@8FDA.ADF   IBM XGA-2 Display Adapter/A 
C8FDA.ADF    Init file for @8FDA.ADF 
XGA/XGA-2 Option v2.2   Updated XGAANI and  XGAPNI.DGS
July 1995  Enhanced 16-Bit Direct Color for Natural Images

Dosdpmv.exe APM disk for DOS 5.02+ and Windows 3.1.
XGA-2 Adapter
   XGA-2 Rework?
Pumping Up the XGA-2?
   2MB XGA-2 Sightings
XGA-2 Revisions
   RAMDAC Clocks
   RAMDAC Versions
XGA-2 Setup under DOS and Windows  (This takes you to Peter's site)
Features of XGA/XGA-2 
   VGA Mode
   132 Column Text Mode
   Extended Graphics Mode
   Direct Color Mode
   8514/A Compatibility
   Multiple XGA-2 Adapter Support  MXGA, where are you?
Components of XGA-2
   Display Controller
   PS/2 Interface Controller
   Memory and Cathode-Ray-Tube Controller
   Video Coprocessor
   Video Display Buffer
   Serializer, Digital-to-Analog Convertor, and Palette
Video Configuration Under Setup
   Video I/O Address
   Video ROM Address Space
   Video Memory
      1MB Aperture Under Setup
XGA/XGA2 Driver Disk v2.12
   XGA/XGA-2 tech support supplemental
   XGA-2 Display Adapter/A - Monitor Compatibility
   DMQS Montitor Settings
   XVGARATE
Slots XGA-2 Can Use in Model 90
Installing XGA-2 On Model 95
Blank Screen Under W95 MS-DOS Mode
XGA2 Error Codes

BIOS TI -20FML TMS27PC256 
NOTE: VRAM are Toshiba TC524256BZ-10,  NEC D42274V-10 should work too. If you have a different Video ZIP make that works, send me a note

Purpose of J1?
   There is a silkscreened outline around these solder pads. What could this jumper affect? Tell ME

Rework Detail

 
 

Found this after a 9577 Strip-A-Thon. The wire comes off pin 5 of U20, then it winds it's way over to pin 178 (I think!) of U2. I might be wrong (again?) but I haven't seen much rework on an XGA-2 adapter. Comments?
 

From Peter 
   The 74F245 in the picture is an 8-bit bus buffer ... therefore I think they jump-wired a bad connection on the XGA2 board only. I have checked all my XGA-2s and none (so far) has this connection. Haven't tested in depth if there is a connection between the points at all normally. 

To which I say- Why would they do a rework on one freakin XGA-2 card? If you are cranking out hundreds of thousands of XGA-2 cards, why rework one? Point- how many XGA-2 cards have you ever seen with ANY rework? I have this ONE card. (theme from The X-Files) 

From Helmut P. Einfalt
  From what I see it *is* the regular XGA-2 card. The memory modules are Toshiba TC524256 (IC VRAM 524256 80NS 256K*4). There exist some modules with 256k (reportedly even 512k, and maybe manwhile some 1024k ones too) that are pin-compatible to the ones on the XGA-2, but I doubt that the card bios will be able to handle them. The soldering job would be bad but feasible -- physically it *might* be possible to boost the card to 2-4 MB (or even beyond), but it would require a couple of experts to read out and patch the card bios, and even then we'd still not have any drivers... 
    Last weekend when I was at Peter's place he told me that at one point IBM obviously had thought of building the 4MB variety, but they seem to have dropped the whole thing long before the first card was up and running... 
      But if anyone wants to have a go at the swapping the memory -- let me know ! I'm willing to test them... 

2MB XGA2 Sightings?
> No, no and no again. There is no such thing as a 2MB XGA-2.

Jim swears on his 9595
  I know that's what people keep saying, but I have two folks here in town who will _swear on their mother's grave that they have had one in their physical possession.  One person has been known to tell tales, but the other I consider reliable.

