108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<html> 208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<head> 308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> 408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <meta name="GENERATOR" content="The DarkSite"> 5*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen <title>Readme for Haiku skeleton graphics driver</title> 608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</head> 708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<body> 8*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen<h2 align="center">Haiku skeleton graphics driver</h2></align><br><br> 908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 1008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<h3><strong>NOTE PLEASE:</strong><br> 1108a017dcSRudolf CornelissenYou use this software at your own risk! Although I don't expect it to damage your PC, videocard or Monitor, I cannot guarantee this!</h3> 1208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 1308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<h2>Supported cards (as far as is known):</h2> 1408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 15*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen <li>None. 1608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 1708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 1808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 1908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<h2>Features:</h2> 2008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 21*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen <li>None. 2208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 2308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Known limitations:</strong> 2408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 25*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen <li>Everything you can think of. 2608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 2708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 2808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 2908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<h2>Installation:</h2> 3008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 3108a017dcSRudolf CornelissenIn contrary to what I have said before you don't need to de-install official Be drivers for this driver to work correctly. This driver will install in the user part of the BeOS, so not in the system part where the official drivers are.<br> 32*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenBeOS first checks (during boot) if there are 'user-addons' that should be loaded for a device. If not, it loads it's own drivers (if any). You can select which driver should be loaded by hitting the spacebar as soon as the BeOS 'icons' screen appears. If you select <strong>disable user addons</strong> the system will load it's own drivers. If you don't do anything, the system will load the Haiku skeleton graphics driver.<br> 3308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 34*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Note:</strong> This might turn out to be handy if you run into trouble upon testing the driver, or if you are 'tweaking' the skel.settings file...<br> 3508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br><br> 3608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>actual INSTALLATION:</strong><br> 3708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 3808a017dcSRudolf CornelissenDoubleclick on the install.sh file and follow the instructions. You have to reboot in order to load the driver. Make sure you read the <strong>Settings</strong> information below before you do that...<br> 3908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>alternate INSTALLATION method:</strong><br> 4208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4308a017dcSRudolf CornelissenUnzip the zip file that contains the driver to the root folder. Now reboot and you should be using the new driver.<br> 4408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>DE-INSTALLATION:</strong><br> 4708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 4808a017dcSRudolf CornelissenCurrently there's no uninstall script included. Just do it manually:<br> 4908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 50*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenDelete the <strong>skel.accelerant</strong> file in <strong>home/config/add-ons/accelerants/</strong><br> 51*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenDelete the <strong>skel.driver</strong> file in <strong>home/config/add-ons/kernel/drivers/bin/</strong><br> 52*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenDelete the <strong>skel.settings</strong> file in <strong>home/config/settings/kernel/drivers/</strong><br> 53*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenDelete the <strong>skel.driver shortcut</strong> in <strong>home/config/add-ons/kernel/drivers/dev/graphics/</strong> which pointed to the file <strong>skel.driver</strong>.<br> 5408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 5508a017dcSRudolf CornelissenYou have to reboot in order to apply the original configuration.<br> 5608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 5708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 5808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 5908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<a name="settings"></a><h2>Settings:</h2><br> 60*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenPlease read this information carefully *before* installing and using the Haiku skeleton graphics driver. It might spare you some trouble afterwards..<br> 61*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen<p>The driver uses a file named <strong>skel.settings</strong> to determine how to use your card. After installation this file will be located at <strong>home/config/settings/kernel/drivers/</strong>. How you should setup this file depends on what you want to do with the driver. While it has a 'failsave' default configuration, you might be able to do better than that... Anyway, read the nifty details below.<br> 6208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 6308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Note:</strong> The driver only reads this file during it's initialisation. This means that you have to reboot in order to let changes take effect.