m0rd wrote on 2023-10-10, 04:18:

vga version arrived tday and the screen has a stuck green pixel like version 1 🤣 what luck also screen has more blue tint than ver1, oh well will try other lcd when they arrive. only ran few games so far but vga is good. need to get serial mouse as my serial to usb adaptor not work.

I managed to get a Logitech "Kidz" mouse affordably as not something people search for.
However, I've also got a Genius NetScroll 120 PS/2 because it has that Logitech "Pilot mouse" look - it's easy and cheap to get Serial > PS/2 adapters but I'll let you know if my plan works out!
I've also ordered a theoldnet Wifi Modem, hoping to run it in SLIP mode for file transfer.

Jo22 wrote on 2023-10-10, 00:42:

Cool, they're classics. ^^ Some have mode utilities and can be set into CGA, EGA and Hercules emulation modes. Higher text-mode […]
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betamax80 wrote on 2023-10-09, 20:53:

Well the updated VGA module arrived, it's a Cirrus GD542x which is a solid choice, some are Trident 9000i I think.

Cool, they're classics. ^^
Some have mode utilities and can be set into CGA, EGA and Hercules emulation modes.
Higher text-mode resolutions, too.
See Re: Realtek realtalk, is it the best VGA for CGA? What is?

Nice - I found the Win3.0 / DOS driver pack for GD542x. and I've uploaded it to vogonsdrivers.

I didn't realise this but there is a firmware for the WiModem232 (theoldnet version anyway) that turns it into an EtherSLIP client. That brings interesting possibilities for FTP, and may be my file transfer solution.
I've got one on order anyway - it looks (?) like I can reflash the ESP8266 with a little £4 USB-ESP adapter, but I'll update when this all arrives.

My Book8088 "V2.0" is arriving on Monday. It's got an 8087, the OPL3 and ISA coming with it, and I've got the VGA upgrade board separately. Looking forward to it. It has cost me an additional 20% at UK customs (fair enough, that's exactly how its supposed to work here) but looking forward to trying it out.

I think my theoldnet wifi modem will take longer as their assembled to order. For those interested it is an adaptation of the WiModem232 (I got that slightly wrong above) but all based around an ESP8266-10 (the super widespread one) hence it's so easy to reflash the firmware I think. https://www.tindie.com/products/theoldnet/rs2 … e-computers-v4/

I got the version 2 of the Book 8088, and it seems like a lot of the issues of the first one have been addressed. There are external ports (serial and parallel), the screen seems pretty bright and readable to me, and the BIOS shows the proper copyright now. I somehow missed that this version is VGA instead of CGA though, which seems a bit out of place. I wonder how difficult it would be to downgrade it to CGA?

PicoGUS Femto - I knew there was a special edition being made. But would the Book8088 benefit or does it only actually make sense on the Hand386?
https://www.tindie.com/products/polpo/picogus … and386-and-isa/

KarlG wrote on 2023-10-15, 15:35:

I got the version 2 of the Book 8088, and it seems like a lot of the issues of the first one have been addressed. There are external ports (serial and parallel), the screen seems pretty bright and readable to me, and the BIOS shows the proper copyright now. I somehow missed that this version is VGA instead of CGA though, which seems a bit out of place. I wonder how difficult it would be to downgrade it to CGA?

Good news hearing that, I'll be able to verify when I can actually pick mine up tomorrow.
The VGA was actually an upgrade / a higher cost model - you can actually buy the CGA adapter as a "module" from aliexpress just like I brought the VGA upgrade module.
I can't find the CGA version to link but it has a yellow PCB instead of blue, it's there somewhere if you want it.

betamax80 wrote on 2023-10-15, 15:55:

Good news hearing that, I'll be able to verify when I can actually pick mine up tomorrow.
The VGA was actually an upgrade / a higher cost model - you can actually buy the CGA adapter as a "module" from aliexpress just like I brought the VGA upgrade module.
I can't find the CGA version to link but it has a yellow PCB instead of blue, it's there somewhere if you want it.

