- Nov 16, 2006
- 18
- 0
- 18,510
I have a rather old system (Shuttle AK31) that I want to breath a little more life into by upgrading the AGP video card. It currently has a PalitDaytona GeForce4 MX440 64MB DDR 8X AGP and so practically any video card available would be a major improvement. However, there are a few compatibility issues involved. Specifically: 1) the card has to be compatible with Windows 98SE and 2) the card has to be compliant with VESA VBE 1.2 or later.
Recently, I purchased a GeCube Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X. Unfortunately, contrary to the claims of the product specifications, I could not get the Radeon Catalyst drivers to install under Windows 98SE. And though I couldn't get it running properly under Windows I could test it enough to determine that it was not compliant with VESA VBE 1.2, either.
For those who don't know, VESA is an ancient VGA graphics standard that dates from the days of DOS. The main reason I need this old standard is because I run a program called XOSL, which is a "VGA mode multi-OS boot manager":
http://home.att.net/~short.stop/freesoft/boot.htm
I think this is an indespensible program for what it does: It enables me to switch Operating Systems easily. It can handle over 30 OS's on one disk and can hide/unhide partitions, swap drives, and much more.
As far as I can tell, video card manufacturers no longer bother to specify whether their products are VESA VBE complaint. And so I'm in a real pickle. I have already written to several major video card manufacturers to inquire about VESA VBE compatibility, but I rather doubt I will get a reply...
Any suggestions on AGP 4x or 8x cards to try would be greatly appreciated. BTW: I'm looking for a solution that's $80 or less. Otherwise, I'd be better off replacing the MB, CPU, and memory. Still, I want to avoid the latter if at all possible. (I have an expensive CPU cooling solution that, unfortunately, many new MB don't have enough clearance to fit.)
Recently, I purchased a GeCube Radeon X1550 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X. Unfortunately, contrary to the claims of the product specifications, I could not get the Radeon Catalyst drivers to install under Windows 98SE. And though I couldn't get it running properly under Windows I could test it enough to determine that it was not compliant with VESA VBE 1.2, either.
For those who don't know, VESA is an ancient VGA graphics standard that dates from the days of DOS. The main reason I need this old standard is because I run a program called XOSL, which is a "VGA mode multi-OS boot manager":
http://home.att.net/~short.stop/freesoft/boot.htm
I think this is an indespensible program for what it does: It enables me to switch Operating Systems easily. It can handle over 30 OS's on one disk and can hide/unhide partitions, swap drives, and much more.
As far as I can tell, video card manufacturers no longer bother to specify whether their products are VESA VBE complaint. And so I'm in a real pickle. I have already written to several major video card manufacturers to inquire about VESA VBE compatibility, but I rather doubt I will get a reply...
Any suggestions on AGP 4x or 8x cards to try would be greatly appreciated. BTW: I'm looking for a solution that's $80 or less. Otherwise, I'd be better off replacing the MB, CPU, and memory. Still, I want to avoid the latter if at all possible. (I have an expensive CPU cooling solution that, unfortunately, many new MB don't have enough clearance to fit.)
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