NexusGA.BK Page i 20 November 1997 14:23 Nexus™ GA User’s Guide Version 1.0 - September 1997 P/N: 107-40084-10 Rev. A Copyright © 1997, ATI Technologies Inc. ATI and Nexus are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/ or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. Pricing, availability, features, performance and specifications are subject to change without notice.
NexusGA.BK Page ii 20 November 1997 14:23 Disclaimer While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, ATI Technologies Inc. assumes no liability to any party for errors or omissions contained in the Software or related documentation, any interruption of service, loss or interruption of business or anticipatory profits or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of the Software and related documentation. ATI Technologies Inc.
NexusGA.BK Page iii 20 November 1997 14:23 Table of Contents 1. Getting Started ................................................ 1 Introduction.....................................................................1 What You'll Need ...........................................................2 Related Documentation .................................................2 2. Installing Your Hardware .............................. 3 Installing your Nexus GA .............................................
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NexusGA.BK Page 1 20 November 1997 14:23 1 Getting Started Introduction Nexus GA represents the next generation in 2D and 3D rendering and graphic acceleration for your PCI-based Mac OS computer.
NexusGA.BK Page 2 20 November 1997 14:23 What You'll Need The Nexus GA card runs with the following minimum system requirements: NOTE ¥ Power Macintosh or Mac OS compatible computer, with a PCI expansion slot ¥ Mac OS 7.5.5 or later software ¥ Apple monitor or VGA-style monitor ¥ QuickDraw 3D 1.5.1 or later (included) ¥ Minimum 16MB of system memory (QuickDraw 3D requires 16MB of system memory) Nexus GA and ATI Multimedia components are Mac OS 8 compatible.
NexusGA.BK Page 3 20 November 1997 14:23 2 Installing Your Hardware Nexus GA fits into connectors called expansion slots, inside your computer. Your Mac OS computer has one or more slots, each designed to accept Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) cards. ! NOTE WARNING • The manufacturer assumes no liability for any damage, caused directly or indirectly, by improper installation of components by unauthorized service personnel.
NexusGA.BK Page 4 20 November 1997 14:23 ! IMPORTANT • If your computer stops responding (hangs) after installing the Nexus GA card, you may have an incompatible graphics accelerator extension. • Restart your computer and hold down the SHIFT key during startup. This disables all extensions from loading. After disabling extensions, you can update the graphics accelerator extension by installing the software included with your card.
NexusGA.BK Page 5 20 November 1997 14:23 3 Choose the PCI expansion slot you wish to use. 4 Touch the metal part of the power supply case. Touching the grounded portion of the power supply case discharges your body’s static electricity. Power Supply 5 Lower the auxiliary fan. To lower the fan, squeeze the sides to unlatch it.
NexusGA.BK Page 6 20 November 1997 14:23 6 Remove the metal access cover from the expansion slot you want to use. 1. To release the access port cover, pull the two levers next to the access port apart. 2. Slide the access port cover out and away from the access port. 7 Align the connector on the card with the PCI expansion slot and press firmly until fully seated. Connector Do not force the card. The card should fit snugly into the expansion slot.
NexusGA.BK Page 7 20 November 1997 14:23 Connector PCI Expansion Slot If you plan to use multiple displays, you must install a card for each monitor. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each card. 8 Replace the auxiliary fan. 9 Replace the computer cover.
NexusGA.BK Page 8 20 November 1997 14:23 10 Connect the monitor cable to the card. VGA monitor port Apple monitor port If you have an Apple monitor, connect it to the Apple monitor port. If you have a VGA monitor, connect it to the VGA monitor port. Only connect one monitor to the card. ! WARNING • NOTE Serious damage to your system may occur if you connect more than one monitor to the card. If you have more than one monitor, you must connect it to another graphics card.
