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Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!caen!uunet!olivea!pagesat!netsys!agate!stanford.edu!kronos.arc.nasa.gov!iscnvx!butch!netcomsv!netcom.com!hasty From: hasty@netcom.com (Amancio Hasty Jr) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: [386BSD] Xfree and Diamond Speedstar 24X Message-ID: <1992Dec2.184929.6208@netcom.com> Date: 2 Dec 92 18:49:29 GMT References: <ByM04L.1v0@ucunix.san.uc.edu> <JTSILLA.92Dec1233950@damon.ccs.northeastern.edu> <ByMEIx.E0s@ucunix.san.uc.edu> Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Lines: 65 In article <ByMEIx.E0s@ucunix.san.uc.edu> pmartin@eniac.san.uc.edu (Paul Martin) writes: >In article <JTSILLA.92Dec1233950@damon.ccs.northeastern.edu> jtsilla@damon.ccs.northeastern.edu (James Tsillas) writes: >> >>Paul, the problem is that Xfree86 does not support any Diamond card >>designed after the Diamond Speedstar+. This is due to an unusual policy >>(among SVGA vendors) of Diamond to keep from submitting technical >>details on programming the clock synthesizer without a non-disclosure >>agreement. Since XFree86 is distributed in source form this won't work. >>Until Diamond changes it's policies XFree86 will ignore their products >>and concentrate on other vendor's products for which the source can be >>distributed without any question. > >Before I chose the VGA board I did, I read the README file which was >included with the Xfree86 binaries. The following is from that document: > > > > README for XFree86 1.1 > ---------------------- > >FEATURES >-------- >... > 4) Support for the newer ET4000-based SVGAs which have high clocks and > reported incorrect clock values with the standard version. This > support is automatic and does not require any Xconfig options. > Note that the Diamond SpeedStar 24 (as opposed to the 24X) is an > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > ET4000 board that is NOT compatible with XFree86. > > > >I took this to imply that the ET-4000 chipset used in the 24x card is >supported. Why mention the 24X here if it is not? Why not say >somewhere in all of the README files that Diamond uses some different >clocking scheme, therefore none of their cards are supported. Thank you >David Dawes for helping me select the right card to use with xfree86. >Might I suggest that this document be changed to reflect reality? May I ask why are you considering an ET-4000 based card? XS3-0.3 supports S3's 801 chipset capable of generating 64k xstones quite a match for sun workstation IPC with a GX. Actix GraphicEngine32 and Orchid F1280 va are both based on the S3 801. You can probably get an 801 for less than $220. If you like something cheaper an Orchid F1280 911 based is selling for $170. XS3-0.3 with a 911 can generate better than 38k xstones. A distributor for both Actix and Orchid cards is Palo Microcomputers located in Palo Alto, Ca. They seemed to have the cheapest prices in the bay area. Amancio Hasty >-- >+-----------------[Paul Martin @ eniac on the SAN here at UC]-----------------+ >| Internet: pmartin@eniac.san.uc.edu | "Yes I am serious, | >| | and don't call me Shirley" | >+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ -- Amancio Hasty | Home: (415) 495-3046 | ftp-site depository of all my work: e-mail hasty@netcom.com | sunvis.rtpnc.epa.gov:/pub/386bsd/incoming