This is done by changing the driver for the video chipset. Your computer manual should have some documentation that explains it.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

You need to run a program like Belarc Advisor to tell you what chipset or vendor's card is in your computer, then go on the web to find the driver.
You possibly could use debug and search the video BIOS for the chipset name.
Or post the name and model of the computer if it is name brand and another owner may be able to help you.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

And for good measure to the comments already made by eminent techies, I will add that 256 colours are yucky whereas 16bit colours are excellent.  I can therefore only assume that you're wanting to play a game which advises 256 colours, frankly I would not bother.

Kind regards

Phil

Hello

now this may not be what you want to hear, but...

I had the exact same problem with my machine: it only displayed up to 16 colours and i had to run an application that required 256 (i didn't have an alternative solution ot this problem).

i tried what was suggested here: first, i found the driver of the chipset. then i downloaded & re-installed it, but to no avail. windows doesn't seem to like that kind of thing...

So in the end, i had to go to a shop and but a new video card that was compatible with my machine, install it and set it to 256 colours. it was a waste of money and i blame Bill Gates for it, but at least it did the job.

Sorry i couldn't be of more help
TheSaltyDuke

I will download an updated video driver. I'm trying to install Adobe Photoshop, and it needs 256 colors. I hope that the new driver helps.

Thanks

Please start a new thread

Whats your monitor size. If your monitor is to small your video card will not allow you to change higher res or to milions of colors. If you do have a larger monitor,You might try updating drivers for it and / or your video card.

Thanks compgirlfhredi for the information. I'm going to try those steps you stated. I hope this will work, I'll let you know.

Thanks

mef930 and
ttssmycomputer

As it has been mentioned.....
It would be NICE to KNOW your System/OperSys/Monitor info (look at the sticker on the back)......and a heck of a lot easier too.......

It would be nice if you have a Win98 CD too .....which has many generic and proprietary drivers.

First...you could go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools> Right click System Information and choose send> to desktop(create shortcut)........Now you have a shortcut to access SysInfo anytime; which you can delete anytime you want (It's only a shortcut, not the program)...
In the left pane.....
Double click "Components".....then
Double Click "Display"......
look for your video card and driver info in right pane.....choose 'advanced' if necessary.....

Second.......Hopefully you have Win98 CD..........you can right click My Computer , choose properties>Device Manager>choose "view devices by type".....go to and double click  "Display"......and whatever 'display adapter' is beneath it.........click it once then click Remove (towards the bottom)......
It'll ask you if your sure......say yes......and restart.....and Windows will prompt you when you restart for a place to find drivers.......when you choose "search/find/update".....you'll see 4 check boxes......Direct it to/Check the box to CD-ROM drive only and uncheck others and let Windows choose the adapter......


Third..........you can try this;

Either print this out or write it down....

Click Start>Shutdown>Restart in ms-dos mode.....
when your pc reboots....if your at C:\>.....jump down one line...

If you're at C:\WINDOWS.....type CD\ hit enter....now your at C:\......

At the C:\> type debug......hit Enter....when at the hash "-"....
type;
d c000:0040   hit Enter (those are Zeros not "letter o's")...
(that's "d" space "c000:0040").....

notice the info on right pertaining to Video Card (make, model, chipset, etc)......

type;
d c000:0090  hit Enter

notice more info on right pertaining to Video Card......

type "q"  hit Enter to exit debug program ('q' as in 'quit')......

you're at the C:\> prompt......type;
CD WINDOWS ....hit enter......now your at C:\WINDOWS......
type; EXIT ......hit Enter
and the Pc will reboot to Windows

TT4U
Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions....I try very hard to impart correct info at all times.

