Subject: Re: Color X on Quadra 700
To: Tim McNamara <timmcn@bitstream.net>
From: Frederick Bruckman <fredb@immanent.net>
List: port-mac68k
Date: 02/13/2004 22:34:20
On Fri, 13 Feb 2004, Tim McNamara wrote:

> I've installed the color X server from .../arch/mac68k/contribs/...
> using the precompiled one to save time.  I'm running 1.6.1 on a Quadra
> 700 with just the onboard video.  Seems to be limited to 256 colors and
> as such the rendering is pretty horrible visually and quite slow- but
> it *does* work and that's really something.  Nice to see color, even
> garish color.

It doesn't know enough (or anything, really) about the hardware to
change color maps, so only static visuals are supported, like 8-bit
Greyscale, or 16-bit or 24-bit TrueColor.

> I've thought about changing the colormap to grey scale, but haven't
> done so yet, to see if the desktop is more legible.  Would performance
> and color rendering be better with a NuBus video card?  If so, is there
> a "best" option?

The only relevant measure is the amount of video memory. If you fully
stuff the motherboard with VRAM, the Quadra 700 will take up to 2MB,
which will, I calculate, support up to 1152x870 at 16-bit.

> I've also only got 20 MB RAM; IIRC the Quadra 700 will support up to 64
> MB under Mac OS- will it address all of that under NetBSD?

Sure. The spec is actually 4 30-pin SIMMS, or 128MB assuming that the
largest SIMM available is 32MB, but in fact you can buy 64MB SIMMS, so
it could go up to 256MB. NetBSD/mac68k is good to 2GB, at least, or
more than you can put into any known Mac.

Frederick