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From: steve@ecf.toronto.edu (Steve Kotsopoulos)
Subject: X on Intel-based Unix Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]
Message-ID: <CE8qxB.Itt@ecf.toronto.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Summary: X options for Intel-based Unix (SYSV/386, 386BSD, Linux, Mach)
Originator: steve@cannon.ecf
Sender: news@ecf.toronto.edu (News Administrator)
Reply-To: steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1993 23:07:59 GMT
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: Mon, 1 Nov 1993 05:00:00 GMT
Lines: 713
Archive-name: Intel-Unix-X-faq
Last-modified: 1 Oct 1993
This article includes answers to:
I) What options do I have for X software on my Intel-based Unix system?
1. Free options
2. Commercial options
II) What is XFree86 and where do I get it?
3. What is XFree86?
4. What OSs are supported?
5. What video hardware is supported?
6. What about accelerated boards?
7. Why doesn't XFree86 support 16-color VGA modes?
8. What other hardware or software requirements are there?
9. Where can I get source for XFree86?
10. Where can I get binaries for XFree86?
IV) What general things should I know about running XFree86?
11. Installation directories
12. Configuration files
13. Determining VGA dot clocks and monitor modes
14. Rebuilding/reconfiguring the server from the link kit
V) What OS-specific things should I know about running XFree86?
15. SVR4
16. SVR3
17. 386BSD
18. Linux
19. Mach
VI) What things should I know for building XFree86 from source?
VII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86?
20. BSD compatibility library
21. ANSICCOPTIONS
VIII) Where to get more information
IX) [Special, for this month only] Preliminary information on XFree86 2.0
This article does NOT include answers to general X questions, since they
are already covered by the X FAQ that is regularly posted by David B. Lewis
<faq%craft@uunet.uu.net>.
For information on X packages for DOS systems, consult the (PC)NFS FAQ
available from seagull.rtd.com:/pub/tcpip/pcnfs.FAQ.v1.2.Z
If you have anything to add or change on this FAQ just let me know.
(especially if you had a problem that someone else was able to help you with)
Send changes to steve@ecf.toronto.edu, please put 'FAQ' somewhere
in the subject line so that my mail filter will put it in the correct folder.
Please DO NOT ask me questions that are not answered in this FAQ. I do not
have time to respond to these individually. Instead, post your question
to the net, and send me the question and answer together when you get it.
Frequently Asked Questions About X on Intel-based Unix (with answers)
=====================================================================
I) What options do I have for X software on my Intel-based Unix system?
1. Free options
The BEST option is XFree86, which is an enhanced version of X386 1.2.
Any other version of X386 will be more difficult to compile.
Information on how to obtain it is listed below.
X386 is the port of the X11 server to System V/386 that was done by
Thomas Roell (roell@sgcs.com). It supports a wide variety of SVGA boards.
There are 2 major free versions: X386 1.1 is based on X11R4,
X386 1.2 is included in MIT's X11R5 distribution (ie. you
don't need to patch it into the MIT source any more).
X386 1.3 is the current commercial offering from SGCS (see below).
Several other options are available for people running NeXTSTEP on
i486 and Pentium hardware. Information on mouseX, Cub'X and Co-Xist
is available via anonymous ftp from cs.orst.edu in /pub/next/XNeXT.
2. Commercial options
1) Metro Link
2213 W. McNab Road
Pompano Beach, FL 33069
(305) 970-7353
Fax: (305) 970-7351
email: sales@metrolink.com
Summary: OS: QNX, SVR3, SVR4.[012], SCO, UnixWare, LynxOS,
DESQview/X, Venix, ISC, Solaris, Pyramid, SunOS
HW: EGA, VGA, SVGA, TIGA, TARGA, 8514/A, Mach,
S3, WD, Fujistu, Matrox, Microfield Graphics, R33020
Other: Motif, OpenLook/XView, XIE Imaging Extension,
Xv Video Extension, Audio Drivers, Multi Media
2) SGCS (Snitily Graphics Consulting Services)
