MultiView/24 for PC Q&A

Q: After installing the MultiView 24 and VGA cards into my computer and with no other cards installed, I do not get an image on my screen or my computer does not start at all. What could be the problem?

A: The MultiView 24 video card is an enhancement card that adds to the functionality of a standard VGA or SVGA type video card by providing accelerated high resolution graphics in millions of colors with Microsoft Windows 3.1. This video card does not offer text based video modes for MS-DOS and requires that another video card capable of handling text based video modes be present in your computer. If another VGA or SVGA type video card is present, make sure that it is connected to the MultiView 24 interface via the "pass-through" ribbon cable (included with MultiView 24).

If you do have another VGA or SVGA video card installed correctly with the MultiView 24 interface and still do not get an image on the screen, make sure that your video card is not an S3, ATI or 8514 type video card. If it is an S3, ATI or 8514 type video interface, it will not be fully compatible with the MultiView 24 interface. The reason for this is that the MultiView 24 video card is an 8514 standard video card and that the 8514 video standard restricts more than one of this type of video interface from being installed in the same machine. A majority of video cards manufactured by S3 Corporation and ATI technologies are also based on 8514 video standards, which restrict them from being installed with the MultiView 24 interface at the same time.

Some computer systems which were designed after the MultiView 24 interface offer extremely fast bus speeds which may be too fast for the MultiView 24 design to operate correctly under. In this situation, you may also experience errors such as several beeps at startup indicating no video system is installed at all. If your computer offers a way in which to change the bus speed of your computer, you may be able to work around this problem. Some systems offer this as an option via a configuration program when the system first starts up and others offer this as an option via dip switches or jumpers located on your computers motherboard. If this is an option available via a configuration program at startup, you will have to remove the MultiView 24 interface, connect your monitor to your VGA card, and then start your computer again to access this utility. Once this configuration option is found on your computer system, we recommend configuring the bus speed for 8 MHz operation.

Q: Why after installing the MultiView 24 and VGA cards into my computer when my other cards are installed, I do not get an image on my screen or my computer does not start at all?

A: This problem is outlined in the MultiView 24 users guide. This can be a problem if you have other cards installed attempting to use the same I/O locations. If this problem occurs with the MultiView 24 interface installed, remove all other cards leaving only the MultiView 24 and cards which are required to start your computer. Then, if the system starts fine, place each of the other cards back into your computer one at a time and restart each time a card is added. Once the conflicting card is found, configure that card to use an I/O address other than those used by the MultiView 24 interface.

Following is a map of the MultiView 24's reserved I/O locations:

One Byte location at:

02EA 02EB 02EC 02ED

Two Consecutive Byte locations at:

02EB 06E8 0AE8 0EE8

12E8 16E8 1AE8 1EE8

22E8 26E8 2AE8 2EE8

32E8 36E8 3AE8 3EE8

42E8 46E8 4AE8 4EE8

52E8 56E8 5AE8 5EE8

62E8 66E8 6AE8 6EE8

72E8 76E8 7AE8 7EE8

82E8 86E8 8AE8 8EE8

92E8 96E8 9AE8 9EE8

A2E8 A6E8 AAE8 AEE8

B2E8 B6E8 BAE8 BEE8

C2E8 C6E8 CAE8 CEE8

D2E8 D6E8 DAE8 DEE8

E2E8 E6E8 EAE8 EEE8

F2E8 F6E8 FAE8 FEE8

Q: Why after I install the MultiView 24 drivers and start Microsoft Windows, it either quits automatically to MS-DOS or I get garbage or no video on the screen?

A: There can be a few causes for this type of problem. First, as with the previous question, make sure that your other video card is not S3, ATI or 8514 compatible as these cards cannot be used with the MultiView 24. Also, make sure that the monitor that you are using is compatible with the MultiView 24 interface. A display which is at least capable of 1024x768 resolution at a 60 Hz refresh rate is required.

