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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes
-
- Kevin E. Martin (martin@cs.unc.edu)
-
- 27 October 1998
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- 1. Supported Cards, RAMDACs, and Bits Per Pixel
-
- The Mach64 X server supports 8bpp with a dot clock up to 80MHz on all Mach64
- based cards. On most cards, higher dot clocks and additional depths are avail-
- able (see the table below). What determines this support is the RAMDAC on your
- card.
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 1
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 2
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- RAMDAC Max Dot Clock BPP Max Resolution Video RAM Required
- -------- ------------- --- -------------- ------------------
- ATI68860 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- ATI68860 135MHz 16 1280x1024 4Mb
- ATI68860 80MHz 32 1024x768 4Mb
-
- ATI68875 80MHz 32 1024x768 4Mb
-
- CH8398 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- CH8398 80MHz 16 1024x768 2Mb
- CH8398 40MHz 32 800x600 2Mb
-
- STG1702 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- STG1702 80MHz 16 1024x768 2Mb
- STG1702 50MHz 32 800x600 2Mb
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- STG1703 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- STG1703 80MHz 16 1024x768 2Mb
- STG1703 50MHz 32 800x600 2Mb
-
- AT&T20C408 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- AT&T20C408 80MHz 16 1024x768 2Mb
- AT&T20C408 40MHz 32 800x600 2Mb
-
- 3D Rage II 170MHz 8 1600x1200 4Mb
- 3D Rage II 170MHz 16 1600x1200 4Mb
- 3D Rage II 170MHz 32 1024x768 4Mb
-
- 3D Rage II+DVD 200MHz 8 1600x1200 4Mb
- 3D Rage II+DVD 200MHz 16 1600x1200 4Mb
- 3D Rage II+DVD 200MHz 32 1024x768 4Mb
-
- Rage Pro 230MHz 8 1600x1200 8Mb
- Rage Pro 230MHz 16 1600x1200 8Mb
- Rage Pro 230MHz 32 1600x1200 8Mb
-
- Internal 135MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
- Internal 80MHz 16 1024x768 2Mb
- Internal 40MHz 32 800x600 2Mb
-
- IBM RGB514 220MHz 8 1600x1200 2Mb
- IBM RGB514 220MHz 16 1600x1200 4Mb
- IBM RGB514 135MHz 32 1024x768 4Mb
-
- All Others[*] 80MHz 8 1280x1024 2Mb
-
-
- [*] - The dot clocks are limited to 80MHz and the bpp is limited to 8.
-
- The table above specifies the maximum resolution and the video memory required
- to run this maximum resolution. Smaller resolutions will require less video
- memory.
-
- The RAMDAC is reported when you run the Mach64 X server with the "-probeonly"
-
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 3
-
-
-
- command line option. The RAMDAC reported should be correct for all Mach64
- cards. It can also be specified in the XF86Config file, but this is not recom-
- mended unless the RAMDAC reported in the probeonly output is incorrect. Before
- specifying the RAMDAC in your XF86Config file visually verify which RAMDAC is
- on your Mach64 card. If the RAMDAC reported in the probeonly output is defi-
- nitely different than what you see on the card, then check to see if you have a
- RAMDAC specified in your XF86Config file. If you do, comment this line out and
- re-run the Mach64 X server with the "-probeonly". If it still reports the
- incorrect RAMDAC, please send in a bug report to XFree86@XFree86.Org.
-
- The ATI68860 RAMDACs are usually found on ATI Graphics Pro Turbo and ATI Win-
- Turbo cards. The IBM RGB514 RAMDAC is found on the ATI Graphics Pro Turbo 1600
- card. The other RAMDACs are usually found on ATI Graphics Xpression, ATI Video
- Xpression and ATI 3d Xpression cards. Mach64 CT, ET, VT, VT3, VT4, LT, GT (3D
- Rage), 3D Rage II, 3D Rage IIC, 3D Rage II+DVD, Rage Pro, and Rage LT Pro chips
- have an "Internal" RAMDAC (i.e., it is built into the Mach64 chip).
-
- As advertised, Mach64 graphics cards can use a special 24bpp mode (packed pixel
- mode), but this is not currently supported in the Mach64 X server. This will
- be added in the next major release.
