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The Stingray 128/3D FAQ
Games
The latest GLQuake patch is compatible with the Stingray 128/3D, and is available id Software’s ftp site at ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/unsup/glq8_27.zip. After installing the patch, remove the file fxmemmap.vxd from the Quake directory.
The Voodoo Rush chipset used on the Stingray 128/3D cannot perform alpha blending and z-buffering simultaneously as fast as earlier Voodoo Graphics-based cards (as is the case in GLQuake). Download the latest drivers for the Stingray 128/3D, and the new OpenGL mini-library from 3Dfx’s web site (http://www.3dfx.com/software/minigl.exe). This will enable triple buffering in GLQuake, which will improve performance. Note that as of this writing (Oct 9, 1997) a new version of GLQuake and the OpenGL mini-library are in development that will improve performance even more on the Stingray 128/3D. Keep an eye on http://www.3dfx.com/ for these updates.
Most of these will run without problems. We can personally vouch for Mission Pack One: Scourge of Armagon and Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity, as we’ve played them both all the way through!
Set your Windows 95 desktop to 16-bit color before running GLQuake.
Remove the file glide2x.dll from the Formula1 directory, restart the computer and try again.
If you have a Cyrix CPU, you will need a patch to run Formula 1, located here: http://www.3dfx.com/software/f1patch3.exe. NOTE: This patch is BETA and unsupported. You must press Ctrl-Esc or the Windows key while the Formula 1 intro movie is playing or you will get a black screen.
Set your Windows desktop to 16-bit color before running Formula 1. Any other color depth will crash F1 on exit.
Yes—if your machine has a Cyrix CPU, you will need a patch to run Pandemonium, located here http://www.rush.allgames.com/downloads/Pandfix.zip. NOTE: This patch is unsupported.
Pandemonium uses CD audio tracks for its music. In order for it to play properly, the Pandemonium CD should be in the CD-ROM that has the first available drive letter. For example, if you have a CD-ROM on drive D: and a CD-R on drive E:, install and play Pandemonium from the D: drive.
This error occurs when a registry entry is left behind by another 3D card that was previously installed. To remedy this, delete "DirectDrawDrivers" from \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware in the registry. If you are unsure of how to edit the registry, contact Hercules Technical Support for assistance.
The Tomb Raider Voodoo Rush patch is available at ftp://ftp.eidosinteractive.com/pub/pc/TombRaider/voodoo/tomb.zip.
The Voodoo Rush patch for Pod is available at ftp://ftp.ubisoft.com/pub/GameService/Rush_GS_usepatch.zip.
Extreme Assault does not currently run on the Stingray 128/3D. A patch is forthcoming from BlueByte Software.
http://www.playmatestoys.com/pages/pie/mdk/3dfx.zip.
http://www.3dfx.com/software/d2_3dfx3.exe.
http://www.3dfx.com/software/i76v108.exe.
3Dfx maintains a list of compatible games at http://www.3dfx.com/voodoo/software/index.html, and links to most patches at http://www.3dfx.com/download/patches/index.html. Those games and patches that support the Stingray 128/3D are marked with an "X" in the list.
Version 1.02 of the Stingray 128/3D drivers was never released, but any version later than 1.01 will work with the game just fine. If you’re in a hurry and just want a quick fix to play the game, in MechWarrior 2, turn off Particles in the Combat Variables screen. This will allow you to play until you can install the new drivers.
This is a known issue with the current Stingray 128/3D drivers. A good workaround is to install the DOS version of Dungeon Keeper. This will be corrected in a future revision of the drivers.
