3D Blaster Riva TNT2 M64 Product Guide
Product Guide 3D Blaster™ RIVA TNT2™ M64 This product incorporates copyright protection technology that is protected by method claims of certain U.S. patents and other intellectual property rights owned by Macrovision Corporation and other rights owners. Use of this copyright protection technology must be authorized by Macrovision Corporation, and is intended for home and other limited viewing uses only unless otherwise authorized by Macrovision Corporation.
C reat iv e E nd -U se r S oft wa re L ice ns e A gree m en t Ve rs ion 2. 0 , Ju ne 19 98 PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SOFTWARE. BY USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT, DO NOT OPEN THE SEALED DISK PACKAGE, INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE. PROMPTLY RETURN, WITHIN 15 DAYS, THE SOFTWARE, ALL RELATED DOCUMENTATION AND ACCOMPANYING ITEMS TO THE PLACE OF ACQUISITION FOR A FULL REFUND.
Creative and its licensors. Except to the extent expressly permitted by this Agreement or by the laws of the jurisdiction where you are located, you may not decompile, disassemble or otherwise reverse engineer the Software, or engage in any other activities to obtain underlying information that is not visible to the user in connection with normal use of the Software.
SOFTWARE OR THIS AGREEMENT, EVEN IF CREATIVE OR ITS LICENSORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT WILL CREATIVE’S LIABILITY OR DAMAGES TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON EVER EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE CLAIM. Some countries/states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
THE HEADING “STATUTORY RIGHTS”, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS-IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, QUALITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Contents Introduction Serial and Model Numbers...........................................................................................2 Before You Begin......................................................................................................................2 Minimum System Requirements .................................................................................2 Updating Drivers...........................................................................................................
Technical Specifications Architecture Highlights..................................................................................14 3D Features.....................................................................................................14 2D Features.....................................................................................................16 Video Support.................................................................................................16 Specifications .....................
Introduction The 3D Blaster™ RIVA TNT2™ M64 is a high quality 2D/3D/video graphics accelerator card that is well suited for a wide variety of applications ranging from everyday desktop use to gaming and entertainment. Leveraging NVIDIA™’s RIVA TNT2 graphics controller, the 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 delivers high quality and performance. Its dual texture architecture can process 2 pixels or textures per clock cycle.
Serial and Model Numbers Your card’s serial and model numbers can be found at the back of the card. We recommend that you record the serial and model number below. Table 1: Serial numbers and model numbers. Hardware 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 Product Codes Numbers Serial Number Model Number Before You Begin The README file on the CD-ROM contains information not available at the time of printing. Read the file before you continue.
Preliminary step for Windows 95 users Check the appropriate box so that you can refer to the Windows’ version number quickly during the software installation process. Since Windows automatically detects new hardware and starts the software installation procedure upon startup, you should verify your Windows version number before installing the graphics card. To verify your Windows 95 version number 1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel window, double-click the System icon.
Knowing and Installing Your Graphics Card This section shows you the connectors on the 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 card. Video Expansion connector Connect to a video expansion board. VGA Out connector Connects to your monitor via a monitor cable. AGP bus connector Figure 1: The 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 card.
To install the graphics card If you are replacing an existing VGA card with 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64, please remember to remove the existing VGA card. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Switch off your computer and all peripheral devices. Touch any metallic surface on your computer to discharge any static electricity Disconnect the power cord from the wall outlet. Remove the computer cover. Locate a free AGP expansion slot. Figure 2 shows the various types of expansion slots. 6. Remove the metal plate from the AGP slot.
9. Connect the monitor cable to the VGA Out connector of 3D Blaster Riva TNT2 M64, as shown in Figure 4. • If you are using a multifrequency monitor, you may need a special 15-pin PS/2-compatible adapter cable. If your multi-frequency monitor allows you to switch between ‘TTL’ and ‘analog’ operation modes, set the switch to ‘analog’. For details, refer to your monitor’s manual.