NexusGA.BK Page 9 20 November 1997 14:23 About Monitor Sensing Apple’s Monitor Sensing specification allows video display cards to identify the attached monitor. During startup, Nexus GA checks the status of three of the fifteen pins on the Apple monitor port. It then auto-configures itself according to the monitor sense code detected and enables all resolutions supported by the monitor.
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NexusGA.BK Page 11 20 November 1997 14:23 3 Installing Your Software About ATI Software Nexus GA requires that several components be added to your System folder. The Nexus GA Installer does this for you, installing the following components: ATI Displays Control Panel The ATI Displays control panel lets you configure your card and access software and hardware features. These features are described in the section “ATI Displays Control Panel” on page 15.
NexusGA.BK Page 12 20 November 1997 14:23 3 Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. Under most circumstances, you should click Standard Install. However, if you only want to install certain parts of the ATI multimedia software, click Custom Install. Upon completion of the installation process, a file containing a list of installed files and their location on your hard disk is created allowing you to locate any file installed during the installation process.
NexusGA.BK Page 13 20 November 1997 14:23 4 Using Nexus GA 3D Features Your Nexus GA turns your PCI-based Mac OS computer into a 3D and 2D graphics powerhouse. You can use your new graphics accelerator card to: • render 3D worlds and animation in real time, using embedded 3D hardware drawing capabilities. • appreciate true-color, high-performance in resolutions up to 1920x1080.
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NexusGA.BK Page 15 20 November 1997 14:23 ATI Displays Control Panel The ATI Displays control panel provides access to the advanced 3D features that Nexus GA has to offer. To open the ATI Displays control panel, choose Control Panels from the Apple menu, then choose ATI Displays. For detailed instructions on how to set up and use these features, please refer to the ATI Guide, which can be accessed through the ATI Displays control panel.
NexusGA.BK Page 16 20 November 1997 14:23 Identify Displays If you have more than one display connected to your computer, you can identify and configure each display. The ATI Displays control panel identifies all the displays connected to your computer, but only configures displays that are connected to ATI cards. Display Details The Details window gives you information about specific software components needed to enable each of Nexus GA’s features.
NexusGA.BK Page 17 20 November 1997 14:23 Keyboard Shortcuts This feature allows you to use a pop-up menu to change your desktop settings without exiting your current application. You can configure, enable or disable shortcut features when you click the Shortcut icon in the control panel. The ATI Popup Menu only displays the valid and safe modes available for the attached monitor(s). Additional modes may be accessed through the Monitors & Sound control panel or the Control Strip.
NexusGA.BK Page 18 20 November 1997 14:23 VGA Monitors If you have a VGA monitor connected to your Nexus GA card, you use the VGA Monitors feature to select your particular monitor from a list of standard monitors. NOTE NOTE Page 18 You cannot select the monitor resolution using the VGA Monitors panel. You must use the standard Mac OS Monitors & Sounds control panel.
NexusGA.BK Page 19 20 November 1997 14:23 3D Texture Compression Using the 3D features of the Nexus GA accelerator you can adjust the amount of 3D texture compression used. Because of the amount of memory some 3D textures use from the Nexus GA accelerator, you may want to increase the amount of compression used. When you increase compression, additional offcreen memory becomes available, but there can be some loss in the image quality.
NexusGA.BK Page 20 20 November 1997 14:23 Using the 3D Memory Monitor When you open 3D graphics on your Mac OS computer, run the 3D Memory Monitor to see how your Nexus GA has allocated 3D memory. To open the 3D Memory Monitor 1 Select Control Panels from the Apple Menu. 2 Select ATI Displays. 3 Click on the 3D Memory icon. When you open a 3D application window, you can see how the additional memory required for 3D graphics is allocated.
NexusGA.BK Page 21 20 November 1997 14:23 Display Screen indicates the amount of graphics memory allocated to the display’s resolution and color depth. Desktop Pattern indicates the amount of memory used by your desktop pattern. To reduce the memory allocated to Display memory: • change the color depth from millions to thousands • decrease your screen resolution Textures Texture indicates the number and size of texture maps loaded by 3D applications to add realism to 3D models and environments.