894 Brookgrove Lane
Cupertino, CA 95014
(800) 645-5501, (408) 255-9665
Fax: (408) 255-9740
email: info@sgcs.com or ...!mips!zok!info
Summary: OS: SVR3.2, SVR4
HW: 8514/A (ATI Ultra), S3 (Diamond Stealth), SVGA
Other: Motif, Dual-headed server
3) Consensys Corporation
1301 Pat Booker Rd.
Universal City, TX 78148
Phone: 1-800-388-1896
FAX: 1-416-940-2903
email: info@consensys.com
Summary: OS: Consensys V4.2, Consensys' version of
Unix System V Release 4.2
HW: X11R4 server support for VGA, SVGA
Other: MoOLIT, Motif, X11R5 Clients
4) The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
p.o. box 1900
Santa Cruz, California 95061
(408) 425 7222, (800) SCO UNIX,
FAX: (408) 458 4227
email: info@sco.com
Summary: OS: ODT 1.1, ODT 2.0, ODT 3.0
HW: X11R5 server support for SVGA, 8514/A, S3, TMS340x0,
WD90C31, XGA2, QVision, misc. localbus video systems
(see Hardware Compatibility Handbook for actual card
vendors).
Other: Motif
5) Answer Software & Consulting
p.o. box 14171
Columbus, Ohio 43214
614-263-XLAB
email: sales@x4coher.com
Summary: OS: Coherent 4.0.1r72 or greater
HW: works with any VESA compliant video
6) OpenWindows (shipped as part of the Solaris for x86 OS)
SunSoft Inc.
2550 Garcia Ave.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: 415-960-3200
Summary: OS: Solaris for x86, SunSoft's version of SVR4.2
HW: Orchid ProDesigner II, Compaq QVision, Paradise
Accelerator Board, ET 4000 video card with VESA
configuration file, WD90C30 video card with VESA
configuration file, IBM XGA.
Other: X11R4 clients, XView, OLIT, DeskSet
NOTE: Other commercial vendors (including OS vendors describing
bundled software) are welcome to submit summary information
summary information such as the above.
II) What is XFree86 and where do I get it?
3. What is XFree86?
XFree86 is an enhanced version of X386 1.2, which was distributed with
X11R5. This release consists of many bug fixes, speed improvements, and
other enhancements. The release is available as source patches against the
MIT X11R5 code, as well as binary distributions for many architectures.
Here are the highlights of the enhancements:
1) The SpeedUp package from Glenn Lai is an integral part of XFree86,
selectable at run-time via the Xconfig file. Some SpeedUps require
an ET4000 based SVGA, and others require a virtual screen width of
1024. The SpeedUps suitable to the configuration are selected by
default. With a high-quality ET4000 board (VRAM), this can yield
up to 40% improvement of the xStones benchmark over X386 1.2.
2) The fX386 packages from Jim Tsillas are included as the default
operating mode if SpeedUp is not selected. This mode is now
equivalent in performance to X386 1.1b (X11R4), and approximately
20% faster than X386 1.2.
3) A monochrome server that supports bank-switching of available SVGA
memory to allow virtual screens up to 1600x1200.
4) Support for the Hercules mono card has been added to the monochrome
server, and with it the ability to support a "two headed" server -
one VGA, and one Hercules.
5) SVR3 shared libraries, tested under ISC SVR3 2.0.2, 2.2 and 3.0.1;
SCO 3.2.2, 3.2.4.
6) Support for Linux, 386BSD, Mach, SVR4.2, SCO, Amoeba, and Minix-386.
7) Support for LOCALCONN. This support is for both SVR3.2 and SVR4.
For SVR4.0.4 with the 'Advanced Compatibility Package', local
connections from SCO XSight/ODT clients are supported.
8) Drivers for ATI, Trident, NCR, Compaq, and Cirrus SVGA chipsets.
Refer to the files README.ati and README.trident for details about
the ATI and Trident drivers.
9) Support for compressed bitmap fonts has been added (Thomas
Eberhardt's code from the contrib directory on export.lcs.mit.edu).
10) Type1 Font code from MIT contrib tape has been included, and is
compile-time selectable. There are contributed Type1 fonts in the
contrib directory on export.lcs.mit.edu.
