Subject: RE: Video is slow
From: Stefan Jeglinski (jeglin@4pi.com)
Date: Thu Sep 14 2000 - 13:51:17 MDT
>Still using Xpmac.rev10. Should I try XFree86 again? What about a
>newer kernel and/or XFree86 4.0? Whoa! Living on the bleeding edge,
>lol. Hey Moonglue, not hearing anything from ya. <g>
What I don't know is whether XF3.3.x will work well with the Orion
card. It works well with older ATI cards. I haven't used Xpmac in a
long time, but when I did, it worked fine. Xfree uses a config file,
Xpmac typically uses command line switches to configure it when it
starts, although there is a config file setup for it as well
somewhere (check archives). If you can determine that either will
work with the Orion, just pick your poison.
Your kernel is not that old, but support for Orions may have been
continually updated recently. I assume that the kernel has Orion
support compiled in??? (check the .config file for the build).
> >dmesg is your friend :-) Type that in (or dmesg | more to prevent it
>>scrolling off your screen). What does it report for Mac OS display
>>and fb0?
>
>With No Video Driver box checked;
>
> MacOS display is /bandit/ATY,Rage128o
> Using unsupported 1024x768 ATY,Rage128o at 96008000,
>depth=32, pitch=4096
> fb0: Open Firmware frame buffer device on /bandit/ATY,Rage128o
>
>Question: I think I read somewhere that checking the box diables
>acceleration or something. True or false?
Correct. Telling it no video forces the video card to use the Open
Firmware frame buffer, as stated by your dmesg. The Open Firmware
frame buffer is highly compatible, but not accelerated. Hence your
understanding.
If you pass it the correct argument from BootX, as I described in my
e-mail before, fb0 should no longer be listed as the Open Firmware
frame buffer. You can test all this without even starting X. I would
do that first, just to eliminate variables.
THEN, go back and try X. I would try XFree myself, and you may very
well have to use XF4 for the Orion. Others here will know better than
me.
> >As far as other speed considerations go, is your backside cache
> >enabled? If so, dmesg should report something like this:
>
> >L2CR overriden (0xb9080000), backside cache is enabled
>
>Close. I have
>
> L2CR overriden (0xa9100000), backside cache is enabled
>
> >Of course, BootX must be configured to turn backside cache on.
>
>Yep, it's checked.
This part is all OK. The address (b908 for me, a910 for you) differs
for every box AFAICT, and also depending on whether you have
speculative addressing turned on, for example.
Stefan Jeglinski
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Thu Sep 14 2000 - 13:58:15 MDT