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does anyone know if windows 3.x was VGA or SVGA and if it used 256 colors or 16/32bit color.

The supplied drivers ranged from EGA 640x350x4 to VGA 800x600x4. However, you could install the proper drivers and use any resolution, including high-colour modes.

ok i think im kinda confused. when ur trying to use high color mode or true color, are you actually programming a driver for the video card? cause to get in 320x240x256 u only write to a port which isnt on the video card...

Yes, you'd be writing a driver for the video card. Any ports you write to in order to change modes will be on the video card.

would the manufacturer of the driver have a list of ports and what they do? which is what brings me to another question...is it possible to ask a manufacturer for information that i could use to write drivers because since they dont make the drivers exclusively for SlackerOS i would have to be able to write them myself.

I vaguely remember that when installing windows 3.X, you could also do something like:
SETUP /B
This would install something that would work on monocrome monitors. I had an old computer with a Herculese type montior that ran windows for years.

Looking back now - I assume this was a modified driver that just wrote to a different memory address.

_mark()

slacker: you might not have much luck with video hardware documentation -- most modern stuff is propietary since knowledge of the card at the chipset level would reveal too much to competitors. Your best bet is to go down the VESA route.

_mark(): IIRC Windows 3.0 had Hercules and CGA drivers. It was also possible to get Windows 98 to use a monochrome driver, although I forget how.