[comp.sys.ibm.pc] VGA display cards

dts@cloud9.UUCP (Daniel Senie) (09/25/88)

[Discussion about VGA card with auto mode switching]

I have been testing several VGA and high performance (TI 34010 and
Intel 82786 based) graphics boards. I have found that it is safest to
leave the auto-switch mode turned off, as many software packages freak
out otherwise.

Effectively the software asks the board, "Are you a Hercules?" and the board
does look like a hercules. Then if it asks about CGA, the answer is yes again.
This continues and the software has found more display adapters than it knows
what to do with. Some versions of Microsoft Windows, for example, will not
run properly in this case.

With a real VGA card, you should not need any software sensing to run CGA or
EGA software. I have sucessfully run both CGA and EGA stull on a PS/2 model
60 and on my Zenith 386 with a variety of VGA boards. On both machines there
was no "auto-switch" mode setting used.

-- 
Daniel Senie               UUCP: harvard!ulowell!cloud9!dts 
Stratus Computer, Inc.     ARPA: anvil!cloud9!dts@harvard.harvard.edu
55 Fairbanks Blvd.         CSRV: 74176,1347
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