VBE 32 bit BIOS for DOS

1 Synopsys

vbe32 [/l] [/c CONFIG]

2 Description

The `vbe32' utility is a 32 bit TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) VBE BIOS that completly substitutes the original VBE BIOS of your video board.

It allow to set an arbitrary video mode list with the favourite modes which work best with your video hardware without any restrictions in size and frequencies.

With this utility you can play all the DOS games that use the standard VESA VBE services with your PC Monitor, TV and Arcade Monitor.

At the startup the configuration file `vbe.rc', created with the utility `vbev', is read and all the modelines present are activated. The format of this configuration file is specified in the document `advv.txt'.

These are some example rc files:
ntsc.rc NTSC TV.
pal.rc PAL TV.
standard.rc Arcade Standard Resolution (15 kHz).
medium.rc Arcade Medium Resolution (25 kHz).
extended.rc Arcade Extended Resolution (16.5 kHz).
pcvga.rc VGA PC Monitor.
pcsvga60.rc SVGA PC Multisync Monitor.

All the modelines present in the configuration files are used to create the list of available VBE mode. For every modeline five VBE modes with 8, 15, 16, 24, 32 bits are added.

3 Options

These are the command line options supported:
/l
Load in memory the utility
/c CONFIG
Use an arbitary configuration file

4 Cards

The program supports all the `svgaline' drivers listed in the `carddos.txt' file.

5 Limitations

6 Application Problems

Some applications are able to use only some common resolutions like 320x240, 400x300, 512x384 and 640x480. Others resolutions may be completly ignored or crash the application.

Others applications may get in trouble if the list of avaliable VBE modes contains duplicate resolutions or is too big. Add only the best modelines and avoid duplicates.

7 Tests

Doom Legacy with the `nv3' driver (http://www.newdoom.com/doomlegacy)
Duke Nukem 3D with the `nv3' driver

8 Examples

Load it:

vbe32 /l

Load it with an arbitrary configuration file:

vbe32 /l /c c:\cab\myconf.rc

9 Bugs

The configuration file is checked only for the `device_video_modeline' options. All the other options are ignored.

10 Copyright

This file is Copyright (C) 2002 Andrea Mazzoleni.