11) New configuration method which allows the server's drivers and font
renderers to be reconfigured from both source and binary
distributions.
12) A new tutorial on how to develop correct video card and monitor
timing data, written by Eric Raymond (derived from previous
documentation and a lot of experimentation).
13) Greatly improved support for international keyboards, including
implementation of the Compose key functionality found on many
vendor servers.
14) Many enhancements in error handling and parsing of the Xconfig
configuration file. Error messages are much more informative and
intuitive, and more validation is done. There are many new options
that can be enabled in the Xconfig file.
The following key features were added with the release of XFree86 1.3
(they were not in XFree86 1.2):
0) The server binary names have been changed from 'X386' and
'X386mono' to 'XF86_SVGA' and 'XF86_Mono'. This is not
particularly important, but may confuse people at first.
1) MIT public fixes to X11R5 up to fix-25 have been incorporated
2) Support for the following operating systems has been added:
SCO SVR3 3.2.2 and 3.2.4
ISC 2.0.2
Amoeba
Minix-386
3) Support for the following SVGA chipsets has been added:
Western Digital 90C3x
Cirrus 542x
Trident 8800CS, 8900B, 8900CL
NCR 77C22, 77C22E
Compaq AVGA
We believe that the ET4000/W32 will also work with this release.
4) For SVR3/4, the local connection mechanism used is selectable at
run-time, rather than compile time.
5) For 386BSD, the server now determines the console driver at
run-time, removing the need for separate server binaries.
6) Support for building Linux shared libraries is integrated into the
source kit.
7) The server Link Kit now includes driver sources, which allows for
modification and addition of new drivers, without requiring the
server source tree.
8) The interface between the server and the drivers has been fully
documented, and a stub driver is included.
9) A preliminary version of the 'SuperProbe' program is included.
This is a Unix-based program designed to detect and identify
installed video hardware.
10) The binary package is no longer required to exist in /usr/X386.
Support for a $XWINHOME environment variable has been added to all
hard-coded paths.
11) PEX is now supported in the XFree86 source tree, and has been
ported to Linux.
12) The Hercules code has been fixed for Linux, 386BSD, Mach and SCO.
13) The handling of the "overscan" region of the display has been
dramatically improved. This should prevent the area of the display
outside the raster from changing to odd colors when colormap
changes are made.
14) Support has been added to handle mice that can switch between
Microsoft and MouseSystems modes via toggling of DTR for OSs that
provide a mechanism for manipulating RS-232 control leads.
15) Support for a banked operation has been added to the ET3000 driver
in the monochrome server.
Plus a number of other small things. Refer to the CHANGELOG file
in the source distribution for full details.
Also included are a tutorial on monitor timing by Eric Raymond, and the
current X386 mode database and a sample xdm configuration by David Wexelblat.
4. What OSs are supported?
SVR4.0:
Esix: 4.0.3A, 4.0.4
Microport: 2.2, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2
Dell: 2.1, 2.2
UHC: 2.0, 3.6
Consensys: 1.2
MST: 4.0.3
ISC: 4.0.3
AT&T: 2.1, 4.0
NCR: MP-RAS
SVR4.2:
Consensys
Univel UnixWare
SVR3:
Interactive: 2.0.2, 2.2, 3.0
SCO: 3.2.2, 3.2.4
AT&T: 3.2.2
Others:
386BSD 0.1, NetBSD 0.8
Mach 386
Linux
Amoeba
Minix-386
A set of patches to support XFree86 1.3 on BSDI's BSD/386 is available
from the following sites:
ftp.physics.su.oz.au:/XFree86/bsdi-1.3-unoff
export.lcs.mit.edu:/contrib/XFree86/bsdi-1.3-unoff
This is contributed code, and not part of the official 1.3 release.
These patches will be integrated into XFree86 2.0, hence 2.0 will
have native support for BSD/386.