This problem has been fixed in version 1.17 of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
Make sure they are not attempting to load a VESA 2.0 driver or TSR (Scitech Display Doctor/UNIVBE or VESA.COM). Many games come with a driver that provides VESA 2.0 BIOS Extensions (VBE) for the video card. Most of these TSRs are not compatible with the Alliance Promotion chipset used on the Stingray 128/3D. The solution is to disable this driver and use the VBE capabilities of the Stingray 128/3D. Contact the game manufacturer for instructions on disabling the VBE driver or TSR that comes with your game. To enable VBE support on the Stingray 128/3D, download the VBE TSR from the Hercules web site and load it in your autoexec.bat. In all cases, run the setup or configuration utility for the game (for example, setup.exe for Duke Nukem) and re-select one of the VESA display modes in the video setup screen.
This has indeed been fixed in the version 1.17 of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
Drivers, APIs
The Stingray 128/3D supports Direct3D and Glide in Windows 95. Drivers for these APIs come with the Windows 95 display drivers. 3DfxGL, the OpenGL implementation from 3Dfx, is in alpha now, but in its current state, it is only useful to developers (most OpenGL applications won’t run on these drivers). If you’re interested in 3DfxGL, it may be downloaded from 3Dfx’s web site. If you just need OpenGL to run GLQuake, GLHexen II, et al, then you can download the OpenGL mini-library from 3Dfx’s web site. This library only supports the OpenGL functions used by GLQuake and works well with the Voodoo Rush chipset.
Yes, the current driver for the Stingray 128/3D is DirectX compatible, so your titles should run The Stingray 128/3D is currently undergoing DirectX certification—a future revision of the driver will be DirectX certified.
Yes. There are no known issues with DirectX 5 specifically, so you can install it if you wish. It has been reported that some games have problems with DirectX 5, so check with the manufacturer of your favorite DirectX games before upgrading. DOS games are unaffected by DirectX, so it doesn’t matter in this case which version you install.
Download the latest Windows 95 display driver for the Stingray 128/3D. The latest Glide runtime libraries come with the Windows 95 driver and are automatically installed with it.
Right-click the file glide2x.dll, located in the \Windows\System directory and choose Properties. The version number will be listed under the Version tab.
Hardware acceleration for Direct3D titles won’t be available until NT 5.0 ships. (NT 4.0 does not have support for hardware acceleration for Direct3D.) There are no plans currently to support Glide or OpenGL under any version of Windows NT.
Neither. 3DfxGL uses a proprietary architecture that passes OpenGL calls to Glide, the 3Dfx native API.
OS Problems
This problem has been fixed in version 1.04c or later of the Stingray 128/3D drivers. The crash only occurred when animated or 3D mouse pointers were installed.
This problem has been fixed in versions 1.04c and later of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
This problem has been fixed in version 1.17 and later of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
Yes, this problem has been fixed in version 1.17 and later of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
While this issue has not be addressed completely, the problem can be minimized in version 1.17 or later of the Stingray 128/3D drivers by following this procedure: Go to the Control Panel and open Display Properties. Click on the Info tab, then click the Performance button. Place a check mark in the "Allow PCI Retries" box, click OK, and click Yes when prompted to restart the computer. This problem can be avoided by moving the video acceleration slider to the left in Graphics section of the Performance tab in System Properties in the Control Panel.
Windows 95 only reports the amount of 2D memory available, which on the Stingray 128/3D is 4MB. The other 2MB or 4MB is for 3D texture mapping memory, used only by 3D accelerated games and applications. You can tell that this memory is available and working if your 3D games or applications show textures and and the display is corruption-free.
Some DOS text-mode applications use an 8x14 font that was removed from the Stingray 128/3D BIOS. You can download and install a font TSR that will replace the missing font. The TSR is available at ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/pai/FTP_site/lhadrivers/pm_font.exe.
The Stingray 128/3D only supports 16-bit or 32-bit color, except at 1280x1024, the only resolution where 24-bit color can be selected.
