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145 lines
7.9 KiB
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<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
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<TITLE>5.1.1 Hardware requirements</TITLE>
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<meta name="description" value="5.1.1 Hardware requirements">
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<meta name="keywords" value="gs">
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html4320 HREF="node200.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4318 HREF="node198.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4312 HREF="node198.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4322 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4323 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4321 HREF="node200.html">5.1.2 Installing XFree86</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4319 HREF="node198.html">5.1 The X Window </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4313 HREF="node198.html">5.1 The X Window </A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<H2><A NAME=SECTION00711000000000000000>5.1.1 Hardware requirements</A></H2>
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<P>
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<A NAME=secxwindowsreqs> </A>
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<P>
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<A NAME=5189> </A>
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<A NAME=5190> </A>
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<A NAME=5191> </A>
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As of XFree86 version 3.1, released in September 1994, the following video
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chipsets are supported. The documentation included with your video adaptor
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should specify the chipset used. If you are in the market for a new video
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card, or are buying a new machine that comes with a video card, have the
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vendor find out exactly what the make, model, and chipset of the video
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card is. This may require the vendor to call technical support on your
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behalf; in general vendors will be happy to do this. Many PC hardware vendors
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will state that the video card is a ``standard SVGA card'' which ``should
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work'' on your system. Explain that your software (mention Linux and XFree86!)
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does not support all video chipsets and that you must have detailed
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information.
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<P>
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You can also determine your videocard chipset by running the <tt>
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SuperProbe</tt> program included with the XFree86 distribution. This is
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covered in more detail below.
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<P>
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The following standard SVGA chipsets are supported:
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<UL><LI> Tseng ET3000, ET4000AX, ET4000/W32
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<LI> Western Digital/Paradise PVGA1
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<LI> Western Digital WD90C00, WD90C10, WD90C11, WD90C24, WD90C30, WD90C31,
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WD90C33
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<LI> Genoa GVGA
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<LI> Trident TVGA8800CS, TVGA8900B, TVGA8900C, TVGA8900CL, TVGA9000,
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TVGA9000i, TVGA9100B, TVGA9200CX, TVGA9320, TVGA9400CX, TVGA9420
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<LI> ATI 18800, 18800-1, 28800-2, 28800-4, 28800-5, 28800-6, 68800-3,
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68800-6, 68800AX, 68800LX, 88800
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<LI> NCR 77C22, 77C22E, 77C22E+
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<LI> Cirrus Logic CLGD5420, CLGD5422, CLGD5424, CLGD5426, CLGD5428,
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CLGD5429, CLGD5430, CLGD5434, CLGD6205, CLGD6215,
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CLGD6225, CLGD6235, CLGD6420
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<LI> Compaq AVGA
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<LI> OAK OTI067, OTI077
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<LI> Avance Logic AL2101
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<LI> MX MX68000, MX680010
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<LI> Video 7/Headland Technologies HT216-32
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</UL>
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<P>
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The following SVGA chipsets with accelerated features are also supported:
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<UL><LI> 8514/A (and true clones)
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<LI> ATI Mach8, Mach32
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<LI> Cirrus CLGD5420, CLGD5422, CLGD5424, CLGD5426, CLGD5428, CLGD5429,
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CLGD5430, CLGD5434, CLGD6205, CLGD6215, CLGD6225, CLGD6235
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<LI> S3 86C911, 86C924, 86C801, 86C805, 86C805i, 86C928, 86C864, 86C964
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<LI> Western Digital WD90C31, WD90C33
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<LI> Weitek P9000
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<LI> IIT AGX-014, AGX-015, AGX-016
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<LI> Tseng ET4000/W32, ET4000/W32i, ET4000/W32p
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</UL>
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<P>
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Video cards using these chipsets are supported on all bus types, including
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VLB and PCI.
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<P>
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All of the above are supported in both 256 color and monochrome modes, with
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the exception of the Avance Logic, MX and Video 7 chipsets, which are only
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supported in 256 color mode. If your video card has enough DRAM installed,
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many of the above chipsets are supported in 16 and 32 bits-per-pixel mode
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(specifically, some Mach32, P9000, S3 and Cirrus boards). The usual
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configuration is 8 bits per pixel (that is, 256 colors).
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<P>
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The monochrome server also supports generic VGA cards, the Hercules
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monochrome card, the Hyundai HGC1280, Sigma LaserView, and Apollo monochrome
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cards. On the Compaq AVGA, only 64k of video memory is supported for the
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monochrome server, and the GVGA has not been tested with more than 64k.
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<P>
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This list will undoubtedly expand as time passes. The release notes for the
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current version of XFree86 should contain the complete list of supported
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video chipsets.
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<P>
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One problem faced by the XFree86 developers is that
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some video card manufacturers use non-standard mechanisms for determining
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clock frequencies used to drive the card. Some of these manufacturers
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either don't release specifications describing how to program the card,
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or they require developers to sign a non-disclosure statement to obtain
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the information. This would obviously restrict the free distribution of
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the XFree86 software, something that the XFree86 development team is
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not willing to do. For a long time, this has been a problem with
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certain video cards manufactured by Diamond, but as of release 3.1
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of XFree86, Diamond has started to work with the development team to
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release free drivers for these cards.
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<P>
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The suggested setup for XFree86 under Linux is a 486 machine with at least
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8 megabytes of RAM, and a video card with a chipset listed above. For
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optimal performance, we suggest using an accelerated card, such as an
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S3-chipset card. You should check the documentation
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for XFree86 and verify that your particular card is supported before
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taking the plunge and purchasing expensive hardware. Benchmark ratings
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comparisons for various video cards under XFree86 are posted routinely
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to the USENET newsgroups <tt>comp.windows.x.i386unix</tt> and
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<tt>comp.os.linux.misc</tt>.
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<P>
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As a side note, my personal Linux system is a 486DX2-66, 20 megabytes of
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RAM, and is equipped with a VLB S3-864 chipset card with 2 megabytes of DRAM.
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I have run X benchmarks on this machine as well as on Sun Sparc IPX
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workstations. The Linux system is roughly 7 times faster than the Sparc IPX
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(for the curious, XFree86-3.1 under Linux, with this video card, runs
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at around 171,000 xstones; the Sparc IPX at around 24,000). In general,
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XFree86 on a Linux system with an accelerated SVGA card will give you
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much greater performance than that found on commercial UNIX workstations
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(which usually employ simple framebuffers for graphics).
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<P>
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<A NAME=5199> </A>
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Your machine will need at least 4 megabytes of physical RAM, and 16 megabytes
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of virtual RAM (for example, 8 megs physical and 8 megs swap).
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Remember that the more physical RAM that you have, the less that the system
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will swap to and from disk when memory is low. Because swapping is inherently
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slow (disks are very slow compared to memory), having 8 megabytes of RAM or
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more is necessary to run XFree86 comfortably.
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A system with 4 megabytes of physical RAM could run <em>much</em>
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(up to 10 times) more slowly than one with 8 megs or more.
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html4320 HREF="node200.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4318 HREF="node198.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4312 HREF="node198.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4322 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4323 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4321 HREF="node200.html">5.1.2 Installing XFree86</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4319 HREF="node198.html">5.1 The X Window </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4313 HREF="node198.html">5.1 The X Window </A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<BR> <HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>
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<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
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mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
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</ADDRESS>
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