[XFree86] Diamond, Orchid, S3, Supra support/files
I just found out yesterday that the massive archive of docs, drivers, and firmware that was on the the Diamond ftp server [ftp://ftp.diamondmm.com/] is gone. Due to mergers over the years, the archives covered products from these companies and more: Diamond Multimedia Orchid Micronics Supra S3 Obviously, the Diamond Multimedia, Orchid, and S3 files are of the most interest when working with older video cards. The support page for Diamond products [http://www.diamondmm.com/support/diamond/] formerly contained links to files on the ftp server. It now has the following posted: S3 or Diamond Brand Support We no longer support customer service or warranty claims on any of our legacy products sold under the former S3 or Diamond brand. As we no longer manufacture these products, and have not for some time, our customer care and warranty claim call volumes related to these products are extremely low. Because of this, we made the decision to discontinue support for these products. If you are experiencing problems with your Diamond or S3 legacy product please contact an independent repair professional. We appreciate your understanding in this matter and hope that this change does not inconvenience you greatly. The above statement seems totally ludicrous, as how is "an independent repair professional" (which I think I more than qualify as) supposed to support these products without the files that were available on the ftp site? I put in a call to their technical support staff at (206) 515-1400, and when I selected option '5' for diamond products, it referred me back to the above support url, stating that support files were available on the website. The phone system then hung up, and I called back again selecting the Supra support and 'other' products...same thing. I finally got someone on the line by selecting Supra support and the first and only product the phone system mentioned. I think it was option 4 and 1. Talk about a nightmare. Turns out, they've suddenly had a massive influx of calls from other slightly annoyed customers who still support and use all this "obsolete hardware." Personally, I don't see how hardware can be "obsolete" if it works and does exactly what you need it to. They also seemed to have no clue that older versions of firmware and such are very important when maintaining and supporting these things. The ftp server formerly contained nearly every version that had been released. Now its all gone. Some of these products were only a couple of years old too. I haven't seen any mention of this in the hardware circles yet, but I don't think many people have realized yet what has happened. If anyone else wants to call and ask questions, the phone number above should get you though to someone. I've asked them about returning the ftp site to its former state, as that would seem to be the best solution for everyone right now. Longterm, probably the best thing would be to place the files in the public domain. I would also really like to see programming docs for the S3 and Orchid chips made available and or placed in the public domain, but I have no idea if they even still have them. -Toth ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] XFREE 4 - S3 old chipset 765
On Tue, 17 Jun 2003, Carlos Thadeu Duarte Santos wrote: > I have an old Diamond Stealth 2001 (S3 trio 64V+ - ***Chipset 765***). > Is it working with XFREE 4.3.0? Where do I download this specific > information? According to the S3 driver status document found at [http://www.xfree86.org/4.3.0/Status29.html] your chipset is supported. Do you know what RAMDAC is used on your board? Only a few DACs seem to be supported by the current 4.3.0 S3 driver... The best advice I can give is try it out though, as I have a number of Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM boards (S3 968+IBM RGB526) that I thought would be supported, but they are not. (Turns out the XFree 3.3.6 code reports a RGB526 as a 524. IMHO, this really needs to be noted in the S3 driver status document...) Does *anyone* here know where to obtain the docs that would be required to update/port the 3.3.6 S3 support to 4.3.0? I've been in contact with IBM's microelectronics division, and they would be happy to provide RGB524/RGB526 docs...but they can't find them anymore :/ -Toth ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] Problems with S3 968 Vision
On Tue, 5 Aug 2003, Gustavo K. Ruziscka wrote: > I have a computer with Sony CPD 200 sf and S3 968 Vision (2 Mega)pci > video card. When i try to configure X server(Red Hat 9.0 and XFree86 > 4.3.0) always receive errors messages(Attached). > > After search on the Web i tried many suggestions but don't solve this > problem. > > Could someone help me? Welcome to the club. I also haven't been able to use my S3 968 based cards with XFree86 4.x. My problems are due to the lack of support for the IBM RGB526 RAMDAC (which my cards use), but I didn't notice that error in your log file. You might try using the XFree 3.3.6 S3 server, as it works, but lacks some of the features that tend to make 4.x desirable. -Toth ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] Help me please!!!!!! ( Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM )
On Mon, 11 Aug 2003, Rolf Gerrits wrote: > I have a Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM 3240 ( TI RAMDAC ) video card and HAVE > the same problem. XFree86 2.4.x fails at the RAMDAC probe and exits. > > I now use vesa in stead of the S3 driver. Now I am stuck with 1024x768 > / 16bpp in stead of 1152x864 /16bpp ! I could go back to XFree86 3.3.6 > that one worked ( with SVGA ) ... no problems at all. > > I don't want to go back to 3.3.6 ... there must be another solution. I > wondered if you ever found a solution ( exept: buy an other card .. ) ? I guess support for your ramdac isn't included in 4.x. There seems to be a growing number of folks with these issues, which I've kinda been expecting. Its not likely folks with these older S3 boards are going to upgrade XFree86 very fast, but I expect the numbers to grow as the upgrade cycle progresses... Which ramdac does your board use? TI had several. I'm kinda annoyed about the S3 968 with an IBM RGB 526 not being supported, as XFree86 3.3.6 reports a 526 as a 524 during startup, which *is* supported by 4.x. What does it take to get programming docs for all these chips? IBM would provide docs for their DACs if they still had them (I've been in touch with them)... -Toth ___ XFree86 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