The monitor is being refreshed too fast, so it blanks the screen as a safety precaution. This can happen when the wrong monitor type is chosen in Display Properties, or this information is corrupt. To remedy the problem, boot into Safe Mode by resetting the machine and pressing F8 when "Starting Windows 95" appears. Choose Safe Mode from the menu. When the desktop appears, go to the Control Panel, System Properties icon, and click the Device Manager tab. Open the Monitor icon and select the monitor type that appears. Click the Remove button, close Device Manager, and restart the computer. Your Windows 95 desktop should now appear properly. Go into Control Panel, Display Properties, and click the Monitor (or Screen) Control tab. Click the Override Monitor Manufacturer’s Refresh Rates checkbox, and select 60Hz from the list (you can choose a higher rate if you’re sure your monitor will support it at the current resolution). Click Apply, the click OK. Next, click on the Settings tab. Click the Advanced Properties button (or Change Display Type, if you’re using the original release of Windows 95) and click the Change button in the Monitor section. Make sure Show All Devices is selected, and pick your exact monitor model from the list. This will ensure proper operation in all display modes. If your exact monitor model is not listed, contact the manufacturer for an .inf file that you can install to add support for your model. If this is not available, choose one of the SuperVGA monitor models (for example, if your monitor’s highest resolution is 1280x1024, choose SuperVGA 1280x1024) from the Standard Monitor Types list.
Nothing, probably—the screen is being driven at a refresh rate different from your previous card, so the screen geometry (size & positioning) is off a bit. If your monitor has display memory, adjust the screen using the monitor controls and you’re done. You may have to repeat the process for other resolutions. If you don’t know if your monitor has display memory, try the following to find out: Adjust the screen geometry to your liking. Change to another resolution, and readjust the screen. Go back to the first resolution. If your screen is correctly sized/positioned, just like you left it, your monitor has display memory, and has automatically restored the previous screen geometry. If your monitor doesn’t have display memory, then the geometry will be off due to the adjustments you made. In this case, you can pick the refresh rate that matches the factory preset for your monitor, which will give you proper screen geometry. To do this, first reset the monitor to the factory default positioning by pressing the Reset button on the monitor control panel (see your documentation for details). Next, open Display Properties in the Control Panel, and click the Screen (or Monitor) Control tab. Click the Override Monitor Manufacturer Refresh Rates checkbox, and select 60Hz from the Refresh Rate drop-down list. Click Apply, then OK. If the screen is properly sized & positioned, you’re done. If not, repeat the process with the other refresh rates. If you accidentally pick a refresh rate your monitor does not support, press Esc and the previous refresh rate will be restored.
Remove "Promotion Director’s Chair" or "AT3D" from \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Controls Folder\Display\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers from the registry. If you are unsure of how to edit the registry, contact Hercules Technical Support for assistance.
Applications
First, make sure you have the latest version of the Stingray 128/3D drivers. Then configure FastVid to use 2MB instead of 4MB as it seems to work well with this configuration.
This is a known issue that will be corrected in a future revision of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
This has been corrected in the current release of the Stingray 128/3D drivers.
Installation
The Stingray 128/3D will work in most systems that have onboard video. The onboard video will have to be disabled. Most onboard video falls into three categories: automatically disabled, disabled in CMOS, or disabled via jumper on the system board. Consult the documentation that came with your system, your dealer, or the system manufacturer to determine how the onboard video is disabled on your system.
Before installing the Stingray 128/3D, change the display adapter to Standard VGA and shut down the system. Install the Stingray 128/3D in a PCI slot and power on the machine. If you get a message prompting you to install a driver for the Stingray, click Cancel. After the Windows 95 desktop appears, insert the Hercules CD and the autoplay program will install the drivers automatically (if the CD doesn’t autoplay, run install.exe from the root directory on the CD). You may see two display adapters listed in Device Manager (in the Control Panel, System Properties), the Stingray and the onboard video adapter. The onboard video may even have a yellow exclamation point. This is OK, as long as Windows realizes it’s been disabled. Double-click the onboard video in Device Manager and check the Device Properties. The Device Status should read "This device has been disabled in the hardware". No resources should be listed as in use by the device under the Resources tab. If the Device Status reads "This device is not present or not working properly", then the onboard video is not being disabled correctly. Consult your documentation, your dealer, or the system manufacturer for assistance. Also make sure you have the latest BIOS for your system. BIOS updates may usually be downloaded from the system manufacturer’s web site.
