Setting Hardware Information in the Registry

HwVidFindAdapter can call the VideoPortGetRegistryParameters and VideoPortSetRegistryParameters functions to get and set configuration information in the registry. For example, HwVidFindAdapter might call VideoPortSetRegistryParameters to set up nonvolatile configuration information in the registry for the next boot. It might call VideoPortGetRegistryParameters to get adapter-specific, bus-relative configuration parameters written into the registry by an installation program.

It is recommended that miniport drivers set certain hardware information in the registry to display useful information to the user and for assistance in debugging. A miniport driver can set a chip type, DAC type, memory size (of the adapter), and a string to identify the adapter. This information is shown by the Display program in Control Panel.

The driver sets this information by calling VideoPortSetRegistryParameters. Typically, the driver makes the call in its HwVidFindAdapter routine.

The following table describes the information that the driver can register and provides details for the ValueName and ValueData parameters of VideoPortSetRegistryParameters:

Information for Entry	ValueName	ValueData
Chip type	HardwareInformation.ChipType	Null terminated string containing the chip name.
DAC type	HardwareInformation.DacType	Null terminated string containing the DAC name or ID.
Memory size	HardwareInformation.MemorySize	ULONG containing, in MB, the amount of video memory on the adapter.
Adapter ID	HardwareInformation.AdapterString	Null-terminated string containing the name of the adapter.
BIOS	HardwareInformation.BiosString	Null-terminated string containing information about the BIOS.