Apocalypse 5D Sonic Frequently Asked Questions


How do I know if Apocalypse 5D Sonic is working?

Why doesn’t MechWarrior 2 work with DirectX3?

Which games are available/being developed for PowerVR?

What causes the most common Apocalypse 5D Sonic error messages?

Can I turn Apocalypse 5D Sonic on and off?

Why don't wave sounds work after playing Wipeout?

Why do I get the message ‘Change to 8 or 16’ when I install SmartTools 95?

What advantages does 4 MB of DRAM give, and how do I upgrade?

Is Apocalypse 5D Sonic VESA 2.0 compliant?

Is Apocalypse 5D Sonic DirectX compliant?

Why does my monitor lose its picture or get a distorted screen, and is then forced to VGA?

 

How do I know if Apocalypse 5D Sonic is working?

When you have installed the drivers you can check that your system is working by running applications designed work with them. Two sets of drivers are installed - PowerSGL and Direct3D (D3D). PowerSGL is VideoLogic’s proprietary API, and the PowerSGL drivers run titles that are optimized for Apocalypse 5D Sonic. D3D drivers allow you play games designed to use Microsoft’s D3D API.

Before running a sample application it is a good idea to verify the following:

To test whether the card is working with D3D drivers, run any of the D3D applications provided in the demos\d3d folder of your CD. While the application is running, click the File menu of the application. If the card is working, the entry ‘Direct3D HAL’ will be visible with a tick next to it. If the ‘Direct3D HAL’ text is missing and instead ‘Ramp Emulation’ is ticked, then your Apocalypse 5D Sonic card is not working. Refer to the readmes and Troubleshooting section of the User Guide for possible causes of this, or to the Technical Support section of the User Guide for advice.

To test whether the card is working with PowerSGL drivers, try one of the PowerSGL applications provided in the demos\powersgl folder of your CD (note that the application called Ants requires a joystick and the application Tower5 requires a graphics mode greater than 640 x 480). If these applications work, then your Apocalypse 5D Sonic card is working with the optimized PowerSGL drivers.

Why doesn’t MechWarrior 2 work with DirectX3?

This is because the file DPLAY.DLL in DirectX 2 was renamed DPLAYX.DLL in DirectX 3, and MechWarrior 2 looks for DPLAY.DLL. If you had DirectX 2 on your machine before you installed DirectX 3 then you won’t have a problem, but if you went straight to DirectX 3, then simply copy DPLAYX.DLL as DPLAY.DLL in the Windows SYSTEM folder to correct the problem. (In DOS you can do this directly by typing COPY DPLAYX.DLL DPLAY.DLL. In Windows you need to copy DPLAYX.DLL into another folder, rename it as DPLAY.DLL, then copy it back into the SYSTEM folder.)

Which games are available/being developed for PowerVR?

There is a complete list of games on the PowerVR web site.

What causes the most common Apocalypse 5D Sonic error messages?

Error Message

"LS_ERROR 8 BMAP ERROR Bitmove 256 (DDER_UNSUPPORTED)"

Problem

You are running a display mode with 256 colors.

Solution

Change your display mode to one of the supported 65 thousand or 16 million color modes.

Error Message

"DirectDraw Error: DDERR_INVALIDPARAMS" when running Tower5.

Problem

You are trying to run Tower5 in a 640 x 480 display mode.

Solution

Change your display mode to a higher resolution.

Error Message

"Failed to create the D3DRM device from the clipper. D3DRMERK_BADDEVICE."

Problem

Your graphics card does not have enough memory to support the display mode resolution.

Solution

Change your display mode to a lower resolution or use a graphics card with more memory.

Can I turn Apocalypse 5D Sonic on and off?

Yes, for Direct3D, by turning the PowerVR HAL on or off.

The PowerVR Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) controls how the PowerVR hardware and the Direct3D software interact.

To access the PowerVR HAL:

  1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.

  2. Double-click the Display icon.

  3. Click the Apocalypse 5D Sonic tab. The Apocalypse 5D Sonic Properties page is displayed.

  4. Select or deselect Enable PowerVR HAL.

Why don't wave sounds work after playing Wipeout?

This is a problem with Wipeout, in that it sets your WAV file volume to zero.

To correct this, when you have finished playing the game, double-click the loudspeaker icon at the bottom right corner of your screen, and reset the slider control for wave sounds to its previous level.

Why do I get the message ‘Change to 8 or 16’ when I install SmartTools 95?

You are trying to install SmartTools 95 without VideoLogic’s Apocalypse - GrafixStar drivers on your system. Follow the driver installation instructions in the Apocalypse 5D Sonic late breaking information, and install our drivers before installing SmartTools 95.

What advantages does 4 MB of DRAM give, and how do I upgrade?

The extra 2 MB adds the following modes:

1024x768, 16.7million colors, 43i - 85Hz
1152x864, 16.7million colors, 60 - 70hz
1280x1024, 65 thousand colors, 43i - 75Hz
1280x1204, 16.7million colors, 43i
1600x1200, 65 thousand colors, 48i

The memory upgrade is available from VideoLogic dealers. For Apocalypse 5D Sonic the qualified memory devices for upgrades are Mosys MD908AJ-5-120 (those used for GrafixStar 600 Pro), and we strongly recommend using the VideoLogic upgrade kit.

Our technical support line is getting an increasing number of calls from customers with GrafixStar cards that have been upgraded with unqualified memory. Unfortunately this invalidates the warranty on the cards and our technical support teams have to refer the customer back to the original supplier of the memory upgrade for technical support.

Is Apocalypse 5D Sonic VESA 2.0 compliant?

Apocalypse 5D Sonic has VESA v2.0 support built into the graphics controller.

Is Apocalypse 5D Sonic DirectX compliant?

DirectDraw and DirectVideo support is built into the Windows 95 drivers.

Why does my monitor lose its picture or get a distorted screen, and is then forced to VGA?

On a low specification monitor, the default refresh rate chosen by our drivers may exceed the monitor’s capabilities, causing it to lose synchronisation. The symptoms are usually:

To correct this, when starting your PC, hold down the CTRL key until Windows has finished loading. This sets the monitor at the lowest refresh rate for the current display mode. You can now see the picture, so that you can change the refresh rate in the Display Properties Control Panel to a more suitable value (i.e. lower than the rate that corrupted your display).