[comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware] About the ATI EGA Wonder

tamboer@cs.vu.nl (Tamboer Erik) (12/19/90)

The ATI EGA Wonder card has been around for quite some time now, but
it seems that a lot of people using it don't know all of its features.
This is probably due to the incomplete manual. I never trust manuals,
so I always try to find options etc. not mentioned.
Following is a list of command line options for the acccompanying
'Superswitch Mode Switching software' SMS.COM, that I compiled by
examining the program, and the meaning of the DIP switches (for people
who don't have the manual).
Options preceded by a star were not mentioned in the documentation. Some
options are not clear to me, on my EGA monitor nothing happens. These
are marked with a '?'. All options have the side effect that a screen
saver is installed in memory (1984 bytes resident) that will blank the
screen after a certain period of no keyboard activity, unless the option
is followed by -nonresident.

I hope someone finds this of some use...
  Erik.
___________________________________________________________________________

ATI Technologies Inc.                                     SMS  Version 2.01
Command line options                                       * = undocumented
___________________________________________________________________________

*   -nonresident       : (following another option) don't install screen saver.
    132                : 132 columns (color or mono, based on current mode)
*   c132	       : Color 132 columns, 25 rows
*   c132x44            : Color 132 columns, 44 rows
*   c40                : Color 40 columns (CGA)
    c80                : Color 80 columns (CGA)
*   ce40	       : Color 40 columns (EGA)
    ce80               : Color 80 columns (EGA)
*   compaqds           : Double scan on 200 line graphics when in hi-scan (?)
*   compaqls           : Low scan on 200 line graphics (?)
    disab              : Disable enhanced features
    enab               : Enable enhanced features
*   exit	       : ? (Seems to do nothing)
*   h640x400           : Set default Hercules graphics mode to 640 x 400 pixels
*   h720x348           : Set default Hercules graphics mode to 720 x 348 pixels
*   j132               : Adjust 132 columns screen (color/mono - current mode)
*   jc132              : Adjust color 132 columns screen
*   jm132              : Adjust monochrome 132 columns screen
*   m132	       : Monochrome 132 columns, 25 rows
*   m132x44            : Mono 132 columns, 44 rows
    m80 	       : Monochrome 80 columns (Hercules). Can be followed
			 by a, g, or w for amber, green, or white on black,
			 e.g. SMS m80 a -nonresident.
*   notselected        : ? (seems to do nothing)
    save <n>           : Install screen saver (delay <n> minutes)
    save off           : Disable screen saver (leaves it installed)
*   save on            : Install screen saver (default delay 5 minutes)
*   stack              : Enable NMI stack (for incompatibility problems?)
*   swap               : ?
*   unstack            : Disable NMI stack
*   unswap             : ?

Use the following with care, you could damage your monitor!!! It is better to
set the monitor type once with the DIP switches and never use these options.

*   monitor ega        : Tell adapter there is an EGA monitor attached
*   monitor compaqhi   : Compaq high resolution monitor
*   monitor compaqlo   : Compaq low resolution monitor
*   monitor mono       : TTL Monochrome monitor
*   monitor multisync  : Multisync monitor
*   monitor rgb        : RGB color monitor (CGA)
*   monitor taxan      : Taxan monitor
___________________________________________________________________________

DIP switch settings:

		 .-------- Switch -------.		  .---- Switch -----.
------------------------------------------   --------------------------------
Default mode	 |  1  |  2  |	3  |  4  |   Monitor type |  5	|  6  |  7  |
-----------------------------------------|   --------------------------------
Mono(HGC/EGA/MDA)| OFF | OFF | ON  | OFF |   EGA color	  | ON	| OFF | OFF |
------------------------------------------   --------------------------------
CGA (40x25)	 | ON  | OFF | OFF | ON  |   RGB color	  | ON	| ON  | OFF |
------------------------------------------   --------------------------------
CGA (80x25)	 | OFF | OFF | OFF | ON  |   TTL mono	  | OFF | ON  | OFF |
------------------------------------------   --------------------------------
EGA (normal)	 | ON  | ON  | ON  | OFF |   Composite	  | ON	| ON  | OFF |
------------------------------------------   --------------------------------
EGA (enhanced)	 | OFF | ON  | ON  | OFF |   Note that RGB and Composite have
------------------------------------------   the same switch settings.

-----------------------------
ATI Enhanced Features |  8  |
-----------------------------
Enabled 	      | ON  |
-----------------------------
Disabled	      | OFF |
-----------------------------


--
    ____________________       ________________________________________
   / Erik Tamboer      /\__   / I would have included a really funny  /\__
  / tamboer@cs.vu.nl  /__\/  / joke here, but I already logged out.  /__\/
 /___________________/      /_______________________________________/

w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Keith Petersen) (12/20/90)

If anyone knows where I can purchase a used ATI EGA Wonder please
contact me via e-mail.

Keith
--
Keith Petersen
Internet: w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu,  w8sdz@eddie.mit.edu,  w8sdz@brl.mil
Uucp: uunet!umich!vela!w8sdz                         BITNET: w8sdz@OAKLAND