FastVid v1.10 - Freeware - INSTALL.TXT



See FASTVID.TXT for more info!

NOTES:
- References to Pentium Pro CPUs include also all Pentium II, III + IV CPUs.
- References to Windows 95 include also all Windows 98 + ME editions.
- References to Windows NT4 include also all Windows 2000, XP + 2003 editions.


If your system doesn't react the way it is described below, read FAQ.TXT
carefully !

To get the most out of FastVid and your Pentium Pro/II/III/IV system I
strongly advise you to follow the steps below.

First of all, download all files from this site. If you already have
Dos4GW.exe you won't need to download it. Now read FASTVID.TXT carefully!
Copy all the files to a directory on your hard drive.
Restart your computer and go to the BIOS Setup.
In the advanced BIOS settings page you should enable / put to USWC the
following settings:

CPU to PCI Write post *
PCI Burst Write Combining
Video Mem Cache Mode USWC **
VGA Frame Buffer USWC **
PCI Frame Buffer USWC ***

*   = FastVid's "Write Posting" feature.
**  = FastVid's "Banked VGA Write Combining" Feature.
*** = FastVid's "Linear Frame Buffer Write Combining" feature.

NOTE: You will not find all of the above settings in your BIOS.
Settings depend on BIOS and motherboard brand/version.

OS/2:

Unzip OS2.ZIP and follow the steps in README.TXT.

WIN NT4/2000/XP/2003

Unzip BOOTHD.ZIP and follow the steps in BOOTHD.TXT to make a boot disk.
NOTE: The way to install FastVid described below will most probably not work:
you'll always have to start from the boot disk.

WIN 95/98/ME + DOS:

Reboot your computer. Make a new boot disk. You can do so by putting an empty
disk in you A drive, then type "format a: /s".
Do NOT copy the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to the disk.
You now have a "clean" boot disk. Now copy DOS4GW.EXE, FASTVID.EXE and
VSPEED.EXE to the boot disk.
Restart your computer and boot from the boot disk.

When your system has restarted type VSPEED at the DOS prompt. Vspeed will run
two 5 second tests. During these tests you will see "video noise" on the
sceen. When the first 5-seconds are finished you'll see a resolution change,
then the video noise will continue for another 5 seconds (If you can't see
video noise on one or both of the tests, see FAQ.TXT). After that VSPEED
reports the CPU-TO-PCI performance for BANKED and LINEAR modes. If your BIOS
supports all of FastVid's settings both of the modes will report 65 ~ 95 Mb/s
throughput. If not, you'll be sure you need FastVid:
Run FastVid by typing "fastvid xxx". At this point FastVid will do nothing, it
will just report which of its 3 functions are enabled already by your BIOS.
NOTE: On newer mainboards 82440 (NATOMA) Fastvid 1.10 will indicate the "Write
Posting" function "UNKNOWN". This is not a problem ever since it is already
enabled or can be enabled in the BIOS. On older 82450 (ORION) motherboards you
should be careful with this function (see FASTVID.TXT).

If FastVid indicates all 3 functions to be enabled already, you won't need
FastVid. If not, you can enable the functions which aren't already.
For example: If FastVid's first 2 settings are already enabled by your BIOS,
but the third one isn't, type "fastvid xx1" The two "x"'s mean that FastVid
should not alter the first 2 of its options. The "1" means that the third
function should be enabled. Possible settings are:
x = FastVid will not alter this setting.
1 = FastVid will enable this setting.
0 = FastVid will disable this setting.
For more information on the command line parameters see FASTVID.TXT.

If you have enabled the settings you wanted to, check it one more time typing
"fastvid xxx". All settings should be enabled now. Now run VSPEED again. The
results should be variing for 65 to 90 Mb/s on both the BANKED and the LINEAR
mode. The exact rate depends on the PCI bus speed and the video card.

You might be able to improve your performance another little bit by DISABLING
the "VGA Frame Buffer USWC" mode (or set "Video Mem Cache Mode" to "UC") in
your BIOS and let FastVid enable this setting (FastVid's second setting).
Fastvid might be able to do this a little more agressive than the BIOS
function. Check the difference with VSPEED.

To get the most out of your system try different combinations of FastVid and
BIOS settings. When you've optimised the settings for your system, you can put
FastVid in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. Put it in as the first line. If you need UNIVBE
(see FAQ.TXT), then put UNIVBE in as the first line and FastVid in as the
second.

UNIVBE:
* SciTech Display Doctor (SDD) 32-bit protected mode DOS TSR Universal VESA
BIOS Extensions (VBE) 2.0/3.0 video accelerated driver (UNIVBE.EXE) +
calibration tools for MS-DOS 5/6/7/8 + Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP add linear
frame buffer (LFB), high speed bank switching, page flipping, hardware
scrolling and 2D hardware acceleration support for most video cards without
VESA hardware standard built-in, in ANY text and graphics (S)VGA/XVGA modes +
ANY number of colors, to accelerate ALL DOS/Windows graphics intensive
apps/games noticeably (unsupported freeware):
http://www.scitechsoft.com/products/ent/free_titles.html
- SDD v6.53 for Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP + MS-DOS 5/6/7/8 [2.76 MB]:
http://www.scitechsoft.com/ftp/sdd/sdd653-w.exe
- SDD v6.7 for MS-DOS 5/6/7/8 [696 KB]:
http://www.scitechsoft.com/ftp/sdd/univbe67.exe
UNIVBE.EXE takes 23 KB of DOS RAM, but does NOT fit in upper memory if
EMM386.EXE loads with expanded memory enabled (RAM switch). Add the NOEMS
switch to the EMM386.EXE line in CONFIG.SYS, or use UMBPCI.SYS:
http://www.mdgx.com/umb.htm
to load UNIVBE in UMA.
DOS accelerated games + applications using VESA 2.0 standard:
- 3D Realms Duke Nukem 3D
- Access Under a Killing Moon
- Acclaim Constructor
- AutoDesk Animator
- Blizzard WarCraft II
- Bullfrog Magic Carpet 2
- Cryo: Dreams to Reality + Megarace II
- Hercules Total Mayhem
- id Quake
- Legend Mission Critical
- Lucas Arts: Rebel Assault II The Hidden Empire + TIE Fighter
- Midway Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Metropolis Katharsis
- Perfect Discworld II
- Sierra Phantasmagoria
- Spectrum HoloByte: Star Trek Next Generation A Final Unity + Falcon 3
- Trilobyte The 11th Hour
- Virgin Hyper 3D Pinball Tilt!
NOT needed by newer video adapters WITH built-in VESA 2.0/3.0 support!