Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 18:51:05 -0500 From: gljp Subject: Permedia VESA suport (wasRe: Video adapter question...) To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Cc: ShawnH AT Probe DOT co DOT uk Message-id: <000801be65d0$ce8cf5e0$7b3f37a6@powell> MIME-version: 1.0 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 Content-type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-priority: Normal Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com Thanks for the interest Shawn, Here is what VESAINFO responded with: Permedia2 chipset Total Memory : 8 (512k) VESA 2.0 support available modes : mode 0x100: 640x400 8bpp mode 0x101: 640x480 8bpp Sorry for calling the FreeBE/AF by the wrong name... I was writing from memory (works most of the time). I guess I should consider writing the Permedia2 support since it is needed. However, note that I don't know C/C++ yet. I am familiar with MASM and I think that I do have access to the XFree86 information... or can get it. Let me know how to proceed and that can be my first project :) Thanks, Gary -----Original Message----- From: Gary Powell To: 'gljp AT cwix DOT com' Date: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 10:30 AM Subject: FW: Video adapter question... > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Shawn Hargreaves [SMTP:ShawnH AT Probe DOT co DOT uk] >Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 1999 7:17 AM >To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com >Subject: Re: Video adapter question... > >Gary Powell writes: >> I am running the latest Permedia2 drivers for windows. However, my >> DOS sessions report only 2 VESA modes available. I have the Scitech >> Display Doctor (trial only 17 days left) running which increases the >> VESA modes to 59! I have been very impressed with the driver but not >> quite impressed enough to shell out the $40. > >Only two modes in the manufacturer supplied VESA driver? That is absolutely >insane! I have to say that if I had bought this card, that would be serious >grounds for taking it back and demanding a refund: the VESA BIOS is an >industry standard, and I don't think it is acceptable for people to sell >hardware with such a poor implementation of it. > >Out of interest, which two modes are supported? (the Allegro vesainfo >utility will list them). > >> Anyway, I am rather saddened by the VESA situation I am left in. >> I looked at the FreeVB/AF, but my chipset is not supported. Is the >> FreeVB/AF an on going project? Will the latest (or almost latest) >> video boards/chips be supported? > >FreeBE/AF is a sporadic project, in that it doesn't have anyone working >on it fulltime, but depends on people to contribute individual drivers >as and when they feel so inclined. This is really the only way that it >can work, because you can't write a driver unless you own the card in >question, and you'd have to be really weird individual to want to spend >your life buying new graphics cards purely in order to make drivers for >them :-) At the moment we have five accelerated drivers, which are the >result of five different developers putting some effort into making things >work on their particular hardware. Obviously not everyone will have the >time or skills to do this, but it would be fantastic if you did feel >like working on some Permedia support, and bumping the number of drivers >up to six... > >A major problem with supporting new hardware is that the manufacturers >often refuse to release specs for it, but this doesn't seem to be >a problem with the Permedia. I can't find any technical references on >the manufacturer website, but there is a driver for it in the latest >version of XFree86 (www.xfree86.org), so you could get the necessary >information from that. > >> I have tried to briefly look at the ML/GL source code from Scitech, >> but I am having troubles with the include with Rhide and/or djgpp.env >> as well as not being certain with where to begin with it. > >MGL won't help with your problem: it's a library for using VESA drivers >in the same way that Allegro is, and doesn't contain any hardware level >SVGA drivers. So you would still need a capable VESA driver to set the >modes. > > > Shawn Hargreaves. >