-
- The Mach64 X server requires the video memory aperture to function properly.
- This means that ISA Mach64 cards in systems with more than 12Mb of main memory
- will not work. If you have a PCI based Mach64 card or a VLB based Mach64 card,
- then the Mach64 X server will work with any amount of main memory.
-
- Accelerated doublescan modes are supported on VT, VT3, VT4, LT, GT, Rage II,
- Rage IIC, Rage II+DVD, Rage Pro and Rage LT Pro based Mach64 cards. Mach64
- cards with other chips cannot handle accelerated double scan modes due to a
- hardware limitation. Non-accelerated doublescan modes should work with the ATI
- driver in the SVGA X server for all Mach64 cards.
-
-
- 2. Optimizing the speed of the Mach64 X server
-
- To maximize the speed of the Mach64 X server, I suggest that you use the fol-
- lowing maximum resolutions. This will allow room for the font and pixmap
- caches and a hardware cursor.
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 4
-
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-
- Max Resolution BPP Video RAM
- -------------- --- ---------
- 1600x1200 8 8Mb
- 1600x1200 16 8Mb
- 1280x1024 32 8Mb
-
- 1280x1024 8 4Mb
- 1280x1024 16 4Mb
- 1024x767 32 4Mb
-
- 1280x1024 8 2Mb
- 1024x767 16 2Mb
- 800x600[*] 32 2Mb
-
- 1024x767 8 1Mb
- 800x600[*] 16 1Mb
-
- [*] - With a 2MB video card, the only way to use the font and pixmap caches is
- to have a virtual resolution of 1024x480 with a 640x480 mode. I suggest using
- 800x600 to maximize your screen size at the cost of the speed gained from the
- caches. The same argument can be made for 1MB video cards running in 16bpp
- mode. Note that it is not possible to run in 32bpp mode with 1MB of video mem-
- ory.
-
- Technical explanation for the above suggestions: The Mach64 X server uses a
- font and pixmap cache that is only available at a screen width of 1024 or
- greater. This restriction will be removed in a future version of the X server.
- To obtain the best performance from your video card, you need to make sure that
- there is enough room off-screen for the caches (at least 1024x256). In addi-
- tion to the cache, the Mach64 uses memory mapped registers which are mapped to
- the last 1024 bytes of the memory aperture. This takes away another line from
- video memory. Thus, you need at least a video memory area of 1024x257.
-
-
- 3. XF86Config options
-
- Several options are supported in the "Device" section for the Mach64 X server.
- By default, the Mach64 X server will determine the RAMDAC type from the BIOS.
- If you wish to override the default RAMDAC type (not recommended unless the
- BIOS incorrectly reports your RAMDAC type), you can specify the RAMDAC type in
- the XF86Config file with the "Ramdac" entry. The Mach64 X server will also
- program the clocks based on the clock chip read from the BIOS. If you wish to
- override the default clock chip type (not recommended unless the BIOS incor-
- rectly reports your clock chip type), you may specify the clock chip in the
- XF86Config file with the "ClockChip" entry. If, however, you wish to use the
- preprogrammed clocks, you can turn off the clock programming with the "no_pro-
- gram_clocks" option. In this case, the Mach64 X server reads the Clocks from
- the BIOS. The "Clocks" lines in the XF86Config file are normally ignored by
- the Mach64 X server unless the "no_bios_clocks" option is given. Note on newer
- Mach64 cards (CT, ET, VT, GT, 3D Rage II, 3D Rage II+DVD and Rage Pro) the
- "Ramdac", "ClockChip" and "Clocks" lines have no meaning and should not be
- included in your XF86Config file.
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 5
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- Option "sw_cursor"
- This option allows you to use the software cursor instead of the
- hardware cursor.
-
- Option "hw_cursor"
- This option turns on the hardware cursor. This should not be nec-
- essary since the hardware cursor is used by default unless the
- "sw_cursor" option is specified.
-
- Option "composite"
- This option will set the composite sync for monitors that require
- this.
-
- Option "dac_8_bit"
- This option enables 8 bits per RGB value. Note that this does not
- work with the Chrontel 8398 RAMDAC. This options is not necessary
- since 8 bits per RGB value is the default for the Mach64 X server
- for all Mach64 cards except those with the Chrontel 8398 RAMDAC.
