Weird glitch with Windows 3.1

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Scoth42@reddit

EMM386 is basically a driver. Don't run it from within Windows. It might be interacting badly with the video driver.

Is it all full screen DOS apps doing that or just some of them?

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ranpuppy@reddit (OP)

Looks like it’s all full screen DOS apps as I tried a few and get the same glitch. I can tab back into windows but it still has the visual glitches until I either exit somehow or restart.

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Are you using a proper video driver for the video chip or just the basic VGA one? Win3.1 does some interesting magic to make full screen DOS applications work, especially in 386 Enhanced Mode, so sometimes it gets goofed up.

In any case, if it is using a proper video driver, it'd be interesting to try setting it to the basic VGA one and see if that works any differently. If it is using the VGA driver, then maybe try tracking down the proper driver for the video chip and try that. It looks like the Armada 110 might be a little too new to have native Win3.x video drivers, so that might be a problem.

If you're using one of the newer universal drivers like the hacked SVGA.SYS driver or even the more modern universal one, they're known to have issues with switching to full screen DOS applications.

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c64z86@reddit

Most full screen DOS apps and games will have problems in Windows 3.1, you really couldn't start doing that until Windows 95 came along and even then you had to restart in DOS mode for some of them lol.

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generichandel@reddit

yeah I would probably just use full screen dos apps in dos mode. I know you're supposed to be able to switch between them in win31 but... it's win31.

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AustriaModerator@reddit

some win31 video drivers have indeed issues with dos apps, i wouldnt mind.

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mnlx@reddit

It's not weird. Windows 3.1 working on/with DOS is a ludicrous series of hacks working cooperatively to extend DOS while keeping compatibility with the IBM-PC. You're not supposed to click on stuff randomly, usually it's harmless, but old systems weren't designed with bored users in mind.

Emm386 can be loaded immediately after Himem or later on in the command line, which is what you've done for the DOS session in which Windows is running that isn't displayed. It's a memory manager that can do several complicated things, including crashing your system. I don't know in which mode you're in but you don't need to invoke it in Windows, which is another memory manager. You can keep it loaded in Windows though.

If that sounds weird, well it took people weeks, if not months (if not years...) rewriting configuration files while looking up stuff to grasp how these things work. It's isn't difficult at all, it can be explained in a few pages, but for some reason it's extremely confusing and forgettable. Nowadays you can find all the information very easily but you still have to read it several times until it sinks in. And it's such a waste of time tbh. It's all very obsolete, very fragile and that can't be fixed.

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smithjr3@reddit

Don't execute random memory drivers, then complain when memory glitches occur.

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ranpuppy@reddit (OP)

It’s not just that lol just used it as a example

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Prestigious_Leave518@reddit

I wonder if its an issue with the shared video memory, basically uses system RAM for video RAM. I would try changing the settings or turning it off

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sirflatpipe@reddit

Looks like it's fullscreen text mode, in which case individual pixels would not be accessible. Although it could be emulated by the GPU in conjunction with the BIOS, I'm not sure. Really interesting glitch.

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RemarkableTennis7547@reddit

As an artist I like the effect ;)

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sirflatpipe@reddit

Looks like his computer is freezing. Literally.

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cazzipropri@reddit

Relatively normal on old LCDs when launching video resolutions they do not support. Seen that before. The PC is not hung; just the display is not rendering.

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overand@reddit

That's a wild situation, but it's bonkers that you're just running random executables in your "WIN" folder. (Also that you have a "WIN" folder and not WINDOWS - do I remember incorrectly that windows 3.1 installed to WINDOWS?)

But, yeah - funky.

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ABritishCynic@reddit

You could rename the install folder during the 3.1 install.

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generichandel@reddit

I called mine "COWBOX" back in the day.

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IzzyBoris@reddit

Interestingly I get this same problem trying to run scorch.exe on my 486dx2 Toshiba laptop.

I always assumed in my case it's trying to set an unsupported resolution.

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killerbenz82@reddit

As far as I know that is your graphics card cutting out. Early TFT and PSTN show this behaviour when the graphics adapter stops transmitting data. When the panel start degrading you get simular noise that won't go away. It starts at the edges and slowly progresses further. Don't run emm386, it is not really an executable.

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