<br> 6408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 6508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 6608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 67*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen<strong>skel.settings driver configuration:</strong><br> 6808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 6908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>usebios:</strong><br> 7008a017dcSRudolf CornelissenThe name of this item may be somewhat misleading, it might be changed in the future. It actually tells the driver if it should coldstart the card or not. The driver will rely on the VGA BIOS to have coldstarted the card before BeOS booted if you specify 'true'.<br> 7108a017dcSRudolf CornelissenTo make things look even more complex the driver might actually use the BIOS to determine your cards specifications on *both* possible settings. 7208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 7308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong><br> 74*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen If you specify <strong>usebios false</strong> the driver will attempt to coldstart the card, which is the preferred way of doing it because of the better tuned setup if all is right. Unfortunately there's not enough info available to make this work reliably, so it's not used by default. This setting would enable you to use your card as a secondary card in your system. Be advised though that BeOS officially does not (yet) support multiple VGA cards, so you need special software in order to be able to actually use it (a video consumer node for instance). 7508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong> (default setting)<br> 76*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen Specify <strong>usebios true</strong> unless you want to try to use a card as a secondary card in your system. 7708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 7808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>memory:</strong> (disabled by default)<br> 7908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen This option enables you to override the 'memory amount autodetection' of the driver. If autodetection is working incorrect, you can manually set the amount this way. You could also lower the amount of RAM to a lower value than actually there to test with for instance overlay use in applications. So this option is probably mostly of interest to developers. Specify the RAM amount in Mb (use only 'whole' numbers!).<br> 8008a017dcSRudolf CornelissenThis option is disabled by default (preceded by a '#').<br> 8108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<li><strong>hardcursor:</strong><br> 8208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen A hardcursor is nessesary for DirectWindow windowed mode support. 8308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 8408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong><br> 8508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen If you have trouble with the hardcursor (on one or both of the heads), select <strong>hardcursor false</strong>. Make sure you let me know about the hardcursor trouble also: this should not happen! 8608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong> (default setting)<br> 8708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen A software cursor 'flickers' a bit sometimes because it has to be redrawn constantly. So <strong>hardcursor true</strong> is the preferred setting. For DirectWindow windowed mode functionality you need to use this setting also (Chart demo app for instance). 8808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 8908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<li><strong>logmask:</strong> (set to minimal by default)<br> 90*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenThe logmask option is very handy to track down trouble in the driver. You should only enable this if you are doing so, otherwise keep it turned off because it slows down your system. (All lines have a '#' preceding 'logmask' by default.) Logging creates a logfile called <strong>skel.accelerant.0.log</strong> in your <strong>~ (home)</strong> folder. A second logfile may get created depending on how the driver is used (on cloning; for BWindowScreen for example). The second file is called <strong>skel.accelerant.1.log</strong>, and it will also be in your home folder.<br> 9108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Note:</strong> 9208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 9308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<li>You may only enable *one* logmask-line. The value you place after it (hexadecimal 32bit) determines what will be logged. The first 7 digits determine the part of the driver that will be logging, the last single digit determines the level of logging (like 'all messages', or only 'error messages'). 9408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 9508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<li><strong>dumprom:</strong><br> 9608a017dcSRudolf CornelissenDumprom is another 'tool' for bug-tracking purposes. 9708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 9808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong> (default setting)<br> 9908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen Keep it set to <strong>dumprom false</strong>, unless you want the driver to dump the contents of your VGA BIOS ROM in a file. 10008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong><br> 101*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen <strong>dumprom true</strong> lets the driver dump a copy of your VGA BIOS in a file called <strong>skel.rom</strong> in your <strong>~ (home)</strong> folder. 10208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 10308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<li><strong>switchhead:</strong><br> 10408a017dcSRudolf CornelissenThe driver always autodetects which output should be used as primary one, but you can let the driver 'invert' the outcome of that detection with this option (only for dualhead cards). 