Before installing the Stingray 128/3D, change the display adapter to Standard VGA and restart the system. When the system starts, press the key that invokes the system’s CMOS or BIOS setup program. This is usually Delete or F1. Disable the onboard video, save the changes, and reboot. Power down after rebooting, but before Windows 95 starts loading. A good time to do this is during the memory count. Install the Stingray 128/3D and its drivers. You may see two display adapters listed in Device Manager, the Stingray and the onboard video adapter. The onboard video may even have a yellow exclamation point. This is OK, as long as Windows realizes it’s been disabled. Double-click the onboard video in Device Manager and check the Device Properties. The Device Status should read "This device has been disabled in the hardware". No resources should be listed as in use by the device under the Resources tab.
Before installing the Stingray 128/3D, change the display adapter to Standard VGA and shut down the system. Set or remove the jumper that disables the onboard video (see your system documentation for instructions). Install the Stingray 128/3D and its drivers. You may see two display adapters listed in Device Manager, the Stingray and the onboard video adapter. The onboard video may even have a yellow exclamation point. This is OK, as long as Windows realizes it’s been disabled. Double-click the onboard video in Device Manager and check the Device Properties. The Device Status should read "This device has been disabled in the hardware". No resources should be listed as in use by the device under the Resources tab.
This is most likely due to a leftover driver or TSR for your previous video card still being loaded. Make sure all drivers & utilities for my previous video card have been removed. First, run the uninstall program for your video card. You may have to do this with the previous video card installed in the system, as many uninstallers require the card to be installed before they’ll run. After the uninstallation completes, check the Windows Startup folder for any drivers or TSRs from the previous card. Some of these are not removed by the uninstaller. Next, check the autoexec.bat, config.sys, win.ini (load= and run= lines) for items such as VESA.COM, UNIVBE, VMODE, SETMODE, REFRESH, etc. Consult the documentation of you previous video card if you aren’t sure what its utilities’ names are. If you previously owned a Monster 3D, Righteous 3D, or other 3D capable card, you must also remove a registry entry. Choose Run from the Start menu and type regedit.exe. Click OK. When RegEdit starts, double-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then open "hardware". Look for a folder called DirectDrawDrivers. Hilite this folder by clicking on it, and press Delete on the keyboard to remove it. Close RegEdit and restart Windows 95. This key will prevent the Stingray 128/3D’s 3D hardware from being accessed properly by 3D-accelerated games.
On the Stingray 128/3D, Touch 95 is integrated into Display Properties. Double-click the monitor icon on the taskbar, or double-click the Display icon in the Control Panel to access it. Don’t install Touch 95 separately from the Hercules CD—this version is used with other Hercules cards and will not work with the Stingray 128/3D. (The Hercules CD contains drivers and utilities for all our cards.)
You installed the drivers correctly. Unlike other Hercules cards, the welcome message does not appear after installing the Stingray 128/3D driver. To make sure the drivers are installed correctly, right-click My Computer and select Properties. Click the Device Manager tab, then double-click Display Adapter. If the icon that appears reads "Stingray 128/3D" and there is no yellow exclamation point on it, your drivers are properly installed. Unless your system has onboard video, you shouldn’t see any other devices in the Display Adapter category.