XGA-2 Revisions
From Peter Wendt
So we have actually 3 different types:
- early, with heatsink atop the ceramic chip RAMDAC
- middle, with ceramic chip ("naked") RAMDAC and no heatsink
- late, with the IBM "BlueChip" RAMDAC.

The P/N for that chip is 89G2928, mfg-date 34th week 1994. 
With a heat-spreader turned by 45°. Looks interesting.

XGA-2 RAMDAC Clocks
Andrew Daugherity sighed and said:
   If only the RAMDAC would actually run at its full spec that would be possible.  Unfortunately, at least  with the XGA-2 in my 'E' (9533), I am forced to run at 1024x768@70Hz (no 75Hz).  1024x768@70 is
 a 75MHz dot clock, whereas 1024x768@75 is an 85MHz dot clock.  The XGA/2 is rated at 90MHz,  but the X server defaults the max dot clock to 80MHz, because, according to them, many cards are  unstable above that.  It is  unfortunate that they are correct -- if I manually set max dot clock to 90, thus allowing 1024x768@75,  the display is unstable.  The image is stable as long as it is static, but whenever it is updated (even just moving the mouse), the portion being updated "waves" back and forth.  At first I thought it was my POS Dell monitor, but since the monitor does not have that problem on other computes, and the XGA/2 still had that problem on another monitor, I knew it was at fault.
   And yes, it is a hardware problem.  The "wavy" effect happens under XFree, win95, and even OS/2 Warp 3, so I doubt all three would have software issues.
    I also once tried 1152x864@60Hz (89.9MHz dot clock), and the display was totally out of sync.  So much for the 90MHz dot clock.  If only they could have used a nice Matrox 350MHz RAMDAC ;-)

RAMDAC Version Capabilities
 >If only the RAMDAC would actually run at its full spec that would be possible.  Unfortunately, at least with the XGA-2 in my 'E' (9533), I am forced to run at 1024x768@70Hz (no 75Hz).  1024x768@70 is a 75MHz dot clock, whereas 1024x768@75 is an 85MHz dot clock.

Peter Wendt suggests:
   I've seen and described that effect earlier (*much* earlier) with a XGA-2 using the "heatsinked" RAMDAC ... but apparently my PS/2e ran quite nice on the Eizo F35 at 1024 x 768 @ 75 Hz. Going above that will cause "speckled" icons and litter the desktop when moving objects or open / close windows.
    It also seems as if the later "white board" RAMDAC and the last "IBM blue glass" types were an improvement over the earlier versions. Same effect can be seen on Mod. 9556 / 9557: the early RAMDAC has a round "heatsink tower" glued atop - the later ones and all 486SLC3 haven't. The later ones run much more stable.
   Currently I have a "blue RAMDAC" XGA-2 in my turbo-95A. Run OS/2 Warp at 1024 x 768 / 256 colors and 76 Hz. No negative side-effects.

Peter's Response
   Create a DOSSTART.BAT with a single line of "mode co80".

   Ed. Save it in the \windows directory or a directory on your path. It works on my 9590 with an XGA-2 card. 

Hi, 
  I managed to get 64K colors at 800 x 600 resolution in windows 95 with my XGA2 card in my 9577.  I haven't checked in in a while, if this is old news, just ignore me. 

Setting this up is not for the faint of heart.  It may take much rebooting, Safe Moding, and DOS editing to get it working just right.  Hopefully, if lots of people like this, someone big like Peter will document it better in his web page. 

Windows 95 has the ability to use Windows 3.1 graphics drivers.  Under "Display" in the control panel, go to the "Settings" tab.  Hit "Change Display Type".  A dialog will come up, showing your current card driver and monitor settings.  Hit "Change" on adapter type.  Click "Have Disk", and give it the directory with the "oemsetup.inf" file for the win3.1 XGA 2.12 drivers.  For the XGA2 driver disk, the path was "A:\winv31".  Select "IBM XGA 2.12" or whatever and "OK".  This will install the drivers. 

