Hardware Compatibilities with QuickBasic Version 4.5 (39257)

MORE INFORMATION

The following video cards were successfully tested with QuickBasic version 4.5:

(Note: If the card is a VGA but not an IBM PS/2 VGA, there will be problems swapping on screen 10.) If the QB.EXE environment looks correct before running a program but is not visible after running the program, try invoking SCREEN 0,0 (and also possibly WIDTH 80) at the end of the program, or in the QB.EXE Immediate window (F6 key). One customer reported this solution on a COMPAQ 2e mono VGA, where the VGA video card is built-in.

The following is a list of known compatibility problems:

• According to Microsoft's testing, the following cards loaded QB.EXE, but had numerous problems with screen swapping:

        Tecmar VGA
        Quadram VGA
        Vega Video Seven (7) FastWrite VGA
        Vega VGA (a customer suggested QB /H for better Vega VGA
           behavior)
  						

• According to Microsoft's testing, the following cards will not load QB.EXE:

        COMPAQ Laptop (BIOS problem - no correction)
        COMPAQ SLT/286 (works with AC power, fails with battery, unless
           you disable the power-conservation utility PWRCON.EXE or
           PWRCON.COM)
  
           (One customer reported problems using the Immediate window in
           QB.EXE on a COMPAQ SLT/286. The customer was able to print
           to the output screen by running the program with F5, but
           executing PRINT "HELLO" or other output statements from the
           Immediate window made the screen go white. Fortunately, the
           machine didn't hang. Pressing any key successfully returned
           to the QB.EXE environment. The customer reportedly tried all
           the switches to QB.EXE and ran QB.EXE in a clean MS-DOS
           environment with no TSR programs, but output from statements
           executed in the Immediate window still did not work.
           Microsoft has not confirmed this report.)
  
        Genoa SuperVGA HiRes
        ATI VIP VGA
        Sigma EGA!
  						

In addition, the cards below have been reported by customers as potential problem cards. The problems range from hanging the machine to causing an unreadable display. Microsoft has not tested QuickBasic version 4.5 on the hardware listed below; therefore, we do not guarantee compatibility. The potential problem cards are as follows (this information may be inaccurate because it is reported secondhand and is unconfirmed by Microsoft):

• Computers with the following video cards installed (potential QuickBasic compatibility problems):

        ATI VIP card
        Vega VGA from Video Seven (7) (although one customer said
           QB /H corrected QB.EXE problems with Vega VGA)
        Sigma VGA
        Everex EGA
        Older Quadram CGA cards
        Unisys CGA
        NEC EGA
        AST Turbo Scan EGA - (a customer reported he couldn't invoke
           QB.EXE 4.5 in 80- or 43-line mode on a PC clone with this
           card)
        Tecmar VGA - (in 43-line mode, the last seven lines on the screen
           are truncated. This was found to be a problem with the Tecmar
           VGA ROM versions 1.08 and 1.09)
        American Megatrends VGA - (a customer reported that the QB Express
           tutorial failed on this card, but Setup and the QB.EXE editor
           ran correctly)
        Packard Bell EGA - (a customer reported that the QB Express
           tutorial failed on this card, but Setup and the QB.EXE editor
           ran correctly)
        Diamond Star VGA board - When used with MS-DOS 5.0, QuickBasic
           hangs on a SHELL or print from the Immediate window. Turning
           off Autoswitching corrects the problem.
        Paradise Auto-Switching VGA - Two customers reported that this
           card caused QB.EXE 4.5 to hang when run on an IBM XT. One
           customer reported that PRINT statements print an extra line
           until the following workaround is used. The following two
           lines added to the end of each program worked around editor
           visibility problems for three customers:
  
              SCREEN 0,0
              WIDTH 80
  						

• Computers, as follows (potential problems):

        Sperry PCs and XTs with Hercules and CGA cards
        Tandy 1000s with Tandy Enhanced CGA cards
        Leading Edge Model M (which comes with CGA or Hercules)
        Leading Edge Model D (but according to one customer, it might
           work on BIOS version 3.0 or later)
        IBM PCjr
        Zenith 151, an XT compatible, with EGA Boca, and up-to-date BIOS
        DEL 310 models that come with Vega Video Seven (7), VGA 16-bit
           graphics (try QB /H for better results)
        DEL AT-compatible with VGA monochrome system, Vega Video Seven (7)
           16-bit graphics card (visibility problems reported in QB.EXE;
           the following reportedly do not help: QB /NOHI, /B, /H, and
           /G, and the Mode CO80 and Mode BW80 commands in DOS)
        Hyundai XT (other non-XT Hyundai models may be OK, according to
           one customer)
        Austin 286/12-5 computer - (a customer reported that QuickBasic
           generated an "illegal function call" error when he tried to
           use SCREEN 9. This computer comes standard with a WDM-20 EGA
           card integrated into the motherboard and it seems that
           QuickBasic will not recognize this card because SCREEN modes
           other than 0 give "Illegal function call")
  						

A customer using the Zenith 151 reported an "Internal Stack Failure" when holding down an ARROW key for scrolling in the QB.EXE version 4.5 editor.

A customer reported that several QuickBasic version 4.5 programs (including DEMO1.EXE) fail to run on several Tandy 3000 computers with a built-in EGA card connected to a RGB CM11 monitor. (The same program works correctly on the customer's Tandy 3000 if it is compiled with QuickBasic version 4.0.) There were no TSRs running on the customer's system, and the MODE CO80 and CO40 DOS commands did not help.

For the ATI VGA Wonder card, some customers have reported "Illegal Function Call" errors when using SCREEN 9 in QuickBasic programs. However, another customer reported that the ATI VGA Wonder card works properly if you run the setup correctly for the monitor type connected (monochrome, multisync, color, and so on). For example, if a monochrome monitor is connected to the card but the setup is not set correctly, SCREEN 9 fails, but SCREEN 10 may work. Setting the ATI VGA Wonder card for the monochrome monitor makes SCREEN 9 work successfully. One customer reported that running QB.EXE on the ATI VGA Wonder card in Hercules compatible mode did not map graphics to the screen correctly.

A customer reported that on a Gateway 2000 486 25 megahertz (SpeedSTAR VGA board), drop-down menus in QB.EXE remained visible on the screen after being released. The customer had pressed PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN to clear the menu image (this information is unconfirmed by Microsoft).