Overview This document addresses questions and problems with the use and installation of Windows 95 and Matrox's MGA graphics accelerator boards. This includes all MGA Ultima, Ultima Plus, Impression, Impression Plus and Impression Lite products (referred to as simply MGA). MGA Millennium products are covered in the "Installing and Using Windows 95 with Matrox MGA Millennium" document. Windows 95-specific drivers for running Matrox MGA products are included with Windows 95. These are version 1.00 drivers and no other versions are currently available from Matrox. This driver does not support Powerdesk features similar to our Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers for MGA. The MGA Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers cannot be used to run Windows 95. Installation Tips: 1) If you are installing Windows 95 on a system with an MGA product already installed Windows 95 will detect the MGA and automatically install the correct drivers. 2) If you are adding the MGA to a system with Windows 95 already installed, when you restart the system the hardware detection capabilities of Win95 should detect a new product installed. We recommend that you allow Windows 95 detect the hardware and install the drivers automatically. 3) When Windows 95 installs the drivers for your MGA card and an MGA.INF file exists (created previously by the Windows 3.1 Powerdesk or MGA DOS Setup programs), the MGA's refresh rate will be those chosen for the MGA.INF file. To use this file, the following variable must be set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: MGA=C:\MGA\SETUP (this is the directory where the MAG.INF file should be located). If you do not have an MGA.INF file available, Windows 95 will operate at 60 Hz since this driver cannot use the Windows 95 monitor selection. 4) Windows 95 may not start correctly if the MGA products for ISA(AT), VL and MCA busses are configured incorrectly. If you were previously using the MGA under Windows 3.1 and you did not change any other hardware in your system, then there should be no problems associated with the hardware. If you are having difficulties in booting Windows 95 with the MGA drivers installed, then you should consult your MGA installation manual and verify the following: a) The MGA board's address does not conflict with any other system hardware. By default, it is set to AC00 (hexadecimal notation). b) The RAMBIOS.SYS file should be loaded. c) The memory manager should be excluding memory ranges used by the MGA. Problems with Applications and Windows 95 If you discover a problem running an application that you think is related to the video card such as screen corruption, there is a simple test you can do before contacting Matrox support. You can disable the MGA's acceleration features to see if this is the cause of the problem. To do this, start the System properties from the Control Panel and select the Performance sheet. Click the "Graphics" button and slide hardware acceleration button to None. Close everything and restart the system. If the problem still persists, then the problem comes from the application or from Windows 95. Contact the application vendor or Microsoft. If the problem disappears then the problem may be with the video card. To confirm this, try changing to the VGA drivers (640x480x16 colors) and see if the problem persists. If the problem disappears is most likely with the MGA video driver and you should report the problem to our technical support. If possible, send a fax to 514-685-2853 or email to graph_ts@matrox.com. Known Problems or Limitations There are no known problems or limitations. Overview This document addresses questions and problems with the use and installation of Windows 95 and Matrox's MGA Millennium graphics accelerator boards. Other MGA products are covered in the "Installing and Using Windows 95 with Matrox MGA Ultima, Ultima+, Impression, Impression+ and Impression Lite Products " document. Windows 95-specific drivers for running Matrox MGA products are included with Windows 95. These are version 1.00 drivers. Matrox also supplies a version 2.0 or greater driver which supports Powerdesk features similar to our Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers for MGA. Version 2.0 drivers will be supplied with MGA Millennium boards manufactured after August 24, 1995. These drivers may also be downloaded from our BBS (514-685-6008) or CompuServe (GO MATROX). Note that the MGA Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers cannot be used to run Windows 95. Which Driver Should You Use In general, you should use the Version 2.0 driver from Matrox. However, if you did not receive it with your Millennium board and you cannot obtain this driver easily, you can still use the Version 1.0 driver which is supplied with Windows 95 CD. Please note that this driver is not supplied with the floppy disk version of Windows 95. The primary additions to the Version 2.0 driver are: MGA Property sheet (Windows 95 - compatible!) MGA Quick Access (practical floating tool bar!) MGA Monitor Program (more control!) DDC-2b and Windows 95 monitor support (Plug and Play!) Improved performance (fast!) The MGA Settings sheet in the Display Properties dialog box, which complements the Windows 95 Settings sheet and provides access to the Powerdesk features: A Desktop area that supports display resolutions up to 1600 x 1200, to expand the working area beyond the limits of the monitor. PixelTOUCH, for hardware pan and zoom (x2 to x4). PanLOCK, to lock the working area of the virtual desktop. CenterWINDOW and CenterPOPUP, to center application windows and popup windows in the currently-visible area on the monitor. An almost unlimited number of Display Schemes, to easily switch between your preferred configurations. In addition, the following programs are included with the Powerdesk software: The MGA Quick Access program, which is a re-positionable iconic menu which complements the hotkeys to allow quick access