Next comes the hard parts. 

The windows control panel applet doesn't work, or at least it didn't for me.  You must install the DMQS files, select your monitor, and make sure the XGA$DMQS path is set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.  The driver will look there to find what hertz it should run your resolutions at. 

Make sure the following lines are in SYSTEM.INI: 
****** 
[XGA_Display] 
StartupSlot=1 
XGAVRAMSize=4 
XGAFLevelId=05 
XGARLevelId=03 
MonitorId=5FFF 
HorPixel=800 
VerPixel=600 
BitsPerPixel=16 
VerFrequency=603 
FontSize=0 
XGA_Resources=1 
XGA_Resolution 

***** 
I had win3.1 with the XGA 2.12 drivers working once, then I installed Win95 on top of it, and this snippet was left in my SYSTEM.INI file.  Just installing the drivers doesn't create this stuff, the XGA applet does I think.  Since it doesn't work, you have to add and adjust the stuff yourself. 

The VerFrequency and MonitorId parameters probably will be different for your monitor.  The hexidecimal number for the monitor ID can be found in the XGASETUP.PRO file in your XGA$DMQS directory after youve correctly selected your monitor. 

The VerFrequency parameter is (I think) ten times the verticle refresh rate (603 is for 60.3 Hz, my refresh rate).  You have to know your verticle refresh rate.   The XGAIDLST.GML file in the XGA$DMQS directory contains a list of all the supported monitor types, ids, and a lot of their refresh rates in various modes. 

I normally use a 9515 monitor, which doesn't support 800x600 resolution.  I did this with an extra monitor I have laying around, pretty much cause I was bored and got an insperation.   I got the 64K colors working, wrote down what I did, and then undid it all.  I didn't extensively test the limits reliability, such as DirectX or movie playing.  People who actually use this can do play with that stuff. 

  Have Fun !   Christian

Version 2 -- 8 September 1995
John F Legg
Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom.
100333.1301@compuserve.com

This file is a result of a problem I was having trying to get the XGA/2 display driver supplied with Windows 95 to work with my IBM PS/2 90-XP (Type: 9590-ALF) fitted with an XGA-2 Adapter in an expansion slot and IBM 9515 monitor at anything other than 640 x 480 x 16 colors.
   The problem I was having involved Windows 95 incorrectly determining the capabilities of my display system and setting the video mode to interlaced operation above the 640 x 480 x 16 color base.
   The IBM 9515 monitor requires a non interlaced image at a refresh rate of 75Hz for it to function correctly. Windows 95 was determining the display capabilities incorrectly and was getting the XGA-2 Adapter to send an interlaced image at a lower rate to the monitor. This being incompatible with the monitor all I would get on the screen was a scrambled image. (Incidentally, if the XGA/2 driver is installed and the video is set to 16 colors at 640 x 480 Windows 95 is actually using the VGA video driver hence most users being able to get the XGA/2 driver to work in this mode.)
   What was required was a way to override the refresh rate set by the XGA/2 video driver and lock it to the required rate. In the case of my IBM 9515 monitor the required refresh rate is 75.8Hz. Please see Appendix A at the end for other refresh rates.

WARNING: The solutions listed below are known to work on the equipment configuration listed above for 1024 x 768 at a refresh rate of 75.8Hz. The hardware configuration listed above prevents me from testing any other values but in theory they should work.

The following procedures explain how I got it to work:

Option 1:

This involves making a modification to the MSDISP.INF file before installing or reinstalling the Microsoft XGA/2 driver. If you have not yet installed Windows 95 you will have to initially install it with a VGA setup so you can edit the MSDISP.INF file before installing the XGA/2 driver. The file MSDISP.INF is located in the \WINDOWS\INF directory and is a plain text file.

1     Open MSDISP.INF using Notepad or other suitable text editor.
2     Find the section with a heading of [XGA2.AddReg]
3     Change the line containing the following information:
            HKR,DEFAULT,RefreshRate,,-1
                          to the following:
            HKR,DEFAULT,RefreshRate,,758

      If you refresh rate is not 75.8Hz see Appendix A at the end of this document and substitute the appropriate value in place of 758.

