VOGONS


First post, by SamBushman

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I've been experimenting with a Magma PCI Expansion box for a couple months. This device basically extends the cardbus port of a laptop to provide a PCI slot for adding expansion cards to the laptop. I've been trying to use it as an eGPU of sorts for legacy portable computers. I've been working with a P3 era Sony Vaio with integrated Intel graphics (operating on an internal AGP bus). It has some significant limitations: 8MB vRAM, poor legacy VESA support. I've been experimenting with different PCI graphics cards to try and break through these limitations. My OS of choice here is Windows ME. I have hit 2 major classes of issues:
1. The installed PCI card conflicts with memory ranges being utilized by the integrated graphics.
2. The card works, but some applications run on the primary display.

For MS-DOS applications and some games I'd like force them to display on the PCI card. This way I can take advantage of the additional features the card provides (better VESA support, expanded vRAM, newer D3D support, ...). Is there any way to do this? Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to simply disable the integrated graphics device via Device Manager (that option is missing or greyed out). Attempting to remove if from a second Hardware Profile results in the system hanging when attempting to start Windows with the configured profile. BIOS also offers no options to disable the integrated graphics. Does Windows' DOS implementation allow me to set the target display device? Does DOS have a way of configuring this? Is there a way for me to force Windows to change what device is primary (Registry changes, driver hacks, etc)?

Thanks for any advice,
Sam

Reply 1 of 2, by Warlord

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you can try the 3dcc and select secondary card for windows. http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … =807&menustate=

For dos I'm not sure, ususally bios on a mobo has option to disable but becasue its a laptop it doesn't, and Ive never had one that let me do that.

I've been looking for one of those magma cardbus cards and boxes for a couple years, if you ever want to get rid of it send me a offer for it.

Reply 2 of 2, by SamBushman

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Thanks Warlord. I'll look into 3dcc.

We'll see how my work with the Magma goes. I'm currently working with one of the 1-slot variants. With my current config, I'm booting into Win2k so I can leverage its better multi-monitor support. I'm waiting on a GeForce 8400gs PCI to come in the mail. My goal is to run Morrowind at a decent framerate. If I end up not being able to use the Magma to extend DOS games from within Win98 or Windows games from Win2K, then its usefulness to me will be minimal.

I am sitting on a second unit (a 4 slot box). Its big, and lacks the PCMCIA card (that seems to be the rarest part of the set to get together) and the interface cable (I can point you to where I bought mine if you're intersted). I'd be happy to get it off my hands if you're interested. I can confirm it works (at least enough for a couple quick boots with a Radeon 9250 PCI).