#Another Vibrant Report
14 messages in this thread
Hi Chuck,
You may recall I sent you (via Nik) a report on the new drivers & how they
caused an error #18 once with my Viper VLB. Then, at your request I E-Mailed
you my 3DS.set file. The problem happened again, and I have some more info for
you:
This time it happened just as I hit the space bar as the optimization stages
finished and rendering just had begun. Both times it has occured during or just
after the FIRST RENDER in a session, and never again. In addition to the
Red/Yellow screen put up stating Error #18 "This error should not have
occured"-"Press any key…", I noticed it also said "Please contact your
distributor".
Upon pressing a key, I told you before that it dropped to DOS, locked in a loop
with the cursor (underscore) flashing. Actually, I discovered this time that it
is NOT LOCKED UP. I pressed CTRL-C and I was returned to 3DS with the render
status window displayed, and another 3DS window (dialog box) opened over it
which said "Cannot flip to 320×200".
Just like when it happened before, I was configured to render at 256×150, and
have NO 320×200 screens configured for anything in 3DS. The Red/Yellow message
aler screen is in the style used in configuring the Vibrant drivers initially
(if I'm remembering correctly). I want to emphasize again – This has only
occured with the FIRST RENDER OF A WORK SESSION with 3DS from boot, and never
after the first, so far. Maybe there are some "clues" for you in all of this.
Regards,
Bill
BTW – MSD.exe reports Phoenix VGA, BIOS 2.02 (7/10/93), VESA 1.02.
I'll take a look at it. Error #18 is VERY strange, so I'll keep you posted…
PS: You 3DS.SET looked fine…
Chuck Walbourn – Vibrant Graphics
I just got a small hint from the guy that wrote the P9000 draw-code. Error #18
could be an extended DOS error returned when we try to read the VIPER.INI file.
Error #18 again makes little sense (No more files), but it might mean that you
have some kind of problem with the VIPER.INI, either it's location or us trying
to find it. Make sure that you have the VIPER.INI on a local drive and
VIPERPATH set to point to it. Where is it currently located? Are you sure
that the VIPERPATH is being set?
Chuck Walbourn – Vibrant Graphics
Hi Chuck,
>> I just got a small hint from the guy that wrote the P9000 draw-code. Error
#18 could be an extended DOS error returned when we try to read the VIPER.INI
file. Error #18 again makes little sense (No more files), but it might mean
that you have some kind of problem with the VIPER.INI, either it's location or
us trying to find it. Make sure that you have the VIPER.INI on a local drive
and VIPERPATH set to point to it. Where is it currently located? Are you sure
that the VIPERPATH is being set?
In this system there are 2 physical SCSI drives:
DRIVE 1: = C:, D:, E: partitions. 3DS is on E:. DRIVE 2: = F:, G: partitions.
VIPER is on F:.
Here's the portion of my autoexec.bat that pertains to the Viper:
f:\viper\vprbios (this line was added w/ the latest drivers/BIOS)
F:\VIPER\CHKPATH F:\VIPER IF ERRORLEVEL 3 PATH F:\VIPER;%PATH% SET
VIPERPATH=F:\VIPER f:\viper\vprmode vesa
And here's a listing of the Viper directory:
Directory of F:\VIPER
VPRBIOS COM 32832 07-10-93 11:12a CHKPATH EXE 6194 11-07-91 11:03a
VPRDIAG EXE 27171 10-20-93 3:09p VPRMODE EXE 95679 12-22-93 1:03p
VIP EXE 5120 02-11-93 12:18p VIPER INI 5038 12-22-93 1:03p
WIN31 <DIR> 12-22-93 1:05p
And here's the beginning of the Viper.ini file:
*** (PLEASE NOTE THE RELOCATION TO 8000) ***
….always has been (from A000)
DIAMOND VIPER VIPER.INI [mode] sysconfig mode configuration hrzt
horizontal length hrzsr horizontal sync rising edge hrsbr
horizontal blank rising edge hrzbf horizontal blank falling edge
prehrzc horizontal counter preload vrtt vertical length vrtsr
vertical sync rising vrtbr vertical blank rising edge vrtbf
vertical blank falling edge prevrtc vertical counter preload memconfig
memory configuration
= 0 : 1MB B1
= 1 : 1MB Ax
= 2 : 2MB Ax or B1 srtctc configuration
= 01E4 : 1MB Ax or B1
= 01E5 : 2MB Ax or B1 vclk db bit7 :vsync
polarity
bit6 :hsync polarity
bit5 :enable clock 2X
bits4-0:(reserved for VPRMODE.EXE)
db 3 dup(0) :24-bit vclk data xsize horizontal
resolution (integer) ysize vertical resolution (integer)
[hardware] OEMString=Diamond Version=1.2 BusType=VLB MemAddr=8000
MemSpeed=67B83C MemSize=2 Monitor=CUSTOM Monitor
>> Error #18 is VERY strange, so I'll keep you posted… <<
Chuck, what *exactly* do you mean by "STRANGE" ?
