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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!solaris.cc.vt.edu!not-for-mail From: erik@fenris.campus.vt.edu () Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Why to not buy Matrox Millennium Followup-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.x,comp.os.linux.hardware,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Date: 24 Mar 1996 22:58:57 GMT Organization: A random machine somewhere Lines: 43 Message-ID: <4j4k3h$h8u@solaris.cc.vt.edu> References: <4j21ph$crr@slappy.cs.utexas.edu> <4j3muv$34m@cville-srv.wam.umd.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: fenris.campus.vt.edu NNTP-Posting-User: erik X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950824BETA PL0] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.development.apps:13544 comp.os.linux.development.system:19847 comp.os.linux.x:27376 comp.os.linux.hardware:34078 comp.os.linux.setup:46734 comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:266 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:2732 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:2518 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:15846 Vladimir Vukicevic (vladimir@Burner.dsg.stanford.edu) wrote: : : In article <4j3v64$1rq@virtech.aib.com> dwex@aib.com (David E. Wexelblat) writes: : : > >Take the existing drivers. Disassemble. Take a look. If they do not : > >care about you, why should you care about their stinking industrial : > >secrets? : > > : > >Marat : > : > 1) It's illegal. : > 2) You will make no friends in the XFree86[TM] community by doing so. We : > will do all in our power to stop you. : : and 3) It's also rather painful to do -- especially when you want to : write a device driver not only for their 2D end, but also for their : 3D support -- and I can't even find any of their touted 3DR and OpenGL : drivers for Win95/WinNT. Once it has been decided to go with this idea, I'm sure that the people who are actually dissecting the drivers will have a difficult time. But that isn't the issue really. The issue that we want to deal with is if this should be encouraged as a means of supporting hardware vendors who are obstinate about giving out the programming information. There are other options before dissection, including using drivers from other operating systems ( win95 if you thunk, and winNT for native 32bit ), but for best performance, writing your own driver is probably the way to go. Is it possible to determine how the 3D support works? Yes. The interfaces to similar chips are available, and the interface to OpenGL and/or 3DR will be available. This will give a starting place on where to look. Once you have that starting point, you can see what registers are used to start the acceleration, and get to have a decent idea of what happens. That this will take time isn't a big deal, as this is done as a hobby for most concerned and the time is irrelevant with the bigger issue of learning how a chipset works .. Almost makes me wish I had something as glamorous as the matrox to play with.. maybe if I actually had money.. :)