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rdos wrote:Besides, every working VGA driver assumes some way to setup the hardware in the desired mode, and this is typically different between chipsets and implementations.
A VGA driver expects that the device conforms to the VGA standard, which 99% of the desktop video cards out there are. Any other issues are figments of your mind - after all, you are not using it so how would you be a reliable source?
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rdos wrote:Besides, every working VGA driver assumes some way to setup the hardware in the desired mode, and this is typically different between chipsets and implementations.
A VGA driver expects that the device conforms to the VGA standard, which 99% of the desktop video cards out there are. Any other issues are figments of your mind - after all, you are not using it so how would you be a reliable source?
For the computer I'm currently using; the BIOS leaves the first video card in a "VGA compatible" state but not the second video card, and because these video cards are "dual head" it means that only one of the 4 possible monitors could be used in a "VGA compatible" way. While this isn't a large enough statistical sample, it implies that a VGA driver would only work in 25% of cases (for a limited definition of "work" that doesn't include any video mode that any user will actually want to look at).
Of course VBE doesn't help with the "doesn't work" problem. It does help for the "ugly/low resolution" problem (but there's still a "half-assed video ROM doesn't support the monitor's native resolution" problem).
Cheers,
Brendan
For all things; perfection is, and will always remain, impossible to achieve in practice. However; by striving for perfection we create things that are as perfect as practically possible. Let the pursuit of perfection be our guide.
