With this we started here 😀
(tests in both Windows XP Professional and DOS 7.1)
HIS Radeon 9200 128 MB - VBE 2.0
---------------------------------
(modes reported by VTEST)
192h Present 320x240x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
193h Present 320x240x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
194h Present 320x240x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
195h Present 320x240x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
196h Present 320x240x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
1a2h Present 400x300x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
1a3h Present 400x300x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
1a4h Present 400x300x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
1a5h Present 400x300x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
1a6h Present 400x300x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
1b2h Present 512x384x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
1b3h Present 512x384x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
1b4h Present 512x384x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
1b5h Present 512x384x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
1b6h Present 512x384x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
1c2h Present 640x350x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
1c3h Present 640x350x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
1c4h Present 640x350x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
1c5h Present 640x350x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
1c6h Present 640x350x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
100h Present 640x400x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
183h Present 640x400x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
184h Present 640x400x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
185h Present 640x400x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
186h Present 640x400x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
101h Present 640x480x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
110h Present 640x480x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
111h Present 640x480x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
112h Present 640x480x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
121h Present 640x480x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
103h Present 800x600x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
113h Present 800x600x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
114h Present 800x600x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
115h Present 800x600x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
122h Present 800x600x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
105h Present 1024x768x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
116h Present 1024x768x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
117h Present 1024x768x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
118h Present 1024x768x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
123h Present 1024x768x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
107h Present 1280x1024x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
119h Present 1280x1024x15bpp 32768 Direct color graphics
11ah Present 1280x1024x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
11bh Present 1280x1024x24bpp 16777216 Direct color graphics
124h Present 1280x1024x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
109h Present 132x25x4bpp COLOR TEXT
10ah Present 132x43x4bpp COLOR TEXT
130h Present 132x44x4bpp COLOR TEXT
MSI NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 128 MB - VBE 3.0
-------------------------------------------
(modes reported by VTEST)
MODE ACTIVE? RESOLUTION DESCRIPTION
100h Present 640x400x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
101h Present 640x480x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
102h Present 800x600x4bpp 16 color graphics
103h Present 800x600x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
104h Present 1024x768x4bpp 16 color graphics
105h Present 1024x768x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
106h Present 1280x1024x4bpp 16 color graphics
107h Present 1280x1024x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
108h Present 80x60x4bpp COLOR TEXT
109h Present 132x25x4bpp COLOR TEXT
10ah Present 132x43x4bpp COLOR TEXT
10bh Present 132x50x4bpp COLOR TEXT
10ch Present 132x60x4bpp COLOR TEXT
10eh Present 320x200x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
10fh Present 320x200x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
111h Present 640x480x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
112h Present 640x480x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
114h Present 800x600x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
115h Present 800x600x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
117h Present 1024x768x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
118h Present 1024x768x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
11ah Present 1280x1024x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
11bh Present 1280x1024x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
130h Present 320x200x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
