Microsoft KB Archive/39257

= Hardware Compatibilities with QuickBasic Version 4.5 =

Article ID: 39257

Article Last Modified on 11/21/2006



This article was previously published under Q39257



SUMMARY
QuickBasic version 4.5 is more selective of the video hardware on which it will operate than are QuickBasic versions 4.0 and 4.0b. QuickBasic requires a video card that is 100-percent compatible with an IBM CGA, EGA, VGA, or Hercules monochrome card.

If QB.EXE version 4.5 does not operate with your video system, try invoking QuickBasic with each of the video-specific options, such as the /B (black and white) option, the /NOHI (no high intensity) option, the /G (update screen as fast as possible) option, and the /H (high resolution) option. Also, try setting the video mode from MS-DOS using the MODE command before starting QuickBasic (for example, MODE CO80 and MODE BW80).

If a ghost image appears after running QuickBasic on your video system, use the MS-DOS MODE command to clear the screen if CLS doesn't clear it.

Below are computers and video adapters listed as compatible and incompatible with QuickBasic version 4.5.



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.)

AST EGA (256K)

COMPAQ PORTABLE (monochrome)

COMPAQ VGC (Compaq's name for VGA)

Daewoo (Leading Edge/AT) EGA (256K) monochrome

Genoa EGA (256K)

Genoa EGA (256K) monochrome

Hercules monochrome

IBM EGA 256K

IBM EGA 64K

IBM PC Convertible

IBM VGA (Non-PS/2)

IBM PS/2 VGA

IBM MCGA

IBM EGA (64K) with monochrome

IBM CGA

IBM MDPA

NCR EGA

Olivetti monochrome

Olivetti EGA (256K)

Olivetti VGA

Paradise Autoswitch EGA (256K)

PC Limited VGA

Tandy EGA (256K)

Vega Video Seven (7) Deluxe EGA (256K)

Zenith EGA monochrome

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 &quot;HELLO&quot; 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): <pre class="fixed_text">     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 &quot;illegal function call&quot; 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 &quot;Illegal function call&quot;) </li></ul>

A customer using the Zenith 151 reported an &quot;Internal Stack Failure&quot; 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 &quot;Illegal Function Call&quot; 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).

Additional query words: QuickBas 4.00 4.00b 4.50

Keywords: KB39257

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