToLinear() failed!". Most people never see this message because the screen is either black or jumbled at this point. I don't know why the call fails, but I have a workaround:
NOLFB.ZIP (1351 bytes) A TSR that patches the VESA driver by fooling DOS programs into thinking the VESA 2.0 linear framebuffer modes aren't supported. Run this in the CMD prompt before you start your DOS application. You can type "MEM /C" to see if it installed in memory correctly. To remove it from memory, just type 'exit' from the CMD shell. Source code is included! Please note: I've only tested this on my own computer!
NOTES:
NOLFB will only fix DOS VESA 2.0 applications that have a fallback code that supports the segmented video modes (from VESA 1.2). If the application does not run in segmented video mode, then it will exit with a visible error message instead of a black or jumbled screen.
NOLFB does not add any new VESA modes to your computer! In fact it does just the opposite. If your graphics adapter does not support standard VESA modes (such as 640x480x8) in any DOS application, then this patch will not help you.
Here's a list of programs I've tested that are fixed by this patch (assuming the above conditions are true): Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, most of the Build engine tools, 2Draw, and some demos on my website that are linked to my DOS VESA code: "VES2.H".
NOLFB will not do much in Win95/98/ME other than cause the framerates to decrease in games. Use at your own risk!
http://www.advsys.net/ken/nolfb.zip
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What an accomplished programmer!
Interesting... I never really cared about being forced to use 320x240 but that was with my old 14" monitor. With the new 17" the grille pitch (it's 0.24" or something as opposed to the 0.28" or so of the old 14") makes anything below about 800x600 look like crap. Now, if only DOS games didn't hard lock my system on exit (something I'm 90% sure is .NET Servers fault since it only started happening after I installed it...)