It is also required to first run the MultiView 24's setup program to initialize the interface cards ROM's prior to using this card with Windows. If the MultiView 24 interface is reinstalled or if you remove or disconnect your computers internal battery, the initialization program must be run again. Once this is done, the MultiView 24 is ready to be used. Prior to running this initialization program, make sure that the jumper located on the top of the MultiView 24 interface is covering pins 1 and 2. Also, make sure that the pass-through cable is connected to both the MultiView 24 card's pass-through connector and to your VGA cards pass-through connector. Then, from MS-DOS, run the MV24SET program which was placed into your MV24 directory from the MultiView 24's installation program. Select the appropriate options for your configuration starting with monitor setup, then once the correct monitor type has been selected, choose ROM setup and the appropriate address in your configuration to make the ROM on the MultiView 24 interface active. Once these steps are done, the MultiView 24 interface is ready to be used with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

If you still get no video when attempting to launch Microsoft Windows 3.1 with your monitor connected to the MultiView 24 interface, run the Microsoft Windows SETUP program from MS-DOS in your WINDOWS directory. Select the option for the display and make sure it is selected for either MultiView 24 or for 8514. Once either of these display types are selected from this SETUP program, Microsoft Windows will be using the MultiView 24 interface as its Windows graphics card. If the option for MultiView 24 is not available from this list, you must change this setting to VGA, then start Windows, then choose run from the Program Managers File menu, then type "A:\INSTALL". This will execute the MultiView 24 cards Windows installation program and automatically install the MultiView 24 drivers.

Q: Why do I get an error which says that I do not have enough memory available to properly build the icons within the Program Manager upon starting Microsoft Windows 3.1?

A: This is a common Microsoft Windows error when used with 24 bit graphics cards. Microsoft Windows 3.1 allocates a set amount of memory specifically to draw your icons on the screen for each of your program groups. If you have too many icons within one particular program group, Windows may not have enough of this reserved space to build all of the icons in 24 bit color and will attempt to build as many icons as possible in black and white instead. The way to get around this limitation is to separate the icons within your program groups into more program groups. When doing this, limit the total amount of icons in each program group to less than 15 icons total.

Q: Can I use the MultiView 24 interface with OS/2 or Microsoft Windows NT?

A: The MultiView 24 interface was designed specifically for use with Microsoft Windows 3.1. However, the MultiView 24 interface is based on 8514 graphics chips and as such will work with 8514 graphics drivers which are included with both OS/2 and Microsoft Windows NT. The 8514 graphics drivers included with OS/2 and Microsoft Windows NT operate in 256 colors at 1024x768 resolution. For millions of colors, the MultiView 24 must be used with its own drivers which are designed only for use with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

Q: Why do I have one application which generates errors when the MultiView 24 drivers are being used, while all of my other applications seem to work fine?

A: Not all Windows applications are fully compatible with 24 bit graphics cards such as the MultiView 24. If you have such an application, we recommend that you report this problem to the vendor of that application. You may be able to use that application with other high resolution graphics drivers which offer 256 colors or less. These drivers are available and can be configured in your Windows setup program. One particular driver which operates well with the MultiView 24 in 256 colors at 1024x768 resolution is the 8514 driver which comes with Microsoft Windows 3.1. This driver can also be selected from your Windows setup program.

Q: Why doesn't the 16-bit graphics drivers for my VGA card work anymore?

A: The MultiView 24 card operates with your VGA card as a pass-though type interface, meaning that when special drivers are selected for your VGA card, the VGA card must then pass all of the video information onto the MultiView 24 to then send to the monitor. One particular limitation of this type of technology is that only a limited amount of information may be passed-through the MultiView 24 interface at a time. Simply put, thousands of colors is beyond what the MultiView 24 is capable of passing through onto the display from your VGA card. If you need to use this graphics mode from your VGA card, we recommend restarting your computer with the monitor connected to your VGA card instead of to the MultiView 24. When you do this, the video signal will not pass through the MultiView 24 and everything should work as if the MultiView 24 were not present.

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