README MATROX GRAPHICS INC. September 19, 1995
MGA Windows 95 Display Driver
Revision 2.00.002
Table of Contents
- Description of This Release
- Floppy Contents
- Installation
- Registry Settings
- Notes, Problems, and Limitations
Description of This Release
---------------------------
This is the MGA Windows 95 PowerDesk software, version 2.0.
This product includes a MGA Windows 95 driver AND the Matrox
PowerDesk for Windows 95, which allows: virtual desktop, hardware
pan and zoom, Quick Access panel and more...
Floppy contents
---------------
Basic Driver files (installed in \Windows\System):
MGAPD.INF Installation support file
MGAPD.DRV MGA Win95 Driver
MGAPD.VXD Win95 miniVDD
MGAPD.DLL MGA initialization DLL
PowerDesk files installed in \Windows\System:
MGASHEET.DLL MGA Display Property Sheet (replaces regular sheet)
MGASHEET.HLP Help file for Property Sheet
MGACTRL.EXE MGA Control Center (for PowerDesk)
MGACTRL.DLL MGA Keyboard hooker (for PowerDesk hotkeys)
M_SHEET.DLL Text strings for MGAEXT.DLL
M_CTRL.DLL Text strings for MGACTRL.EXE
MGAPREV.BMP MGA Pixel Depth Preview Bitmaps
PowerDesk files installed in \Matrox\MGA:
README This file
ONLINE.DOC Documentation
PANELOFF.REG MGA PowerDesk uninstall file
\MON
MGASET.EXE MGA Win95 Monitor Program
M_SET.DLL Text strings for MGASET.EXE
MGASET.HLP Help file for Monitor Program
MGA.MON MGA Monitor File
\QA
MGAQUICK.EXE MGA Win95 QuickAccess program
M_QUICK.DLL Text strings for MGAQUICK.EXE
Installation
------------
The installation is covered in the "online.doc" file.
You can view this file with WordPad.
The installation process can be customized by modifying the "mga.ini"
file on the diskette. Examples of customization options include:
default installation path, default driver performance switches,
default schemes, etc. The file is self-documented. This type of
customization should be carried out by advanced users only.
Registry Settings
-----------------
PowerDesk settings are kept in the Windows 95 registry, under the keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\MGA and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MATROX\QUICKACCESS
Notes, Problems, and Limitations
--------------------------------
- Microsoft MGA Ultima/Impression driver
The Microsoft MGA Ultima/Impression driver v.1.0 does not have, or support,
the PowerDesk enhancements. In the "Adapter Type" list, the MGA driver is
called the "Matrox MGA Ultima/IMpression", while the PowerDesk one is
called "Matrox MGA PowerDesk".
- Windows 95 "display.txt" file
Windows 95 comes with a readme file called "display.txt" containing
valuable information related to display adapters.
Note that the remarks about the Matrox MGA adapters refer to the Microsoft
MGA Ultima/Impression driver, not to your MGA PowerDesk driver.
- Adobe Type Manager limitation
When Adobe Type Manager is installed, you cannot run the driver if the
"Advanced Graphics Acceleration Settings" is set to none. Note that ATM
is installed as part of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is an Adobe problem
documented in the Windows 95 "display.txt" file.
- Windows 95 SuperVGA monitors not supported
Windows 95 provides "Standard monitor types". This includes various
SuperVGA monitors supporting resolutions from 800 X 600 to 1600 X 1200.
These monitor types do not specify refresh rate ranges, which causes
our driver to reject them and work as if there is no monitor selected.
In this case, the driver will output resolutions up to 1600 X 1200,
which might not be supported by your actual monitor. Therefore the
SuperVGA monitor types SHOULD NOT BE USED WITH THE MGA POWERDESK DRIVER.
Instead, try to find your specific monitor name (or type) in the Windows 95
list, or use one of the generic monitors from the MGA Monitor Program.
- Monitor Refresh rates with a virtual desktop
When working with a virtual desktop, the refresh rate used for the
Windows 95 monitor will be derived from the virtual desktop resolution
("Desktop area") rather than from the display resolution ("Display
area"). This typically will result in an inferior refresh rate, and if
the virtual desktop resolution is not supported by your monitor
(e.g. 1600 X 1200), the default refresh rate of only 60 Hz will be used.
This limitation does not occur when using the Matrox MGA Monitor Program,
where the refresh rates are taken from the display resolution.
- Monitors in interlaced mode
Some old monitors such as the IBM 8514 and the NEC 3D do not support non-
interlaced mode in all resolutions. The MGA driver does not properly
handle interlaced mode under the Windows 95 monitor mechanism, so if you
own one of these monitors, please use the MGA Monitor Program.
- Windows 95 "Plus Pack" with "Show window contents while dragging"
We have noted erratic window repainting problems with the above feature
under the MGA 2.0 PowerDesk driver. This problem has been confirmed by
Microsoft as a Windows 95 problem.
The problem has been seen so far in Lotus 4, Access and AMIPro. The
recommended workaround is to disable the "dragging" feature.
Since the problem could possibly also occur without the Plus Pack,
another workaround is to close the MGA Control Center, the program in
PowerDesk which traps Windows messages for the various desktop
features. To do so, press Ctrl-Alt-Del and stop the "Mgactrl" task.
Note however that when the MGA Control Center is stopped the PowerDesk
hotkeys no longer work. Also note that the Control Center will be
restarted automatically everytime you invoke the Display Property
applet from the Control Panel, or the Matrox QuickAccess panel, so
you will have to repeat the Ctrl-Alt-Del operation again to avoid
the problem.
- More Information
More information is available in the WordPad file "online.doc". This
file is included on your Matrox floppy disk, and installed in your
\Matrox\MGA folder.
