How to force OS/2 (V-2.1, OS/2 Warp) to VGA-Mode

  How to force OS/2 (V-2.1, OS/2 Warp) to VGA-Mode
Only if Blank / Illegible Display after OS/2 startup
There are a number of situations that will result in the inability to make sense of the pattern on the display unit. For example:

•   An incorrect driver utility has been used
•   A mode set for a processor may result in a scan frequ. that is not supported.
•   Configuration files have been copied from a machine using different hardware.

In case of OS/2 Warp, Reboot the system. At the moment that in the lefttop of the screen appear a small block with OS/2 written, push Alt+F1 button. A blue screen with RECOVERY CHOICES will appear. Select the option 'V'. Reset primary video display and Reboot. This option will autom. set OS/2 Warp to VGA mode.

In case of OS/2 V-2.x

1.  Boot from OS/2 Installation Diskette.
2.  Insert installation diskettes as promptet until the Welcome to OS/2 frame is displayed.
3.  Press ESCAPE (F3) key to exit to a command line.

•  - Enter SETVGA   (this command deletes the existing SVGADATA.PMI file and then calls RSPDSPI with VGA as the primary key to install  the VGA display drivers and fonts.)

    - or -
  

•  - Enter RSPDSPI /PK:VGA /SK:NONE /S:A: /T:C:

RSPDSPI parameter 
PK: the primary display type
SK: the secondary display type
S: the source drive containing the display driver
T: the target drive where the drivers should be installed
L: the logfile name (default RSPIN'sTL.LOG)

Selective Install Video device drivers

The safest way to reconfigure the video mode is to use SELECTIVE INSTALL, which can be found in the System Setup folder. Selective install is a PM application called INSTALL.EXE, and is located in the \OS2\INSTALL subdirectory.

DSPIN'sTL is a faster way of reconfiguring the video mode (not useable for OS/2 Warp VGA/SVGA resolution)
DSPIN'sTL decides what to do by reading a Display Configuration (DSC) file.

Display Configuration (DSC) Files in OS/2 2.1, OS/2 2.1.1 and OS/2 Warp

DSC File	Video Mode and Chip set	OS/2 2.1	OS/2 2.1.1	OS/2 Warp	Resolution and Video Memory	DSP File 1	DSP File 2
PSATI	ATI Mach8, ATI 28800 (SVGA)	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256 (512KB) 640x480x256 (1MB) 800x600x256 (1MB) 1024x768x256 (1MB)	AT480A AT480B AT600B AT768B	AT480AC AT480BC AT600BC AT768BC
PSBGA32	8514/A	Y	Y	Y
PSCGA16	CGA	Y	Y	Y	320x200x4	PSCGA16
PSCL	Cirrus Logic (SVGA) 5422, 5424	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256 (512KB) 640x480x256 (1MB) 800x600x256 (1MB) 1024x768x256 (1MB)	CL480A CL480B CL600B CL768B	CL480AC CL480BC CL600BC CL768BC
PSEGA16	EGA	Y	Y	Y	640x350x16	PSEGA16
PSHEAD	Headland Technology HT209	Y	Y	Y
PSMONO	Monochrome Adapter	Y	Y	Y		PSMONO
PSS3	S3 86C801, 86C805, 86C928	1	Y	Y	All	S3
PSSPDW	IBM VGA 256 color (SVGA)	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256 (512KB) 640x480x256 (1MB)	SP480A SP480B	SP480AC SP480BC
PSSVGA32	Generic SVGA	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256	PSSVGA32
PSTRID	Trident Microsystems TVGA8900c (SVGA)	Y	Y	Y
PSTSENG	Tseng Laboratories ET4000 (SVGA)	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256 (512KB) 640x480x256 (1MB) 800x600x256 (1MB) 1024x768x256 (1MB)	TS480A TS480B TS600B TS768B	TS480AC TS480BC TS600BC TS768BC
PSVGA32	VGA	Y	Y	Y	640x480x256	PSSVGA32
PSWD	Western Digital WD90C11, C30, C31 (SVGA)	Y	Y 2	Y 2
PSXGA32	XGA, XGA2	Y	Y	Y 3
WP9000	Weitek Power 9000			Y
WP9100	Weitek Power 9100			Y
S3864	S3 864			Y
CL54X	Cirrus Logic 5426, 5428, 5430, 5434			Y
WDC33	Western Digital 90C33			Y
PSWDC24	Western Digital 90C24			Y
PSWDC31	Western Digital 90C31			Y
TLIW32	Tseng ET4000/W32, /32i, /32p			Y
ATIM32	ATI Mach32			Y	All	ATIM32
ATIM64	ATI Mach64			Y

Table Notes 

1. The S3 86C805 display drivers are not shipped with OS/2 2.1, but are available from bulletin boards.
2. C30 mode only
3. Only OS/2 Warp has XGA2 option.

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