If you want the entire Viper.ini, let me know and I'll E-Mail it. I use this
board with a dozen other app's – no problems.
Could it be related to me loading VPRMODE VESA from autoexec.bat before calling
3DS ?
Regards,
Bill
Well, we have never seen error #18 here… We don't even have an error
description for it (hence the "This should not happen" message). I'll try to
dig around the DOS manual a while and see if I can figure out where exactly an
error #18 is coming from…
Chuck Walbourn – Vibrant Graphics
Hi Chuck,
Did you get the message from me where I mentioned that after receiving this
error the second time, I hit control-C from the blank screen that followed, and
was returned to 3DS with a "Can't flip to 320×200" message ? WRT Ralph's
suggestion of removing the vprbios call, it was there before the driver upgrade
install and this never happened in many more hours use. Keep me posted please.
Regards,
Bill
I will keep you posted. I am having a look through the P9000 draw-code to see
exactly where the error might have been generated…
Chuck Walbourn – Vibrant Graphics
Thanks chuck. BTW, I've used 3DS for a number of hours since it last happened
with no re-occurance ???? I've got this this theory that SOMETHING funny is
happening after a Windows session to cause this. I run a batch file to
overwrite my autoexec & congig start-up files which is unique for just about
every application I use – then I do a CTRL/ALT/DEL soft reset. My theory is
that if I soft reset after running the Windows environment / set-up, this error
can occur. If I do a HARD reset (via the machine's reset button), it won't
occur. I am going to continue to Hard Reset after overwriting the Windows
start-up files with the 3DS start-up files, and if it never happens again, I
guess my theory was right ('lotta good that does you, right ?) <g>.
BILL
Hi Chuck,
Please disregard my last message about hard vs soft reset when switching from
Windows environment to 3DS environment – I've already proven that my theory was
wrong when it just happened again. However, this time I got even more
information AND I was fully awake <g> this time, and noticed more. Here's the
whole scenario for this latest occurance:
Loaded model/anim file and manipulated in ED & KF – did not render.
Chose to switch to the MatEd module – Red/White/Yellow screen pops up.
(This is a vibrant-generated screen. Red/White vert.bars & Yell.text)
INITIALIZATION ERROR (missed this before – top of screen)
ERROR 18: Unknown Error Number
This error should not occur, contact your distributor.
Press any key to continue (I pressed a key)
Screen blanks to black w/ underscore cursor flashing upper left corn.
(I press CTRL-C) Pops back to Editor module – dialog box opened (3ds)
ERROR: Cannot Initialize Materials Editor Display. Please Reconfigure With A
Display Mode Which IS Able To Display 80×34 Characters.
CONTINUE (Clicked on it) – Now I'm back in ED, no problems.
IMMEDIATELY CHOSE TO ENTER MATERIALS EDITOR AGAIN.
It did not happen again – continued to work and render – no problem.
As I mentioned before, if I go into the MatEd upon first loading 3DS, the
problem has never occured. If I do something else first, then go to the MatEd,
it may happen. I hope this may be of some use to you. Please keep me posted.
BILL
Bill and ALL VIPER USERS,
Excuse me for jumping in BUT… I was having some strange problems when I
installed my new Viper. (Couldn't even run DOSSHELL in graphics mode). The
deal is to remove the line in the autoexec "f:\viper\vprbios" as it is not
needed and will only cause you grief.
The people at Diamond said if they had to do it over they would not have the
install put it there. Appearantly it has to do with shadowing ROM, which if
you are already shadowing ROM well… Not to mention the 40k of precious
memory it took up!
I don't know if this is your problem, I don't remember the earlier messages but
thought you might like to know what I learned.
Ralph
Hi Ralph,
Thanks for the info.. However, the vprbios call from autoexec.bat was
present before the recent driver update, and this never happened in many more
hours of use than since the update. Oh well, THANKS.
Regards,
Bill
Bill,
Still I would get rid of vprbios as it's not needed, and we could all use
40k more base memory. You never know if the update is accessing it
differently than before.
Anyway… Good Luck!
Ralph
Ralph,
Thanks for this information – I had just finished a phone call with someone at
Vibrant who was pretty sure it HAD to be there! More research needed… 🙁
Nik
>> finished a phone call with someone at
>> Vibrant who was pretty sure it HAD to be there!
Nik,
I am running 3DS with the new Vibrant in-line drivers with the 3.09 version
of the Viper (Oak chip) without vprbios and everything runs like a charm.
-Ralph