Baslinux mailing list

[Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com>]

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004, Sindi Keesan wrote:

> I have a computer with both VGA and TTL/Hercules video cards and monitors.  
> To be able to use the TTL/Hercules, I had to insmod mdaco.o (from 
> Slackware 7.1) in rc - insmod mdacon.o with a switch to specify first and 
> last consoles (mda_first_vc=1 mda_last_vc=2).  This lets me use my TTL 
> monitor for consoles 1 and 2.  In BL2 I can than use console 3 in VGA, but 

> in BL3 it is not usable for VGA, it is all scrambled TTL instead.


I have mdacon working in BL3.  I can switch between consoles, 1 and 2 
being HGC/TTL and 3 being VGA.  I don't know what went wrong before, but 
it may help to start off in VGA mode when booting from DOS.  I put mode 
c080 in my boot.bat file for BL3.  I need VGA mode to do Xvesa or more 
than 80 columns and 25 lines.

Putting vga=ask after zimage in a copy of boot.bat (to make bootask.bat)  
gave me a chanve to hit Enter to choose a VGA video mode.  (I can't find
which thread this is supposed to be in as it drifted).  I had 8 choices
for my S3 Trio64: 80 col and 25 28 30 34 43 60 rows 132 col and 25 or 43
rows I was also asked whether to scan.  I typed scan and it did some test
and added to the list a ninth choice:  40x25.  This and the 143 col modes
and a few others worked when I tested them.

Some video cards, in DOS, will do 100 columns.  Tseng?  132 is rather hard
to read.  I may report which ones do 100 columns tomorrow.  100 columns is
equivalent to 800 resolution, and might help at some wide web pages, but
there are many now that are designed for 1024 or larger resolution (132
columns or more).  Using Steven's 11x19 font in Xvesa, 87 columns plus
scrollbar will fit at 800 resolution, not 100, which implies that the
11x19 font is a bit larger than the screen font in 100 column text mode.  
But the screen font might be a bit more legible - the 11x19 has rather
skinny w and m.

132 col text mode is not easy to read on a 14" monitor at 3' (to avoid
radiation) with my eyes and no bifocals.  

Links worked nicely in VGA 132 columns (if i put my face close enough to
the screen).  Links-0.93 will access my webmail (not sure if 0.90 could
log in properly, it may have gone in circles) and display it with frames.  
The right frame all seemed to fit on the screen but the rightmost table in
it looked somewhat wrapped.  I set options not to show frames and it all
fit nicely without scrolling left/right as in 80 columns.  I can't find
instructions at the links manual site on how to switch between frames,
which is actually why I opted not to show them.

Links also works fine in MDA mode if you number links to find them.

It is really handy to be able to see the manual on the other monitor while 
typing on this one.  I suppose two windows on a 21" monitor would also 
work, but I can't lift a 21" monitor and I can lift a 12" and a 14".