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Xref: sserve comp.unix.sysv386:23915 comp.windows.x:45391 comp.os.linux:10415 comp.unix.bsd:5351 comp.os.mach:2172 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:21734 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:31550 Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386,comp.windows.x,comp.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.mach,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnewsk!cbnewsj!dwex From: dwex@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) Subject: Re: Free software and the future of support for Diamond products Organization: AT&T Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1992 00:08:51 GMT Message-ID: <1992Sep20.000851.2641@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> Keywords: Diamond, free-software References: <1992Sep10.130359.24767@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> <1992Sep11.124831.10108@crd.ge.com> <1992Sep12.035549.4743@zeos.com> Lines: 55 In article <1992Sep12.035549.4743@zeos.com> kgermann@zeos.com (Ken Germann) writes: > In article <1992Sep11.124831.10108@crd.ge.com> davidsen@crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes: > >In article <1992Sep10.130359.24767@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, dwex@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) writes: > > > >| Well, one of the responses to our Diamond mail survey was from Rick Kemp > >| at SCO. I quote: > >| > >| We have no plans on supporting their cards at anything but > >| 640x480 resolution. They have refused to tell us how their > >| cards work, and we have told all of our distributors to > >| discontinue carrying them (Gateway 2000 and Zeos). > >| > >| So we'll see. The fact that SCO is having trouble doesn't bode well > >| for our winning this battle. > > > > Interesting, since SCO has a stealth X driver in their directory on > >uunet. I have very little information about it beyond that. > >-- > The solution for the support of X/Windows in the Freeware arena or > any other arena would be to design a VESA based driver for these > software packages. It would greatly simplify the need to design > specific drivers for specific cards. Granted the VESA drivers may not > take advantage of the hardware specific to the card; but, there would > still be a driver available until someone changes their minds. > How difficult would it be to support a VESA based driver under Unix? > This would be a place to start. > > > The problems with the support arose with the Speedstar 24X and Diamonds > proprietary technology used on the card. The Speedstar and Stealth > are both supported by ODT 1.x and 2.x now. The generic TSENG drivers > , I am told should work for the Speedstar (ET4000) based card. > > > > -- > Ken Germann ZZZZ EEEE OO SSS ZEOS International, Ltd. > support@zeos.com INET Z E O O S Technical Support Dept. > uunet!zeos!support UUCP Z EE O O SS 530 5th Ave N.W. > 800-228-5390 VOICE Z E O O S St. Paul, MN 55112 > 612-633-7337 ZZZZ EEEE OO SSS FAX 612-633-4607 [Sorry it took me so long to get back into the fray - I've been on vacation] Unless I've missed something, a VESA compliant board supports a BIOS standard, not a register-level standard. Unix, like other protected-mode operating systems, does not use the BIOS at all, except during boot. So there's no such thing as a VESA-compliant driver under Unix, unless someone hacks the kernel to allow this to work. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- David Wexelblat | dwex@mtgzfs3.att.com | Somebody get me a AT&T Bell Laboratories | ...!att!mtgzfs3!dwex | cheeseburger! 200 Laurel Ave - 4B-421 | | Middletown, NJ 07748 | (908) 957-5871 | --Steve Miller Band