NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/comp/sys/ibm/pc/hardware/29449

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From: [e-mail] (Mike Newberry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.benchmarks,comp.sys.intel
Subject: Re: ATI Ultra PRO 24-bit?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 10 Nov 92 21:57:13 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Lines: 64

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Azrak) writes:
>[e-mail] (Drew Eckhardt) writes:
>
>>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Azrak) writes:
>>>David Eugene Dwiggins <[e-mail]> writes:
>[Stuff deleted]
>>>
>>>>DON'T BUY ATI PRODUCTS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW PROGRAMMING INFORMATION.
>>>
>>>>Gene
>>>
>>>Huh????
>>>
>>>You mean the manual you get with the ATI Graphics Ultra Pro doesn't
>>>tell you how to switch into 640x480x16.7M mode???
>>>
>>>My manual from the ATI VGAWonder 256k (yes, old) told me what HEX
>>>value to use to switch into any mode the card supported, and even
>>>told me how the bit planes were organized.
>
>>You feed that hex value to the BIOS.  When you need to program the board's
>>registers from inside protected mode, such as in a Xserver running under unix,
>>you can't call BIOS, and that information is worthless.
>
>Ok, so it does tell you what value to feed the BIOS. Ok. That's good.
>I wasn't planning on writing anything sophisticated, just setting the
>mode with the BIOS, and directly writing to the Video Memory for simple
>image display purposes.
>
>>You need to know how to program the clock synthesizer among other things,
>>which most manufacturers will happily provide.  However, a few manufacturers
>>are using propriety clock synthesizer chips, and not providing programming
>>information without an NDA, etc.
>
>Well, my old ATI VGAWonder never told me that stuff either, so I guess
>ATI has never given out programming information. I stand corrected.
>(All the "programming info" I need (simple, I know) is mode # and memory
>organization)
>
>>Thus, without reverse engineering the BIOS you can't write a free Xserver
>>for the card.
>
>I'm sure someone will sooner or later, or ATI will fall off the face of
>the Earth for being so pig-headed. I hope that when someone does get the
>info they scan it and post it to the net. ;>
>
>>--
>>Microsoft is responsible for propogating the evils it calls DOS and Windows,
>>IBM for AIX (appropriately called Aches by those having to administer it), but
>>marketing's sins don't come close to those of legal departments.
>>Boycott AT&T for their absurd anti-BSDI lawsuit.
>
>- Brian ([e-mail])

Any idiot can write code which will drive a $600 ATI Graphics Ultra Pro
as a VGA card.  What we're talking about here is running the card in ways
that justify its high price tag: in high resolution/high color modes using
the graphics acceleration hardware.  As anyone who's written hardware
acceleration code for the S3 processors knows, there is absolutely no
way to figure this stuff out unless you get the official programmer's
reference manual.  No way.  This is what ATI seems so reticent about
providing.

Mike Newberry