That's good to know. I'm not able to find it either, so maybe it's out of stock at the moment.

KarlG wrote on 2023-10-16, 19:00:

betamax80 wrote on 2023-10-15, 15:55:

Good news hearing that, I'll be able to verify when I can actually pick mine up tomorrow.
The VGA was actually an upgrade / a higher cost model - you can actually buy the CGA adapter as a "module" from aliexpress just like I brought the VGA upgrade module.
I can't find the CGA version to link but it has a yellow PCB instead of blue, it's there somewhere if you want it.

That's good to know. I'm not able to find it either, so maybe it's out of stock at the moment.

Could be - try contacting Hardcore Expert of DZT Store by message they may set up a link for you.
Having used it for my first evening, some info:
Not worth experimenting with the 8087 FPU, it seems like the power delivery just isn't there, I had major system instability from the BIOS onwards.
FreddyV CH375 driver is highly recommended, speeds up general file ops.
Best way to manage imaging the original CF card seems to be hdd2vhd for making the image, then HDD Raw Copy Tool to put the image on a new CF card. (this is under Win11).

Next interesting find - VGA graphics really is overkill....
The actual Cirrus drivers wont have it in Win3.0, nor even standard VGA. Even Olivettin mode tries but hangs at "divide overflow" during Windows startup screen. So the only mode that I can get is EGA.
It looks like the mouse interface has been meddled with too, it wants the MS mouse driver which wont load with anything it doesn't want to.... could be happier with the standard control panel really?!

Hi again. Not sure if this is helpful here, but there's a patched Windows 3.0 VGA driver.

It will run on 8086/8088 PCs running the Windows 3.0 Real-Mode kernal.

It's been made by an forum user on vcfed.org.:
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/win … -8088-xt.35866/

Jo22 wrote on 2023-10-16, 21:16:

Hi again. Not sure if this is helpful here, but there's a patched Windows 3.0 VGA driver. […]
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Hi again. Not sure if this is helpful here, but there's a patched Windows 3.0 VGA driver.

It will run on 8086/8088 PCs running the Windows 3.0 Real-Mode kernal.

It's been made by an forum user on vcfed.org.:
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/win … -8088-xt.35866/

I'm happy to give that a go this evening, thank you! I'm wondering what the panel in there actually is, maybe it can't support the 'x480' bit? Some kind of panel meant for a device perhaps? I feel if anything it might need a custom mode and limited refresh - I understand it uses a well documented Realtek LCD driver chip.

betamax80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 08:58:

Jo22 wrote on 2023-10-16, 21:16:

Hi again. Not sure if this is helpful here, but there's a patched Windows 3.0 VGA driver. […]
Show full quote

Hi again. Not sure if this is helpful here, but there's a patched Windows 3.0 VGA driver.

It will run on 8086/8088 PCs running the Windows 3.0 Real-Mode kernal.

It's been made by an forum user on vcfed.org.:
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/win … -8088-xt.35866/

I'm happy to give that a go this evening, thank you! I'm wondering what the panel in there actually is, maybe it can't support the 'x480' bit? Some kind of panel meant for a device perhaps? I feel if anything it might need a custom mode and limited refresh - I understand it uses a well documented Realtek LCD driver chip.

Unfortuantely that was a no-go, I had the exact same behaviour, a blank screen and no CF active light - I am able to restart with CRTL ALT DEL but that's all. I wonder if there is something wrong at a software level or whether the screen really can't manage 640x480 (if so what is it?!)

betamax80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 18:32:

Unfortuantely that was a no-go, I had the exact same behaviour, a blank screen and no CF active light - I am able to restart with CRTL ALT DEL but that's all. I wonder if there is something wrong at a software level or whether the screen really can't manage 640x480 (if so what is it?!)