4     Save the file.
5     Install/reinstall the Microsoft Windows 95 XGA/2 driver.
6     Win95 will initially start in 640 x 480 x 16  (VGA) but it should then be possible to change to your required resolution.

Option 2:

To use this option the Windows 95 XGA/2 driver must already be installed. This option also involves making a modification to the information stored in the Windows Registry using the program REGEDIT.EXE. Only do this if you are familiar with and confident in editing Registry entries. You only need to edit the wrong entry and Windows 95 is rendered inoperable.
   What is required is to change the value stored for the refresh rate under the entry for XGA/2 from -1 to 758. As with Option 1, if you refresh rate is not 75.8Hz then see Appendix A at the end of this document and substitute the appropriate value in place of 758

How I did I come up with the value of 758?

I came up with this value based on an entry I found in my Windows 3.1 SYSTEM.INI file that the IBM Windows 3.1 XGA-2 drivers version 2.11 and 2.12 drivers had created. In SYSTEM.INI, under the section [XGA_DISPLAY], there is an entry of VerFrequency=758.

With nothing to loose, all other solutions having failed to work, I made the assumption that vertical frequency and refresh rate were the same. I therefore took the value from VerFrequency and applied it to RefreshRate in the Windows Registry. Not based on the best of logic I grant, but it worked.

Therefore if you had the IBM Windows 3.1 XGA-2 drivers installed under Windows 3.1 before you upgraded to Windows 95, and the refresh rate you require is not listed in Appendix A, it should be possible to find the setting required for your hardware configuration. Just see what the value is for VerFrequency= and apply it to RefreshRate in place of 758.

Unfortunately, if you installed the IBM Windows 3.1 XGA-2 2.11 or 2.12 drivers under Windows 95, this entry will show VerFrequency=0 and so will be no use in trying to determine the correct setting for your system.

What is the Microsoft Windows 95 XGA/2 driver capable of?

From the entries in the Windows Registry the following modes look to be supported by the driver.

16 colors     at  640  x 480 (uses VGA driver)
16 colors     at  800  x 600
16 colors     at  1024 x 768
256 colors    at  640  x 480
256 colors    at  800  x 600
256 colors    at  1024 x 768
256 colors    at  1280 x 1024
65536 colors  at  640  x 480

Appendix A:
Resolution    Refresh Rate    RefreshRate
640 x 480     60.1Hz          601
              72.8Hz          728
              75Hz            758
800 x 600     56.3Hz          563
              60.3Hz          603
              72.2Hz          722
              75.1Hz          751
1024 x 768    60Hz            600
              70.1Hz          701
              72Hz            720
              75.8            758
              80Hz            800
              93.1Hz          931

   Next recommended step: if you are running DOS / Win 3.x or Win95 get the DOS / Win 3.x drivers Ver2.12 . Run the Install from DOS and install the DMQS monitor profiles first. This avoids some error messages later on. Trust me. I'm not worried about DOS drivers, but if you are, install the DOS drivers before you leave the Install program.
   NOTE: Do NOT load the DOS Adapter Interface device driver if you are using Windows. The DOS Adapter Interface drivers are not supported in OS/2 to  run XGA resolution in a DOS full-screen, or DOS-window.

  Reboot after installing DMQS.
   Now for an existing Win3.1x installation, go to the Windows directory (eg- cd\windows) and run setup. Choose the video entry, go to Other, and type in the path a:\winv31 and hit enter (though a soft press works as well). You may need some of your Windows install disks. Be forwarned!
   After going into Windoze, go to Main>Control Panel>XGA Setup. Choose the monitor profile that comes the closest to fitting your monitor. Display shows the Display attatched. Advanced shows the resolution and color depth of the display.

