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RetroTech Chris Profile picture
@RetroTechChris
Jan 4, 2025 • 11 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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Let's take a few minutes and look at this newly written Modern Generic SVGA driver for Windows 3.1. We'll check it out in Oracle VM Virtualbox 5.2.44 first in a 🧵 here (I do plan to try real hardware next!) Image
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First, I will say this is off to a GREAT start. The author has done a nice job at logging some of the issues that are present... and this driver has A LOT of promise! Image
Installation is pretty easy! Copy over vbesvga.drv and vbevdd.386 that you can download from the releases page of the project to your windows\system directory: github.com/PluMGMK/vbesvg…Image
From there, you have to modify system.ini in your windows directory. I updated the video driver, added the right file under the 386 Enhanced section, and also added a special section for the driver itself. I started out with some pretty ambitious defaults 😂 Image
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I noticed on first fire up that the .386 driver name didn't quite match the instructions, so I renamed it. Image
Alright, here we go. Looks like my settings were a little ambitious 😂. Let's scale down to 1024x768 with a depth of 16 Image
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Hey, look at that! Colors are rich! A few observations:
1) the "stray green lines" are a common bug with network file sharing and some vid drivers, we can turn that off.
2) Perf is a little slow, but WOW, this is a GREAT start
3) Something is up with the MS office logo bkgrnd. Image

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Another issue, and this is a known one: switching back to full screen from DOS windows has issues. I have the same problem with the standard "SVGA256 VESA patch" that I use with Win 3.1x, so this is parity as far as I am concerned.
How about 8 bit color depth? Well, it's a little more nuanced, but I am sure it will get there! Image
For comparison, this is what the virtual machine looks like with the "SVGA VESA Patch". There are a couple versions of the patcher that are mentioned here: forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?…
Anyway, that's my first take! I look forward to having a look as this progresses. And, yes, I think I will get out some real hardware next! You can also read more details about the project here:

@threadreaderapp unroll github.com/PluMGMK/vbesvg…Image

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More from @RetroTechChris

RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Mar 19
I thought I'd see if I could repair the Windows 2000 install on the dual Pentium Pro tonight. Ended up going quite well, though this computer does have some unique hardware in it, which does add an extra step or two. Let's talk about it, you guessed it, a 🧵 here Image
So, first, to recap from yesterday, due to a bad SATA cable, we ended up with some corruption, and this is what we got on startup. Let's boot up the Win2K CD then! Image
However, we're going to need drivers for the Silicon Image 3114 SATA RAID controller. I used the WinXP partition to copy drivers to a floppy disk. Have you ever noticed how you get prompted to press F6 for 3rd-party drivers on Win2k install? Well, that is what we get to do! Image
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Read 9 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Mar 18
I got my Pentium Pro 200 MHz processors (with 1MB cache!) in the mail today. Thought I would get them installed and do some form of benchmarks. Did everything go off without a hitch? Of course not 😂. So, what happened this time? Let's talk about it! 🧵 time! Image
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So, step 1 was deciding which operating system to use to do the benchmarks. I chose Windows 2000 to start. I thought I would go with SiSoft Sandra 99, but, well, that's too old, and I couldn't find a better version. Alright, no problem. Quick reboot... uh oh... Image
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Yea, this system has a SATA drive, and the connection has always been flaky. Looks like we got some corruption. Bummer. Guess I get to reinstall W2K later! I swapped in a new SATA cable. Drive detected. Good. Certainly this will be the last of our problems... Image
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Read 12 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Mar 7
Happy #MARCHintosh! My virtual Quadra 800 and Compaq LTE 5100 (via PC MacLAN for Windows) are once again participating. You can even print to my Panasonic KX-P2123 printer that is "pretending" to be an Apple LaserWriter 😂. All via GlobalTalk! Image
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If you want to join in on the fun virtually:
* Details for joining GlobalTalk here:
* Once you get access to the spreadsheet, see the Instructions/Links tab. See Line 36 for my setup guide for Windows 11, I used that together with the Debian guide!marchintosh.com/globaltalk.html
There is also a way to get a configuration file of all of the participants via AIRConfig, which is also discussed in the guide! Need to get AIRConfig to your virtual Macintosh? Use a FTP server!
Read 5 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Feb 28
Oookay, the Compaq Presario 5528 is back on the desk! I wanted to spend some more time looking at the MPEG-1 decoder card under Windows 95 OSR 2.5. And I have good news! Time for a quick 🧵 Image
As some may recall, here was the next thing I was going to try: copying over the Windows 95A Media Player to Windows 95 OSR2.5. But as it ends up, that wasn't necessary!! I'll explain.
I noticed something on my Win95 OSR 2.5 install. It looks like the Internet Explorer desktop update installed ActiveMovie Control. And it looks like it is using a default Microsoft software decoder. HOWEVER, notice that standard Windows Media Player is also installed! Image
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Read 5 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Feb 28
Okay, it's a new day, let's test some more interface cards. We'll use the Pacman PC again. Time for a 🧵 Image
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Let's start with the NVIDIA GeForce2 MX. Oh my.. maybe this card has bad caps. NEXT! Image
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Next let's test this Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 Network Card. No drivers on The Retro Web? Uh oh. Image
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Read 10 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
Feb 28
Well, looks like we have some modems to test. We better get going 😂. I'm not going to do a full "dial" test, but we will see if we can at least configure them! Time for a 🧵 Image
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First things first, just like they taught in science class, always start with a baseline! So, I am going to make a copy of my Windows 98 installation so that we don't foul up the main install, and we'll check out device manager. Looking good! Let's roll. Image
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First modem out the gate is this Creative Modem Blaster V.90 PCI DI5655. We are going to use the Pacman PC to do the testing since it has a very convenient shared ISA/PC slot. In it goes! Image
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Read 18 tweets

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