Yes, i can confirm this (using A7). It returns (and has always returned) 8888 - no matter what format the bitmap is.
a month ago, Caermundh came to the same conclusion:
I tested using 8888 and 24 bit bmaps, then 8888 and 32 bit bmaps. After that, i tried 888 and 24 & 32 bit bmaps. the only time anything worked was when i used 8888 and my bmaps were 32 bit.
I actually ended up dropping the bmap_createblack() call and using 2 bmaps instead. (BMAP* bmp1 and BMAP* bmp2). As stated, wdlmasters code worked perfectly once I saved the bmaps as 32 bit in Photoshop - pixel_to_bmap() also worked fine as well.
Once I saved the bitmaps in photoshop as 24 bit( as well as changing the code to use 888 format), pixel_to_bmap() simply wouldnt write pixels to the bitmap - as well as wdlmasters code.
Curiously, the format returned by bmap_lock was 8888 - period. Whether I was locking a 24 bit bmap or a 32 bit bmap - it returned 8888 like it thought it was dealing with 32-bit. At the time, I didnt pay any attention because the manual had stated that formats are automatically "upconverted" depending on the video card. Maybe bmap_lock() is the culprit?