               README.TXT - Documentation Supplement
                   July 21, 1994 - Release 3.10
                                    
                  Hercules Dynamite Power VL(tm)
                  Hercules Dynamite Power PCI(tm)
                  Hercules Dynamite Pro VL(tm)
                  Hercules Dynamite Pro PCI(tm)

                      Installation Diskette
                 Windows Display Driver Diskette

          with PowerDrive(tm) Windows 3.1 Display driver




  Thank you for purchasing a Hercules Dynamite product. This
  file contains changes or additions to the printed Installation 
  Guides.


  CONTENTS:
    Important Information
    What's New in Release 3.10
    Warranty Registration Card
    Hercules Phone, Fax and BBS Access Numbers
    Before You Install
    Using the DPMS Windows Screen Saver
    Using the PowerMem utility
    Using the PowerTune utility
    Using the Hercules Wallpaper
    Installing the AutoCAD ADI Drivers
    SPEEDY: Windows Performance Benchmark Test
    Changing your Monitor Selection
    Windows -- Known Limitations
    ADI drivers -- Known Limitations
    Additional Information for QEMM386 Users
    Documentation Errata
    Hercules Dynamite Series Software Revision History




   Important Information
   ---------------------
   This release of software only works with the Dynamite series
   based on Tseng Lab's W32P Windows accelerator chips. It will
   not work with the older W32I and W32 chips.



   What's New in Release 3.10
   --------------------------
   This release contains the PowerDrive(tm) Windows 3.1 display
   driver for W32P based Dynamite products.  This new driver
   features substantially increased Windows performance. If you
   have a Power series Dynamite, this driver also supports a
   new video mode: 800x600 resolution with 16.7 million colors.

   You'll need both the 3.10 Installation diskette and Windows
   Display Driver diskette.  Do not use the installation
   program from an older release to install the new driver.

   There is also a new release of the AutoCAD ADI driver,
   version 3.0.1. This release supports the following new
   resolutions: 640x480x4, 320x200x8, 1280x1024x8 (2MB), and
   1024x768x16 (2MB).



   Warranty Registration Card
   --------------------------
   Please take a few minutes to fill out and return the enclosed
   Warranty Registration Card. It is essential that we receive
   the card in order to provide you with the following service
   and support:

   *  Free technical support via phone, fax and Hercules BBS
   *  Software updates via mail and Hercules BBS
   *  Third party support information via mail and Hercules BBS

   Register today!



   Hercules Phone, Fax and BBS Access Numbers
   ------------------------------------------
   Hercules Sales Group.............(800) 532-0600
   Hercules Technical Support.......(510) 623-6050
   Fax (Sales/General)..............(510) 623-1112
   Fax (Tech Support)...............(510) 490-6745
   BBS (3 lines)....................(510) 623-7449 (1200-V.32bis)
   CompuServe....................... GO HERCULES
   Other Inquiries..................(510) 623-6030

   In Europe:
   German BBS....................(+49) 40-65737335 (1200-V.32bis)


  
   Before You Install
   ------------------
   If you are installing your new Dynamite card in a system that
   already had a Dynamite, or another video card with VESA BIOS
   Extension Support (VBE), please be sure to unload the
   VESA.COM driver from memory before installing the Dynamite
   software. Also if you have the VESA.COM command line in your
   AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you should delete it.

   You can unload Hercules' VESA driver by typing:

      VESA U [Enter]

   at the DOS prompt.



   Using the DPMS Windows Screen Saver
   -----------------------------------
   If you have a monitor that supports the Display Power 
   Management Signaling standard (DPMS), you may use the 
   included Hercules Dynamite VESA DPMS Screen Saver for 
   Microsoft Windows.

   To use this DPMS Windows Screen Saver, perform the 
   following steps:

   1) Copy the file DYNADPMS.SCR from your Dynamite software
      directory (e.g. C:\HERCULES) into your Windows directory
      (e.g. C:\WINDOWS).

   2) Run Windows and select the Desktop icon under the Control
      Panel of the Main program group.

   3) Select the screen saver titled "Tseng VESA DPMS".

   4) Set desired delay time.



   Using the PowerMem utility
   --------------------------
   The Dynamite products employ a special "memory interleaving"
   technique when configured with 2MB of memory. The second
   megabyte of DRAM in combination with this interleave design
   raises the bandwidth of memory by 100%. This dramatically
   affects the performance of various memory transfer operations
   under Windows: memory-to-screen BitBlt speeds increase by
   over 40% and screen-to-screen BitBlts more than double in
   speed. The effect is observable in certain applications or
   benchmarks, such as Microsoft Excel (scrolling), WinBench or
   the Torque benchmark. The effect is especially noticable when
   the board operates in a high memory bandwidth requirement
   situation, such as in the 1024x768 256-color 72Hz mode. In a
   low bandwidth case like the 640x480 256-color 72Hz mode, the
   performance gain is less noticable.
  
   In order to demonstrate the effect of memory interleaving on
   Dynamite, Hercules has provided a utility called POWERMEM.EXE
   which can execute on the 2MB models.

     Type POWERMEM 0 [Enter] to disable the memory interleaving.
     Type POWERMEM 1 [Enter] to enable the memory interleaving.

   Note that for the 2MB models, the default condition is
   equivalent to the POWERMEM 1 case, and you should always
   have memory interleaving enabled in normal operation.



   Using the PowerTune utility
   ---------------------------
   The PowerTune (POWERTUN.COM) utility allows you to adjust the
   screen positions (left, right, up, down) and change both the
   horizontal and vertical sync polarities. Type POWERTUN at the
   DOS prompt to find out how to use this program. The PowerTune
   utility replaces the CENTER.COM utility.