No, your board is probably not bad. The Stingray 128/3D does not use an IRQ. Your motherboard may assign an IRQ to the PCI slot in which the Stingray is installed, and this is OK as long as another device isn’t using the same IRQ. If your motherboard permits, you can simply assign no IRQ to the Stingray, freeing up an IRQ for other devices. The default resources used by the Stingray 128/3D are: 000C0000-000C7FFF 000A0000-000AFFFF 000B0000-000BFFFF 03B0-03BB 03C0-03DF FFA0-FFAF (varies from machine to machine) E0000000-E0FFFFFF (varies from machine to machine)
Probably nothing. PCI Bridge is a device that provides support for PCI cards, so this may appear after installing a PCI device like the Stingray 128/3D. "PCI Card" or other unknown devices are generally due to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) on the motherboard. For some bizarre reason, installing a PCI card can make Windows 95 detect the USB. You can safely ignore this device—unless it uses an IRQ or other resource used by another device on the system. If this happens, you can try setting the USB’s resources manually in Device Manager, or contact your motherboard manufacturer for a patch that adds support (or removes the USB entirely).
Versions of the Stingray 128/3D installation program prior to 1.04c remove all registry entries from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Run except SysTray.exe. This affects Microsoft Intellimouse, TweakUI, Norton Navigator, audio Volume control and any other program that uses this registry key. Simply reinstall the affected software, and everything should be back to normal. To put the volume control back on the taskbar, go into Control Panel, Multimedia, and check the box labeled "Show volume control on the taskbar". Later releases of the installer don’t have this problem.
Hardware Problems
Advanced Power Management (APM) on this motherboard causes Windows 95 to hang right before the desktop would appear. Workaround: turn off Advanced Power Management in the CMOS setup program.
Get the latest BIOS from the Mtech web site at http://www.mtiusa.com and install it. If after installing the BIOS, you get a row of corruption across the top of the screen in Windows 95 only, turn off CPU to PCI Write Post in the Mustang CMOS setup program.
There is no known solution currently.
Try to remove any sources of electromagnetic interference. Move any speakers or other electrical equipment away from the monitor. Make sure the monitor signal cable is not draped over any power cords. Next, try plugging the monitor power cable into a different outlet from the computer. Try moving the Stingray 128/3D to another slot, so the card is farthest away from the CPU and CPU fan. Some CPU fans have been known to cause this kind of interference. If any power cables, SCSI cables, or IDE cables are draped over the Stingray, try moving them away from the card. Unplug or turn off any other electrical equipment that is running in the same room. Electrical fans, stereo equipment, etc. can cause this problem. Dim or turn off any florescent lighting in the room. Try turning off all lighting in the room. Some kinds of lights can cause this to appear.
Utilities, Diagnostics
Currently, there is no diagnostic for the Stingray 128/3D, unlike other Hercules cards. This may be added to a future driver release.
There are no plans to develop DOS refresh rate utilities for the Stingray 128/3D. When Scitech Display Doctor 6.0
ships, the refresh rate utilities that ship with it should work with the Stingray 128/3D?
Scitech Display Doctor versions 6.0 and later are compatible with the Stingray 128/3D. Earlier versions should not be used, including those that ship with some games. SDD comes with a suite of diagnostic and configuration utilities, and can be faster than the Hercules VBE TSR (SDD enables some hardware acceleration features for VESA display modes). You can download a trial version from http://www.scitechsoft.com.
Compatibility: Systems, CPUs, Motherboards, OS.
Most games with "3Dfx support" will run on the Stingray 128/3D, but some older games won’t. Games that use Direct3D will run without modification on the Stingray 128/3D. Games that use Glide (the native API for the Voodoo line of chipsets) will run, if they were compiled with Glide 2.3 or later. Glide 2.3 added support for the Voodoo Rush chipset. A complete list of games that run on the Stingray 128/3D can be found here: http://www.3dfx.com/software/titles.html.
3Dfx, Alliance, and Hercules are working hard to ensure developers compile their games with the latest version of Glide, so they will be compatible with the Stingray 128/3D. A few recent games were released without Rush support, but remember that development on these games started well before the Voodoo Rush chipset was available on the market. Future games will support the Rush as game developers begin to develop with the latest Glide libraries (which support both Voodoo Rush and the earlier Voodoo Graphics chipsets). If you encounter any game that has 3Dfx support but does not work with the Voodoo Rush chipset, send an email to [email protected].