-
- Option "dac_6_bit"
- This option enables 6 bits per RGB value.
-
- Option "override_bios"
- This option allows you to specify a video mode that the video
- card's BIOS believes to be illegal. Some BIOSs have incorrect max-
- imum resolution and/or dot clock limitations. Use this option with
- extreme care. It is possible to specify a video mode that can dam-
- age your card or monitor.
-
- Option "no_block_write"
- This option allows you to turn off block write mode. Block write
- mode only works on certain types of VRAM cards. This option has no
- effect on DRAM based cards. If you see noise on the screen that
- can be captured via xmag, then it is probably a problem with block
- write mode being turned on when it should not. This ``noise'' usu-
- ally looks like bits of windows/menus repeated on the screen.
-
- Option "block_write"
- This option allows you to turn on block write mode. Block write
- mode only works on certain types of VRAM cards, and this option has
- no effect on DRAM based cards. If you want to override the probed
- default, you can use this option. Note that this may result in
- ``noise'' appearing on the screen.
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- Option "power_saver"
- This option allows the server to use the power saving features of
- certain "green" monitors instead of blanking when the screen saver
- is activated. This option is still experimental.
-
- Option "no_program_clocks"
- This option allows you to disable the clock programming. Normally
- the Mach64 server will program the clocks based on the clock chip
- type unless this option is given. With this option, the clocks are
- either read from the BIOS or, if the "no_bios_clocks" option is
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 6
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- set, set from the Clocks line.
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- Option "no_bios_clocks"
- This option allows you to override the clocks read from the video
- card's BIOS and use the clocks specified in the Clocks line in your
- XF86Config file. Normally the Mach64 server will ignore both the
- BIOS clocks and the clocks specified in the Clocks line unless the
- "no_program_clocks" options is set (see above).
-
- Option "no_font_cache"
- This option allows you to disable the font cache. By default the
- font cache is turned on if the horizontal resolution is 1024 pixels
- or greater and there is enough off-screen video memory to hold the
- cache.
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- Option "no_pixmap_cache"
- This option allows you to disable the pixmap cache. By default the
- pixmap cache is turned on if the horizontal resolution is 1024 pix-
- els or greater and there is enough off-screen video memory to hold
- the cache.
-
- Option "fifo_conservative"
- This option allows you to use a more conservative display fifo
- value. If you are experiencing snow or vertical banding on the
- screen, try adding this option to see if it fixes the problem.
-
- MemBase baseaddress
- This entry specifies the video memory aperture address. By default
- the aperture address is automatically determined and this option
- should not be necessary. If the Mach64 X server is dying with a
- seg. fault, then the memory aperture might not be correctly deter-
- mined. To fix this try setting the aperture address to another
- location.
-
- ClockChip "type"
- This entry specifies the clock chip type. The following values are
- valid for type:
-
- o ati18818
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- o att20c408
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- o ch8398
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- o ibm_rgb514
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- o ics2595
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- o stg1703
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- Ramdac "type"
- This entry specifies the RAMDAC type. The following values are
- valid for type:
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 7
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- o ati68860
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- o ati68860b
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- o ati68860c
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- o ati68875
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- o att20c408
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- o ch8398
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- o ibm_rgb514
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- o internal
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- o stg1702
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- o stg1703
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- o tlc34075
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- DacSpeed "MHz"
- This entry allows you to override the default maximum dot clock.
- Use this option with extreme caution. If you specify a MHz value
- too large for your card, you can damage it.
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- 4. Enhancements for this release
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- With this release, the following enhancements have been made:
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- o Proper identification of all current Mach64 chips
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- o Support for VT4 and Rage IIC based cards
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- o Improved timing calculation for video FIFOs
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- o Fixed timing bug in font code
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- o Fixed VGA font restoration bug when exiting the X server
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- 5. Cards known to work with this release
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- The following is a list of cards that have been tested with this release. Many
- other cards should work including All-In-Wonder and All-In-Wonder Pro cards as
- well as motherboards with Mach64, 3D Rage II and Rage Pro included on them. If
- you have a new card that does not appear to work, see the Known Problems and
- Bug Reports section below.