   Using the Hercules Wallpaper
   ----------------------------
   During the installation process, a few wallpaper files
   designed by Hercules for the Windows desktop will be copied
   into your Dynamite software directory. To use them, you
   must follow the following steps:

   1) Copy all the wall paper files (e.g. HERC_WP1.BMP) from
      your Dynamite software directory (e.g. C:\HERCULES) into
      your Windows directory (e.g. C:\WINDOWS).

   2) Run Windows and select the Desktop icon under the Control
      Panel of the Main program group.

   3) In the Wallpaper section, click "File:" and choose one of
      the above wallpapers. You may need to scroll through the
      list to find them.

   4) Click the "Tile" radio button.

   5) Click "OK" to exit the Desktop.

   6) Minimize the Program Manager and you should see the chosen
      wallpaper. Repeat steps 2-5 for a different wallpaper.



   Installing the AutoCAD ADI Drivers
   ----------------------------------
   When configuring the DL-Xpress driver, choose a 256 color
   mode for display.  Do not select either a "65,536 color" or
   a "16777216 color" mode for display, these are suitable for 
   rendering modes only. If you want true color rendering 
   (as opposed to 256 color rendering) in AutoCAD Release 12, 
   3D Studio, or AutoShade, choose a "16777216 colors" mode 
   option when configuring the rendering portion of the driver.

   Installation of the DL-Xpress driver is very straightforward
   with a menu driven utility and can be accomplished without
   printed documentation.  A full manual for the Vibrant driver
   is available for an additional charge.  To order in the United
   States, send a check for $15.00 to Hercules along with a 
   request for the DL-Xpress manual.  Outside of the United 
   States, send a check for $25.00.  Please allow 2-3 weeks for 
   delivery.



   SPEEDY: Windows Performance Benchmark Test
   ------------------------------------------
   SPEEDY, a Windows performance benchmark test, is included
   with this Hercules product. This test is designed to perform
   a standard set of Windows graphics functions and compute a
   performance metric called a "SPEEDMARK." A higher "SPEEDMARK"
   indicates better performance. This test can also be used to
   measure performance of any display adapter that supports
   Windows.

   SPEEDY is available in the Hercules program group. Double-
   click on the Speedy icon to launch the SPEEDY program. Press
   F2 to initiate an "Auto Run" test, F1 to view the on-line
   documentation and F10 to exit the program,



   Changing your Monitor Selection
   -------------------------------
   If, after the initial installation of Stingray, you wish to
   change the monitor type, you should delete the SETCRT line 
   (if present) from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before running the
   installation program.  If there is more than one SETCRT
   entry in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the wrong timing parameters
   may be used.



   Windows -- Known Limitations
   ----------------------------
   DOS Windows:
     1) It is not possible to run most VGA graphics applications
        in a windowed DOS window session. Instead, choose to run
        your VGA graphics application at full screen.



   ADI Drivers -- Known Limitations
   --------------------------------
   Version 3.0.1 of the DL-Express ADI drivers from Vibrant
   Graphics have three known limitations:

   1) At 800x600, 256 colors, with a 72Hz refresh rate, the test
      screen colors, the AutoCAD logo color and the menu bar
      colors are incorrect.

   2) All 1024x768 65,536 (16-bit) color modes exhibit the same
      color problems listed above.

   3) There is no support currently available for the 800x600 
      24-bit mode found on the Dynamite Power Series models.

   The ADI driver configuration menu refers to the 1280x1024x8
   (256 color) mode and the 1024x768x16 (65536 color) mode as
   "Pro" modes.  Thse modes are available on the 2MB Pro Series
   and all Power Series models.



   Additional Information for QEMM386 Users
   ----------------------------------------
   If you are using QEMM386's Stealth feature (indicated by
   ST:M or ST:F on the QEMM386 device line in CONFIG.SYS) and
   you are experiencing random problems in Windows or DOS, try
   excluding the Dynamite's BIOS area from Stealth by adding
   the parameter XST=C000 to your QEMM386 device line. This is
   in addition to the memory exclusion statements covered in
   the Dynamite manual.



   Documentation Errata
   --------------------
   Dynamite Installation Guide, edition 1.1, page 6-2:

     1) The 1024x768 resolution currently does not support the
        "z=5" option.

     2) SETCRT now has a new parameter called w. Type SETCRT
        at the DOS prompt to see details.

   All editions of Dynamite Installation Guides:
     The Dynamite's on-board Video BIOS now contains the
     VESA BIOS Extension Support, so the installation program
     will not present you with the "Install VESA BIOS Extension
     Support" option during the installation process. You do not
     need to install anything to utilize the VESA BIOS extended
     display modes.

   All editions of Dynamite Installation Guides:
     The custom font loader, font editor, and font files are
     no longer included in the installation diskette. Please
     call Hercules Technical Support department or BBS to
     obtain a copy (DYNFONTS.ZIP).



   Hercules Dynamite Series Software Revision History
   --------------------------------------------------
   Release 3.10 -- Release of the PowerDrive Windows display
                   driver for W32P based Dynamite products.
     Installation Diskette................. Rel. 3.10  07/21/94
     Windows Display Driver Diskette....... Rel. 3.10  07/21/94

   Beta Release 3.10 -- First release of the PowerDrive Windows
                        display driver for Dynamite Power series.
     Installation Diskette................B-Rel. 3.10  04/28/94
     Windows Display Driver Diskette......B-Rel. 3.10  04/28/94

   Release 3.00 -- First release of software for Dynamite
                   Power series.
     Installation Diskette..................Rel. 3.00  04/14/94
     Windows Display Driver Diskette........Rel. 3.00  04/14/94



   ** End of File **
