Falcosoft wrote on 2026-08-16, 15:53:

1. If I understand you correctly Duke Nukem 3D works for you perfectly without MSKVBEF7 and 'shows severe graphical issues' with MSKVBEF7 loaded?

That is correct. I can run all the VESA resolutions up to 800x600. But I can't see any difference between 640x480 and 800x600 besides framerate (typing DNRATE during game). When MSKVBEF7 is loaded, there is a performance loss (10% or so) and 800x600 resolution has graphical issues. Others run fine.

Thanks for updating VSYNCFIX. 640x400 now works in Links 386 but it does not resize to full screen. I get a black bar at the bottom which fills the 80 pixels missing from 640x480 resolution. I was expecting to fill the entire screen and get an almost correct aspect ratio (16:9 from my screen vs 16:10 ratio using 640x400). It's possible to fill the screen? I have the same problem in Windows 3.11 using VBESVGA driver.

I get full screen with EGA 640x400 games from here: https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/IBM-PC-S … x400-games.html without loading any utility.

Three suggestions for VSYNCFIX:
-Add unload support. It's only 1 KB but I only use it for Links 386.
-Do not allow more than one instance.
-Add this utility to your web (https://falcosoft.hu/dos_softwares.html). It's difficult to find it here, buried in a forum.

ntalaec wrote on Yesterday, 10:56:

That is correct. I can run all the VESA resolutions up to 800x600. But I can't see any difference between 640x480 and 800x600 be […]
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Falcosoft wrote on 2026-08-16, 15:53:

1. If I understand you correctly Duke Nukem 3D works for you perfectly without MSKVBEF7 and 'shows severe graphical issues' with MSKVBEF7 loaded?

That is correct. I can run all the VESA resolutions up to 800x600. But I can't see any difference between 640x480 and 800x600 besides framerate (typing DNRATE during game). When MSKVBEF7 is loaded, there is a performance loss (10% or so) and 800x600 resolution has graphical issues. Others run fine.

Thanks for updating VSYNCFIX. 640x400 now works in Links 386 but it does not resize to full screen. I get a black bar at the bottom which fills the 80 pixels missing from 640x480 resolution. I was expecting to fill the entire screen and get an almost correct aspect ratio (16:9 from my screen vs 16:10 ratio using 640x400). It's possible to fill the screen? I have the same problem in Windows 3.11 using VBESVGA driver.

I get full screen with EGA 640x400 games from here: https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/02/IBM-PC-S … x400-games.html without loading any utility.

Three suggestions for VSYNCFIX:
-Add unload support. It's only 1 KB but I only use it for Links 386.
-Do not allow more than one instance.
-Add this utility to your web (https://falcosoft.hu/dos_softwares.html). It's difficult to find it here, buried in a forum.

1. It's interesting but at least you can run Build engine games some way.

2. It's expected. As I wrote in the previous post:

It is a fake mode so it's not perfect. Actually it uses mode 101h - 640x480 8-bit instead so the last 80 lines will be missing from the picture. But at least programs that require mode 100h at least can start.

Unfortunately a simple TSR cannot do better. EGA modes works natively on Intel HD GFX but EGA modes work completely differently.

3. OK, these modifications can be added easily.

@Edit:
I have added the requested features and I have also integrated the RESETDAC fix into VSINCFIX (this way it's applied automatically before returning to text mode). Because of the 3 different integrated fixes I renamed the utility to IGVBEFIX (Intel Graphics VBE Fix).

@Falcosoft, have you been successful in getting any available high memory on your T430? If so what configuration did you use?

keenmaster486 wrote on Yesterday, 20:05:

@Falcosoft, have you been successful in getting any available high memory on your T430? If so what configuration did you use?

Do you mean UMBs to load device drivers and programs to high? If yes, then the answer is yes. It works for me with both UMBPCI and JemmEx. The only problem for me is when AHCI is enabled in the BIOS then Windows 3.11 cannot start and e.g. Impulse Tracker has corrupted samples when it uses EMS. So for best compatibility instead of 'AHCI' you should select 'Compatible' in SATA configuration.
BTW, here is my CONFIG.SYS:

1[MENU]
2menuitem=DOS_EMS,DOS_EMS
3menuitem=DOS,DOS_UMBPCI
4menuitem=DOS_RAMDrive_NET
5menuitem=Memtest
6menuitem=Win31
7menuitem=Slax
8menudefault=DOS_EMS,5
9
10[common]
11FILES=40
12BUFFERS=10
13FCBS=16,0
14DOS=HIGH,UMB
15STACKS=12,256
16SHELL=COMMAND.COM /E:640 /P /F 
17LASTDRIVE=R
18
19[DOS_EMS]
20DEVICE=C:\win98\command\HIMEMX.EXE /MAX=128M
21DEVICE=C:\win98\command\BLCINIT.SYS 06CC
22DEVICE=C:\win98\command\JEMM386.EXE MAX=8192 RAM I=TEST X=TEST
23rem DEVICE=C:\SBEMU\JEMMEX.EXE NORAM MAXSEXT=0 MAXEXT=65535 MAX=8192 I=TEST X=TEST VERBOSE
24
25[DOS] 
26DEVICE=C:\win98\command\HIMEMX.EXE /MAX=128M
27DEVICE=C:\win98\command\BLCINIT.SYS 06CC
28DEVICE=C:\win98\command\UMBPCI.SYS
29COUNTRY=36, 852, C:\win98\command\COUNTRY.SYS
30DEVICEHIGH=C:\win98\command\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1)
31DEVICEHIGH=C:\win98\command\QCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001 /SM
32DEVICE=C:\win98\command\setver.exe
33
34[Win31]
35DEVICE=C:\win98\command\HIMEMX.EXE /MAX=64M
36DEVICE=C:\win98\command\BLCINIT.SYS 06CC
37DEVICEHIGH=C:\win98\command\QCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001 /SM
38COUNTRY=36, 852, C:\win98\command\COUNTRY.SYS
39
40[DOS_RAMDrive_NET]
41DEVICE=C:\win98\command\HIMEMX.EXE /MAX=64M
42DEVICE=C:\win98\command\BLCINIT.SYS 06CC
43DEVICE=C:\win98\command\UMBPCI.SYS
44COUNTRY=36, 852, C:\win98\command\COUNTRY.SYS
45DEVICEHIGH=C:\win98\command\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1)
46
47DEVICE=c:\net\ifshlp.sys
48DEVICE=c:\net\PROTMAN.dos /I:C:\Net
49DEVICE=c:\net\e1000.dos
50DEVICE=c:\net\dis_pkt.dos
51DEVICEHIGH=c:\net\NEMM.dos
52DEVICEHIGH=c:\net\TCPDRV.dos
53
54rem DEVICE=c:\net\mtcp\netdrive.sys
55
56[Slax]
57
58[KolibriOS]
59
60[Memtest]