You poor thing
Download and run this
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
and -  Copy and Paste the results here

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

I have run belarc advisor and I was putting the information from the report in my last response. I just need to know what information exactly you need for me to post. If you need to know main circuit board, memory modules, printers, multimedia, etc.

mef930;
 Post everything not personal...or use xxxxx's instead of numbers.
and i forget if exactly what i'm looking for is in belarc's mealy but good report......I want the Monitor info too - so look a the sticker/tag on the back and post it here. (the monitor may be so old and have limitatons). by the way - you want 16bit (High Color - 64000+ colors) eventually, not 2 colors, not 16 colors, not even 256 colors.

cdogg;
he/she probably doesn't have a video card -- I want the mainboard info for the mobo chipset basically. I still have a Pentium Pro 166mHz laying here with a 1.2 GB WD Drive on a Gigabyte board that uses the Trident Display Adaptert to get 16bit color (using 1-2 MB RAM - outstanding)

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

I tried to find the driver for my video card. When I ran the Belarc Advisor it says "Standard PCI Graphics Adapter". Where do you find a driver for a stardard graphics card?

Here is a copy of the report from Belarc Advisor.

Operating System
Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222)

Processor a
200 megahertz Intel Pentium w/MMX 32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Drives
2.11 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 1.18 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

MITSUMI CD-ROM FX320S !B Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")

Generic mE hard disk drive (2.11 GB) - drive 0, No ~1A.RI Driver

Users
No details available

Controllers
Standard Floppy Disk Controller
Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo) SiS 5513 Dual PCI IDE Controller Bus Adapters
SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller

Communications

System Model
MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-5150 I.X

Main Circuit Board b
Board: MICRO-STAR INlERNATIONAL CO., Lffi MS-5150 (SiS5597) I.X
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 11/19/97

Memory Modules c,d
160 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 128 ME Slot 'I' has 32 ME

Local Drive Volumes
c:(ondriveO) 2.IIGB I.I8GBfree

Network Drives

Printers
Canon MultiPASS C5500 Fax on LPT1: Canon MultiPASS C5500 Printer on LPT1:

Display
Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA) [Display adapter]
Sceptre 13.8 [Monitor] (13.8"vis, February 1998)

Multimedia
ES1869 Control Interface (WDM)
ES1869 Plug and Play AudioDrive (WDM) Gameport Joystick (no joystick connected)

Other Devices

Standard Modem
Intel 82558-based Integrated Ethernet with Wake on LAN
Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter

Virus Protection
No AntiVirus details available

Standard IOI/IO2-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
USB Root Hub

Installed Microsoft HotflXes

DataAccess
Q329414-21 on 6/3/04

Internet Explorer
Q313829
Q832894
SP1

Win98.SE
UPD273991
UPD3781 (Windows 98 Second Edition Q313829 (df}jgj~) UHCD Update)
UPDQ823559
UPD245729
UPD238453
UPD323172
UPD239887
UPD323255
UPD256015
UPD329115
UPD259728
UPD811630
UPD260067

Click Here to see all available Microsoft security hotfixes for this computer.

Software Licenses
Canon Information Systems - ScanGear
MultiPASS-BP3 Devices
Microsoft - Internet Explorer 55736-0EM-5775684-04525 Microsoft - Office 2000 Premium 50106-335-6520564-02866
MiftW.d98SE50578-270-0208981-10847 (Key: W7XTC-2YWFB-K6BPT-GMHMV-B6FDY)

Software Versions
123 Free Solitaire *
Microsoft Corporation - Windows Telephony Belarc. Inc. - BelManage Client Version 6.1..~ Version 4.10.2000~
Canon Information Systems - Scan Gear Editor Microsoft Corporation - Windows@ NetMeeting@ Version 1.0.~ Version 3.0_!
Canon MultiPASS Version 3.0..~ Microsoft imgstart Version 1. O. O. 1..*.
Configure Screen Gallery~. Microsoft Multimedia Viewer Version 2.00.~. EarthLink TotalAccess Version 2003.1.12.0.! Microsoft Office 2000 Version 9.0.2719i' Eastman Software. Inc.. A Kodak Business - Microsoft Outlook Version 9.0.2416...~
Imaging for Windows@ Version 1. 0 1.1311.~ Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows Version ELNhelp.exe~ 9.0.2716~
faxmgr Application Version I. O. O. I.~
Microsoft@ Access Version 9.0.2719':
Metis International - BusinessCard Version 1. 6. 3. Microsoft@ FrontPage@ 2000 Version 4.0.2.2717 ~ O..~
Micrografx. Inc. - Card Studio Version 1.0a~ RealNetworks. Inc. - RealPlayer (32-bit) Version Microsoft (r) Windows Script Host Version 6.0.9.584~
5.6.0.6626.!:.. SnCK Version 1.0.001_~ Microsoft Clip Gallery Version 5.1.00.1221..~ STORE Version 1.0.OOl_~ Microsoft Corporation - DirectShow Version TrueType Font InStaller!
6.01.05.0130* WinZip Version 8.1 (4319).~
Microsoft Corporation - Internet Explorer Version WinZip Version 8.1 SR-1 (5266)_~ 6.00.2800.1106..*
Microsoft Corporation - Windows Installer Version