Note that Esix 3.2D is not supported yet, but anyone should feel
free to submit patches. If you are interested in tackling this,
send mail to xfree86@physics.su.oz.au
5. What video hardware is supported?
At this time, XFree86 1.3 supports the following SVGA chipsets:
Tseng ET3000, ET4000
Western Digital/Paradise PVGA1
Western Digital WD90C00, WD90C10, WD90C11, WD90C30, WD90C31
Genoa GVGA
Trident TVGA8800CS, TVGA8900B, TVGA8900C, TVGA8900CL, TVGA9000
ATI 28800-4, 28800-5, 28800-a [18800-1 reportedly works too]
NCR 77C22, 77C22E
Cirrus Logic CLGD5420, CLGD5422, CLGD5424, CLGD5426
Compaq AVGA
All of the above are supported in both 256 color and monochrome modes,
with the exception of the ATI and Cirrus chipsets, which are only
supported in 256 color mode.
Refer to the chipset-specific README files (currently for Tseng, Western
Digital, ATI, and Trident) for more information about using those chipsets.
The monochrome server also supports generic VGA cards, using 64k of video
memory in a single bank, and the Hercules card. On the Compaq AVGA, only
64k of video memory is supported for the monochrome server, and the GVGA
has not been tested with more than 64k.
It appears that some of the SVGA card manufacturers are going to
non-traditional mechanisms for selecting pixel-clock frequencies. To
avoid having to modify the server to accommodate these schemes XFree86 1.2
added support for using an external program to select the pixel clock.
This allows programs to be written as new mechanisms are discovered.
Refer to the README.clkprog file for information on how these programs
work, if you need to write one. If you do develop such a program, we
would be interested in including it with future XFree86 releases.
If you are purchasing new hardware for the purpose of using XFree86,
it is suggested that you purchase an ET4000-based board such as the
Orchid ProDesigner IIs. Avoid recent Diamond boards; XFree86 will not
work with them, because Diamond won't provide programming details.
In fact, the XFree86 project is actively not supporting new Diamond
products, as long as such policies remain in effect. Contributions
of code will NOT be accepted (because of the potential liabilities).
If you would like to see this change, tell Diamond about it.
Some people have asked if XFree86 would work with local bus or EISA
video cards. Theoretically, the means of communication between the
CPU and the video card is irrelevant to Xfree86 compatibility. It
could be ISA, EISA, or local bus. What should matter is the chipset
on the video card. Unfortunately, the developers don't have a lot
of access to EISA or VLB machines, so this is largely an untested
theory. However, we have yet to see any reports of things not
working on one of these buses and we have several reports of Xfree86
working fine on them.
6. What about accelerated boards?
At this point, XFree86 does not support any accelerated chipsets.
These include the S3 86Cxxx, the ATI Mach8 and Mach32, the IBM 8514/A,
the new Western Digital chipset (on the Diamond SpeedStar 24X), the new
Cirrus and Tseng chipsets, and TIGA (TI 340x0). This support is available
in commercial products from SGCS and MetroLink (for SVR3 and SVR4).
Some of these will be supported in XFree86 2.0.
An S3 server is available for 386BSD and Linux. Contact
<hasty@netcom.com> for 386BSD or <???> for Linux.
A beta 8514/A server is available for Linux. Contact <martin@cs.unc.edu>.
Note: these servers are NOT part of XFree86.
7. Why doesn't XFree86 support 16-color VGA modes?
The reason that this is not supported is the way VGA implements the
16-color modes. In 256-color modes, each byte of frame buffer memory
contains 1 pixel. But the 16-color modes are implemented as bit-
planes. Each byte of frame- buffer memory contains 1 bit from each
of each of 8 pixels, and there are four such planes. The MIT frame-
buffer code is not designed to deal with this. If VGA handled
16-color modes by packing 2 4-bit pixels into each byte, the MIT code
could be modified to support this (or it already may; I'm not sure).
But for the VGA way of doing things, a complete new frame-buffer
implementation is required. Some beta testers are looking into this,
but nothing is yet available from the project.
8. What other hardware or software requirements are there?
Obviously, a supported SVGA board and OS are required. To run
X efficiently, 12-16MB of real memory should be considered a minimum.
The various binary releases take 10-40MB of disk space, depending
on the OS (e.g. whether or not it supports shared libraries).