You can find a messy profile to monitor matrix HERE

   In Win95 you can force the display to use 75Hz refresh at 640 x 480 modes with using the VESA-driver XVGARATE 75 NOWARN in the AUTOEXEC.BAT -..usually the XGA-2 comes out in 60Hz in that mode.
   Unlike to the XGA-1 the XGA-2 is capable to identify the attached display and set its defaults to corresponding values. For a "better than XGA" monitor select the "14 Inch VESA" with 75Hz refresh in all modes - did that for my EIZO.
   If you run OS/2 you will have to use "Change Installation" again and select XGA-2 as primary video. After installation of the drivers you will find a second page in the displays properties folder (right arrow at the bottom of the page), where you can select monitor types, resolutions and refresh rates.
   Very friendly greetings from Peter in Germany
http://members.aol.com/mcapage0/mcaindex.htm

   Most Multi-Scan type of displays respond as an IBM 8514 display when interrogated by the XGA-2 subsystem Power-On Self Test (POST) program.  As a result the VGA video will be displayed at the '60Hz' refresh rates shown below (the normal VGA rate for IBM 85xx displays). 
   However, if the attached display can accept one of the two alternative faster 
video rates, this utility may be used to override the default rate. WARNING: If this override is used in an AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS, then care must be taken to ensure that the parameters specified are suitable for the attached display. Selecting the wrong video rate may result in VGA video not being displayed correctly, or even (in some cases) damage to the display over time. 

If the display cannot support a chosen rate, the system must be rebooted.

VGA Mode
  XGA/XGA-2 use a 32-bit data bus for all system memory and I/O addresses. The VGA subsystem uses either an 8-bit or 16-bit data bus. 
   With a 16-bit data bus, XGA uses a 512KB video display buffer, with a 32 bit data bus it uses a 1MB video display buffer. 
  With a 32-bit data bus, XGA-2 uses a 1MB video display buffer. 

132 Column Text Mode
   VGA provides for an 80 character per line text mode. XGA/XGA-2 supports 132 characters per line on any display that has a vertical refresh rate of 46.8 Hz interlaced or 59 Hz non-interlaced. 

Extended Graphics Mode
   XGA/XGA-2 support 1024x768 by 256 colors.  This mode supports real and virtual memory addressing and multiple adapters in one computer. 

Direct Color Mode
  Also known as palette bypass mode. With 1MB of VRAM, the direct color mode provides 640x480 with 64k colors. VGA is limited to 256 colors. 

8514/A Compatibility
  The DOS AI makes the XGA/XGA-2 8514/A compatible at adapter interface level and above. 

Multiple XGA-2 Adapter Support
194-255 OPTIONS BY IBM:  MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTS
Multiple XGA Display Device Driver PN 83G8292
   You can install up to seven XGA-2 adapters in a MCA bus system (limited by slot availability) or six if the XGA-2 is built into the planar. 
   When multiple adapters are used, they can do VGA or 132 column text mode. However, VGA mode uses one set of addresses, and only one adapter can use those addresses  at a time. “Therefore, only one display at a time can interact with the computer in the VGA mode or 132-column text mode to change or refresh the image that it displays”. Ed. What? What if all the adapters are in 132 column text mode? 
   NOTE: A company in the UK called “Software 2000” had a multiple XGA-2 driver called (wow!) MXGA. 

Components of XGA-2
   Consists of the display controller, video display buffer, serializer, palette, and the digital-to-analog convertor (DAC). 

Display Controller
   Consists of the PS/2 interface controller, memory and cathode-ray-tube controller, and the video coprocessor. 

PS/2 Interface Controller
   This is the video interface to the microchannel bus. The controller detects the bus width (16 or 32 bit) of the slot and prepares to transfer data at that rate. It also acts as a busmaster that supports the video subsystem (read adapter). 

Memory and Cathode-Ray-Tube Controller
   This supports all VGA functions. It allows the system microprocessor to access the video display buffer, and it controls the serializer and DAC. 

