As this is the most often asked question, this will be the first section. Currently XFree86 (Version 2.0 - 2.1.1) supports the following chipsets in the XF86_SVGA server (note that it depends on the chipset whether a card is working and not on the vendor, with Diamond notably excluded, cf. the remark at the end of this paragraph):
These chipsets are all supported in 256 color (XF86_SVGA) and in
monochrome mode (XF86_Mono) with the exception of the Cirrus
chipsets, which are only supported in 256 color mode
The monochrome server also supports generic VGA cards (using 64k of the video memory as a single bank), the Hercules card and the Hyundai HGC-1280. Note that these drivers are not part of the XF86_Mono server by default. If you want to use these, you have to reconfigure your XF86_Mono server using the LinkKit (or, of course, the source distribution - but the LinkKit will need less disk space and less compile time). See the Appendix for further information on using a Hercules mono card.
There is an (experimental) additional server that works on generic VGA hardware: XF86_VGA16, a 16 color server.
XFree86 supports the following accelerated chipsets with separate servers:
No other chipsets are supported; not Weitek P9000, not TIGA, not
IIT AGX, not Microfield, not the new MGA chipsets (as in the
Matrox cards), etc. Support for some of these will perhaps be
provided in future XFree86 releases. TIGA will never be
supported, as it requires licensing materials from TI (and may
disallow source distributions); Microfield boards will never be
supported, as they use proprietary and undocumented custom microcode
interfaces.
Note further: The following is a statement of the
XFree86 Project concerning graphic cards by Diamond:
All Diamond cards are NOT supported by XFree86 even if they
have a supported chipset (with the exception of the Cirrus
chipsets that have an internal clock generator). The reason
for this is that Diamond has changed the mechanism used to
select pixel clock frequencies, and will only release
programming information under non-disclosure. We are not
willing to do this (as it would mean that source cannot be
provided). We have had discussions with Diamond over this,
and they do not intend to change this policy. Hence we
will do nothing to support Diamond products going forward
(i.e. don't send us a program to run set their clocks).
XFree86 DOES NOT SUPPORT DIAMOND HARDWARE. It is possible
to make some of it work, but we will not assist in doing
this.
The author of this HOWTO does support this statement completely. If you
have read this and bought nevertheless a card from Diamond, you will
damage the idea of free software as Diamond does not support the efforts
of a free X11 server. There is enough good and affordable graphics
hardware available from companies that support XFree86.
However, if you are stuck with a card from Diamond, there is a compilation of the needed things to get XFree86 running on some of these cards. It is called the Diamond.FAQ and can be obtained from sunsite in the X11 directory.
Do not ask the XFree86 team about Diamond hardware. You will simply annoy them, and get no information.
For some of these chipsets there are specific README
files (to be found
in /usr/X386/lib/X11/etc
). If there is one for the chipset
you use, read it! In these README
s the specific options that can be
used to configure the server are explained. Currently there are
special README
s for ATI, Trident, Tsengm Western Digital, and
Cirrus chipsets.
More information on the servers can be found in their manpages.
Later more on configuring the servers [cf. The Xconfig File ].
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