To build from sources, at least 80MB of free disk space will
be required, although 120MB should be considered a comfortable
lower bound.
9. Where can I get source for XFree86?
Source patches for the current version (1.3, based on X11R5 PL25
from MIT), are available via anonymous FTP from:
export.lcs.mit.edu (under /contrib/XFree86)
ftp.physics.su.oz.au (under /XFree86)
ftp.win.tue.nl (under /pub/XFree86)
(For the rest of this FAQ, these 3 location will be called $FTP)
Refer to the README file under the specified directory for information
on which files you need to get to build your distribution (which will
depend on whether this is a new installation or an upgrade from an
earlier version of XFree86).
10. Where can I get binaries for XFree86?
Binaries are available via anonymous FTP from:
ftp.physics.su.oz.au - SVR4 binaries
under /XFree86/SVR4
ftp.win.tue.nl - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/SVR4
ftp.tcp.com - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/SVR4/XFree86
stasi.bradley.edu - SVR4 binaries
under /pub/XFree86/SVR4
stasi.bradley.edu - SVR3 (SCO) binaries
under /pub/XFree86/sco
blancmange.ma.utexas.edu - SVR3 (ISC) binaries
under /pub/ISC
ftp.prz.tu-berlin.de - SVR3 (ISC) binaries
under /pub/pc/isc/XFree86
tsx-11.mit.edu - Linux binaries
under /pub/linux/packages/X11
agate.berkeley.edu - 386BSD binaries
under /pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.3
gatekeeper.dec.com - 386BSD binaries
under /pub/BSD/386bsd/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.3
wuarchive.wustl.edu - 386BSD binaries
under /mirrors4/386bsd/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.3
XFree86.cdrom.com - 386BSD binaries
under /pub/XFree86/XFree86-1.3
ftp.cs.uwm.edu - Mach386 binaries
under /i386
Ensure that you are getting XFree86 1.3 - some of these sites may
archive older releases as well. Each binary distribution will
contain a README file that describes what files you need to take
from the archive, and which compile-time option selections were
made when building the distribution.
IV) What general things should I know about running XFree86?
11. Installation directories
The top-level installation directory is specified by the ProjectRoot
(/usr/X386, by default) variable in config/site.def. Binaries, include
files, and libraries are installed in $ProjectRoot/{bin,include,lib}.
This can be changed when rebuilding from sources, and can be modified
via symbolic links for those OSs that support them. This directory is
nonstandard, and was chosen this way to allow XFree86 to be installed
alongside a commercial/vendor-supplied X implementation.
12. Configuration files
The XFree86 server reads a configuration file ("Xconfig") on startup.
The search path, contents and syntax for this file are documented in
the server manpage, which should be consulted before asking questions.
13. Determining VGA dot clocks and monitor modes
David E Wexelblat (dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com) maintains a database of known
clock settings for VGA cards and monitor settings.
The database is installed in /usr/X386/lib/X11/etc/modeDB.txt, and
is in the source tree under mit/server/ddx/x386/etc. This database is
also available from him (for the latest copy), and is kept on
export.lcs.mit.edu in ~/contrib/X386.modeDB.Z, which is updated
occasionally. Obtain a copy of this database. It just might have the
settings you need. If you create new settings, please send them to
David for inclusion in the database.
If this doesn't help you, the VideoModes.doc (by Eric Raymond) file
with XFree86 contains tutorials on how to come up with these timings.
It may be helpful to start with settings that almost work, and use
this description to get them right. When you do, send the information
to David Wexelblat for inclusion in the database.
NOTE: The old 'clock.exe' program is not supported any more, and
is completely unnecessary. If you need to determine dot
clock values for a new board, remove the 'Clocks' line from
your Xconfig file (if present), and start the server. The
server will probe for clocks itself and print them out.
You can use these values to put a 'Clocks' line into your
Xconfig file, which is not necessary, but will speed up
starting the server in the future.
14. Rebuilding/reconfiguring the server from the link kit
If you have installed the server Binary Link Kit, it is possible to
reconfigure the drivers and font renderers in the server. This is
fully explained in the README file that is available with the link kit.