To install in Windows 95 (Retail version) 1. Switch on your system. Windows 95 automatically detects the graphics card. A New Hardware Found message box appears, informing you that a display adapter has been detected. 2. When a dialog box similar to Figure 5 appears, ensure that the Driver from disk provided by hardware manufacturer option is selected. Figure 5: Selecting the Driver from disk provided 3. Click the OK button. by hardware manufacturer option. 4.
2. When a dialog box similar to Figure 6 appears, click the Next button. 3. Click the Other Locations button when it appears in the Update Device Driver Wizard dialog box. 4. Insert the 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 CD into your CD-ROM drive. 5. In the Select Other Location dialog box, type D:\WINDOWS (where D: represents your CD-ROM drive) and click the OK button. Figure 6: The Update Device Driver Wizard dialog box. 6. In the Update Device Driver Wizard dialog box, click the Finish button. 7.
2. When a dialog box similar to Figure 7 appears, select the option Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want. 3. Click the Next button. 4. Insert the 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 CD into your CD-ROM drive. 5. In the Models list box, click the Have Disk button. Figure 7: Selecting the option Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want.
6. In the Install From Disk dialog box, type D:\WINDOWS (where D: represents your CD-ROM drive) and click the OK button. If you are installing 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 as a second or subsequent card to make use of Windows 98’s multi-monitor capability, you will see an Update Driver Warning message telling you that the driver you have selected may not work correctly. You must click the Yes button to confirm that you want to use the selected driver.
Changing Settings To change the display settings in Windows NT 4.0 1. 2. 3. 4. Right-click your desktop, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. In the Desktop Area group box, move the slider to set the desired resolution. In the Color Palette group box, select the desired color. Certain colors may not be available for some display resolutions. 5. In the Refresh Frequency group box, select the desired refresh rate. 6.
To change the performance settings in Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0 You can customize the settings of your graphics card for optimal performance with applications. However, if your monitor display exhibits pixel drop (that is, pixels, usually white in color, appear on the screen) or any other abnormal behavior, revert to the factory default settings (see “Troubleshooting” on page 19). To do so in Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 1. Right-click your desktop, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
Click Start -> Programs -> Creative -> 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 -> 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 Help. For Creative BlasterControl The Help file for Creative BlasterControl shows you how to use the BlasterControl utility to customize your screen resolution, color depth, and refresh rate in Windows. To open the Help file for BlasterControl Click Start -> Programs -> Creative -> BlasterControl Help. For Help topics specific to a BlasterControl module In the BlasterControl module you want, click the Help button.
Technical Specifications Architecture Highlights ❑ 64-bit wide graphics engine and frame buffer ❑ 32 MB SDRAM ❑ 250 million pixels/sec, bilinear filtered 3D Features ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ 14 3D Blaster™ RIVA TNT2™ M64 Optimized for Microsoft’s Direct3D API Complete DirectX 6.x support 100% hardware triangle setup Twin texel (TNT) 32-bit graphics pipeline • 2 texture-mapped, lit pixels per clock • Single pass multi-texturing support (DirectX 6.
