Specific Driver Guidelines
Last revised June 09, 2006 10:14 PM

Thanks to Tsunami over on the CL Banshee newsgroup for getting me started on this.

You will notice that most issues with the Banshee are resolved by installing driver updates.  Not all card makers are at the same point in driver releases.  So, what do you do until your card maker come out with revised drivers?  I have a briefer review on my Which Driver? page, if you want to skip most of the gory details and background.  With the public website posting by 3Dfx of Release 1.0 drivers, the following discussion is largely of historical interest.

Most of the various Banshee cards were released in September and October of 1998 with what is known as "Release Candidate 1" (RC-1) drivers or a something derived closely from RC-1.  This is to be distinguished from Release 1.0, which was publicly released by 3Dfx on December 2, 1998.  RC-1 was the first set of drivers that the Banshee chip developer, 3Dfx, deemed suitable for release to vendors (card makers) - not that they were perfect.  Far from it.  3Dfx expected vendors to "beta" test the drives with their cards, provide feedback and make alterations to improve performance, eliminate bugs and add utilities.  Yet, many manufacturers felt they were ready (enough) to go public and a number released cards with these drivers.  Drivers are never perfect; however, it was very quickly realized that the Banshee RC-1 drivers had a number of common but unexpected bugs, as detailed below.  Most chip makers continue to revise drivers and BIOS code for several years after release as new problems are discovered, operating systems change, and new hardware is released that may cause compatibility issues to pop up.  Anyway, 3Dfx very quickly put out RC-2, then RC-3, RC-4, all about a week apart, and most recently Release1.0 (to be distinguished from the less mature Release Candidate versions), also referred to elsewhere as RC-4.2.   I know this must "driver" many people crazy.  Some of this is just the state of the art for PC's and trying to deal with the huge variety of potentially conflicting components that could be in a system.  Some of this may be due to the pressure to get the product on the market with less than optimal testing.  Release 1.0, the first "public" driver release directly from 3Dfx, signals their belief that the drivers are ready for prime-time.  Several vendors, including Guillemot and Creative have released new drivers based on 3Dfx Release 1.0 (or very close to it), while others such as Quantum and Diamond are still using earlier versions.

The readme.txt file with the RC-1 version drivers did not reveal many of these problems.  Subsequent readme's have been more revealing.   Also, newer driver versions introduce as well as resolve bugs.  For instance, RC-3 created problems with Quake II that were not present with RC-2, as well as other anomalies.

The information herein is based on my experience with the Creative Labs Banshee.  Much of it applies to other cards, and I will soon have experience with a Guillemot card, at least. Also, I accept input from readers with other cards.  3Dfx produced a reference design fully-functioning card, as well as the chip, and most manufacturers appear to have adopted it.  3Dfx develops the reference drivers for this card, and most manufacturers appear to be using them.  Some have made small alterations to the card and drivers, although the reference drivers may still work just fine.  I will try to clarify that, but it will take time to be certain about it.  So far, the reference drivers seem to work on all cards.

Problems By Driver Type:

The Creative versions lack an uninstall routine.  The Creative versions lack the new 3Dfx splash screen file (3dfxsp3.dll) and display the older spinning logo.
Creative never officially released a version based on RC-2, although it was briefly posted and labeled beta - it is untouched 3Dfx code.  See Sources, below
X Quake II problems consist of misidentification of Banshee as Rush and limitation to 800x600 or lower resolution if you use a modified 3dfxgl.dll, such as version 1.4.  Resolved by using Glide files from RC-2 or using only the original 3dfxgl.dll version 1.1 or the newest miniGL 1.46 from 3Dfx.
*Quake II internal brightness slider does not work, but external gamma controls do.
+ Overclockable via S = Slash's Banshee Control, B = Creative Labs Blaster Control, or P = Powerstrip.   With CL "RC=3", Blaster Control seems to be limited to less than slider top value and behaves oddly when pushed over 115, reverting to default speed.

Speed of Drivers: System is Celeron 300A at 450MHz in an Abit BX6 motherboard running 128MB of PC100SDRAM.