Video Coprocessor
   This is the key to the enhanced performance of the XGA-2 subsystem. The coprocessor: 

Serializer, Digital-to-Analog Convertor, and Palette
  The serializer and DAC convert the data in the video display buffer to the imge you see on the screen. 
   The video data is stored in the video display buffer in 1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, or 16-bit units, known as pels. The number of bits per pel is determined by the video mode that the computer is operating in. Each memory location in the buffer holds one pel and corresponds to a specific location on the screen. The binary value of each 1-, 2-, 4-, or 8-bit pel is used as an index into the palette to determine the color that is to be displayed at that location. If the computer is in the direct color mode, each pel is 16 bits, and it does not use the palette to determine the colors. 
   The serializer takes the data from the video display buffer and converts it into a serial bit stream. If the pels are 1, 2, 4, or 8 bits, the binary value of each pel corresponds to one of the 256 memory locations in the palette. Each memory location contains 18 bits, divided into three 6-bit values that represent specific intensities of red, blue, and green. In the direct color mode (palette bypass mode), each 16-bit pel is divided into a 5-bit red intensity value, a 5-bit blue intensity value, and a 6-bit green intensity value, for a total of 65,536 possible colors. 
   The DAC converts the digital color-intensity values to analog values, which are more efficient than digital values for displaying the large number of colors produced by high performance video. The DAC places the analog values onto the display signal lines, and a colored dot is displayed on the screen. Easy, right? 

Video I/O Address
   This determines where in the I/O address space the video registers exist. Because you can install multiple XGA-2 controllers, the computer assigns a unique I/O address and instance number to each video controller. 

Video ROM Address Space
   This determines the area of adapter ROM address space used by the video coprocessor. The video coprocessor is used when the XGA video is in the extended graphics mode. The coprocessor is not used when the XGA video is in the VGA mode. 
   This area of memory (C0000 to DFFFF) is normally used for read-only memory (ROM) on adapters and is commonly used by memory managers for expanded memory or high-RAM support. A conflict might occur if both the memory manager and the video coprocessor are using the same area of memory. 

Video Memory
   Many applications use the 1MB of VRAM to display high resolution, multicolor images. The video function provided by most programs work within 64K blocks, which are paged or swapped in and out of the 1MB VRAM workspace. Other programs, such as OS/2 multimedia extensions, require direct access to the entire 1MB of VRAM to operate. (OS/2 ver 2). 
   The 1MB VRAM aperture is normally enabled, but will be disabled if there isn't enough memory address space available for both system memory and the 1MB VRAM aperture. For example, with 16MB of system memory installed, the video aperture and system memory contend for control of the highest 2MB of memory address space. Auto-config solves this by disabling the video aperture and gives control of the upper 1MB to the system memory 

What about the 1MB Aperture in Setup?
   The video-aperture can only set on systems with less than 16MB. It was originally planned to enhance the video-performance on smaller systems by adressing the video memory in a range below 16MB. Useless on 486-machines and with more than 16Megs of RAM. (Editor's Note: Set to DISABLED) 

024318XX -- With the new revision of the XGA-2 card (without a heat-sink on the processor chip), you may experience a 024318xx error during the general function test of the XGA advanced diagnostics.  This is NOT a hardware failure, as indicated by the callout.  There is an incompatibility between the diagnostic program and the microcode on the new processor chip on the XGA-2 card. 
    The solution is to download the new XGA-2 Option Diskette from the BBS (XGA2ADP.EXE).  This contains the new version of the diagnostic for the XGA-2 card. 
    After updating IML, insure that you then backup the IML. 
    If the error shows up during post, or if there are problems during the  operation of the system, replace the XGA-2 card first.  Then if the problems persist, do the above procedure. 

024374XX-- Copy an option has not successfully completed.  Copy XGA-2 Display Adapter/A option diskette to the backup copy of the system programs/Reference Diskette; then run auto-configuration. 

0243XXXX at POST-- Run Advanced Diagnostics - Most likely will need to replace the XGA-2 Adapter/A