From: hilmera@ucs.orst.edu (Andrew Hilmer)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: Trident 800x256 & downloading problems
Date: 20 Aug 92 17:13:56 GMT
Organization: University Computing Services - OSU

Machine: generic asian clone, AMD 386/33, 64kSRAM, 8MbRAM
         65 meg RLL drive, Supra 2400 internal modem
         Trident 8900c w/1meg

Problems: Difficulty with background downloads.  
          Non-fatal corruption of the WPS caused 
          by the CMD.EXE shell, esp. in 132x43 mode.

1.	I have not been able to download more than the simplest things
in the background during downloads. I have tried various communication
programs, including the bundled applet, Telix, and a few others.  I
use PMqvt to download. I am able to play solitaire and other PM games
while downloading, but if I start to switch to and from full screen
sessions, start up emacs, or do some djpegging, I will peek back in on
PMqvt and it will be recovering from errors, if it hasn't already
acked. Needless to say, TE/2 (unregistered) is useless for
downloading, since it dies with only the slightest prodding.

My IO card shouldn't have anything to do with it because my modem is
on a card. Does drive access with RLL take up so much resource that it
would do it? Ever since the install disasters, it doesn't seem to be
THAT slow, compared to what others have said on the net. I am
clueless.

2.	Originally, I was running the plain 800x600x16 driver, and I
don't remember having any problems. However, I am not sure that I
discovered the 132x43 mode until after I installed the virtual desktop
driver.

My initial ecstasy at finding this driver was short lived when I
switched to the desktop and found the whole lower half of the
1024x1024 screen covered with a strange pattern of corruption. That is
the LOWER half, which, I assume, points to some hanky panky in the
lower(?) 512Kb on my video card. The corruption consists of many small
vertical lines maybe 8-10 pixels high and about 2 wide. They are
arranged very regularly about 30 pixels apart horizontally and about
60 pixels apart vertically (32x64?).

|---------------------|
|                     |
|                     |
|                     |
|                     |
|'''''''''''''''''''''|  <-- Like so.
|'''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''|
|'''''''''''''''''''''|
|---------------------|

The effect happens in this scenario. At the WPS. Start CMD.EXE. Switch
back to the WPS. A row of these lines will appear at the very bottom.
More on this row later.

If I run 132x43, this is what will happen. Start CMD.EXE. Switch text
mode to 132x43. Alt-Esc (or Ctrl-Esc) back to the WPS. WPS has just
the one line at the bottom. Switch back to the full-screen session.
Switch back to WPS. Full corruption is now there.

Refresh takes care of any corruption that has not been laid on a
window. To fix a window requires that it be completely redrawn.

The full screen session is not in any way corrupted.

If I start a Dos session, the WPS is immediately cured until the next
time I switch to an OS/2 full screen session.

The lowest row of corruption lines are not spaced ~30 pixels apart,
but are spaced much closer together. They also appear to be finer in
width. Their vertical spacing away from the lines above them is not
unique.  However, while they look as though the spacing of every fifth
line is the same as those above, they are offset to the right a few
pixels, instead of lining up into the columns made by the lines above
them.

The coloration of this lowest row of lines is different as well. Every
fifth line is just as randomly colored as all of the other lines. The
three lines in between each of these, however, are uniformly black.

Also, when I was using the virtual desktop, I noticed that if I
repeated the switching during the course of work, movement of the
desktop produced more and more offset sets of corruption until I was
annoyed enough to start a DOS session to clear it all.

I am now using the plain 800x600x256 driver (I got tired of chasing
help windows all over hell and gone :-( ) and the same thing happens,
only it affects the whole desktop.

I may have been remiss not to report this earlier, but I think I am
making up that error with raw detail. I would like to find out how to
report this bug to Trident properly. Also, if helpful, I would not
mind downloading Nikon to see if it can take snapshots of the
corruption on both the plain and virtual displays.

andy
-- 
hilmera@ucs.orst.edu  Why settle for the *lesser* of evils? Cthulu 92!
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc