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Old May 19th 12, 12:10 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware
Paul
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Posts: 18,275
Default installing Matrox Marvel G200

Linea Recta wrote:
This is the graphics card in the computer, on which I've installed Windows
XP(SP3) (because of hard drive crash).
Now, I only have the original matrox CD with drivers for OS up to Windows
98.

With the default Windows XP driver the display works, but only in low
resolution. Of course I want to use more settings. What drivers do I use?
There seem to be all sorts of "G200".

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/su...rivers/latest/

The model number in the manual says
Matrox Marvel G200
model G2+/MVA (AGP)

In Windows under devices I still saw some unknown devices with a question
mark...


The G200 isn't in the regular drivers. So next, look in the legacy.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/support/drivers/

The legacy section says "Matrox Marvel G200/Matrox Marvel G200-TV"
under WinXP is "Display support available with OS". You could try
various drivers in here (a Win2K driver can be similar to a WinXP
driver for example), try and match the VEN&DEV values in the INF with
the card you've got, and see if there is something appropriate to use.
I don't know what "Display support available" means - if it's like the
broken ATI driver I got within the OS, for my old 9800 Pro card, well,
no thanks. Including a driver in the OS (one that allows resolution
changes), doesn't necessarily mean it's well tested. It's just "included"
for the hell of it. The ATI driver in the OS, only knew how to make
half of the card work (one display channel, of two available).

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/su...rivers/latest/

Also, my recollection of drivers with Matrox was, at first OpenGL
was missing, then they finally included some working OpenGL, and
after that, newer drivers ran slower and slower. Some kinda bloat was
added, but I couldn't tell what that was in aid of. I eventually
pitched the card, and bought another.

Every company could present surprises back then. When I bought a
card from NVidia in the same era, it "black screened" and wouldn't
run (power problem), so I promptly took it right back to the store.
I got ATI cards to work (a couple different ones). So no company really
did everything well. On an ATI card, you might have to test three
different driver versions, before finding one that is acceptable.

Paul
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