BTW I had another problem with my Thinkpad T430: It has a very poor USB legacy mouse emulation under DOS.
1. The polling rate is horrible in DOS: when you attach a USB low-speed basic USB mouse (125 Hz) you get 40-60 Hz maximum. In case of a USB full-speed mouse (250 Hz) you get 60-80 Hz maximum.
You can test the polling rate under DOS with this test program (click inside the [REPORT RATE] section and then move the mouse:

2. The emulation is rather fragile. When I run Borland TLink there is an 50 % chance that the USB mouse completely stops. It also happens when running different protected mode games/programs. The USB mouse becomes either erratic or stops completely.

If you also have these problems here is a solution: T430MOUS, a native T430 specific USB mouse driver. It works only with the black USB 2.0 port on the right hand side of the T430 and with the USB 2.0 ports on the docking station next to the docking station's Ethernet port.
The driver also only supports USB low and full speed mice (that is from 125Hz to 1KHz). High speed gaming mice (>1KHz) are not supported since they use different native USB 2.0 protocol. With these constraints the TSR occupies less than 30 KB. You do not need CTMOUSE or other DOS mouse driver when you load T430MOUS. There is also a DPMI compatible USB mouse driver included in the package: T430MOUD. It works the same way as T430MOUS but it can be run when JEMM386 is loaded together e.g. with HDPMI32(i).

Maybe this DOS USB mouse problem is BIOS version specific but it happened to me with multiple BIOS versions and of course with multiple mice. Currently I'm at BIOS version 2.68.

Maybe not big news for others but a great result for me: I made my T430 boot to DOS with an external GPU (Express card eGPU) so that the eGPU is the primary VGA under DOS 😀
I have had a working eGPU setup for a while with a Radeon HD 7770. But like most UEFI/BIOS firmware on laptops the BIOS does not have an option to select an external VGA to be the primary one.
There is a project called CSMWrap that on paper allows modern PCs with UEFI only firmware to boot legacy operating systems.
https://github.com/CSMWrap/CSMWrap
It works somewhat out of the box on a T430 but unfortunately it cannot switch to the external VGA despite the fact that in theory this should work.
Also it had a problem to enumerate both my SATA and mSATA drives at the same time.
But with a special 'portal' EFI module (that later calls the original CSMWrap EFI module) both problems have been fixed. So now I can see the AMD ATOMBIOS VESA string in DOS from my T430 😀

If someone is interested here is the boot package with the proper structure that has to be copied to a FAT32 formatted USB drive. The USB drive can be even an MBR drive with a working DOS partition.
Then you have to select UEFI boot in the T430's BIOS and boot the drive in UEFI mode. After the portal module calls CSMWrap that finally calls SEABIOS you should get a menu on the external monitor asking to press ESC for a boot menu.
From the boot menu you can select even the USB drive you used for the current boot but this time it will be booted in MBR mode so your preinstalled DOS can work. Of course any other installed DOS can be started that is available on the boot menu.

Hi, Zoltan,
There is a coreboot support for Lenovo T430 and coreboot is based on SeaBIOS.

As for the LCD brightness control in DOS, does the keyboard shortcut <Fn>+<F5>/<F6> not work under DOS, or does the T430 not have one?

aVd wrote on Today, 05:29:

Hi, Zoltan,
There is a coreboot support for Lenovo T430 and coreboot is based on SeaBIOS.

As for the LCD brightness control in DOS, does the keyboard shortcut <Fn>+<F5>/<F6> not work under DOS, or does the T430 not have one?

Hi,
1. Thanks, but I wanted a method that does not require firmware flashing.

2. On the T430 it's <Fn>+<F8>/<F9>. But as I wrote in the 1st post:

My Thinkpad T430 always boots to DOS with full LCD brightness. Of course you can always press Fn+F8 multiple times to set the backlight level but e.g. Norton Commander interprets the Fn+F8 combo and changes the sort order of files.
So it would be more convenient to set the proper backlight level from CONFIG.SYS/AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Falcosoft wrote on Yesterday, 11:22:

I have added the requested features and I have also integrated the RESETDAC fix into VSINCFIX (this way it's applied automatically before returning to text mode). Because of the 3 different integrated fixes I renamed the utility to IGVBEFIX (Intel Graphics VBE Fix).

Many thanks for this. Can you add a text like "Use igvbefix /u to unload" when loading? There is no indication that can be unloaded. And if you please, upload to your web or it won't be possible to find this utility.

By the way, this post is only for the Intel graphics compatibles with Thinkpad T430 but brightness can be changed in other Intel graphics with the utility found in this topic: DOS software to change brightness/gamma?.