🚀 go-pugleaf

bruceb@locus.com (Bruce M. Binder) writes:
>Comp.sys.ibm.pc'ers
>
>I am considering upgrading the monitor on my XT compatible to VGA.
>I am told that with my motherboard it is impossible since I do not
>have a switch on the motherboard labeled "EGA" which supposedly
>tells the system that I am using a video card with its own BIOS.
>Can anyone confirm or refute this?  Am I stuck with monochrome or
>CGA?

Thank you to everyone who responded to this question in email and
in this newsgroup.  Based on the consensus that VGA is possible on
my XT, I bought a VGA card to connect my machine to my NEC 3D
monitor.  The card was a non brand name adapter with an Oak
Tecnologies video chip.  It's claimed resolution was 1024 x 768.
It had a connector for 8 or 16 bit slots and the documentation
claimed it was compatible with XTs.  I could not get it to display
an image, regardless of the jumper settings on the card or the
switch settings on my monitor.  None of the utility programs that
came with the card (1.2 Mb floppy) had any effect.

I took it back and got a refund.

Then I bought another card, this time an 800 x 600 non brand name
adapter with an Oak Technologies video chip.  It also had a
connector for 8 or 16 bit slots.  It worked perfectly the first
time I turned on the machine.  I did not even change the
motherboard switches to indicate "no monitor".

To answer my own question, "VGA on my old XT - can I do it?", the
answer is a qualified "yes".  I don't know if the higher resolution
of the first card was the problem but I recommend trying more than
one card if there is a problem with the first.

<bruceb>
 ___  __  __  ___
(  ,)(  \/  )(  ,)  Bruce M. Binder                   (619) 587-0511
 ) ,\ )    (  ) ,\  Locus Computing Corporation     bruceb@locus.com
(___/(_/\/\_)(___/  San Diego, California      ...!ucsd!lccsd!bruceb