+ top of 3Dfx slider, 110MHz dor graphics and memory clock
^ Using Powerstrip with Memory at 111MHz and graphics clock at 117MHz.  Anything higher would lock periodically.  This is with a fan blowing over the card.
* Quake II numbers are using 3dfxgl.dll version 1.4 from Brett Jacobs' page.   This is 10% faster than using the original version 1.1.  However, RC-3 and 4 version Glide files appear to not support Quake II at resolutions above 800x600 if using the faster modified 3dfxgl.dll files. Substituting Glide files from RC-2 will permit Quake II to run1024x768and 1600x1200 at 25 and 10 FPS

So, There is little difference between driver versions, except for the fact that versions newer than RC-2 cannot be over-clocked except with Powerstrip, and less reliably with Blaster Control for CL versions.

Sources of Drivers

3Dfx RC-1:  Probably your installation CD.  Some vendors skipped this.  It is of historic interest only.

3Dfx RC-2: These are no longer available anywhere for download, as far as I know. They were originally posted by Creative Labs in a few of their worldwide locations, but have been removed.

3Dfx RC-3:  As off 12/10/98 Gainward still has clean RC-3 here.  They are listed as "Dragon 4000" drivers; however, they are undisturbed RC-3 as delivered to them from 3Dfx. Do not use the Gainward BIOS update unless you have a Gainward card.

Creative Labs "RC-3" (11/03/98): These are no longer available anywhere for download, as far as I know. They were originally posted by Creative Labs in a few of their worldwide locations, but have been removed.

3Dfx RC-4: As of 12/10/98 Gainward has clean RC-4 here.   I have run the Gainward drivers on my Creative Labs 3D Banshee without incident.  They do NOT fix the Win95 retail/a or non-MMX Cyrix problem.

Creative Labs "RC-4" (11/19/98): Posted on Creative Labs Americas here. These are the first drivers to fix the non-MMX Cyrix problem.  The acceleration clocker only alters memory clock and is relatively dangerous.  See my more complete comments on this driver version here.

Guillemot "RC-4" (11/27/98:   Posted on Guillemot UK here.   These fix the Cyrix and Win95 retail/a problems seen with previous Guillemot drivers.

3Dfx Release 1.0 (12/02/98): Posted on 3Dfx site here.

Creative shipping Drivers - Based on 3Dfx RC-1
Glide 2.60.00.0001, 296kb, dated 8/30/98
Glide2x.ovl, 306kb, dated 8/30/98
Glide3.10.00.0001, 299kb, dated 8/30/98
3dbbw9x.dll - DirectX for Win95 application extension - version 4.10.01.0100-12.105, 186kb, dated 9/8/98
3dbbw9x.drv - DirectX for Win95 driver - version 4.10.01.0100-12.105, 292kb, dated 9/8/98
3dbbwx9x.vxd - Mini-VDD - version 4.10.01.0100-12.105, 199kb, dated 9/8/98
3dbbw9x.inf - setup information

Oddly, the Windows NT4 driver pack contains newer versions of Glide that were to follow in the 3Dfx RC-2 driver kit.

Installation
Before installing:

• Switch to "Standard VGA adapter"
• Remove any other Voodoo Graphics cards and drivers. 3Dfx has an INF file that will assure complete removal. Failure to do this may result in lockups and black screens when accessing Glide applications. Creative Labs has developed a "Glide Switcher" which allows the cards to coexist.

Install drivers from the CD installation routine. I would uncheck DirectX6. If you do not have DirectX6 installed then use DiectX6 core available from Microsoft. This avoids any possibility of DirectX overwriting more recent sound and video card drivers, particularly if you are using Win98. DirectX6 full installation is more appropriate for Win95 user, but even there, I use DirectX6 core except where the video or sound card are no longer supported by vendor drivers...that's not the case here.

The installation runs Setup.exe that installs the accessory software and then calls Upddrv95.exe to complete the driver installation.