 

Thanks

Alrighty then;
Let Edfair and Cdogg have a look at this and see what the proper installation procedure should be. ( I d/l one file and peeked at it and it's a DOS 16bit file) Im at a bit of a loss here, as far as what to do with the files exactly. (They seem to refer to 3 separate "disks"...and not sure if they're mobo chipset drives that need to go onto floppy for boot, but one site I found said to unpack it into a directory on HDD).
Either way d/l all three, plus d/l  the SiS5597/98 VGA BIOS TSR program (from link site 1 )
597v113.exe so you have it .
 
Create a Folder called C:\MySiS (or whatever you like) on the harddrive.
go here
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U21162D78
or
http://www.mecer.co.za/downloads/AGP_Vga_Cards/SIS/SIS5597-8/Win98/
and download  
597113-6.exe  597113-7.exe 597113-8.exe  to C:\MySiS.
Now close all open windows
Start > Shutdown > Restart
Reboot to SafeMode
Press and Hold CTRL key on bootup (just before the Win98 Logo would appear) to get to the Win98 Startup Menu...and choose "Safe Mode" from the menu.

*********************************************************************************
At This Point, I'm not sure exactly what to do, so wait for a little more advice  but below is an outline somewhat
**********************************************************************************
Open Windows Explorer and go to C:\MySiS and Double click the D/l  597113-6.exe file and unpack it into C:\MySiS (same with -7 and -8 )
Close Explorer
Right click blank Desktop area and choose Properties >> Settings >> Advanced Button >> Adapter >> Change
Press "change" button, there's a wizard window. Follow the directions to install VGA driver.
Select the 2nd radio button "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want."
Press "Hard Disk" button and let Windows know where your VGA driver files are (Browse/Point  to the C:\MySiS folder). click OK

Now do the same (Safe Mode) for your Monitor if necessary,(Usually not necessary as Plug and Play Monitor is usually fine.
Right click blank Desktop area and choose Properties >> Settings >> Advanced Button >> "Monitor" Tab  
Select CHANGE >> Next >> Select the 2nd radio button "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want."
 >> "Show All Hardware"  Select  (Standard Monitor Types) on the left.
Select  "Plug and Play Monitor". click OK

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

Ends up coming as a zip file.  Basically unzip the file to the same location as the zipped file.  Do the graphics update , tell it that you have disk, and point it at the location where the .zip was extracted. And if the SIS site is bad you can also get them at www.driverguide.com, or at several alternate sites found using google for "sis drivers" or "sis 5597", or even better from the MSI site.

Probably be best getting the whole driver set from MSI since they will have the whole package of all the included hardware drivers. May be a pain to get to the exact board area however.

tt4u,
use a mono VGA laptop like I do, you appreciate 16 bit color when you have it. Most of my stuff is better than that but there are times I'm locked into the 16.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

Well;
It seems for the 95 set there are  9 diskettes (yowser!).
(#3-5 have the driver files.)
and needed also is the SVGA BIOS update which updates the svga bios on every boot through Autoexec.bat. (BIOS  <DIR> : contains SiS SVGA BIOS binary file - described in next section below, the TSR program).
http://www.soyo.com.tw/dl/drivers/sis/vga/
click on[b] Release.txt [b]for more

******************************************************

then there's the "half hearted" install procedure here
http://www.sis.com/support/faq/mbfaq.htm
which seems to say swap files 3, 4, 5 (win95) for files 6,7,8 if on Win98...