NexusGA.BK Page 22 20 November 1997 14:23 3D Quality Texture mapping helps provide realistic quality images by placing photo-realistic images or textures on a 3D object. When these textured objects appear in the High Quality setting, additional texture filtering, or blending takes place. In some applications or games, this additional texture filtering may not be desirable. For this reason, ATI provides the 3D quality option to toggle the 3D texture filtering routines off and on.
NexusGA.BK Page 23 20 November 1997 14:23 3D Sync Your Nexus GA graphics accelerator provides superior 3D performance by performing many tasks in offscreen memory including graphic rendering. Depending on the 3D scene, the refresh rate of your computer monitor, and the game or application, you may notice some slight horizontal flickering or “tearing”.
NexusGA.BK Page 24 20 November 1997 14:23 ATI Guide The ATI Guide is an additional source of information when you are using the ATI Displays control panel. It behaves similarly to the Mac OS Guide that comes with your computer. Access the ATI Guide by clicking on the Apple Guide icon on the ATI Displays control panel. The ATI Guide stays in front of other windows on the screen so the instructions are always visible. To move the ATI Guide window to another location, drag it by the title bar.
NexusGA.BK Page 25 20 November 1997 14:23 A Troubleshooting Tips Before Contacting Customer Support If you have a general question, or encounter problems with your card, please review this information completely before contacting Customer Support. You can create a problem report from the ATI Displays control panel. Please refer to the ATI Guide for instructions on generating this problem report, and for general troubleshooting tips not covered in this section.
NexusGA.BK Page 26 20 November 1997 14:23 I am using a monitor adapter to supply the sense code, but I only get one resolution, even though I have a multiple scan monitor. Why? • When you use a monitor adapter, it sends a single fixed frequency sync signal to the monitor. If your adapter provides multiple sense codes, adjust it for another resolution, and restart your computer. If you monitor adapter doesn’t allow you to adjust the resolution sense code, you should purchase an adapter that does.
NexusGA.BK Page 27 20 November 1997 14:23 After selecting a VGA monitor type in the VGA Monitors dialog, I couldn’t change the resolution in the Resolutions Supported scroll list. • This scroll list in the ATI Displays control panel only shows the available resolutions for the monitor type selected, and will not allow you to select and change resolutions. Changing resolutions can only be done through the standard Monitors & Sound control panel, or by using the Popup Menu supplied with the Nexus GA card.
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NexusGA.BK Page 29 20 November 1997 14:23 B Specifications Video Mode Table The video mode table below lists the supported resolutions on your Nexus GA card. All video resolutions, regardless of memory configuration, have a maximum color depth of 32 bits per pixel, also referred to as millions of colors. NOTE Although upgrading the memory on your Nexus GA card to 16MB gives the same color depths and resolutions, it significantly increases the amount of textures that can be used.
NexusGA.BK Page 30 20 November 1997 14:23 Supported VESA/VGA 2D Modes Display Resolution 512 x 384 640 x 480 640 x 870 720 x 400 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 960 1280 x 1024 1600 x 1024 1600 x 1200 1920 x 1080 Page 30 Vertical Refresh Hz 70 60 72 75 85 90 100 120 75 70 56 60 72 75 85 90 100 120 60 70 85 90 100 120 75 60 75 85 76 60 65 70 75 60 72 Horizontal Refresh kHz 31.48 31.47 37.50 37.50 43.27 47.97 52.95 63.66 68.85 31.47 35.16 37.88 48.08 46.87 53.67 56.64 63.92 76.13 48.36 56.48 68.68 72.
NexusGA.BK Page 31 20 November 1997 14:23 3D Mode Table The 3D mode table measures the number of full screen 3D windows that are possible to display at a given resolution. For example, a value of 2.75 means that there is enough memory left over in the current mode to run 2 full screen 3D windows and another at 3/4 the size of full screen. A value of 0.40 means that the largest 3D window will be just less than 1/2 the size of full screen.
