Subject: RE: YDL compatibility with video accelerator cards
From: Iain Stevenson (iain@iainstevenson.com)
Date: Thu Jan 03 2002 - 12:59:58 MST
Hi Pete,
I'm not saying this is easy and won't take some time to set up but ...
I'm assuming that you can get the monitor to work in accelerated console
mode at an appropriate resolution using fbset or some other tool/method.
In my case I could do this but X wouldn't run accelerated. I was using a
cheap (ie slow) monitor that X would persistently try and drive outside its
capabilities. It simply cuts off if operated too fast - if your monitor
doesn't, be careful!
If you run Xautoconfig-4 it will grab the frame buffer setting that is
currently active and include it as the last Modeline entry within the Modes
section of XF86Config-4. Edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 so that this is the
only entry present ie something like:
Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes0"
Modeline "1024x768" 65.000 1024 1029 1145 1312 768 769 772 800
+hsync +vsync
EndSection
Then, for the Orion, make the Device section look like this:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Option "UseFBDev"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:0:13:0"
EndSection
In the BusID part, substitute the appropriate slot information for your
card. Obtain this by cat /proc/pci. Then edit the Screen section so that
it only contains information relevant to your chosen resolution - 1024x768
in my case:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
DefaultFbBpp 32
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
FbBpp 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
FbBpp 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
FbBpp 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
That may be enough for success. With the Radeon, you need to use a patched
driver (I posted about this earlier). I also needed to tweak the Modeline
slightly to bring down the speed of operation. Try reducing the "65.000"
in the modeline section until the monitor shows something. The display may
not be aligned properly but you can use xvidtune once you have some sort of
display to corrrect this.
The key to success seems to be reducing the number of options available to
X so that you can be completely sure of what it is doing to initialise the
display. You can look at /var/log/XFree86.0.log to see exactly the steps
that X followed to initialise (or not) the display.
Hope this helps.
Iain
--On Thursday, January 3, 2002 9:09 am -0800 Pete Peters
<ppeters914@attbi.com> wrote:
> Iain,
>
> Can you elaborate on "finding the appropriate modeline entries in
> XF86Config for your monitor"? Or point me to an archived article, man
> page, FAQ, etc?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Pete
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Iain Stevenson [mailto:iain@iainstevenson.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 11:59 AM
> To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> Subject: Re: YDL compatibility with video accelerator cards
>
>
>
> FWIW I have two 9600/200 with Powerlogix G3 cards and ATI video cards
> (Rage
> Orion in one, Radeon in the other). I had trouble setting them up but
> both
> work perfectly for me now. The big issue seems to be finding the
> appropriate modeline entries in XF86Config for your monitor.
>
> Iain
>
>
>
>
> --On Wednesday, January 02, 2002 08:49:45 -0500 roberto
> <dr.bob@erols.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hmmmm - sounds like I may want to rethink the video card. Thanks.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Pete Peters" <ppeters914@attbi.com>
>> To: "'roberto'" <dr.bob@erols.com>
>> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 2:20 PM
>> Subject: RE: YDL compatibility with CPU upgrade cards
>>
>>
>>> You definitely will want to search the archives regarding video
> cards. I
>>> have the ATI Rage Orion 128 Pro. This card has been a nightmare for
> me
>>> and others regarding accelerated video in X. I couldn't even run
> XFree
>>> 3.36; had to use Xpmac. Now, supposedly, this is all "fixed" w/ XFree
>>> v4.1, but I haven't tried it yet.
>>>
>>> I also remember issues w/ the ATI Mach64-based cards, and I still
> some
>>> issues posted w/ the ATI Radeon. You'll just need to do some research
>>> first, which is better than fighting the hardware issues later.
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: roberto [mailto:dr.bob@erols.com]
>>> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 10:35 AM
>>> To: Pete Peters
>>> Subject: Re: YDL compatibility with CPU upgrade cards
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Pete,
>>> Thanks for the advice. I am also thinking about an ATI video card,
> so
>>> will
>>> keep that in mind during my search(es).
>>> Regards,
>>> Bob
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Pete Peters" <ppeters914@attbi.com>
>>> To: <yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com>
>>> Cc: <dr.bob@erols.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 1:33 PM
>>> Subject: RE: YDL compatibility with CPU upgrade cards
>>>
>>>
>>> > If search the archives, you will find many posts regarding issues &
>>> > solutions to using upgrade cards. You should also search on "7500"
> to
>>> > see if there are any issues specific to that model Mac.
>>> >
>>> > That said, I can say that I am successfully (other than
> unaccelerated
>>> > video...sigh) running YDL 1.2.1 w/ a custom 2.2.18 kernal on my
>>> > PPC9500/150 w/ a PowerLogix G3/400 card.
>>> >
>>> > Go for it. I couldn't believe the performance difference when
> moving
>>> > from the 604 to the G3, even if it's only in my mind. <g>
>>> >
>>> > Pete
>>> >
>>> > -----Original Message-----
>>> > From: roberto [mailto:dr.bob@erols.com]
>>> > Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 9:32 AM
>>> > To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
>>> > Subject: YDL compatibility with CPU upgrade cards
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > I have a PowerMac 7500/100 (sigh) and have YDL up and running. I
> want
>>> > to upgrade my CPU to a G3 or G4. Does anyone have experience with
>>> > compatability of YDL with PowerForce, XLR8, or Sonnet cards?
>>> >
>>>
>>
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Thu Jan 03 2002 - 13:13:47 MST