Original Post
Ok. Out of SHEER boredom, I''m writing a simple (but purportedly quite fast) MS-DOS text library, using mostly (fast) direct memory writes as opposed to (slow) bios calls. I''m all good, except I''d like to be able to allow switching between video pages to allow a back-buffer-like setup, where someone could write a full screen all full of wonderful, colorful text, and in a single interrupt, switch to a blank screen only to be able to later switch right back. I KNOW how to switch video pages (at least, I know the interrupt), I just don''t know how to directly write to other pages. For the default page, it''s easy--just write to segment 0xb800 (for color, anyway) and be done, but does anyone know the memory address for different pages? What''s the deal?
Also, is there a faster (or somehow better or more elegant or what have you) way to: show/hide the cursor, move the cursor, set the active page, or maybe even switch text modes? Faster meaning faster than using interrupts. And while I''m on the subject, does anyone know the code to wait for retrace when in text mode? This could come in quite handy if I get the whole writing-to-other-pages thing down. I know how to wait for retrace in VGA mode, but is it the same when in text mode?
That''s all for now. As soon as I can remember the myriad of other questions I had about how to write a direct-memory-writing DOS text library, I''ll ask ''em. 