<!DOCTYPE linuxdoc PUBLIC "-//XFree86//DTD linuxdoc//EN">

<article>
<title>Information for 3DLabs Chipset Users
<author>The XFree86 Project Inc.
<date>25 June 1999
<toc>

<sect>Supported hardware <p>

This server supports the following 3DLabs chipsets:
<itemize>
<item>GLINT 500TX with IBM RGB526 RAMDAC
<item>GLINT MX plus Delta with IBM RGB526 and IBM RGB640 RAMDAC
<item>GLINT MX plus Gamma with IBM RGB526 and IBM RGB640 RAMDAC
<item>Permedia with IBM RGB526 RAMDAC
<item>Permedia 2 (classic, 2a, 2v)
<item>Permedia 3
</itemize>

<sect>Features <p>
<itemize>
<item>accelerated
<item>hardware cursor
<item>DPMS support
<item>supported color depths
<itemize>
<item>GLINT MX/500TX: 8/16/32 bpp
<item>Permedia: 8/16/32 bpp
<item>Permedia 2: 8/16/24/32 bpp
<item>Permedia 3: depth 8 (bpp 8), 15, 16 (bpp 16) and 24 (bpp 32)
</itemize>
</itemize>

<sect>XF86Config Option <p>
<descrip>
<tag>Option "sw_cursor"</tag>
disable the hardware cursor.
<tag>Option "no_pixmap_cache"</tag>
disables use of the pixmap cache. Might be useful if drawing errors occur.
<tag>Option "no_accel"</tag>
completely disables acceleration. Usually not recommended.
<tag>Option "pci_retry"</tag>
stall the PCI bus while the graphics engine is busy. While this might 
give slightly higher performance, you run the risk of disturbing other
devices that are waiting to be serviced by the processor. This option may
cause problems with SCSI cards, serial connections, sound cards, etc.
<tag>Option "firegl_3000"</tag>
needed for the Diamond Fire GL 3000 in order to use the primary output
on that card. The second screen is currently not supported.
<tag>Option "overclock_mem"</tag>
Run the memory at a higher clock. Useful on some cards with display glitches
at higher resolutions. But adds the risk to damage the hardware. Use with
caution.
</descrip>

<sect>Bugs and Limitations<p>
<itemize>
<item>The 500TX and MX chipsets cannot switch modes, therefore only the first
mode on the modes line is available.
<item>In some color depths without acceleration there are color problems.
<item>While the server is accelerated, there is room for improvement. As our
development is focusing on XFree86-4.0 we are not planning to change that in
the 3.3.x branch. XFree86-4.0 will include a significantly faster server.
<item>The Permedia 3 chipset has still some minor problems, see the README.pm3
file in the glint driver source directory for more details.
</itemize>

<sect>Authors<p>
<itemize>
<item>Alan Hourihane <it>&lt;alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk&gt;</it>
<item>Dirk Hohndel <it>&lt;hohndel@XFree86.org&gt;</it>
<item>Stefan Dirsch <it>&lt;sndirsch@suse.de&gt;</it>
<item>Helmut Fahrion <it>&lt;hf@suse.de&gt;</it>
<item>Sven Luther <it>&lt;luther@dpt-info.u-strasbg.fr&gt;</it>
<item>Special thanks to Elsa AG, Aachen for making it possible for us to
develop this server and furnishing us with plenty of boards and information
to help us on the way
<item>Very special thanks to SuSE GmbH, Nuernberg for allowing some of us to
work on this server on paid time, thereby financing development of this
server.
<item>Special thanks for Appian Graphics for having provided board and
documentation for the Permedia3 chip.
</itemize>

<verb>
$XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/3Dlabs.sgml,v 1.4 2000/10/17 09:07:03 alanh Exp $
</verb>

</article>

