Graphics Blaster Readme
==========================

This file contains additional information to supplement the manual.
Please read through all the sections before you  proceed  with  the
installation.

Refer to the README.TXT file in OPENGL  directory  for  information
on "OpenGL 1.1 Release for Windows 95". Refer to HEIDI.TXT file  in
the HEIDI directory for information on using the HEIDI driver.

This file contains the following sections:

    1. BlasterControl Limitations
    2. Creative SoftMPEG
    3. Games Compatibility Issue
    4. Known Problems
    5. General Notes



1. BLASTERCONTROL LIMITATIONS

    a)  BlasterControl only works in 256 colors and above.

    b)  BlasterControl Hotkey is only able to switch resolution,
        but not color depth.


2. CREATIVE SOFTMPEG

    a)  Creative SoftMPEG is using Compcore SoftPEG drivers for the
        MPEG  video  playback. For  enhanced  performance  with the
        Graphics Blaster:

        i)   Run in 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions in 16-
             bit color depth for best performance. These resolutions
             have full DirectDraw support.

        ii)  In the configure dialog, set the Video  Display to Best
             Frame Rate or Best Picture.

        iii) There are certain  Windows 95 CD-ROM  drivers that  may
             have problems  reading  MPEG files  on CD or Video CDs.
             Please   check  with  your   CD-ROM  vendor   for  more
             information.  On a  Pentium 133 you  should  be able to
             playback MPEG files on Full Screen from  Hard Disk or a
             Quad Speed CD-ROM drive.


3. GAMES COMPATIBILITY ISSUE

    Shiny's MDK
    -----------

    For better visual effect  experience, turn on "Use  flat  alpha
    for gouraud  alpha  blending" in the  device  manager applet for
    Graphics Blaster  Exxtreme.  Then set the game  option  "Texture
    upload fail on "on "Error only".

    Psygnosis's Wipeout XL
    ----------------------

    On 4MB boards, this game would not run. Try to turn on "Allocate
    more  memory  for  textures" in the  device  manager  applet for
    Graphics Blaster Exxtreme.

    ID's GLQuake and Raven's GLHexen II
    -----------------------------------

    Some versions of GLQuake and GLHexen II may show textures as white
    blocks of color on the Graphics Blaster Exxtreme.  To remedy this,
    try the following.

    (a) on GLQuake

        glquake.exe -lm_4

    (b) on GLHexen II

        glh2.exe -lm_4

    GLQuake and GLHexen II comes with an OPENGL32.DLL file that is  not
    meant for the Graphics Blaster Exxtreme. Rename or delete this file
    in the game directory to run GLQuake or  GLHexen II on the Graphics
    Blaster Exxtreme.


4. KNOWN PROBLEMS

    General
    -------

    If you encounter problem of black screen after soft reboot (Ctl-
    Alt-Del), try placing the Graphics Blaster Exxtreme into another
    PCI slot.

    Windows 95
    ----------

    With the Virtual  Desktop feature in  BlasterControl turned  on,
    running a full  screen application  may exhibit  clipped effect.
    Turn off Virtual Desktop feature to avoid this problem.

    Current VGA BIOS of Graphics Blaster Exxtreme fails the  SciTech
    UniVBE test. Watch out for the updated SciTech UniVBE driver  in
    our web site which will support additional VESA modes.

    Disable the option "Allocate more memory for better performance"
    in the Performance  setting  menu when playing  VideoCD or  MPEG
    files.


5. GENERAL NOTES:

    a. DMPS

       Certain motherboards lockup system when going into low-power
       standby mode. To go around this problem, disable the DPMS feature
       in the motherboard BIOS.

    b. EXXDEMON.EXE

       The demon program (background process) is a Video Overlay Emulator
       which supports overlay feature in DirectDraw/DirectShow.  It gets
       loaded everytime system get started.

    AGP version
    (The following is applicable to Graphics Blaster Exxtreme AGP
    version only)

    i.   Windows 95 OSR 2.1

       Only OSR 2.1 version (with  USB supplement) of Windows 95 has the
       system files that supports AGP. To check whether your Windows 95
       is a OSR 2.1, look into this registry key:

       HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

       The data for VersionNumber should be 4.03.1212 or 4.03.1214.

    ii.  AGP Aperture

       The motherboard's BIOS setting for AGP Aperture should be 8MB and
       above. Otherwise the DirectDraw/Direct3D will fail to use hardware
       acceralation (HAL).

    iii. GART Vxd

       The installation disk contains GART (Graphics Address Remap Table)
       Vxd for Intel chipset (LX440) only.  For motherboard with other
       chipset type, please check the availability of similar Vxd from
       your motherboard/chipset manufacturer.

    iv.  Allocate more memory for performance

       The performance setting for the above (found in device properties)
       should be disabled for the AGP version.  Otherwise the driver will
       not use the system memory for texture map.