Main Problems with RC-1 drivers

• Not compatible with Cyrix non-MMX processors - a Windows protection error is generated on boot. Currently there is no solution. 3Dfx resolved this in Release 1.0.  Resolved by CL release 11/19  and Guillemot Release 11/27/98, but not other "RC-4" drivers.  Still unresolved with Quantum and Diamond drivers.
• Not compatible with Win95 Gold (original retail release) or Win95a (SP1). With this OS you may get black screens or lock ups when entering Direct3D modes. To determine your Windows version, right click with your mouse on My Computer and pick Properties from the flag menu. If you see Windows version 4.00.950 or 4.00.950A then you have the early versions that will experience problems. There is no such problem with OSR2 (shows as 4.00.950B or C or 4.00.1111 or 1212-1214) or Win98 (4.10.1998). It was resolved by installing Creative Labs "RC-3" (11/03/98) release but not RC-4 or RC-3.  3Dfx Release 1.0 and Guillemot drivers posted 11/27/98 also fixed this.  There are other solutions shown here.

Other Observed Problems:

• Cursor disappears over links. Can disappear completely. Cursor jumps away from focus and becomes offset - triggered by going more than 4 deep in a menu.
  

Solution: Use 3D cursors. The can be installed from the Windows CD. However, this does not fix the link cursor - double click on that and substitute any cursor from the list. I used the pen cursor. Driver version RC-4 resolves this problem. Until then this fix works well.

• Browser jpeg images are split or black.

Solution: Changing desktop to 24-bit color depth often works. Driver version RC-3 resolves this problem.

• Desktop wallpaper becomes corrupt. I did not experience this. Changing resolution or color depth restores the desktop. I have not observed this.
• Mouse pointer tails do not work. I have confirmed this.
• Multi-monitor is not supported with multiple Banshee boards. However, I ran a Banshee paired with an ATI board successfully and with either as the primary board. I did not try 2 Banshees together.
• Win95 Gold (retail) may fail to load the driver and give "Unable to Load Display Driver" error message. Despite the other problems with Win95 Gold and Win95a, I have not seen any one report this. The readme offers a workaround.
• Direct3D Hardware support is available in 16-bit only modes - hmmm - I wonder if this accounts for some oddball problems.
• Virtual desktop disables hardware overlay.
• A few WinNT problems are noted.

Apparent errors in 3dbbw9x.inf (setup information file)

• There are Glide registry keys that are not installed due to a punctuation error. This appears intentional. These registries concern the "Glide Switcher" that was not included in the installation CD.
• There are registry keys for a driver uninstallation routine, but no string values are present, so there is no routine available. Normally these would appear in the Add/Remove Program applet listing. Blaster Control does have a working removal routine.
• The Inf file is saved in the C:\Windows\Inf folder rather than C:\Windows\Inf\Other

3Dfx RC-2/Creative Labs RC-2 beta

These drivers were posted briefly on the Creative Labs website on October 16 and are still available from CL Europe. The files have creation dates only 2 days newer than the CL RC-1 versions. They were not altered from the 3Dfx files. Both PCI and AGP driver versions are in the kit. The pci driver files have a pci extension in the pack and are renamed during installation. The 3Dfx Banshee Control panel replaces the Blaster Control panel.

Banshee Windows 98 Driver Kit
Banshee Driver kit: 1.01.02-RC2
Banshee DirectX Driver Version: 2.18
3dfx16vb.pci (renamed with drv extension) display driver, 264kb, dated 9/16/98
3dfx32vb.pci (renamed with dll extension) application extension, 186kb, dated 9/16/98
Banshee Win95 2D/3D Display Drivers: 4.10.01.0200-1.00
Banshee Glide 2.X Driver: 2.60.00.0003, 297kb, dated 9/14/98
Banshee Glide 3.X Driver: 3.10.00.0003, 319kb, dated 9/14/98
Banshee Control Panel: 1.0.0.0017

Installation:
The readme.txt instructions in RC-2 are much more complete than CL RC-1. However, there are several oddities. There is mention of DirectX5 only. I believe this is a holdover from a much earlier driver set and that the readme.txt file was not carefully edited. There are good instructions for upgrading over 3Dfx Banshee RC-1 reference drivers. However, the CL Banshee RC-1 drivers are named differently and use different registry keys. At the very least, you should uninstall Blaster Control.

This version resolves the mouse cursor issues. However, all other observed issues remain.

There is an uninstall routine (from Add/Remove Programs) that works well, leaving behind only the VXD file and a few minor registry entries.