The original Stingray 128/3D (Model S3316) does not support VESA 2.0 in the BIOS. You may download a software TSR that provides VESA 2.0 support from http://www.hercules.com/. Models S3318TV and S3316TV have VESA 2.0 BIOS extensions built-in, so you should NOT use the VBE TSR with these models.
Hercules has tested the Stingray 128/3D with a variety of motherboards, and it is compatible with the vast majority of motherboards. If you suspect your motherboard is conflicting with the Stingray 128/3D, make sure you have the latest BIOS version available for your motherboard, and load the BIOS setup defaults in the CMOS setup program. This fixes most problems that are motherboard-related. Also, keep in mind that the number of motherboards that have known compatibility issues with the Stingray 128/3D is very small, so follow the instructions in the troubleshooting section before assuming your motherboard is not compatible with the Stingray 128/3D.
The Stingray 128/3D has been tested on a variety of processors, including the Intel Pentium, Pentium with MMX, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Cyrix 6x86 and the AMD K6. There are no known hardware issues at this time with any of these processors.
Yes. There are no known issues with Windows 95 OSR2.
The Stingray 128/3D has not been tested with Windows 98. When Windows 98 goes final, a new driver will be developed to support it.
Make sure you have the latest BIOS revision for your model Aptiva. See the section on disabling the onboard video. If you can’t get your Aptiva to boot with the Stingray 128/3D installed, even after updating the BIOS, check your motherboard for a jumper labeled J10. On some models, setting this jumper will disable the onboard video via hardware. If you’re having trouble running 3D games or applications, try turning off Rapid Resume in the Aptiva CMOS setup program.
The Stingray 128/3D is compatible with the Deskpro 2000. If your Deskpro will not boot with the Stingray installed, download the latest BIOS revision from Compaq’s web page.
For the most part, yes. We’ve only received two reports on problems with the Gateway 2000. If you’re unable to boot your Gateway 2000 system, with various symptoms, including no video or beeps on powerup, enabling PCI Burst (and/or disabling Video BIOS Shadowing) in the Gateway CMOS setup program may allow the machine to boot.
Technology
The Stingray 128/3D uses the Alliance Promotion AT3D or AT25 128-bit processor for 2D, and the 3Dfx Voodoo Rush for 3D.
All 3D acceleration is handled by the Voodoo Rush chipset. The Promotion chipset is used strictly for 2D operations.
The Alliance Promotion AT25/AT3D has been designed to interface well with the Voodoo Rush chipset.
4MB is used for 2D, and 2MB or 4MB (on the 8MB version) is used for 3D texture mapping.
Hercules has no plans to do so currently. The daughterboard design was used mainly to limit the length of the card, so it would fit into most systems.
New Models
The new models (S3316TV and S3318TV) are identical to the original Stingray 128/3D (model S3316) except they add TV out ports and they are a single board design rather than a daughterboard. All Stingray 128/3D models will use same drivers. The only differences will be in the physical hardware features on the new cards. The original Stingray 128/3D (model S3316) is not obsolete and will continue to enjoy driver and BIOS update support as well as a five-year warranty.
There are no plans for such a trade-in.
To activate TV output, connect a high-quality RCA video cable to the RCA jack on the Stingray 128/3D (or an SVideo cable to the SVideo jack). Connect the other end to the Video IN connector on your VCR or TV. If using a VCR, make sure the VCR/TV setting is set to "VCR". Go to Display Properties, Settings tab, and switch to 640x480 or 800x600 resolution. Click Apply. Go to the Screen Control tab and check the Override Monitor Manufacturer’s Refresh Rates button, then select NTSC from the drop-down list. Click Apply, and the Windows 95 desktop image should appear on the TV. You can then adjust the display with the controls in the TV Control tab.
Underscan leaves a small border around the screen on the TV, similar to what you see on most monitors. Overscan expands the visible image to fill the entire TV screen. This may cut off a portion of the Windows desktop, depending on your TV, so experiment to see which mode best suits your needs.