Hm. It could be a 640x400 panel, maybe.
Theoretically it's possible to modify a video driver to use 400 lines rather than 480.
But that maybe means that the VGA CRTC registers must be modified manually accordingly.

Unfortunately, I'm more of a layman here. Windows 3.x display drivers contain a big part of the GDI itself, also.
Windows 95 started to use mini drivers, by comparison, which only contain the hardware-specific part.

Hm. Back in the Windows 2.1x days, there were VGA drivers that didn't use the complete VGA resolution (lines).
That was done to enhance compatibility with Windows applications written with EGA resolution in mind.
The plain and older Windows 2.03 was using a bog standard VGA driver, still, as we know it.

That being said, the palette system between Windows 2 and 3 is different.
It's in general possible to use Windows 2.x drivers (non /386 versions) on Windows 3.0 in Real-Mode.
But there's a catch, Windows 3.0 applications will have wrong colours or be monochrome. Windows 1+2 applications will look right, though.
That hints to the circumstance that Windows 3.0 RM kernal really tried to be primarily compatible to older applications.

You would think a Realtek RTD2660 could do a 6:5 drop down and interpolate no matter what resolution you are sending to any resolution screen

rmay635703 wrote on 2023-10-17, 22:49:

You would think a Realtek RTD2660 could do a 6:5 drop down and interpolate no matter what resolution you are sending to any resolution screen

All that I can tell you, again as a layman, is that the screen goes blank - it essentially switches off, backlight goes off.
I have tried various possibilities like Hercules monochrome mode, nothing works - so a 640x400 panel seems likely if they exist(ed).
It leaves me having a difficult time in DOS applications too - Lotus Symphony 3 has just refused to function in WYSIWYG mode - same thing screen goes off.

Are there applications that do resolution tests for DOS? Something like display doctor but a really early one.
The CL-GD542(8, in my case) supposedly have VBE 1.0 (maybe its 1.2) but possibly meaningless with the resolution restrictions.

Yeah, sounds like bad programming of the firmware

Otherwise 640x400 exists but not sure how to access on an XT

https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/640 … rd-vga.1227391/

I ran GD5428/9 cards for a few years, VBE 1.0 seemed pretty meaningless in general. Maybe one image display program used it.

I suspect a 640x400 256 colour mode would work but I presume it would be very messy under windows. A few DOS apps such as PC Paintbrush do have options for this resolution on specific cards. I did wonder if it was an option which wouldn't work generically.

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-10-18, 01:57:

I ran GD5428/9 cards for a few years, VBE 1.0 seemed pretty meaningless in general. Maybe one image display program used it.

Yeah it’s the Realtek RTD2660 firmware that is problematic .

https://www.mattmillman.com/info/lcd/rovatools/

I have a very small “HDTV” that uses that chip, native resolution is 1280x720 but I can send 1280x1024 over vga or 1980x1080 via hdmi and the screen does a pretty good job displaying the non-native resolution.

This is why I say the firmware isn’t properly written, the real screen resolution shouldn’t matter. (Just might look terrible)

rmay635703 wrote on 2023-10-18, 16:11:

Yeah it’s the Realtek RTD2660 firmware that is problematic . […]
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BitWrangler wrote on 2023-10-18, 01:57:

I ran GD5428/9 cards for a few years, VBE 1.0 seemed pretty meaningless in general. Maybe one image display program used it.

Yeah it’s the Realtek RTD2660 firmware that is problematic .

https://www.mattmillman.com/info/lcd/rovatools/

I have a very small “HDTV” that uses that chip, native resolution is 1280x720 but I can send 1280x1024 over vga or 1980x1080 via hdmi and the screen does a pretty good job displaying the non-native resolution.

This is why I say the firmware isn’t properly written, the real screen resolution shouldn’t matter. (Just might look terrible)

OK that makes a lot of sense. I've even seen there is an open source firmware for it, but the chip is mounted on a custom board (I saw in hmm maybe Adrian Black's video?) so I'm not sure at all how you could reflash it now.