s3virge(4) UNIX Programmer's Manual s3virge(4)
NAME
s3virge - S3 ViRGE video driver
SYNOPSIS
Section "Device"
Identifier "devname"
Driver "s3virge"
...
[ Option "optionname" ["optionvalue"]]
EndSection
DESCRIPTION
s3virge is an XFree86 driver for S3 based video cards. The
driver is fully accelerated, and provides support for the
following framebuffer depths: 8, 15, 16, and 24. All visual
types are supported for depth 8, and TrueColor visuals are
supported for the other depths. XVideo hardware up scaling
is supported in depth 16 and 24 on the DX, GX, GX2, MX, MX+,
and Trio3D/2X. Doublescan modes are supported and tested in
depth 8 and 16 on DX, but disable XVideo. Doublescan modes
on other chipsets are untested.
SUPPORTED HARDWARE
The s3virge driver supports PCI and AGP video cards based on
the following S3 chips:
ViRGE 86C325
ViRGE VX 86C988
ViRGE DX 86C375
ViRGE GX 86C385
ViRGE GX2 86C357
ViRGE MX 86C260
ViRGE MX+ 86C280
Trio 3D 86C365
Trio 3D/2X 86C362, 86C368
CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Please refer to XF86Config(5) for general configuration
details. This section only covers configuration details
specific to this driver. All options names are case and
white space insensitive when parsed by the server, for exam-
ple, "virge vx" and "VIRGEvx" are equivalent.
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The driver auto-detects the chipset type, but the following
ChipSet names may optionally be specified in the config file
"" ""Device"" section, and will override the auto-detection:
"virge", "86c325", "virge vx", "86c988", "virge dx",
"86c375", "virge gx", "86c385", "virge gx2", "86c357",
"virge mx", "86c260", "virge mx+", "86c280", "trio 3d",
"86c365", "trio 3d/2x", "86c362", "86c368".
The following Cursor Options are supported:
Option "HWCursor" ["boolean"]
Enable or disable the HW cursor. Default: on.
Option "SWCursor" ["boolean"]
Inverse of "HWCursor". Default: off.
The following display Options are supported:
Option "ShadowFB" ["boolean"]
Use shadow framebuffer. Disables HW acceleration.
Default: off.
Option "Rotate" "cw | ccw"
Rotate the screen CW - clockwise or CCW - counter
clockwise. Disables HW Acceleration and HW Cursor, uses
ShadowFB. Default: no rotation.
Option "XVideo" ["boolean"]
Disable XVideo support by using the off option. This
changes FIFO settings which prevent screen noise for
high-res modes. Default: on
The following video memory Options are supported:
Option "slow_edodram"
Switch the standard ViRGE to 2-cycle edo mode. Try this
if you encounter pixel corruption on the ViRGE. Using
this option will cause a large decrease in performance.
Default: off.
Option "fpm_vram"
Switch the ViRGE/VX to fast page mode vram mode.
Default: off.
Option "slow_dram | fast_dram"
Change Trio 3D and 3D/2X memory options. Default: Use
BIOS defaults.
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Option "early_ras_precharge | late_ras_precharge"
adjust memory parameters. One of these will us the
same settings as your video card defaults, and using
neither in the config file does the same. Default:
none.
Option "set_mclk" "integer"
sets the memory clock, where integer is in kHz, and
integer <= 100000. Default: probe the memory clock
value, and use it at server start.
Option "set_refclk" "integer"
sets the ref clock for ViRGE MX, where integer is in
kHz. Default: probe the memory clock value, and use it
at server start.
The following acceleration and graphics engine Options are
supported:
Option "NoAccel"
Disable acceleration. Very useful for determining if
the driver has problems with drawing and acceleration
routines. This is the first option to try if your
server runs but you see graphic corruption on the
screen. Using it decreases performance, as it uses
software emulation for drawing operations the video
driver can accelerate with hardware. Default: accelera-
tion is enabled.
Option "UseFB"
There are two framebuffer rendering methods. fb and
cfb. Both are available in the driver. fb is the
newer and default method. To switch back to cfb use
this option with no, off or other negative parameter.
Default: on.
Option "fifo_aggressive | fifo_moderate | fifo_conservative"
alter the settings for the threshold at which the pixel
FIFO takes over the internal memory bus to refill
itself. The smaller this threshold, the better the
acceleration performance of the card. You may try the
fastest setting (fifo_aggressive) and move down if you
encounter pixel corruption. The optimal setting will
probably depend on dot-clock and on color depth. Note
that specifying any of these options will also alter
other memory settings which may increase performance,
so trying fifo_conservative will in most cases be a
slight benefit (this uses the chip defaults). If pixel
corruption or transient streaking is observed during
drawing operations then removing any fifo options is
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recommended. Default: none.
The following PCI bus Options are supported:
Option "pci_burst" ["boolean"]
will enable PCI burst mode. This should work on all but
a few broken PCI chipsets, and will increase perfor-
mance. Default: off.
Option "pci_retry" ["boolean"]
will allow the driver to rely on PCI Retry to program
the ViRGE registers. pci_burst must be enabled for this
to work. This will increase performance, especially for
small fills/blits, because the driver does not have to
poll the ViRGE before sending it commands to make sure
it is ready. It should work on most recent PCI chip-
sets. Default: off.
The following ViRGE MX LCD Options are supported:
Option "lcd_center"
Option "set_lcdclk" "integer"
allows setting the clock for a ViRGE MX LCD display.
integer is in Hz. Default: use probed value.
The following additional Options are supported:
Option "ShowCache" ["boolean"]
Enable or disable viewing offscreen cache memory. A
development debug option. Default: off.
Option "mx_cr3a_fix" ["boolean"]
Enable or disable a cr3a fix added for ViRGE MX.
Default: on.
SEE ALSO
XFree86(1), XF86Config(5), xf86config(1), Xserver(1), X(7)
KNOWN BUGS
The VideoRam generic driver parameter is presently ignored
by the s3virge driver. On PPC this is reported to cause
problems for 2M cards, because they may autodetect as 4M.
SUPPORT
For assistance with this driver, or XFree86 in general,
check the XFree86 web site at http://www.xfree86.org. A FAQ
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is available on the web site at http://www.xfree86.org/FAQ/.
If you find a problem with XFree86 or have a question not
answered in the FAQ please use our bug report form available
on the web site or send mail to XFree86@XFree86.org. When
reporting problems with the driver send as much detail as
possible, including chipset type, a server output log, and
operating system specifics.
AUTHORS
Kevin Brosius, Matt Grossman, Harald Koenig, Sebastien Mar-
ineau, Mark Vojkovich.
XFree86 Version 4.5.0 5