Force a wide laptop display to 4:3? (Asus Eee PC 701) \ VOGONS

Force a wide laptop display to 4:3? (Asus Eee PC 701)

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First post, by Pierre32

Posted on 2023-03-11, 10:31

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I have an Asus Eee PC 701, which has a resolution of 800x480. It has some potential as a retro gaming machine, but has languished in a cupboard for years for the crime of being not very interesting.

SBEMU changes this, turning the 701 into a powerful DOS machine with Sound Blaster support. A modern Libretto! With one downside - everything is stretched to fill the screen. The Libretto 100CT (also 800x480) had a toggle in BIOS allowing you to have unstretched 640x480, but Asus offers no such option.

I've read the FreeDOS docs about setting display modes in nansi.sys, but the process was a little hard to understand, and even then I wonder if it's the correct tree to bark up. Is there a way to do this, via FreeDOS config or otherwise?

Reply 1 of 4, by acl

Posted on 2023-03-11, 12:48

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If it's running Linux, xrandr can be used for that.
EeePc has a VGA out iirc. Can probably display 4:3 on an external display.

I had a 701 back in the days (used it all my University years). Great little machine. Loved it.

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Reply 2 of 4, by DosFreak

Posted on 2023-03-11, 12:53

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It's possible the BIOS could be modded but you're likely better off using an external display if you have the option.

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Reply 3 of 4, by Pierre32

Posted on 2023-03-11, 21:22

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Thanks for the replies. Just looking to use this as a DOS netbook, so an external display isn't on the cards. I'll enjoy it as-is for now and hope that a solution falls out of the sky.

Reply 4 of 4, by sledge

Posted on Yesterday, 18:53

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Well then, hello again after three years! 😀 I still can’t stop thinking about forcing a 4:3 aspect ratio on the Asus Eee PC 701 under DOS, and with every new generation of AI I try to get a little further through some infernal vibe coding.

With GPT-5.6 Sol, I finally managed to put together something semi-functional: the EEEFIT utility can actually force a centered 4:3 image with black borders. However, when a game starts - that is, when the graphics mode changes - the picture shifts to the left and garbage appears on the right-hand side. The 4:3 aspect ratio remains intact, though. 😀

At this point I seem to have hit a wall. It probably cannot be taken any further without turning it into a resident program. I am including a download link for both the source code and the compiled EXE.

http://high-voltage.cz/_dl/eeefit.zip

doshaven.eu / high-voltage.cz

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