[570] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
DEVICE DRIVER: Monochrome Display Driver
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mick Brown)
Sat Jan 27 05:57:57 1996
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 27 Jan 1996 10:01:02 GMT
From: lfirrantello@BIX.com (Mick Brown)
Reply-To: cornel@crl.com
Submitted by: Cornel Huth (cornel@crl.com)
Source: Cornel Huth
Date Received: 25-Jan-1996
Date Posted: 27-Jan-1996
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Driver Support Series
Monochrome Display Driver for Programmers
Mony Monochrome Display Driver
for OS/2 Application and Device Driver programmers
Release: Immediate
Date: 25 January 1996
Contact: Cornel Huth
/e-mail: cornel@crl.com
San Antonio, Texas - MONY.SYS is an MDA device driver for OS/2. The MDA,
or monochrome display adapter, also known as the Hercules card, MGP, or just
plain mono card, can be used together with a color VGA, and both can run at
the same time. They can, that is, with proper support. You can't get this
with a base OS/2 install, so Mony was born (TJ's Mony).
Mony is designed for the OS/2 programmer, both application level programmer
and device driver programmer. The MDA BIOS (INT10 functions) are supported
by the Mony emulator, with a few extensions added for ease of use. For
example, WriteString is supported, as is ReadBlock and WriteBlock. Also, up
to 8 video pages can be used, and switched to and from instantly. This, of
course, is not calling the ROM BIOS, but is emulating those functions in
code.
The programming interface is DosDevIOCtl calls, but an easy-to-use API
(source included) is provided that simplifies use of all the functions. For
example, WriteString is as simple as:
ULONG MonyWriteString (HFILE monyID, PSZ strgPtr,
UCHAR page, UCHAR attr, UCHAR row, UCHAR col);
A demonstration program is included which covers just about all the calls
available for the application programmer. For device driver programmers, a
brief tutorial on how to access Mony from physical device drivers is located
at the start of the mony_api.c file. Everything you need to evaluate Mony
is included. Continued use beyond a short evaluation time requires payment
of less than $15.00 for the individual in a non-corporate environment.
Corporate (site) licenses are $299.50. Ordering instructions are included
in the !ORDER.FRM file, or simply send your vitals and payment to:
Cornel Huth/6402 Ingram Rd/San Antonio, TX 78238/USA.
Requirements
------------
- OS/2 Warp 3.0 or later
- Monochrome display adapter or compatible (MDA, MGP, Hercules, etc.)
- Digital/TTL monochrome display monitor
The mono video subsystem must be the non-primary display system. In other
words, you are expected to have a VGA or similar video system installed as
the primary video subsystem. It is not expected, nor desired, to use the
OS/2 installation of a secondary display. OS/2 cannot make use of a
secondary display concurrent with the primary display.
For performance reasons, a VLB or PCI primary video system is recommended.
Adding an 8-bit mono card has no effect whatsoever on the performance of the
VLB/PCI video card. However, adding an 8-bit card into the A0000-BFFFF
region on an ISA (repeat ISA) bus causes all cards on that bus in that
region to revert to 8-bit mode. So, if you don't have a VLB or PCI primary
video card, you may not desire the performance loss of your ISA-based video
card. And again, if you do have VLB or PCI primary video, disregard this
paragraph since it does not apply.
If you don't already have an MDA and mony (mono monitor), the going rate is
about $15 for a new MDA card (often with a printer port, and often Hercules
compatible -- an MGP card, for mono, Herc-graphics, printer-port). Mony
displays are not that hard to find. Any used-parts shop will have at least
a few. Going rate for a mony in good condition is about $35. Avoid, if you
can, any monitor with burn-in (where you can see stuff on the screen with
the monitor off). Total hardware cost is $50 or so, if you don't have it
already, and total cost, with Mony, and everything, is under $65.
Installation
------------
MONY.SYS is an OS/2 device driver. It is installed by adding the line
DEVICE=MONY.SYS [-p#] [-xr] [-q]
in the config.sys file (with appropriate path, if required). Option
switches are (use -, not /):
-p#
where # is the video pages desired, from 1 to 8 (default=1). To run the
monydemo.exe program, it's recommended that you set up 8 video pages (-p8).
-xr
which you can use to bypass the Resource Manager allocations that MONY.SYS
usually makes (or attempts to make). If you experience any problems in
installing MONY.SYS, or any other device driver, give -xr a shot.
-q
can be used to quiet the MONY.SYS install banner, in case you like to look
at the VGA OS/2 logo instead... The banner on the mony monitor is always
generated, and indicates that MONY.SYS installed correctly. If you don't see
anything on the mony monitor by the time you have the desktop up and
running, recheck your DEVICE= line and hardware/ connections.
Availability
------------
Current versions of MONY (filename mony_xxx.zip, where xxx is the version
number, as in mony_100.zip) can be found at:
Internet FTP: hobbes.nmsu.edu
/os2/drivers
CIS: OS2DF1
Device Drivers file area and elsewhere
Home sites: See below.
..........................................................................
Toolkits [database] [sound] [utils] |cornel@crl.com (102504,3043)
DOS Bullet 1.25 DOS Ruckus 1.21 | ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/co/cornel
Win3x Bullet 1.26 W95 Bullet 2.04 |http://www.crl.com/~cornel/
DOSX32 Bullet 2.04 OS/2 Bullet 2.04 |BBS:(210)684-8065 after business hrs
======================================================================
-- os2_ann_req@bix.com for article submissions
--Mick Brown (lfirrantello@bix.com)