11.      How to install SiS5598 under Windows system?
      A: There are two ways:
1. By display properties: You need file 597113-3.exe(or -6, if you are using win98). Double click this file and unpack it into a specific directory.
a. click mouse' right button, select "properties"
b. "display properties" window will popup, select "settings" tab
c. select "Adapter" tab
d. press "change" button, there's a wizard window. Follow the directions to install VGA driver
e. select the 2nd radio button "Display a list of all the drivers in a specific location, so you can select the driver you want."
f. Press "Hard Disk" button and let Windows know where your VGA driver files are
2. By Setup: You alos need files 597113-4.exe, 597113-5.exe(or -7, -8, if win98), including SiS Multimedia utility. Unpack these files, there's a "setup" file. Then follow the directions to install the driver.
---------------------------------------
AND ALSO from same site
----------------------------------------
16.      Do I need to excute this 5597/98 TSR program?
      
A: This TSR program is for updating your 5598 VGA BIOS to newer version without reprogramming the EPROM. It provides better compatibility with SiS 5597/5598 V1.13 driver and is able to fix the fatal error problem in your windows 98 system while upgrading the vga driver to V1.13 or its later versions. The instructions to excute this program is:
1.Download 597v113.exe from SiS web site.
2.Come to the DOS Mode in your windows system.
3.In the C:\ root directory, type "edit autoexec.bat".
4.Add this line "C:\597v113.exe" in the autoexec.bat.
5.Save and exit Every time you boot up your system, it will load this program and update your vga BIOS.

********************************************************************

then you get packard bell users who seem to have a nice big 1 file .exe which fixes all this nonsense .....here;
http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=23719

*****************************************************************
now - the 95 files seem outdated and are diff versions  (off by 1 number)
and the VGA BIOS binary update is on Driver Disk 1
Date:       02/05/1998
Product:     SiS 5597, SiS 5598
Subject:     VGA Driver Change Notice - Version 1.07

# Files Name
1]   Diskette Version :    
597107-1.exe,    597107-2.exe,    597107-3.exe,    597107-4.exe,                597107-5.exe,    597107-6.exe,    597107-7.exe,    597107-8.exe,    597107-9.exe,    597107-a.exe,
2]   CD-Title Version :    597cd107.exe                   
3].  VGA BIOS          :    597v107a.bin (included in both Driver disk 1 & CD-Title)

************************************************************
Anyone wanna try to make heads or tails of this?
(notice the 597107-x  ver's for 95 prefix/filenames (which'll work anyway, I'd think) and the updated 597113-x ver's for 98

Also in the First link above - there's an AGP set ver
AGP_Win9x_me_1.08.zip   13-Dec-2001 15:16   1.4M
and from there as well is this nice 95 Zip file
http://www.soyo.com.tw/dl/drivers/sis/vga/WIN95/sis-wd95.zip

TT4U

Notification:
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Yeah, it's a can of worms.  But nothing there that you don't run up against on just about every M/B you try to support that has sold in the 2nd hand market or where a customer has lost the CD.
Kinda why I try to standardize on the boards I use. Saves a lot of beating the forehead against the door frame.

mef930,
I have requested site management to delete the post of Belarc's results.  There was some info included that violates site policy.  Nothing that you knowingly did, but CD Keys are normally not allowed since they  can lead to piracy issues.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

mef930

I'm not surprised you get confused with different members giving different suggestions.  While they are all valid, they are taking different approaches to solve the problems.

My suggestion, if you don't really understand what other people are writing about here, is to find a good local IT repair/upgrade shop or independent dealer near where you live and take your computer there for a service.  They will be able to see exactly what is in your PC and download the appropriate drivers for it and install, configure and test it.  Yes, it will cost money, but it may well end up being faster than talking to us and getting everything in order this way.