❑ TextureBlend support examples: • Multi-texture • Bump map • Texture modulation • Light maps • Reflection maps • Detail textures • Environmental maps • Procedural textures • Sub-pixel accurate ❑ Backend blend • 32-bit ARGB rendering with destination alpha • Point sampled, bilinear, trilinear and 8-tap • Anisotropic filtering ❑ Per pixel perspective correct texture mapping • Fog • Light • Mipmapping ❑ 24-bit or 16-bit hardware Z-buffer (fixed or floating) ❑ 8-bit stencil buffer ❑ Full scene anti-aliasing P
2D Features ❑ High performance 128-bit 2D/GUI/DirectDraw acceleration • Accelerated primitives include BLT, indexed DIB color translation, transparent BLT, stretch BLT, points, lines, polylines, polygons, fills, patterns, arbitrary rectangular clipping and fast text rendering hardware font cache • Pipeline optimized for multiple color depths including 32, 24, 16, 15, and 8 bits per pixel ❑ Fast 32-bit VGA/SVGA support ❑ Multi-buffering (Double, Triple, Quad buffering) for smooth animation and video playbac
Drivers ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ Utilities ❑ Creative Enhanced BlasterControl™ ❑ Creative Enhanced SoftMPEG Applications Supported ❑ All Windows 95 applications, including DirectDraw and Direct3D games and applications ❑ OpenGL applications under Windows 95 and Windows 98. Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 (when available) display drivers Windows 95 and Windows 98 display driver, DirectDraw, Direct3D, DirectVideo, ActiveX OpenGL ICD for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 VBE 3.
Table 2: Refresh rates supported by different video modes Refresh Rates The refresh rates shown in the table are the highest obtainable and are monitor-dependent. Resolutions, pixel depths, and refresh rates are also driverdependent and may not be available for some applications or operating systems. 18 3D Blaster™ RIVA TNT2™ M64 Number of Colors Resolution 256 (8-bit) 64k (16-bit) 16.
Troubleshooting System Hangs, Blank Screen or Corrupted Display After installing 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 and starting your system, the monitor displays a blank screen. Solutions Try the following: ❑ Switch off your system and wait a while before switching it on again. ❑ Verify that any built-in VGA on your motherboard is disabled and that you have removed any other video display card from your system.
Solution Update the device drivers to 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 drivers: 1. Right-click your desktop, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. 2. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab. 3. On the Settings tabbed page, click the Advanced Properties button. 4. In the Advanced Display Properties dialog box, click the Change button. 5. In the Select Device dialog box, click the Have Disk button. 6. Insert the 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 CD into your CD-ROM drive. 7.
4. Try the following: ❑ Make sure that the correct monitor is selected. To verify, click the Change Display Type button or the Advanced Properties button on the Settings tabbed page. ❑ Use a lower refresh rate or the adapter’s default. For details on this, refer to the topic “Using BlasterControl Monitor Settings” in the BlasterControl Help file. ❑ Lower your monitor’s resolution. To do so, adjust the color depth and desktop area on the Settings tabbed page.
Problems Installing Software In Windows 95 or Windows 98, the installation program for BlasterControl does not run automatically after you have inserted the installation CD into your drive. Cause The AutoPlay feature in your Windows 95 or Windows 98 system is not enabled. Solution To install the software from the CD: 1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your Windows desktop. 2. In the My Computer window, double-click the Creative 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 icon.
5. In the Insert Disk message box, click the OK button without inserting any CD. 6. If 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 M64 drivers and later versions of DirectX drivers are already installed, click the Skip File button until the Adapter Type group box or the Adapter tabbed page appears. 7. Click the two Close buttons to close the Display Properties dialog box. 8. When prompted to restart your system, click the Yes button.
Problem with PCI Bridge (in Windows 95) 24 3D Blaster™ RIVA TNT2™ M64 After installing RIVA TNT2 M64 onto a Pentium II LX system or any other AGP system, the Resources tabbed page of the RIVA TNT2 M64 Properties dialog box in Windows 95 shows resource conflicts similar to the following: Memory Range used FEDC0000 - FEDDFFFF used by PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge. Memory Range used FD800000 - FDFFFFFF used by PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge.
Problem with AGP Aperture Size Changing settings in CMOS incorrectly can cause the system to stop functioning. DirectDraw/Direct3D fails to use hardware acceleration (HAL). Cause The CMOS setting for the AGP Aperture size is less than 8 MB. Solution Set the AGP Aperture size to 8 MB or more. Do the following in CMOS: 1. Restart your system. 2. During the memory check, press . The CMOS setup menu appears. 3. Select Chipset Features Setup and press . 4.