3Dfx RC-3

From Gainward
Voodoo Banshee Windows(r) 95/98 Driver Kit
Voodoo Banshee Driver kit: 1.01.02 RC3
Voodoo Banshee DirectX(r) Driver Version: 2.18
3dfx16vb.pci (renamed with drv extension) display driver, 270kb, dated 10/10/98
3dfx32vb.pci (renamed with dll extension) application extension, 186kb, dated 10/10/98
3dfxvb.vxd mini-Vdd, 133KB, dated 10/10/98
Voodoo Banshee Win9x 2D/3D Display Drivers: 4.10.01.0222-1.00
Voodoo Banshee Glide(tm) 2.X Driver: 2.60.00.0122, 299kb, dated 10/10/98
Voodoo Banshee Glide 3.X Driver: 3.10.00.0122, 320kb, dated 10/10/98
Voodoo Banshee Control Panel: 1.0.0.0026

This version fixes the black browser jpeg images.   Also, it corects the incompatibility with Win95 retail and Win95A , according to Nick Pandher of 3Dfx Europe, although there are no comments to this effect in the readme.txt file, and there are now many reports of failure to correct this problem. The readme file contains an extensive discussion of Windows version issues with AGP cards, as well as mention of minor issues with Quake II and Unreal.

This version introduces a problem with Quake II as a result of new versions of Glide. These files cause the Banshee to be misidentified as a Rush chip and limit gameplay to 800x600 or lower resolution. This can be resolved by replacing the Glide2x.dll file in the C:\Windows\System folder with the version from RC-2. However, you will lose use of the Quake II internal brightness slider as well as external gamma controls. Replacing other files does not restore the brightness slider or gamma controls.

Slash's Banshee Control no longer can be used to overclock the Banshee.  The RC-3 driver uses a different key location and names for the colck keys.

Creative Labs "RC-3" (11/03/98)

If you do not install these over a previous version with Blaster Control installed, Blaster Control and the Banshee extension will not be present.

This driver version appears to correct the incompatibility with Win95 retail and Win95a, while all others fail to do so consistently.

These drivers have he mouse cursor problems unlike all non-Creative drivers.  This will be fixed in the next release by Creative Labs.

3Dfx RC-4
From Gainward
Voodoo Banshee Windows(r) 95/98 Driver Kit
--------------------------------------
Voodoo Banshee(tm) Driver kit: 1.01.02 RC4
Voodoo Banshee DirectX(r) Driver Version: 2.18
Voodoo Banshee Win9x 2D/3D Display Drivers (AGP): 4.10.01.0232-1.00
Voodoo Banshee Win9x 2D/3D Display Drivers (PCI): 4.10.01.0128-1.00
Voodoo Banshee Glide(tm) 2.X Driver: 2.60.00.0122
Voodoo Banshee Glide 3.X Driver: 3.10.00.0122
Voodoo Banshee Control Panel: 1.0.0.0026

This version does not appear to fix the Win95 retail and Win95a incompatibility depsite some statements to the contrary.

This version is free from black jpegs, and mouse cursor issues.

Creative Labs "RC-4" (11/19/98)

Guillemot "RC-4" (11/27/98)
Voodoo Banshee(tm) Driver kit: 1.01.03
Voodoo Banshee DirectX(r) Driver Version: 2.18
Voodoo Banshee Win9x 2D/3D Display Drivers: 4.10.01.0224-1.00
Voodoo Banshee Glide(tm) 2.X Driver: 2.60.00.0122
Voodoo Banshee Glide 3.X Driver: 3.10.00.0122

3Dfx Release 1.0 (12/02/98)
Voodoo Banshee Windows(r) 98 AGP Driver Kit
---------------------------------------
Voodoo Banshee(tm) Driver kit: 1.01.03
Voodoo Banshee DirectX(r) Driver Version: 2.18
Voodoo Banshee Win9x 2D/3D Display Drivers: 4.10.01.0234-1.00
Voodoo Banshee Glide(tm) 2.X Driver: 2.60.00.0122
Voodoo Banshee Glide 3.X Driver: 3.10.00.0122
Voodoo Banshee Control Panel: 1.0.0.0027

The readme.txt file that accompanies this files seems to say that they require DirectX5.  However, they work perfectly with DirectX6 and 6.1, as well.

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