Subject: Re: tga graphic cards
To: Chris G. Demetriou <cgd@netbsd.org>
From: Berndt Josef Wulf <wulf@dingo.ping.net.au>
List: port-alpha
Date: 10/16/1999 16:13:46
Chris G. Demetriou wrote
> 
> Berndt Josef Wulf <wulf@dingo.ping.net.au> writes:
> > Personally, I would rather have a working kludge than nothing at all.
> > I fail to see why NetBSD-alpha takes a special status when compared with 
> > Linux, FreeBSD or Digital Unix, all platforms which support standard
> > pci-vga. I installed RH-Linux und DEC Tru64 Unix just to verify
> > that it actually runs on my system with a Diamond Stealth 64.
> 
> Will Tru64 actually work with "any" random VGA card in high-res mode?
> Can it run XF86?  I don't know.
>
> But if those aren't the case, then you indeed _are_ asking for
> something that XF86 can't do.  Last I saw, Digital UNIX used a sane
> framebuffer model, and that pretty much precludes using XF86 + random
> VGA cards in high-res modes.

Yes, DU4 and True64 Unix work with the Diamond Stealth 64 and similar
cards. I consider 1024x768x16 to be a hires mode which performed quite
well on my system.

[...]
> > ...the same holds true for FreeBSD and Linux. The problem with 
> > user-supported systems is that the majority of users don't have the
> > required skill level to take on such a project and this includes me
> > too.
> 
> If they don't have the required skill, they should develop said skill.
> If they can't do that, then they can pay or convince somebody with the
> required skill to do it.

If it was that easy in aquiring these skills, positions for system
administrators and software developers would become a thing of the past.

> If they can't do any of those things, and they expect and/or require
> that the features will magically appear, then they're not living on
> the same planet that I am.  8-)

Hold your horses.... You may recall my initial posting was an attempt
to find a supplier for a TGA 8 plane card  (P/N PBXGA-AA). I didn't ask
nor expected anyone to write a VGA-xserver, as I knew to well that
this will never happen. The resulting discussion started spontaneously,
obviously sparked by my email. The xserver appears to be the tickle
point in the NetBSD-alpha community... ;)

BTW: There was only one privat reply which matched the topic of my
initial request. At least, someone got it right...

cheerio Berndt
-- 
Name    : Berndt Josef Wulf            | +++ With BSD on Packet Radio +++
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