1 =====
2 sstfb
3 =====
4
5 Introduction
6 ============
7
8 This is a frame buffer device driver for 3dfx' Voodoo Graphics
9 (aka voodoo 1, aka sst1) and Voodoo² (aka Voodoo 2, aka CVG) based
10 video boards. It's highly experimental code, but is guaranteed to work
11 on my computer, with my "Maxi Gamer 3D" and "Maxi Gamer 3d²" boards,
12 and with me "between chair and keyboard". Some people tested other
13 combinations and it seems that it works.
14 The main page is located at <http://sstfb.sourceforge.net>, and if
15 you want the latest version, check out the CVS, as the driver is a work
16 in progress, I feel uncomfortable with releasing tarballs of something
17 not completely working...Don't worry, it's still more than usable
18 (I eat my own dog food)
19
20 Please read the Bug section, and report any success or failure to me
21 (Ghozlane Toumi <gtoumi@laposte.net>).
22 BTW, If you have only one monitor , and you don't feel like playing
23 with the vga passthrou cable, I can only suggest borrowing a screen
24 somewhere...
25
26
27 Installation
28 ============
29
30 This driver (should) work on ix86, with "late" 2.2.x kernel (tested
31 with x = 19) and "recent" 2.4.x kernel, as a module or compiled in.
32 It has been included in mainstream kernel since the infamous 2.4.10.
33 You can apply the patches found in `sstfb/kernel/*-2.{2|4}.x.patch`,
34 and copy sstfb.c to linux/drivers/video/, or apply a single patch,
35 `sstfb/patch-2.{2|4}.x-sstfb-yymmdd` to your linux source tree.
36
37 Then configure your kernel as usual: choose "m" or "y" to 3Dfx Voodoo
38 Graphics in section "console". Compile, install, have fun... and please
39 drop me a report :)
40
41
42 Module Usage
43 ============
44
45 .. warning::
46
47 #. You should read completely this section before issuing any command.
48
49 #. If you have only one monitor to play with, once you insmod the
50 module, the 3dfx takes control of the output, so you'll have to
51 plug the monitor to the "normal" video board in order to issue
52 the commands, or you can blindly use sst_dbg_vgapass
53 in the tools directory (See Tools). The latest solution is pass the
54 parameter vgapass=1 when insmodding the driver. (See Kernel/Modules
55 Options)
56
57 Module insertion
58 ----------------
59
60 #. insmod sstfb.o
61
62 you should see some strange output from the board:
63 a big blue square, a green and a red small squares and a vertical
64 white rectangle. why? the function's name is self-explanatory:
65 "sstfb_test()"...
66 (if you don't have a second monitor, you'll have to plug your monitor
67 directly to the 2D videocard to see what you're typing)
68
69 #. con2fb /dev/fbx /dev/ttyx
70
71 bind a tty to the new frame buffer. if you already have a frame
72 buffer driver, the voodoo fb will likely be /dev/fb1. if not,
73 the device will be /dev/fb0. You can check this by doing a
74 cat /proc/fb. You can find a copy of con2fb in tools/ directory.
75 if you don't have another fb device, this step is superfluous,
76 as the console subsystem automagically binds ttys to the fb.
77 #. switch to the virtual console you just mapped. "tadaaa" ...
78
79 Module removal
80 --------------
81
82 #. con2fb /dev/fbx /dev/ttyx
83
84 bind the tty to the old frame buffer so the module can be removed.
85 (how does it work with vgacon ? short answer : it doesn't work)
86
87 #. rmmod sstfb
88
89
90 Kernel/Modules Options
91 ----------------------
92
93 You can pass some options to the sstfb module, and via the kernel
94 command line when the driver is compiled in:
95 for module : insmod sstfb.o option1=value1 option2=value2 ...
96 in kernel : video=sstfb:option1,option2:value2,option3 ...