NexusGA.BK Page 32 20 November 1997 14:23 Memory Upgrade If you currently have an 8MB Nexus GA card, you can upgrade to 16MB by adding an additional 8MB WRAM memory module. By adding additional memory, you do not gain additional 2D resolutions or color depths, since an 8MB Nexus GA card provides 32-bit colors at all resolutions. However, adding an additional 8MB of RAM allows you to open additional 3D windows and store additional 3D textures.
NexusGA.BK Page 33 20 November 1997 14:23 Specifications System Requirements • Power Macintosh or Mac OS compatible computer with a PCI slot Operating System NOTE • Mac OS software (version 7.5.5 or higher) • QuickDraw 3D (version 1.5.1 or higher) Nexus GA and ATI Multimedia components are Mac OS 8 compatible.
NexusGA.BK Page 34 20 November 1997 14:23 Display Connector • Apple Connector - Apple DB-15 • VGA Connector - Standard VGA Video Interrupt • PCI interrupt request enabled; interrupt is auto configured by system Power • +5V +/- 5%, @ 1.3A typical Environment • Ambient Temperature: 50° to 122° F (10° to 50° C) operation.
NexusGA.BK Page 35 20 November 1997 14:23 C Compliance Information FCC Compliance Information This device is in conformity with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation of this product is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
NexusGA.BK Page 36 20 November 1997 14:23 • The use of shielded cables for connection of the monitor to the graphics card is required to ensure compliance with FCC regulations. • Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate this equipment. Industry Canada Compliance Statement ICES-003 This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.
NexusGA.BK Page 37 20 November 1997 14:23 Directive EMC 89/336/CEE et amendement 92/31/CEE, dispositif numérique de Classe B EN 50081-1, Norme sur les émissions génériques pour les produits domestiques, commerciaux et industriels légers (EN 55022/CISPR 22, Limites et méthodes de mesure des caractéristiques d'interférences radiophoniques, Matériel des technologies de l'information) Mise en garde: ceci est un produit de Classe B.
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NexusGA.BK Page 39 20 November 1997 14:23 D Glossary Alpha blending When an image has an alpha value for each pixel, this tells how much to blend the colors from the image with the background colors. The lower the alpha values the more transparent the image looks. Anti-aliasing Method used to remove the jagginess of an image. When anti-aliasing is used, the edges of an image appear smooth and usually somewhat blurry.
NexusGA.BK Page 40 20 November 1997 14:23 Buffers Your ATI accelerator card includes on-board memory which is used in a number of ways. Buffers are portions of this memory used as temporary storage on your card. One large buffer is always used to display the screen you see; this is the “display buffer”. The rest of offscreen memory is used by applications as back buffers, z-buffers, and texture buffers. Color Depth Color depth is the number of color shades available on your display.
NexusGA.BK Page 41 20 November 1997 14:23 Refresh Rate Also referred to as “vertical refresh rate”. The rate at which a monitor or television can redraw the screen from top to bottom. NTSC television systems have a refresh rate of approximately 60 Hz (but only draw one-half of the video frame in one pass); computer displays typically have refresh rates of 75 Hz or more. At a refresh rate of 70 Hz and lower, screen flicker is often noticeable.
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NexusGA.BK Page 43 20 November 1997 14:23 Index Numerics I 3D Graphics memory usage .................................20 supported features ...........................14 Installation Nexus GA card ................................. 3 software .......................................... 11 warning ............................................. 3 3D Memory Monitor description .......................................19 3D Quality description .......................................22 3D Sync description .......
NexusGA.BK Page 44 20 November 1997 14:23 T Troubleshooting computer stops responding ...............4 contacting customer support .....24, 25 generating problem report ...............24 graphic acceleration ........................14 image flicker ...................................23 incorrect resolution ...9, 18, 25, 26, 27 sync on green ....................................9 VGA icon dimmed ..........................18 V Video Card features ............................................13 installation ..
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