Get involved

Hardware testing and bug reports

How to report a Velocity9x result with Send report, what diagnostic files to include, and how to run the hardware survey on an unsupported card.

Report a problem (or a success)

Right after the program that went wrong, open Display Properties → Settings → Advanced → Velocity9x Advanced and click Send report.
It runs V9XTRACE.EXE, lists the files it will send, and after you click Send gives you a code such as V9X-4F7K2Q. Nothing is sent unless you click Send.
Quote the code in an issue at github.com/michaeldale/velocity9x/issues.

If the machine has no network, open http://michaeldale.com.au/v9update/report on any computer and attach the files from C:\V9XDIAG there.

Say what you saw

The chip and PCI ID, the display mode in use, and what the program did.
If the picture is visibly wrong (shredded, repeated, missing, wrong colours), say so even when the driver reports success, and include a screenshot or photograph.
If the machine failed to reach the desktop, a COM1 serial capture is the most useful single artefact.

Useful files in `C:\V9XDIAG`

File	When
`V9XBOOT.INI`	Always. How far the driver got at boot.
`V9XDD.INI`, `V9XTRACE.INI`	DirectDraw or Direct3D problems.
`V9XGL.LOG`	OpenGL.
`V9XGLIDE.LOG`, `V9XGLD3.LOG`	Glide 2 and Glide 3.
`V9XCIF.LOG`	ATI 3DCIF.
`V9XGDI.INI`, `V9XMSW.INI`, `V9XPAL.INI`	A failing built-in test.

Send a hardware survey

Writing a backend for a chip means knowing what is actually on the board. V9XSURV.EXE collects it.

Download velocity9x-survey-<version>.zip from the downloads page.
Boot to DOS (Start → Shut Down → Restart in MS-DOS mode). A DOS box inside Windows also works; it just sees less.
Run V9XSURV (add /rom to include the video BIOS image).
Send back the C:\V9XDIAG\V9XSURV.INI it writes, in an issue.

It reads; it does not write. There is no mode change, nothing is installed, and nothing is left behind. The one optional step that writes anything, a vendor probe that sets documented unlock keys, reads the registers behind them and restores the originals, is asked as a question after the main report is on disk. The only identifying item in the report is your monitor’s EDID, which carries its model and serial number.

Go further: lend the machine

If a survey and a few reports aren’t enough to get your card working, lend the machine through remote help so the developer can work on it directly.