Handling Problems

Performance

This version of Panorama attempts to set write combining caching for the video display memory using MTRRs. This is preferred since using MTRRs affects physical memory. This means that all access to video memory from all drivers and all programs anywhere in the system are affected. If your system does not support this type of MTRR change, Panorama will use PAT to set write combine caching for accesses to video memory that use the Panorama resources. PAT is process specific, however, so it does not affect anything outside of the process that sets it. This means that any other interfaces or programs that do not use Panorama resources will not be affected by Panorama's setting of PAT and will not have any performance enhancement. DIVE, for example, does not use Panorama so it will not get any performance improvements if Panorama uses PAT.

32 bit color depths uses twice as much memory and system resources including CPU cycles as 16 bit color depths do. Since Panorama is not an accelerated driver, using 16 bit color depths will result in better performance than 32 bit color depths.

Custom Resolutions

This document is for version 1.02 and higher. Previous versions had a different command syntax.

The custom resolution feature is experimental and may not work in all cases. The custom resolution feature works by patching the video BIOS if necessary. Newer Intel BIOS and ATI/ATOM BIOS are supported. Nvidia BIOS support is coming soon. Patching the BIOS does not always work and results may vary. Some BIOS have limitations and won't work at some resolutions even though the mode table has been patched. There is nothing that can be done in Panorama to fix this limitation in the BIOS.

By default, Panorama will query the display resolution and timing (EDID) via the Display Data Channel (DDC). If this succeeds, Panorama will automatically add the native display resolution to the list of available resolutions that are displayed in the Screen Object settings. You can then select the desired resolution from the list. This is the best method of operation since the exact timings that are provided by the display are used.

If you have previously used a wide screen enabler, then there is a chance that Presentation Manager might use an incorrect resolution when switching to this new version of Panorama. To prevent this confusion, switch to a standard SVGA resolution (800x600, 1024x768, or 1280x1024) before installing the new version of Panorama. Reboot to make sure that the standard SVGA resolution you have chosen actually works, install the new version of Panorama, reboot and select your desired resolution from the list. If you did not do this prior to installing the new version of Panorama and the Presentation Manager has selected a non-displayable resolution, you can reset the Presentation Manager selected resolution as described below.

If you have problems with the custom resolution feature, the PanoUtil.exe program can be used to control the custom resolution functions. If you happen to boot to a resolution that cannot be displayed, you can type CTL-ALT-DEL to activate the CAD handler and go to a command prompt to execute these commands. If CTL-ALT-DEL does not work you can boot to the maintenance desktop using ALT-F1 then F4, or boot a different partition. If running the PanoUtil command from a maintenance desktop or from a different partition you must specify the drive to operate on.

To reset all the custom resolution settings to the default and set the PM resolution to 800x600:

PanoUtil -r
PanoUtil -p
PanoUtil -e 0
PanoUtil -d 1

To manually set a custom resolution of 1920x1080:

PanoUtil -c 1920 1080

To remove the manual custom resolution:

PanoUtil -r

To completely disable all the custom resolution support:

PanoUtil -d 0

To enable the custom resolution support:

PanoUtil -d 1

To reset the Presentation Manager selected resolution to 800x600:

PanoUtil -p

To see the status of the custom resolution settings:

PanoUtil -s

All of these commands can also be executed from a different boot partition or from the maintenance desktop if you specify the drive to operate on. For example, to change the settings on drive d:, add the drive specification to the end of the desired command:

PanoUtil -s d:
PanoUtil -r d:
PanoUtil -p d:
PanoUtil -c 1920 1080 d:
PanoUtil -d 0 d:
PanoUtil -d 1 d:
PanoUtil -e 0 d:

Collecting a Testlog Log

1. Make sure your system is booted with Panorama installed
2. Navigate to the \Panorama directory on your boot disk.
3. type:

   testlog panorama
   

4. Attach the LOG file to your ticket.

Systems Running the Debug Kernel Might Get an Unexpected Trace Interrupt

The video BIOS in some systems will sometimes generate an unexpected trace interrupt when the system is running the debug Kernel. You can simply disable the trace interrupt handling using the "vc 1" kernel debugger command. Systems running the retail kernel are not affected.