John

mef930

From here, you can get the motherboard manual (good idea, as the video chip is onboard) and the latest motherboard BIOS:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/download/dld/spt_dld_detail.php?UID=212&kind=1

Have downloaded the manual, but it doesn't gives any insight into the video chipset other than "SIS 5597". (Note: you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view/print the manual, as it is in PDF format).

Appropriate Win98 video driver:
http://www.video-drivers.com/drivers/87/87373.htm

Only update the BIOS if you can't get it to work with the new VGA driver.

John

Yes Mef930;
Sorry bout the confusion; As I was just throwing out the info to what I was able to hunt down for ya, and get some other opinions.
Well, we've got 'em, which is a good thing. BTW, as for the Belarc thing, don't worry too much, that's why I said replace private info with xxx, but I'm sure you didn't realize...
Anyway;

Yes, try the link for 98 that jrbarnett posted, and let us know...see the thing is, is that the mobo you have (the chipset anyway) was designed more around   the 95 era, and it seems to keep up to speed, that they've added to it with patchwork upgrades.  

As far as the BIOS upgrade, I had already checked the MSI site and they no longer support that old board, which is where you'd get an upgrade for your AWARD BIOS, because large Manu, like msi have custom BIOSs made for them and their components. However, maybe a  deep web search can pull up something.

The Constant VGA BIOS update, that I refer to, concerns a Video VGA ROM BIOS update on every boot, by having the file (597v107a.bin or 597v107a.exe) located on the Root drive (C:\) and having an entry in Autoexec.bat point to that file (C:\597v107a.bin) or (C:\597v107a.exe). So, basically the Video BIOS gets Updated/Upgraded on every Boot up.

Most likely a ZIP file package will have all the files necessary and an install procedure listed in a Readme.txt file. Possibly the ZIP has files which will avoid having to upgrade the VIDEO ROM at every boot, or perhaps it'll create the necessary entries on install...don't know.

Someone may have actually created an .inf file for installation in the Zip Package (from either video-drivers or elsewhere) , which should install all the necessary files in the correct places. I've been only able to find the 95 version for PCI in Zip format -  (which I think is the correct version for 5977, as opposed to the Win98 AGP version (5978). I have not yet seen a 98 PCI Zip version.....they've all been for 5598(AGP).
 
See Win98 is capable of using the AGP Graphics Port, a newer version of PCI (double speed +)....your 5597 tells me it's PCI ,not AGP, even though Win98 supports AGP, your Mobo Chipset Does Not.
Review the links I posted and especially the TomsHardware one concerning PCI and AGP.

You'll need a unZipping program to open a Zip file....a few that come to mind are PKZip and WinZip, there are others too.
Hopefully the video-driver link will work for you....also consider updating your DirectX  from MS Site, Once you have your DirectX 6 drivers working from your driver install.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?DisplayLang=en&CategoryID=2&ExpandTopList=true
I'll have a look somewhere else to see if it's feasable for ya to do

TT4U

Notification:
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Cdogg;
Sorry bout the confusion
It's prolly my high security/browser settings then....some pages don't load, and that's fine with me. If and when I really really need to, then I'll mess with them or fire up the inevitable  IE browser.

Good point  on the 7 MB d/l -- cause I d/l the AGP ZIP set for 98/ME from that soyo.com.tw site to open it and see what's in it...and it's about 850K or so, if I remember correctly....anyway the Readme.txt  and .inf file suggested AGP Bridge completely, so I canned it...

Then I went to D/l the 95 ZIP from same site, and it is approx. 6.8 MB....so that's prolly the correct file as well, as the size is a clue.....and yes --  the SIS site should have the correct drivers (I was assuming since MSI is taiwanese, well the files "seemed" correct , and may very well be -- just deciding which ZIP to d/l and install)
BTW...the ZIPs are nice compared to the self install/ configure it  yourself with the mish-mosh of files.

mef930;
How ya makin out...?

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
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