s3virge(4)                                                                                                            s3virge(4)



NAME
       s3virge - S3 ViRGE video driver

SYNOPSIS
       Section "Device"
         Identifier "devname"
         Driver "s3virge"
         ...
         [ Option "optionname" ["optionvalue"]]
       EndSection

DESCRIPTION
       s3virge  is  an Xorg driver for S3 based video cards.  The driver is fully accelerated, and provides support for the fol-
       lowing framebuffer depths: 8, 15, 16, and 24.  All visual types are supported for depth 8, and TrueColor visuals are sup-
       ported for the other depths.  XVideo hardware up scaling is supported in depth 16 and 24 on the DX, GX, GX2, MX, MX+, and
       Trio3D/2X.  Doublescan modes are supported and tested in depth 8 and 16 on DX, but disable XVideo.  Doublescan  modes  on
       other chipsets are untested.

SUPPORTED HARDWARE
       The s3virge driver supports PCI and AGP video cards based on the following S3 chips:

       ViRGE       86C325

       ViRGE VX    86C988

       ViRGE DX    86C375

       ViRGE GX    86C385

       ViRGE GX2   86C357

       ViRGE MX    86C260

       ViRGE MX+   86C280

       Trio 3D     86C365

       Trio 3D/2X  86C362, 86C368

CONFIGURATION DETAILS
       Please  refer to xorg.conf(5) for general configuration details.  This section only covers configuration details specific
       to this driver.  All options names are case and white space insensitive when parsed by the server, for  example,   "virge
       vx" and "VIRGEvx" are equivalent.

       The  driver auto-detects the chipset type, but the following ChipSet names may optionally be specified in the config file
       ""Device"" section, and will override the auto-detection:

           "virge", "86c325", "virge vx", "86c988", "virge dx", "86c375", "virge gx", "86c385", "virge  gx2",  "86c357",  "virge
           mx", "86c260", "virge mx+", "86c280", "trio 3d", "86c365", "trio 3d/2x", "86c362", "86c368".


       The following Cursor Options are supported:

       Option "HWCursor" ["boolean"]
              Enable or disable the HW cursor.  Default: on.

       Option "SWCursor" ["boolean"]
              Inverse of "HWCursor".  Default: off.


       The following display Options are supported:

       Option "ShadowFB" ["boolean"]
              Use shadow framebuffer.  Disables HW acceleration.  Default: off.

       Option "Rotate" "cw | ccw"
              Rotate  the  screen CW - clockwise or CCW - counter clockwise.  Disables HW Acceleration and HW Cursor, uses Shad-
              owFB.  Default: no rotation.

       Option "XVideo" ["boolean"]
              Disable XVideo support by using the off option.  This changes FIFO settings which prevent screen noise  for  high-
              res modes.  Default: on


       The following video memory Options are supported:

       Option "slow_edodram"
              Switch the standard ViRGE to 2-cycle edo mode. Try this if you encounter pixel corruption on the ViRGE. Using this
              option will cause a large decrease in performance.  Default: off.

       Option "fpm_vram"
              Switch the ViRGE/VX to fast page mode vram mode.  Default: off.

       Option "slow_dram | fast_dram"
              Change Trio 3D and 3D/2X memory options.  Default: Use BIOS defaults.

       Option "early_ras_precharge | late_ras_precharge"
              adjust memory parameters.  One of these will us the same settings as your video card defaults, and  using  neither
              in the config file does the same.  Default: none.

       Option "set_mclk" "integer"
              sets the memory clock, where integer is in kHz, and integer <= 100000.  Default: probe the memory clock value, and
              use it at server start.

       Option "set_refclk" "integer"
              sets the ref clock for ViRGE MX, where integer is in kHz.  Default: probe the memory clock value, and  use  it  at
              server start.



       The following acceleration and graphics engine Options are supported:

       Option "NoAccel"
              Disable  acceleration.   Very useful for determining if the driver has problems with drawing and acceleration rou-
              tines.  This is the first option to try if your server runs but you see graphic corruption on the  screen.   Using
              it  decreases  performance,  as  it uses software emulation for drawing operations the video driver can accelerate
              with hardware.  Default: acceleration is enabled.

       Option "UseFB"
              There are two framebuffer rendering methods.  fb and cfb.  Both are available in the driver.  fb is the newer  and
              default method.  To switch back to cfb use this option with no, off or other negative parameter.  Default: on.

       Option "fifo_aggressive | fifo_moderate | fifo_conservative"
              alter  the settings for the threshold at which the pixel FIFO takes over the internal memory bus to refill itself.
              The smaller this threshold, the better the acceleration performance of the card. You may try the  fastest  setting
              (fifo_aggressive)  and  move  down if you encounter pixel corruption.  The optimal setting will probably depend on
              dot-clock and on color depth. Note that specifying any of these options will  also  alter  other  memory  settings
              which  may increase performance, so trying fifo_conservative will in most cases be a slight benefit (this uses the
              chip defaults).  If pixel corruption or transient streaking is observed during drawing  operations  then  removing
              any fifo options is recommended.  Default: none.


       The following PCI bus Options are supported:

       Option "pci_burst" ["boolean"]
              will  enable PCI burst mode. This should work on all but a few broken PCI chipsets, and will increase performance.
              Default: off.

       Option "pci_retry" ["boolean"]
              will allow the driver to rely on PCI Retry to program the ViRGE registers.  pci_burst must be enabled for this  to
              work.   This will increase performance, especially for small fills/blits, because the driver does not have to poll
              the ViRGE before sending it commands to make sure it is ready.  It  should  work  on  most  recent  PCI  chipsets.
              Default: off.

       The following ViRGE MX LCD Options are supported:

       Option "lcd_center"

       Option "set_lcdclk" "integer"
              allows setting the clock for a ViRGE MX LCD display.  integer is in Hz.  Default: use probed value.


       The following additional Options are supported:

       Option "ShowCache" ["boolean"]
              Enable or disable viewing offscreen cache memory.  A development debug option.  Default: off.

       Option "mx_cr3a_fix" ["boolean"]
              Enable or disable a cr3a fix added for ViRGE MX.  Default: on.


SEE ALSO
       Xorg(1), xorg.conf(5), Xserver(1), X(7)


KNOWN BUGS
       The VideoRam generic driver parameter is presently ignored by the s3virge driver.  On PPC this is reported to cause prob-
       lems for 2M cards, because they may autodetect as 4M.


SUPPORT
       For assistance with this driver, or XFree86 in general, check the XFree86 web site at http://www.xfree86.org.  A  FAQ  is
       available  on  the  web  site  at http://www.xfree86.org/FAQ/.  If you find a problem with XFree86 or have a question not
       answered in the FAQ please use our bug report form available on the web site or send mail to  XFree86ATXFree86.org.   When
       reporting  problems  with  the  driver  send as much detail as possible, including chipset type, a server output log, and
       operating system specifics.


AUTHORS
       Kevin Brosius, Matt Grossman, Harald Koenig, Sebastien Marineau, Mark Vojkovich.



X Version 11                                        xf86-video-s3virge 1.10.4                                         s3virge(4)