131h Present 320x400x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
132h Present 320x400x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
133h Present 320x400x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
134h Present 320x240x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
135h Present 320x240x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
136h Present 320x240x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
13dh Present 640x400x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
13eh Present 640x400x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
145h Present 1600x1200x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
146h Present 1600x1200x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
147h Present 1400x1050x8bpp 256 color Packed Pixel graphics
148h Present 1400x1050x16bpp 65536 Direct color graphics
152h Present 2048x1536x32bpp 0 Direct color graphics
Hercules GeForce 2MX 32MB - VBE 3.0
------------------------------------
(modes reported by Scitech Display Doctor)
100 - 640 x 400 8 bits per pixel
101 - 640 x 480 8 bits per pixel
102 - 800 x 600 4 bits per pixel
103 - 800 x 600 8 bits per pixel
104 - 1024 x 768 4 bits per pixel
105 - 1024 x 768 8 bits per pixel
106 - 1280 x 1024 4 bits per pixel
107 - 1280 x 1024 8 bits per pixel
10E - 320 x 200 16 bits per pixel
10F - 320 x 200 32 bits per pixel
111 - 640 x 480 16 bits per pixel
112 - 640 x 480 32 bits per pixel
114 - 800 x 600 16 bits per pixel
115 - 800 x 600 32 bits per pixel
117 - 1024 x 768 16 bits per pixel
118 - 1024 x 768 32 bits per pixel
11A - 1280 x 1024 16 bits per pixel
130 - 320 x 200 8 bits per pixel
131 - 320 x 400 8 bits per pixel
132 - 320 x 400 16 bits per pixel
133 - 320 x 400 32 bits per pixel
134 - 320 x 240 8 bits per pixel
135 - 320 x 240 16 bits per pixel
136 - 320 x 240 32 bits per pixel
13D - 640 x 400 16 bits per pixel
13E - 640 x 400 32 bits per pixel
145 - 1600 x 1200 8 bits per pixel
146 - 1600 x 1200 16 bits per pixel
VESA problems:
1) Low refresh rates
This is a big problem with CRT monitors. Nobody wants to play at 60Hz but as far as I know there is no universal refresh rates utility for DOS games that works flawlessly with most modern cards. SciTech stopped development of Display Doctor which could change refresh rates, utilities UniRefresh and VBEHz are also outdated and they work with some cards only (less skilled users have even problems to run them at all).
Results with UniRefresh and VBEHz:
GeForce2 MX - VESA refresh rates can be changed in DOS and also in XP. Even VGA modes refresh rates change is possible with VBEHz (I have only 70 Hz + VGA and 60 Hz + VESA without this utility).
GeForce FX5200 - both utilities work, but only in DOS - in WinXP setups work and TSRs load but VESA rates stay always at 60Hz.
ATI RADEON 9200 - it has only VBE 2.0 (incredible, seems that ATI probably never switch to VBE 3.0), so refresh rates utilities do not work. But there is a possibility to hack bios with
RadEdit so the rates can be increased up to 85 Hz. This option is only for 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 resolutions - if the game needs other resolution, rate is low again. And author of RadEdit unfortunately also stopped support of his great utility. VGA modes can not be changed with VBEHz.
2) Some VESA games do not work on XP NTVDM but in DOS only
(and they could have a graphic problem)
Riddle of Master Lu, Orion Burger, Fable, Noctropolis. On HOTU are ripped versions of Orion Burger (BTW same creators and similar engine as Riddle has) and Fable and they behave the same as the full versions I also have. This behavior is present with all tested cards. On the other side, VESA games like Sherlock Holmes and Case of Rose Tatoo, Death Gate or Shannara run in XP with them.
3) Games that use UniVBE
These are particularly problematic (more info here ). NOLFB helped with Toonstruck so it can work in XP and in DOS with both nVIDIA cards, with ATI 9200 it runs, but it has big black rectangles in the parts of the screen (DOS and XP) so it is unplayable. Discword 2 works with GeForce 2MX and ATI 9200 cards in XP and DOS if modified driver is used. With GeForce FX5200 in XP game freezes on start and works with modified driver in DOS only. This behaviour is the same with full and HOTU version.
4) Games that run only with certain cards
(probably because some missing VESA modes)
Typical examples are Ark of Time and Perfect General 2 - with ATI card worked in XP and DOS, no chance to get them running with NVIDIA cards.
5) Other known problems
Mouse in upper half of the screen - no problem with tested cards
Corrupted graphic in Windows when game ends - yes, ATI had such a problem but new Catalyst drivers solved it.
------------------
So none of tested cards is ideal. ATI has most VESA modes but VBE 2.0 only (thus refresh rates problems) and does not work with Toonstruck. Both GeForce 2MX and GeForce FX5200 have some modes missing but at least they have VBE 3.0. GeForce 2MX card is best for refresh rates changes. Except of flaws in VESA card bioses unfortunately many of VESA software utilities are no longer developed, therefore certain problems are unsolvable for ordinary users.
Dvwjr, if you want me to do some additional particular test, it is possible until the end of this week when I have to return ATI 9200 and NVIDIA 5200 cards.