10508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 10608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong> (default setting)<br> 10708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen Keep it set to <strong>switchhead false</strong>, unless you feel you want the card's other output to be used as primary one. Note that if a single connected screen is found, that screen will be the driver's primary output with this setting. 10808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong><br> 10908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <strong>switchhead true</strong> lets the driver 'invert' the output assignments for all modes. Use only when you have two screens connected, otherwise the one connected screen will remain black as the other (not connected) output is being used.<br> 11008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 11108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Note:</strong> 11208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 11308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li>If the driver determines it cannot use a digital panel <strong>despite</strong> it being physically connected and powered on, using the switchhead option will not fix this. This is no fault in your card or the panel, but happens only because the driver relies on certain functions inside your cards BIOS to behave in a certain way. 11408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 11508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>force_pci:</strong><br> 11608a017dcSRudolf CornelissenOn AGP cards you can block the use of AGP mode transfers. 11708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 11808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong> (default setting)<br> 11908a017dcSRudolf CornelissenKeep this option set to <strong>force_pci false</strong>, unless the graphics card or motherboard has trouble using AGP. 12008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong><br> 12108a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>force_pci true</strong> prevents the graphicsdriver from activating AGP mode, so it will be using PCI mode like it has always been in the past. The downside of this is that this comes at a performance penalty if your motherboard supports the AGP 'fastwrite' (FW) option, which won't be utilized with this setting. 12208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 12308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<strong>Note:</strong> 12408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<ul> 12508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li>If you have trouble using AGP mode, you should prefer tweaking the AGP busmanager settings file as it might well enable you to use a 'lesser' AGP mode instead of falling back to PCI mode alltogether. 12608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 12708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>unhide_fw:</strong><br> 12808a017dcSRudolf CornelissenThis option is only used if your card is running in AGP mode. It's a real <strong>tweak</strong> option. It's officially unsupported, and it's unknown if it can do harm to your card or system. It exists because using it <strong>can</strong> speedup unaccelerated graphics <strong>a lot</strong>. Think about video playback or playing quake2 in software rendering mode... 12908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 13008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong> (default setting)<br> 131*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenKeep this option set to <strong>unhide_fw false</strong> unless you are certain you want to try the 'unsupported' graphics speedup. On cards supporting FW by default the unhide_fw option has no effect. 13208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong><br> 133*2301c0f4SRudolf CornelissenIf you have an older card that officially doesn't support the AGP FW feature, you could possibly get this feature anyway by setting <strong>unhide_fw true</strong>. Please <strong>make sure</strong> that at the first sign of trouble (system hanging, displaying artifacts, etc) you disable this feature here again, or you might risk <strong>destroying</strong> your card and/or AGP slot. 13408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 13508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>pgm_panel:</strong><br> 13608a017dcSRudolf CornelissenThis option only has an effect if you have a laptop panel or DVI panel connected. It's existing because it's currently impossible to setup the driver in a way every single panel outthere is happy about it. 13708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <ul> 13808a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>false:</strong><br> 13908a017dcSRudolf CornelissenIf you select <strong>pgm_panel false</strong> the driver will not program the panel's pixelclock (refreshrate). Instead it relies on your cardBIOS to have done that correctly. While this is probably the case, it might introduce some displaying errors every now and then. 14008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen <li><strong>true:</strong> (default setting)<br> 14108a017dcSRudolf CornelissenWith the <strong>pgm_panel true</strong> setting, the driver will fix your panel's refreshrate to 60Hz. While this should be working on all panels outthere, some panels are particular picky about refreshrates below 60.0Hz (they shut off), and some other panels are particular picky about refreshrates above 60.0Hz (they shut off). While the driver requests the hardware to set 60.0Hz, this isn't exactly possible, so the actual setting is <strong>bound</strong> to be a tiny bit below or above 60.0Hz. 14208a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen </ul> 14308a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</ul> 14408a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen 14508a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<hr> 14608a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<br> 14708a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen<a href="mailto:info.be-hold@inter.nl.net">Rudolf Cornelissen.</a> 148*2301c0f4SRudolf Cornelissen<p>(Page last updated on November 4, 2004)</p> 14908a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</body> 15008a017dcSRudolf Cornelissen</html> 151