Troubleshooting

Windows is still at 16 colours after installing

The driver did not start. Open C:\V9XDIAG\V9XBOOT.INI: it records the last stage the driver reached. On Intel chips, check that you installed on the adapter ending “(VGA)” (see Installation). On the vbe package, a VbeDetail key says which VESA step refused. Include the file in a report.

The desktop does not come back after full-screen DOS

The fix from 0.45.0 is in every package but has only been run on the GMA 950, HD 4600 and S3 ViRGE/DX. If the desktop does not come back on your card, keep DOS windowed and report it.

A Direct3D 8 game says there is no hardware device

DirectX 8 games need the DrawPrimitives2 interface (DDI 6). The DDI 6 selector on the Velocity9x Advanced tab defaults to Automatic: DDI 6 for programs that load Direct3D 8, the older and faster interface for the rest. If it is set to Never, Direct3D 8 finds no hardware device and games fail with D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE (0x8876086A). One program can be set on its own in SYSTEM.INI:

[Velocity9x.Direct3DDdi]
HL.EXE=6

Direct3D 9 needs a newer interface still and is not available.

A game draws wrongly or crashes in Direct3D

Use the Direct3D mode selector on the Velocity9x Advanced tab and choose none. The driver then advertises no Direct3D, and games fall back to Microsoft’s software rasterizers. It takes effect after a restart.

Colours are wrong in a game written for ATI cards

High Color comes in two layouts, 5:6:5 and 5:5:5. ATI’s own driver ran 5:5:5, which titles written for ATI cards assume. The 16-bit colour selector on the Advanced tab overrides the driver’s choice, as does [Velocity9x] HighColor=16 (or 15) in SYSTEM.INI. It takes effect after a restart.

A Glide or 3DCIF game does not use Velocity9x

A game that carries its own GLIDE2X.DLL, GLIDE3X.DLL or ATI3DCIF.DLL loads that first. Remove or rename the game’s copy so the system one is used. Glide and 3DCIF DLLs from 0.23.0 or earlier do not work with current drivers.

Moving windows or scrolling is slow

On the vbe package (0.46.0) and the ati package’s Radeon HD 5000-7000, R3E and R7E (0.47.0), GDI draws into a copy of the desktop in system memory so reading the screen does not cross the bus. C:\V9XDIAG\NOSHADOW.TXT turns that off, and C:\V9XDIAG\NOWC.TXT turns write-combining off on those packages, if you need to compare.

Still stuck

Click Send report on the Velocity9x Advanced tab right after the program that went wrong, and quote the code it gives you in an issue. See Hardware testing and bug reports.