Announcing the Release of
                      XFree86[TM] Beta Version 3.1.2A

                              22 November 1995

  The XFree86 Project, Inc is now making its beta versions available to
  the public in binary form.  The first of these is version 3.1.2A.

  Binaries are currently available for FreeBSD (2.0.5, also OK for 2.1.0),
  NetBSD 1.1, Linux (a.out and ELF), ISC, and SVR4.  They can be found
  at ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/3.1.2A/, and most of the usual
  XFree86 mirror sites.  These binaries are update sets relative to the
  last full release version (3.1.2).  This means that 3.1.2 must be
  installed first.

  The release notes for this release explain the reasons for the change
  in our beta release policy, changes in version 3.1.2A, and how to install
  it.  A copy of the release notes is included below.  They can also be
  found at http://WWW.XFree86.org/3.1.2A/RELNOTES.html.


  Release Notes for XFree86[TM] 3.1.2A (beta version)
  The XFree86 Project, Inc

  19 November 1995

  This document describes the rationale and conditions of this beta
  release, what is new in the XFree86 beta version 3.1.2A compared with
  the current release version 3.1.2, and how to install this beta
  release.

  1.  General Information about Beta Releases

  This is a beta release of XFree86.  XFree86 beta releases are
  available to the public in binary form only.  Source code is available
  only to registered members of the XFree86 beta team.  The main reason
  for this is that XFree86 beta versions often contain source code from
  other sources (such as the X Consortium) which is not yet available
  for public release.  If you want to test or work on these releases at
  the source code level, you can apply for membership of the XFree86
  beta team by sending email to XFree86@XFree86.org.

  The X servers included in beta releases have a built-in expiry date.
  The reason for this is to try to prevent them from persisting beyond
  the date of the next release.  The expiry date for 3.1.2A is 1
  February 1996.

  The XFree86 binary beta releases may be freely redistributed providing
  that they are not modified in any way, and providing that an
  unmodified version of this document is included with the distribution.

  The reasons for making this beta release publicly available are to
  give it the widest possible testing, and also to make support for new
  hardware available.

  The XFree86 Project encourages people to test this beta release, and
  to send us a report.  We need both success and failure reports, and we
  also need people using already supported hardware to test these beta
  releases to make sure that we haven't broken anything while adding
  support for new hardware.  A template for the Beta test reports can be
  found in the file ``BetaReport'' which should be available from the
  same place you got this file.  It is also installed in
  /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/.  Beta test reports should be sent to
  report@XFree86.org.  Please do not send these reports to our usual
  support address.

  2.  New Features in 3.1.2A

  2.1.  General X server changes


     o  Underscore characters are now ignored in Options and keywords in
        the XF86Config file.

     o  The built-in X server malloc is used by default.

     o  Fix a problem that can cause the X server to crash when running
        xvidtune.

     o  A new pointer keyword RepeatMiddle has been added to support
        dual-protocol 3-button mice which repeat the previous button
        event when the middle button is pressed in Microsoft-compatible
        mode.  If you've had problems getting the middle button working
        on your mouse, try this.



     o  Bitmap fontpath elements can have ":unscaled" appended to
        prevent the fonts from being treated as scalable.  This works
        with the fontserver (xfs) too.

  2.2.  Trident driver (SVGA server)


     o  Preliminary support is included for the TGUI 9440.

  2.3.  Cirrus driver (SVGA server)


     o  Support has been added for the CL-GD7543.

     o  The programmable clock code has been improved to avoid unstable
        settings.

  2.4.  ARK driver (SVGA server)


     o  Preliminary support has been added for the ICS5342
        RAMDAC/programmable clock, which is used on the Stealth64
        Graphics 2001 card.  This has had very little testing so far.
        To enable this, add the following lines to the Device section of
        your XF86Config file:


                  Ramdac    "ics5342"
                  ClockChip "ics5342"





     Do not include any Clocks lines in your XF86Config file.

     o  Panning has been fixed for ARK2000PV cards with 2MB of video
        memory.

  2.5.  WD90C24 driver (SVGA server)


     o  A problem with snow at high clocks has been fixed.