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 8
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- ATI Xpert@Play 98 4MB 3D Rage Pro (AGP)
- ATI Xpert 98 4MB 3D Rage Pro (PCI)
- ATI Xpert XL 4MB 3D Rage Pro (AGP)
- ATI Rage IIC 4MB 3D Rage IIC (AGP)
- ATI Xpert@Play 8MB 3D Rage Pro (AGP/PCI)
- ATI Xpert@Work 2MB 3D Rage Pro (PCI)
- ATI Pro Turbo+PC2TV 4MB 3D Rage II+DVD (rev 154)
- ATI 3D Xpression+ 4MB 3D Rage II (GT-B, SGRAM, rev 65)
- ATI 3D Xpression+ 2MB 3D Rage II (GT-B, SDRAM, rev 65)
- ATI 3D Xpression 2MB 3D Rage (GT-A, rev 72)
- ATI Video Xpression+ 2MB Mach64 VT-A3 (rev 8)
- ATI Video Xpression 2MB Mach64 VT-A4 (rev 72)
- ATI Graphics Xpression 2MB Mach64 CT (rev 9)
- ATI Graphics Xpression 2MB Mach64 CT-C (rev 65)
- ATI Graphics Xpression 2MB Mach64 CT-D (rev 10)
- ATI Graphics Xpression 2MB Mach64 GX (rev 1) with Chrontel8398 RAMDAC
- ATI Graphics Pro Turbo 2MB Mach64 GX (rev 0) with 68860-B RAMDAC
- ATI Graphics Pro Turbo 2MB Mach64 CX (rev 1) with AT&T20C408 RAMDAC
- ATI WinTurbo 2MB Mach64 GX (rev 1) with 68860-C RAMDAC
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- 6. Known Problems and Bug Reports
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- There are several known problems with the current version of the Mach64 X
- server. They include:
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- o The ATI Rage LT Pro chips found in many laptop computers are not currently
- supported. This chip will be supported in a future release.
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- o Gamma correction is not currently supported. It will be supported in a
- future release.
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- o Screen blanking in 16bpp and 32bpp modes on certain Mach64 CT cards does
- not work.
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- o In doublescan modes, only the top half of the hardware cursor is dis-
- played. The hardware cursor works fine in all other modes.
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- o With high refresh rates on certain cards (VT-A3 and CT-D) noise can become
- a problem in 32bpp mode. This usually only happens with refresh rates of
- 85Hz or greater and can be fixed by using a lower refresh rate (e.g., 72Hz
- or 75Hz).
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- o ISA cards with more than 12Mb of main memory cannot use the server due to
- the requirement of a video memory aperture. This a major project.
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- If you are experiencing problems, first check to make sure that you have the
- very latest available release (including beta releases). ATI releases new
- cards throughout the year. Each of these new cards require additional program-
- ming to support the new Mach64 chips, RAMDACs and clock chips that appear on
- them. The most recent release is most likely to support your video card.
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- Second, please check the RELNOTES and README files (as well as the other docu-
- mentation available with the release). Third, make sure you do not have any
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 9
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- Ramdac, ClockChip or Clocks lines in your XF86Config file (all of these are
- automatically detected by the Mach64 X server). The "Device" section should
- only contain the Identifier, VendorName and BoardName. All other options
- should be automatically detected.
-
- If you are still experiencing problems, please send e-mail to
- XFree86@XFree86.org or post to the comp.windows.x.i386unix newsgroup.
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- Please do NOT send e-mail to me since the developers who answer e-mail sent to
- XFree86@XFree86.org are better able to answer most questions and I would like
- to spend my minimal free time working on new enhancements to the X server.
- Thanks!
-
- Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/Mach64.sgml,v 3.15.2.6 1998/11/13 05:15:00 dawes Exp $
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- $XConsortium: Mach64.sgml /main/8 1996/10/28 05:23:52 kaleb $
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- Mach64 X Server Release Notes 10
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- CONTENTS
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-
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- 1. Supported Cards, RAMDACs, and Bits Per Pixel ............................. 1
-
- 2. Optimizing the speed of the Mach64 X server .............................. 3
-
- 3. XF86Config options ....................................................... 4
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- 4. Enhancements for this release ............................................ 7
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- 5. Cards known to work with this release .................................... 7
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- 6. Known Problems and Bug Reports ........................................... 8
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