Microsoft KB Archive/61589

Determining a Video Card’s BIOS Manufacturer and Version

PSS ID Number: Q61589 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

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MS-DOS

= SUMMARY =

The following are two methods for determining a video display card’s BIOS manufacturer and version number:


 * 1) By rebooting or powering up the computer.
 * 2) By using the DOS DEBUG program.

CGA, MDA, and Hercules monochrome graphics cards and compatibles do not have a video BIOS. Higher-end graphics cards, such as EGA, VGA, and 8514/A cards and compatibles, do have a video BIOS.

= MORE INFORMATION =

The easiest way to determine a video card’s BIOS manufacturer and version number is to reboot the computer (by simultaneously pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL, or by turning off the computer’s power, then turning it back on again). Most graphics cards display their BIOS manufacturer and version number when rebooting, often before the computer’s BIOS manufacturer and version number is displayed. The display may appear similar to the following:

FastWrite VGA BIOS Version 1.09 (C) Copyright 1988 Video Seven Inc.

Some graphics cards do not display their BIOS manufacturer and version number during a soft reboot (using CTRL+ALT+DEL). If the BIOS version does not appear when rebooting, try turning the computer off, then on again.

However, some display cards may not display any information about their BIOS during a reboot. The information can still be obtained by using the DOS program DEBUG.

DEBUG is a program shipped with MS-DOS and PC-DOS that allows you to examine and modify memory. DEBUG is not available under OS/2.

To start DEBUG, type “DEBUG” and press ENTER at the DOS prompt. DEBUG will display a minus sign or dash (-) indicating that it is ready to receive commands.

The video display card’s ROM BIOS is usually stored at memory location C000:0000 through C000:7FFF. Copyright messages are commonly stored at location C000:0000 through C000:00FF.

The command to display values stored in memory is the “D” command. Type “D” (without the quotation marks) followed by an address in memory, and DEBUG will display 128 bytes starting at that address. To examine the address (for example, C000:0000), type “D C000:0000” at the DEBUG prompt. If the BIOS manufacturer or version number is not displayed, examine the next 128 bytes by typing “D” followed by the ENTER key. The results may appear similar to the following:

-D C000:0000 C000:0000 55 AA 20 E9 FF 1D FF FF-DB 32 32 30 33 30 2D 43 U. ……22030-C C000:0010 31 32 30 31 20 20 20 20-07 07 FF FF FF FF 49 42 1201 ……IB C000:0020 4D 20 43 4F 4D 50 41 54-49 42 49 4C 49 54 59 20 M COMPATIBILITY C000:0030 20 30 43 4F 50 59 52 49-47 48 54 20 50 41 52 41 0COPYRIGHT PARA C000:0040 44 49 53 45 20 53 59 53-54 45 4D 53 2C 20 49 4E DISE SYSTEMS, IN C000:0050 43 2E 20 31 39 38 36 20-50 45 47 41 20 42 49 4F C. 1986 PEGA BIO C000:0060 53 20 00 40 20 00 C0 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 S .@ ……….. C000:0070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 ……………. -q

Another method of determining the video ROM BIOS manufacturer and version is to search for the word “version.” To accomplish this, use the DEBUG search command “S”.

The “S” command requires the following parameters: the starting address of the search and the letter “L”, followed by the length of the search and the text being searched for, which must be enclosed in double quotation marks. The search text is case sensitive; searching for “version” will not find “Version”.

To search for the word “version” in the video ROM BIOS area, enter the following DEBUG command:

S C000:0 L 7FFF “ersion”

Since the word “version” could begin with or without a capital letter, enter it without the letter “v”. If DEBUG can locate the string, it will display the string’s memory address, as follows:

-S C000:0 L 7FFF C000:046C

To display the version number, begin displaying an address a little ahead. In the following example, display F000:1700:

-D C000:0450 C000:0450 FB 9D C3 47 45 4E 4F 41-20 53 50 45 43 54 52 41 …GENOA SPECTRA C000:0460 20 45 47 41 42 49 4F 53-20 2C 20 56 65 72 73 69 EGABIOS, Versi C000:0470 6F 6E 20 31 2E 32 30 0D-0A 28 43 29 20 43 6F 70 on 1.20..(C) Cop C000:0480 79 72 69 67 68 74 20 47-45 4E 4F 41 20 53 79 73 yright GENOA Sys C000:0490 74 65 6D 73 20 43 6F 72-70 2E 20 31 39 38 35 2C tems Corp. 1985, C000:04A0 20 31 39 38 36 0D 0A 0A-52 BA 43 00 B0 B6 EE B8 1986…R.C….. C000:04B0 33 05 4A EE 8A C4 EE BA-61 00 EC 8A E0 0C 03 EE 3.J…..a……. C000:04C0 2B C9 E2 FE FE CB 75 FA-8A C4 EE 5A C3 FB 80 FC +…..u….Z….

KBCategory: kbother kbhw KBSubcategory: Additional reference words: video ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.