to various Powerdesk functions, including four preset modes. The MGA Monitor program, which is an advanced program which can be used in place of the standard Windows 95 Monitor selection process, for users who wish to benefit from optimum refresh rates of their monitor and graphics accelerator through interactive testing and adjustment. Installation Tips for Version 1.0 Driver 1) The Version 1.0 driver is included with the Windows 95 CD in the \DRIVERS\DISPLAY\ MATROX directory. If you are installing Windows 95 on a system with a Millennium product already installed and want to use the Version 1.0 driver, follow these steps: Start the Windows 95 Setup program. As part of the installation, a hardware detection process will detect an "Oak Technology SuperVGA" board. There is no cause for alarm - your computer will reboot in standard VGA mode (640 x 480 with 16 colors), which is, of course, supported by the Millennium. Once the Windows 95 installation is complete, install the Millennium Version 1.0 driver. For more information on changing the display driver, select Help from the Windows 95 Start button and select "Display, driver, adding or changing" from the index. Remember that you must select the driver from the \DRIVERS\DISPLAY\MATROX directory. DO NOT attempt to install the driver for the Matrox boards that appear in the Select Device list since they only work with MGA Ultima\Ultima+\Impression+ models. 2) If you are adding the MGA to a system with Windows 95 already installed, when you restart the system the hardware detection capabilities of Win95 should detect a new product installed. The hardware detection will detect an Oak Technology Super VGA as above. Follow the steps in paragraph 1) to correctly install the Version 1.0 drivers. 3) When you install the Version 1.0 drivers for your MGA card, it will only support a 60 Hz refresh rate regardless of the Windows 95 monitor type selected (selected from the Settings sheet in the Display Properties). You can obtain higher refresh rates by using an MGA .INF file. This is created by our Windows 3.1 Powerdesk drivers or by our DOS Setup program and is normally found in the \MGA\SETUP directory. To use this file, the following variable must be set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: SET MGA=C:\MGA\SETUP. As well, create a [MGA.DRV] section in your SYSTEM.INI file and add the line MGA_INF = 1 to it. DDC type monitors do not automatically work under Windows 95 with the Version 1.0 driver. They must be configured as any other monitor. Known Problems or Limitations of the Version 1.0 Driver There are no known problems or limitations with these drivers. Installation Tips for Version 2.0 Driver The 2.0 driver is supplied by Matrox with Millennium boards manufactured after August 24, 1995. Owners of Millennium boards manufactured prior to this can obtain the Version 2.0 drivers from Matrox's BBS or from CompuServe. Complete installation information is provided with the drivers in electronic format. Known Problems or Limitations of the Version 2.0 Driver The version 2.0 drivers are tested extensively by Matrox and we have tried to eliminate as many problems as possible. The following is a list of problems which could not be fixed in time for the Version 2.0 release. They will be fixed in the next release of drivers. Windows 95 Installing two Millennium boards causes a conflict preventing the system from booting. Monitor Selection Maximum display area that is 1280X1024, where with a 4 meg board it should be 1600X1200X16. America Online (Windows) After logging in, the application causes a GPF. Turn off graphics acceleration while using this application. Adobe ATM (Windows) Disabling the graphics acceleration causes Windows 95 to lock up during its restart. This is an Adobe Type Manager (ATM) problem. ATM is installed by the Adobe Acrobat reader supplied with the Millennium online manual on the Superpack CD. ATM must be disabled to allow disabling of the graphics acceleration. A number of problems are related to the "dragging" feature of the Plus pack. Disabling the dragging feature in the Plus properties in the Display properties eliminates these problems. Access 2.0 Resizing a window over the Access window when the "show window contents while dragging" option of the pluspack is on will leave bits of the window behind. AmiPro 3.01 (Windows) Moving a window over a crosshatch pattern in an Amipro file while the view is enlarged corrupts the pattern Hover 1.0 When you pause while playing in full screen it only shows part of the screen. Soundscape utilities Dragging the volume control slider will leave stray pixels in the "rail" of the slider. Lotus 123r4 (Windows) Parts of the status bar are not redrawn properly. QuickAccess QA leaves its own image in some places on the desktop when you perform some operations Problems with Applications and Windows 95 If you discover a problem running an application that you think is related to the video card such as screen corruption, there is a simple test you can do before contacting Matrox support. You can disable the MGA's acceleration features to see if this is the cause of the problem. To do this, start the System properties from the Control Panel and select the Performance sheet. Click the "Graphics" button and slide the hardware acceleration button to None. Close everything and restart the system. If the problem still persists, then the problem comes from the application or from Windows 95. Contact the application vendor or Microsoft. If the problem disappears, then the problem is may be with the MGA video driver. To confirm this, try changing to the VGA drivers (640x480x16 colors) and see if the problem persists. If the problem disappears, you should report the problem to our technical support department. If possible, send a fax to 514-685-2853 or email to graph_ts@matrox.com. Installing and Using Windows 95 with Matrox MGA Ultima, Ultima+, Impression, Impression+ and Impression Lite Products August 24, 1995