DOS ain't dead - X-VESA 2.0 and crippled nV videoBIOS fn 4F07h fix

RayeR

CZ,
06.05.2026, 19:13
(edited by RayeR, 07.05.2026, 19:34)

X-VESA 2.0 and crippled nV videoBIOS fn 4F07h fix (Announce)

Hi, I found there was released new tool for examining VGA VESA VBE BIOS implementations and its quirks.
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=111021
also there's attempt to reimplement of discarded VBE func 4F07h on some crippled nVidia vBIOSes via NEWAX TSR (from the same author) - currently it works for lower VESA resolutions, tested in Quake and DN3D.
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1420692#p1420692

BTW it's cool that X-VESA is the one of probably only 2 existing DOS programs that uses AVX instructions. The 2nd one is MandelX benchmark by Falcosoft: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=106949
Maybe you know some other DOS program that use AVX so you can share...

It just came in my mind that it maybe utilized in FFMPEG/x264/x265 code for video decoding in DUGL player (AFAIK x264/x265 has already some SSE/AVX optimized assembly code but probably disabled in DOS build due to some issues...)

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DOS gives me freedom to unlimited HW access.

Laaca

Czech republic,
06.05.2026, 22:59

@ RayeR

X-VESA 2.0 and cippled nV videoBIOS fn 4F07h fix

Post reply

VERY interresting !

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DOS-u-akbar!

RayeR

CZ,
11.05.2026, 14:32
(edited by RayeR, 12.05.2026, 17:34)

@ RayeR

NEWAX beta 7 - crippled nV videoBIOS fn 4F07h fix

Post reply

Cool, new CRTCs was discovered so it allowed full length of start address - should work in hogher resolutions now:
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1421874#p1421874
edit beta 7 out (he's spitting sources like a machinegun :)
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1422070#p1422070

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DOS gives me freedom to unlimited HW access.

RayeR

CZ,
13.05.2026, 15:13
(edited by RayeR, 13.05.2026, 16:11)

@ RayeR

NEWAX beta 9 - planar modes added

Post reply

NEWAX now adds support for planar modes, usable also for older GeForce. Maybe after many year of broken VBE nV finally get correct VBIOS that it deserves :)

NEWAX was originally designed for Kepler/Maxwell/Pascal cards, where VESA function 4F07h (Set/Get Display Start Address) is broken and requires the CRTC register workaround. However, version 0.8 now includes several additional fixes — most notably the 4F05h VRAM bounds check, the 4F01h page count recalculation, and the PLANAR mode support — which are potentially useful on older Nvidia cards as well (GeForce 6/7/8/9 series and GT2xx), where 4F07h is functional but other VESA issues may still be present.

It also some way helps on newer nvidia cards, like: RTX A4000 (Ampere, neither 4F06h nor 4F07h works there).

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1422260#p1422260

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DOS gives me freedom to unlimited HW access.