Re: agp and 3dfx
On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Mike Muir wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > Hello, > > > > We will need more than the basic X-server to use any new graphics board, as > > their main selling point is 3D, and the basic drivers of X are way behind. > > > > The main issue is in establishing FreeBSD as a "credible" platform > > (how many users of FreeBSD want to pay for a 3D-optimized A|W application ?) > > Quite the opposite -- it won't be users of FreeBSD who will be buying a > $50,000+ software package -- It is those Animators whom should choose to > use FreeBSD! I'm planning to run the Linux version of Maya on FreeBSD as soon as I can get a copy. It isn't that expensive any more - the PC version is about $10,000-$12,000 per seat but its probably the best modelling package for soft skinned characters around. -- Doug Rabson Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nonlinear Systems Ltd. Phone: +44 20 8348 3944 To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
Re: agp and 3dfx
Hello, I've had a quick look at NVidia's "src-rpm" for its driver under Linux, and I've been very disappointed to see that the main parts of this driver are 3 binary object files for which there is no source. This inhibits porting by people from the FreeBSD projects - and it's sad, considering my owning of a TNT2 ... TfH Mike Muir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 25/07/2000 19:44:51 Please respond to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Coleman Kane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc: (bcc: Thierry HERBELOT/FR/ALCATEL) Subject: Re: agp and 3dfx Coleman Kane wrote: > > XFree86-4 has been updated to the newest version. It has a kld named > tdfx.ko that must be installed into /modules/. When you load X, it will > load dri, agp, and tdfx all for you. There is also a 3dfx.ko to work > with /dev/3dfx. This is provided to support device accesses for glide > programs, like quake3 and all. It currently has some issues with the > Voodoo3 and Banshee hardware, but I could use another tester. It is part > of -CURRENT, and will most likely panic your box, but some output sent > to me about the crash would be helpful. Actually, if anyone has an old > agp 3dfx card they'dl ike to donate for this development, it would be > helpful. I have been testing it with my voodoo2 board with much success, > but I have had some responses from users with Voodoo3's that say that > they haven't gotten it to work. What about Nvidia's 5.xx linux driver effort... what kind of effort would be required to get that running on FreeBSD? -mike To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
Re: agp and 3dfx
Hello, I've got a mixed feeling towards the binary driver for NVidia boards : - there an "emotional" and "political" aspect to the issue, which is to have all of FreeBSD available as source, with the Berkeley Licence. This has allowed the project to change the driver infrastucture, for example (passage to CAM for SCSI, or the recent transition to newbus) without asking permission to people outside the project. With this viewpoint it is not acceptable to use a binary-only driver for the NVidia boards (anyway, the competition is such in the graphics board market that 3dfx or ATI **could** have trouble inspecting the NVidia sources fast enough to incorporate the new ideas) - there is another "industrial" aspect : the exact same "feature" of the FreeBSD project, which is the total control of the interfaces between the kernel, the drivers and userland is damaging in the sense that it seems difficult to expect form third-parties to write drivers for FreeBSD if the interfaces change too often (is there any kld which is not part of the standard FreeBSD releases ? - is there any manufacturer which delivers binary-only drivers to its boards ?) - the stabilization (if at all possible) of the driver-kernel interface and the accompanying delivery of shrink-wrapped drivers would be a great plus to the credibility of FreeBSD Just my 0.2 Euro TfH Coleman Kane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on 26/07/2000 00:23:33 To: Mike Muir <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> cc: Coleman Kane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED](bcc: Thierry HERBELOT/FR/ALCATEL) Subject: Re: agp and 3dfx The 3dfx cards do work under FreeBSD, just not using glide. XFree86 4+ uses DRI to accomplish its 3D acceleration. If you want to use glide games through linux emulation, you can either run them as root (not acceptable many times, at least for me :), or you will be able to use them with this driver once it gets the last bugs worked out. It works fine for Voodoo1's and 2's, just have some trouble with the resource setup on the Voodoo 3's. As far as the NVidia binary drivers go, I don't think they are planning any releases for FreeBSD. Personally, I don't want to endorse this sort of behavior from manufacturers like NVidia giving out binary-only drivers. I don't buy their cards because of that, and also because I can't afford them. There is a small amount of total IP that can be gotten from reading source code, and it is too small for a company to bother trying to parse through to understand. They'd wate too much time trying to figure it out, that it wouldn't matter once they were done. Anyway, I don't want to go out on a rant about lame business practices, the basic idea here is no, NVidia doesn't provide binary only drivers for FreeBSD, and we don't really care for the idea of closed source drivers. Closed source drivers just make it a pain for everyone to get work done from installation to associated programming (say, extensions to the drivers). I'm not gonna go into a holy war here or reveal what I think they are closing them for, but basically, they are not expected to come ever. You can simply use the included on in XFree86 4.0.1, which I think supposrts DRI. [SNIP] -- Coleman Kane President, UC Free O.S. Users Group - http://pohl.ececs.uc.edu To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
Re: agp and 3dfx
XFree86-4 has been updated to the newest version. It has a kld named tdfx.ko that must be installed into /modules/. When you load X, it will load dri, agp, and tdfx all for you. There is also a 3dfx.ko to work with /dev/3dfx. This is provided to support device accesses for glide programs, like quake3 and all. It currently has some issues with the Voodoo3 and Banshee hardware, but I could use another tester. It is part of -CURRENT, and will most likely panic your box, but some output sent to me about the crash would be helpful. Actually, if anyone has an old agp 3dfx card they'dl ike to donate for this development, it would be helpful. I have been testing it with my voodoo2 board with much success, but I have had some responses from users with Voodoo3's that say that they haven't gotten it to work. Nawfal M. Rouyan had the audacity to say: > > hi all, >How do one make use of the new agp driver? > Recently, there were discussions on the new 3dfx > driver. Where can i get it? is it in the base system already? > > __ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get Yahoo! Mail ? Free email you can access from anywhere! > http://mail.yahoo.com/ > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message > -- Coleman Kane President, UC Free O.S. Users Group - http://pohl.ececs.uc.edu To Unsubscribe: send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message