97
98 sstfb supports the following options:
99
100 =============== =============== ===============================================
101 Module Kernel Description
102 =============== =============== ===============================================
103 vgapass=0 vganopass Enable or disable VGA passthrou cable.
104 vgapass=1 vgapass When enabled, the monitor will get the signal
105 from the VGA board and not from the voodoo.
106
107 Default: nopass
108
109 mem=x mem:x Force frame buffer memory in MiB
110 allowed values: 0, 1, 2, 4.
111
112 Default: 0 (= autodetect)
113
114 inverse=1 inverse Supposed to enable inverse console.
115 doesn't work yet...
116
117 clipping=1 clipping Enable or disable clipping.
118 clipping=0 noclipping With clipping enabled, all offscreen
119 reads and writes are discarded.
120
121 Default: enable clipping.
122
123 gfxclk=x gfxclk:x Force graphic clock frequency (in MHz).
124 Be careful with this option, it may be
125 DANGEROUS.
126
127 Default: auto
128
129 - 50Mhz for Voodoo 1,
130 - 75MHz for Voodoo 2.
131
132 slowpci=1 fastpci Enable or disable fast PCI read/writes.
133 slowpci=1 slowpci Default : fastpci
134
135 dev=x dev:x Attach the driver to device number x.
136 0 is the first compatible board (in
137 lspci order)
138 =============== =============== ===============================================
139
140 Tools
141 =====
142
143 These tools are mostly for debugging purposes, but you can
144 find some of these interesting:
145
146 - `con2fb`, maps a tty to a fbramebuffer::
147
148 con2fb /dev/fb1 /dev/tty5
149
150 - `sst_dbg_vgapass`, changes vga passthrou. You have to recompile the
151 driver with SST_DEBUG and SST_DEBUG_IOCTL set to 1::
152
153 sst_dbg_vgapass /dev/fb1 1 (enables vga cable)
154 sst_dbg_vgapass /dev/fb1 0 (disables vga cable)
155
156 - `glide_reset`, resets the voodoo using glide
157 use this after rmmoding sstfb, if the module refuses to
158 reinsert.
159
160 Bugs
161 ====
162
163 - DO NOT use glide while the sstfb module is in, you'll most likely
164 hang your computer.
165 - If you see some artefacts (pixels not cleaning and stuff like that),
166 try turning off clipping (clipping=0), and/or using slowpci
167 - the driver don't detect the 4Mb frame buffer voodoos, it seems that
168 the 2 last Mbs wrap around. looking into that .
169 - The driver is 16 bpp only, 24/32 won't work.
170 - The driver is not your_favorite_toy-safe. this includes SMP...
171
172 [Actually from inspection it seems to be safe - Alan]
173
174 - When using XFree86 FBdev (X over fbdev) you may see strange color
175 patterns at the border of your windows (the pixels lose the lowest
176 byte -> basically the blue component and some of the green). I'm unable
177 to reproduce this with XFree86-3.3, but one of the testers has this
178 problem with XFree86-4. Apparently recent Xfree86-4.x solve this
179 problem.
180 - I didn't really test changing the palette, so you may find some weird
181 things when playing with that.
182 - Sometimes the driver will not recognise the DAC, and the
183 initialisation will fail. This is specifically true for
184 voodoo 2 boards, but it should be solved in recent versions. Please
185 contact me.
186 - The 24/32 is not likely to work anytime soon, knowing that the
187 hardware does ... unusual things in 24/32 bpp.
188
189 Todo
190 ====
191
192 - Get rid of the previous paragraph.
193 - Buy more coffee.
194 - test/port to other arch.
195 - try to add panning using tweeks with front and back buffer .
196 - try to implement accel on voodoo2, this board can actually do a
197 lot in 2D even if it was sold as a 3D only board ...
198
199 Ghozlane Toumi <gtoumi@laposte.net>
200
201
202 Date: 2002/05/09 20:11:45
203
204 http://sstfb.sourceforge.net/README
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