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Xref: sserve comp.os.386bsd.questions:6429 comp.windows.x:60487 Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.windows.x Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!constellation!osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!virtech!dwex From: dwex@aib.com (David E. Wexelblat) Subject: Re: XFree86 2.0 Experiences Message-ID: <CFvyn1.732@aib.com> Organization: AIB Software, Inc. References: <CFtHwE.5qK@festival.ed.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1993 22:33:01 GMT Lines: 81 In article <CFtHwE.5qK@festival.ed.ac.uk> richard@castle.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) writes: >I just installed the new XFree86 servers, and have a few comments and >questions. > >(1) The S3 server runs successfully on my (local bus) STB VL24 board > (thanks!) and scrolling is nice and fast. Other things aren't so > fast, however. For example, xengine runs at only about 40% of the > speed that it runs on a local-bus ET4000 card. Can anyone explain > this? xengine is an irrelevent benchmark. For example, I tested an S3 928 board and found that xengine was about 30% slower than my S3 801. But in no realistic way could the 928 be considered slower than the 801. You will find the S3 plenty fast for just about any real work. This also may be an interaction between the cards and the VLB. Your ET4000 may be running with 0 wait states and your S3 with 1 wait state. Don't know for sure. There are lots and lots (in)compatibility issues with VLB boards. Basically, the S3 stuff doesn't go through the memory aperture all that much yet, and doesn't accelerate anywhere near everything that it could. We concentrated on usability, correctness, and portability for XFree86 2.0. I estimate that only 30-40% of what can be accelerated actually has been. We'll worry about the rest later. > >(2) The 256 colour SVGA server runs on my Genoa 6400 board. But it > still leaves the screen wrong when it exits - lots of green characters, > presumably because the fonts aren't being restored. Does anyone > else get this? A perhaps related point is that after the screen > has been blanked (because it's idle), when it comes back there are > a number of black dots - perhaps the memory is not being refreshed > at some point? > No one involved with XFree86 has ever seen a Genoa board, let alone used one or had access to any documentation. That code is basically untouched since X11R5 was released, except for adapting to changes in the driver interface. >Scrolling on the Genoa (not a local bus card) is still very slow; >probably nothing can be done about this. I tried the 16 colour and >monchrome servers, hoping they'd be faster, but > >(3) The 16 colour server runs much slower than the 256 colour version. No kidding. Guarenteed. > >(4) The mono server doesn't work at all. It puts the screen in the right > mode, but it's almost entirely white with a few vertical black lines > here and there. Some of these black lines are affected when the > (otherwise invisible) cursor is moved past them. Run it in "generic" mode. No one has ever tested the mono server on a Genoa board at all that I know of. We just through in the driver for the hell of it. > >Does anyone have similar experiences or suggestions (other than "buy >a new motherboard and graphics adaptor")? Be happy with your S3 board. Unless xengine is real important to you, I can't imagine that you'll be unhappy with it. > >Thanks, > Richard >-- >"Beat your ploughshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears" >(Joel 3:10) -- David Wexelblat <dwex@aib.com> (703) 430-9247 Fax: (703) 450-4560 AIB Software, Inc., 46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160, Dulles, VA 20166 Formerly Virtual Technologies, Inc. Mail regarding XFree86 should be sent to <xfree86@physics.su.oz.au> "If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down." -- Gin Blossoms, "Hey Jealousy"