V) What OS-specific things should I know about running XFree86?
First of all, the server must be installed suid-root (mode 4755).
15. SVR4
Why won't my xterm run properly?
If your kernel is not built with the consem module, you should define
CONSEM=no in you environment. Otherwise xterm won't run.
csh users should use 'setenv CONSEM no'
The Esix console driver patch 403019 is known to cause keymapping
problems with XFree86. It recommended that this patch not be
installed. Alternatively they keymap can be fixed with xmodmap.
16. SVR3
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.ISC, if that's what you are running.
17. 386BSD
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.386BSD.
Also, a separate 386BSD FAQ is maintained by Richard Murphey
<Rich@Rice.edu>. The latest version should be available in the
file XFree86-1.2-386BSD-FAQ at the following ftp sites:
agate.berkeley.edu:/pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.2
wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors4/386bsd/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.2
grasp.insa-lyon.fr:pub/386BSD/0.1-ports/XFree86-1.3
18. Linux
You must be running Linux 0.99pl10 or greater, and have the 4.4 gcc
jump libraries installed.
Make sure the binaries XF86_SVGA, XF86_mono, xload and xterm are setuid
root.
If your kernel doesn't have TCP support compiled in, you'll have to
run the server as "X -pn". The default startup configuration assumes
that TCP is not available. If it is, change the two files
/usr/X386/bin/startx and /usr/X386/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers, removing the
-pn argument to X386.
Make sure /dev/console is either a link to /dev/tty0 or has the major
number 4, minor number 0. Also note that if /dev/console is not
owned by the user running X, then xconsole and xterm will not permit
console output redirection. Xdm will properly change the owner, but
startx won't.
When running xdm from rc.local, you will need to provide it with
a tty, for example "xdm < /dev/console &".
For more detailed information, please read the file README present
with the distribution on tsx-11.mit.edu.
19. Mach
Make sure you look at $FTP/README.Mach.
VI) What things should I know for building XFree86 from source?
This section has been removed from the FAQ, since it is
fully explained in $FTP/README and the OS-specific READMEs.
Please look at those files for information on building XFree86.
VII) Is there anything special about building clients with XFree86?
20. BSD compatibility library
A lot of clients make use of BSD functions like bcopy(), etc.
The default configuration files are set up to link with libXbsd.a
which contains emulation for bcopy(), bzero(), bcmp(), ffs(), random(),
seed(). A better way of providing the 'b' functions is to include
<X11/Xfuncs.h> in source files that call them. Xfuncs.h provides macro
definitions for these in terms of the SYSV 'mem' functions. If you are
linking with a vendor supplied library which calls some of these
functions, then you should link with libXbsd.a
21. ANSICCOPTIONS
This is something that was added to allow a developer to get rid of the
ANSI-ness defined in the default CCOPTIONS without having to rewrite
the entire CCOPTIONS line. For example, with stock MIT, you'd see
something like
CCOPTIONS="-ansi -O2 -fwritable-strings"
and to get rid of the ANSI-ness, the developer would have to put
CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings"
in his Imakefile. With this change, you would see a default of
ANSICCOPTIONS="-ansi"
CCOPTIONS="-O2 -fwritable-strings"
and all the developer would have to put in the Imakefile is:
ANSICCOPTIONS=
to get rid of the ANSI-ness (many X clients will die a horrible death
with -ansi). The effect is even more dramatic in practice, because
CCOPTIONS is actually quite complex. The other issue is that one must
add 'ANSICCOPTIONS=$(ANSICCOPTIONS)' to a PassCDebugFlags definition.
VIII) Where to get more information
Additional documentation is available in the XFree86(1) and XF86keybd(1)
manual pages. In addition, several README files and tutorial documents
are provided. These are available in /usr/X386/lib/X11/etc in the binary
distributions, and in mit/server/ddx/x386 and ddx/x386/etc in the source
distribution.
Documentation on SVGA driver development can be found in the directory
/usr/X386/Server/VGADriverDoc in the binary distribution, and in the
directory mit/server/ddx/x386/VGADriverDoc in the source distribution.
