			      X-VESA V1.0.2
			    by Marco Pistella
			   mpistella@libero.it

				CONTENTS

   1.  Introduction
       1.1.  What is X-VESA?
       1.2.  Characteristics
       1.3.  VESA BIOS Extension
   2.  How to use X-VESA
   3.  Requirements
   4.  Usage License
   5.  Download new version of X-VESA
   6.  How to Contact the Author


   1.  INTRODUCTION

   1.1.What is X-VESA?

   X-VESA is a DOS utility program  which gives the  user the faculty
   to diagnose and inspect a VESA display adapter. All modern display
   adapters are  VESA compatible,  for old display adapter  (10 years
   old)  you will need an additional software: a  small VESA software
   (DOS TSR)  that add	to yours  display adapter the  VESA standard.
   This small software must be launched before X-VESA.

   1.2.Characteristics

   X-VESA has the following specific characteristics:
     - The ability to  discover defective VRAM using more  aggressive
       algorithm (useful for display adapter overclockers).
     - The ability to  handle several VESA errors:  wrong version id,
       wrong  window segment and size,	wrong resolution,  wrong byte
       per scan line, wrong video mode initialization etc. etc.
     - The  ability  to detect	effective  available  VRAM on display
       adapter.  New adapters,	in fact,  limits the total  available
       VRAM under VESA video modes.
     - Detect VESA video mode infos according to the VESA version.
     - The ability to  measure the VRAM access speed using 8/16/32/64
       and 80 bit mode.
     - The ability  to detect the  screen refresh of  a generic  VESA
       video mode.
     - The ability to  support	anomalous and exotic VESA  video mode
       (1-8  bit plane	planar, 1-8 bit  packed pixel,	1-32 bit  per
       color for direct color,	theoretical supports for 96 bit video
       mode).
     - Read Monitor EDID.

   1.3. VESA BIOS Extension

   The VBE (VESA BIOS Extension) standard defines a set of extensions
   to the  VGA ROM BIOS  services.  These functions  can be  accessed
   under  DOS through  interrupt 10h,  or be called directly  by high
   performance	32-bit applicatios and	operating systems other  than
   DOS. These extensions also provide a hardware-indipendent solution
   to obtain vendor information and serve as an extensible foundation
   for OEMs and VESA to facilitate rapid software support of emerging
   hardware tecnology without sacrificing backwards compatibility.


   2.  HOW TO USE X-VESA

   On MS-DOS environment type "X-VESA.COM" command to start X-VESA, a
   list of VESA display mode and adapter  information will be viewed.
   Use the F10 key to  view a detailed information panel for the VESA
   display adapter. Use the UP/DOWN key  to select a display mode and
   then  ENTER key  to activate  the  command  menu for  the selected
   display mode.  Press ESC to	close X-VESA. Note that  X-VESA use a
   non standard-VGA video mode	(90x30xTEXT), use the CTRL+LEFT/RIGHT
   keys  to  center  this non  standard  video	mode,  use DEL key to
   restore original  settings.	When  the  ENTER key  is pressed  the
   following commands are available:

   Detailed video mode information:
       Display all VESA information  available for the selected video
       mode (supports VESA standard 1.0/1.1/1.2/Wrong 1.32/2.0/3.0).

   Test VRAM memory access speed:
       Measure the access speed of  video ram (VRAM) for the selected
       video mode using 8/16/32/64/80 bit mode access (64/80 bit mode
       access require a FPU-coprocessor). After the speed measurement
       press F2 key to save a screen-shoot of the  result speed page.
       The  screen-shoot  will	be  saved in  FILExxxx.TXT  (xxxx  is
       automatically assigned and never overrides any existing file).

   Test VRAM reliability:
       Test the  VRAM reliability  of the selected  video mode	using
       several patterns. This  test can detect defective VRAM (useful
       to detect  correct Fast Write  support, and maximum  available
       VRAM overclock).  Three test  are available:  64 Kb - Fast but
       insecure,  256 Kb -  Relatively fast  and secure,  Full VRAM -
       Extremely slow (several hours on slow machines with much VRAM)
       but very  secure test. The test	use the VESA func  4F07h (Set
       start of display) to set the physical display CRT image in the
       VRAM testing zone.

   Detect refresh rate:
       Detect  the  number  of	frame  viewed  per  second  (vertical
       frequncy). If  the vertical  frequency  becames	too low,  the
       display will  flicker. A good value for	vertical frequency is
       85 Hz or above.

   Test video mode visualization:
       Open the  selected video mode and  display a simple  screen to
       verify the correct visualization.

   F9 key  activate reading of	monitor EDID.  EDID reports  detailed
   information of primary monitor currently used by VESA video card.


   3.  REQUIREMENTS

   To  use X-VESA you mast have: an IBM PC  compatible, Intel 386 CPU
   or above processor, 64  Kb of free conventional memory, compatible
   VESA display adapter, MS-DOS version 5.0 or above, FPU-coprocessor
   is highly recommended to test 64 and 80 bit VRAM speed access.


   4.  USAGE LICENSE

   This  program  is freeware. Nothing is due to the author  of  this
   program for	the usage of X-VESA. No manipulation nor modification
   of  it  are	permitted. This document is an integral part  of  the
   release of X-VESA and must always accompany the executable file.
   The	author	of  this  program disclaims  any  responsibility  for
   damages that may be caused using X-VESA.
   The use of X-VESA implies the acceptance of this license.


   5.  DOWNLOAD NEW VERSION OF X-VESA

   New version of X-VESA could	be found at:  ftp://ftp.elf.stuba.sk/
   pub/pc/utildiag/xvesa???.zip (??? is the version number).


   6.  HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR

   The author can be contacted directly at mpistella@libero.it.
   Anyone  can	contact  me  to suggest improvements  that  could  be
   implemented	in  future  releases or to  let  me  know  about  any
   inconvenience, error or malfunctioning they have encountered.

						       Marco Pistella
						  mpistella@libero.it