  2.6.  S3 server


     o  The default InvertVCLK settings have been changed for #9 Motion
        771 cards and Hercules Terminator 64 Pro cards.  If you have
        needed to add Invert_VCLK lines to your XF86Config file to avoid
        screen wrapping with version 3.1.2, please remove them when
        testing this version.  If there are problems with the new
        defaults, please report them to us.

     o  Preliminary support has been added for the AT&T 20C409 and AT&T
        20C499 RAMDACs with 868 cards.  8bpp pixel multiplexing
        currently does not work.

     o  The IBM RGB526 RAMDAC used on the newer Diamond Stealth64 Video
        3240/3400 cards isn't yet auto-detected, but it will work if the
        following line is added to the Device section of your XF86Config
        file:




             Ramdac "ibm_rgb526"





  2.7.  Mach32 server


     o  Hardware cursor mask problem has been fixed.

  2.8.  Mach64 server


     o  Hardware cursor mask problem has been fixed.

     o  Support for the AT&T 20C408 RAMDAC/Clockchip has been added.

     o  Arbitrary clocks can be used on most boards with supported clock
        chips.  This is enabled with the "program_clocks" option.

  2.9.  ET4000/W32 server


     o  Support has been added for the ICS5341 programmable clock.  To
        enable this, add the following lines to the Device section of
        your XF86Config file:


                  Ramdac    "ics5341"
                  ClockChip "ics5341"





     o  Problems that could cause the W32 server to crash at startup or
        get stuck in a loop at exit have been fixed.

  2.10.  AGX server


     o  Fix for clock probing with AGX-010 chips.

  2.11.  VGA16 server


     o  A problem preventing the StaticGray visual from working has been
        fixed.

  2.12.  xf86config utility


     o  Incorrect handling of IBM RGB Ramdacs has been fixed.

  2.13.  SuperProbe


     o  Added detection for C&T 65548, Cirrus CL-GD7543/1, AT&T 20C409,
        AT&T20C499, and fixed an incorrect ET4000/W32 probe problem.

  2.14.  Client/Library changes




     o  The xdm security fix from the X Consortium's fix-13 is included.

     o  xconsole has been updated for Unixware 2.x.

     o  Colour support has been added to xterm.

     o  XNLS support has been added for KOI8-R.

     o  xrdb dynamically allocates string space to avoid overruns.

     o  A memory overrun problem in xterm has been fixed.

     o  An "AllowNullPasswd" resource has been added to xdm.

     o  libXt bug fix from the X Consortium's fix-13.

  3.  Installing an XFree86 Beta Release

  The XFree86 3.1.2A binary beta release is distributed as a upgrade to
  3.1.2.  It consists of the following files:


       BetaReport         Beta test report template form
       X312A8514.tgz      8514/A server
       X312AAGX.tgz       AGX server
       X312AMa32.tgz      Mach 32 server
       X312AMa64.tgz      Mach 64 server
       X312AMa8.tgz       Mach 8 server
       X312AMono.tgz      Mono server
       X312AP9K.tgz       P9000 server
       X312ASVGA.tgz      SVGA server
       X312AVG16.tgz      16 colour VGA server
       X312AW32.tgz       ET4000/W32 server
       X312Aupd.tgz       clients/libraries that have changed since 3.1.2
       postinst.sh        script to run after installing the 3.1.2A binaries




  If you don't already have XFree86 3.1.2 installed, first install that.
  Then, you will need to get at least one of the XFree86 3.1.2A X
  servers plus the update set (X312Aupt.tgz), the post-install script,
  and the BetaReport file.  It is recommended that this release be
  installed in the directory /usr/XFree86-3.1.2A.  You will need to be
  `root' to do the installation.  The following example is for
  installing the S3 and Mono servers, and it assumes that the above
  files are located in /var/tmp:



               mkdir /usr/XFree86-3.1.2A
               cd /usr/XFree86-3.1.2A
               gzip -d < /var/tmp/X312AS3.tgz | tar vxf -
               gzip -d < /var/tmp/X312AMono.tgz | tar vxf -
               gzip -d < /var/tmp/X312Aupd.tgz | tar vxf -
               sh /var/tmp/postinst.sh




  The postinst.sh script makes a backup copy of the 3.1.2 versions you
  already had installed in /usr/X11R6.  It puts the backups into the
  /usr/XFree86-3.1.2 directory.  It then links the 3.1.2A versions into
  /usr/X11R6.


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