If you are totally at a loss, you can contact the XFree86 Core Team at
xfree86@physics.su.oz.au.
IX) [Special, for this month only] Preliminary information on XFree86 2.0
This was recently posted to comp.windows.x.i386unix by David E. Wexelblat:
Subject: Preliminary information on XFree86 2.0...
Just to frustrate you (:->), here's some pre-release information on
XFree86 2.0. We currently plan to release 2.0 at the end of October,
barring any unforseen problems. Here's a list of what's definitely
in (i.e the code is in the base and tested), on top of the 1.3 feature
list:
- OS support:
- BSDI BSD/386
- OSF/1
- NetBSD, FreeBSD
(including VT switching with syscons)
- New hardware supported:
- VGA: Generic 16-color
- SVGA: Oak 067/057
- Monochrome: Sigma Designs LView, Hyndai HGC-1280
- Accelerated hardware:
- Cirrus 542{6,8}
- Western Digital WD90C31
- IBM 8514/A
- ATI Mach-8, Mach-32
- S3 911/924, 801/805, 928
- Input devices:
- Hitachi Puma Plus digitizer
- Support OS mouse driver for SCO
- Lots and lots of bug fixes
The Cirrus and WD accelerated support is incorporated in the SVGA server.
The 8514, Mach-8, Mach-32, and S3 each have their own servers (for now;
we will likely merge these for 2.1). The 16-color server is still
experimental; it has known bugs, and does not support banking yet.
For the Mach-32 and S3 servers, linear framebuffer access is supported
for EISA and VLB cards for OSs that support such access (currently
Linux, SVR4, Mach, OSF/1, BSD/386 and SVR3 (with the installation of
a device driver to support this access, which will be included)). On
ISA bus cards, and OSs that don't support the linear framebuffer access,
the normal 64k VGA window is used.
We will be supplying a list of know working accelerated cards (i.e. those
that the beta testers are using). All of the ATI Ultra boards should
be supported, and S3 boards from Actix, #9, ELSA, and STB are known to
work (there may be others, but I haven't compiled the list yet).
We have just completed our 5th beta-test release since 1.3 was released
in June; there have been 28 alpha releases. So far. There will be
one more beta before the final code freeze, and an unknown number of
alphas.
We have been making extensive use of the MIT X Test Suite with these
servers. The accelerated servers are know to have the same pass/fail
cases as the SVGA server has (there were bugs in the MIT X11R5 server;
we haven't gone out of our way to fix them, but we don't fail anything
that passes in the MIT code).
There may be other features added before 2.0, but they will not be
significant. We are hoping to add one or two more SVGA chipset drivers,
but we haven't seen the code for them yet.
Please do not bombard us with questions; we are working very hard to
complete this release, and get it out when we say it will be out. Between
now and then, Jon Tombs will be leaving the scene (headed for a location
without net access), and I will be changing jobs and moving. This is
a very hectic time, but we believe that people will be quite pleased
with the results when the release is made.
--------------------------------------------------
XFree86 Contact Information
Ongoing development planning and support is coordinated by the XFree86
Core Team. At this time the Core Team consists of (in alphabetical order):
Robert Baron <Robert.Baron@ernst.mach.cs.cmu.edu>
David Dawes <dawes@physics.su.oz.au>
Dirk Hohndel <hohndel@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de>
Glenn Lai <glenn@cs.utexas.edu>
Rich Murphey <Rich@Rice.edu>
Jon Tombs <Jon has moved, and doesn't have email any more>
David Wexelblat <dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com>
Thomas Wolfram <wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de>
Orest Zborowski <obz@Kodak.com>
E-mail sent to <xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> will reach all of the Core Team.
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks to all the people who already sent me corrections or additions,
especially David Wexelblat (one of the major contributors of updates).
--
Steve Kotsopoulos P.Eng. mail: steve@ecf.toronto.edu
Systems Analyst bitnet: steve@ecf.UTORONTO.BITNET
Engineering Computing Facility uucp: uunet!utai!ecf!steve
University of Toronto phone: (416) 978-5898