README revision 170d5fdc 
1xf86-video-geode -- AMD Geode GX and LX graphics driver for X.org
2=================================================================
3README last updated: 2009-09-09
4
5GIT repository:
6        git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/xorg/driver/xf86-video-geode
7
8Gitweb browser:
9        http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-geode
10
11Project homepage:
12	http://www.x.org/wiki/GeodeDriver
13
14= Introduction =
15
16This is the X graphics driver for the AMD Geode GX and LX processors.
17The GX driver features XAA and EXA support for graphics acceleration,
18and the LX driver supports EXA (including compositing).  Both drivers
19support dynamic rotation with XRandR, and Xv overlay support.
20
21= Roadmap =
22
23Support for X servers older than 1.4 is expected to be dropped in the
24near future.  If your distribution still hasn't upgraded, please urge 
25them to get around it soon.
26
27Support for old GX1 Geodes by Cyrix and NSC will be reintroduced soon,
28at which point xf86-video-cyrix and xf86-video-nsc will be retired.
29
30Until then, the current situation for Geode coverage is as follow:
31 
32xf86-video-geode
33 * Geode LX      (a.k.a. GX3) PCI ID 0x1022:0x2081
34 * Geode GX      (a.k.a. GX2) PCI ID 0x100B:0x0030 (rebranded GX2)
35
36xf86-video-nsc
37 * Geode GX2     (a.k.a. GX2) PCI ID 0x100B:0x0030 (a.k.a. "Red Cloud")
38 * Geode SCx200  (a.k.a. GX1) PCI ID 0x100B:0x0504 
39 * Geode SC1400  (a.k.a. GX1) PCI ID 0x100B:0x0104 
40
41xf86-video-cyrix
42 * Geode MediaGX (a.k.a. GX1) PCI ID 0x1078:0x0104 
43
44Please note that both NSC and GEODE support GX2. This is indeed correct.
45However, only GEODE has up-to-date code, while NSC is deprecated. 
46
47= Dependencies =
48
49As of version 2.11.4, this driver depends upon X server 1.5 or newer,
50because the GX Randr code utilizes dixSetPrivate whose API was modified 
51in a non backward-compatible way.
52
53  #ifdef'ing the changes from f1268f3ba8404129d358db3bb1e66f3841f7018a 
54  and b28abde0276ddd7f687242f3886f98b0e49a7fc2 might make it possible
55  to build this driver against older X servers. Patches are welcome.
56
57As of version 2.9.0, this driver depends on X server 1.3 or newer,
58because it utilizes the new common DDC probing libraries from X.Org.
59
60  If necessary, it might be possible to create autoconf macros to make 
61  this driver compile against older X servers, following this example:
62
63  http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg-commit/2007-February/010341.html
64
65  Patches accomplishing the same trick for the Geode driver are welcome.
66
67= FAQ =
68
69Q: Why doesn't screen rotation work?
70
71A: Make sure that a sufficient amount of video RAM is reserved in the BIOS,
72   otherwise rotation will fail and this error message appear in Xorg.log:
73      Couldn't allocate the shadow memory for rotation
74      You need XX bytes, but only YY bytes are available
75
76Q: Why doesn't this GEODE driver work at WXGA (wide screen) resolutions?
77
78A: Make sure that TFT Panel support is disabled in the BIOS settings, 
79   otherwise resolutions will be restricted to traditional VGA modes. 
80   The GEODE offers a choice between CRT-only, CRT+TFT, TFT-only for
81   output device and selecting CRT-only removes the VGA restriction.
82
83Q: How do I produce useful information whenever submiting a bug report?
84
85A: See http://www.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/ServerDebugging
86   and follow the instructions.
87
88Q: How do I test development snapshots from the upstream GIT repository?
89
90A: Run the following commands from a command line interpreter shell...
91   1. git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/git/xorg/driver/xf86-video-geode 
92   2. Debian/Ubuntu:  apt-get install autoconf automake libtool xutils-dev
93                      apt-get install build-dep xserver-xorg-video-geode
94     Fedora/Red Hat:  yum install autoconf automake libtool xorg-x11-util-macros
95                      yum-builddep xorg-x11-drv-geode
96   3. cd xf86-video-geode
97   4. ./autogen.sh
98   5. make distcheck
99   ...then install the driver manually.
100
101Q: What is the preferred method for submitting patches to this driver?
102
103A: See http://www.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
104   and submit the patches as attachments to the Geode X.org mailing list
105   or to the X.org Bugzilla against component "Driver/geode".
106
107= Configuration options =
108
109You can specify the Geode driver in the normal fashion:
110
111Section "Device"
112	Identifier "AMD Geode"
113	Driver "geode"
114	Option "blah" "blah"
115	...
116EndSection
117
118The following options may be added to the section:
119
120== Common options ==
121
122FBSize: Specify the size of the video space (in bytes)
123NoAccel: Disable hardware assisted acceleration
124NoCompression: Disable video bandwidth compression
125NoPanel: Disable panel support
126Rotate: Select a orientation to start with - LEFT, INVERT, CCW
127SWCursor: Enable software cursors (essentially disabling HW cursor support)
128
129== GX-specific options ==
130
131AccelMethod: "XAA" (default) or "EXA"
132PanelGeometry: Specify the geometry of the attached panel ("<width>x<height>")
133OSMImageBuffers: Set the number of image buffers (XAA only)
134OSMColorExpBuffers: Set the number of color expansion buffers (XAA only)
135
136== LX-specific options ==
137
138ExaScratch: Specify the amount of extra EXA scratch buffer (in bytes)
139
140= EOF =
141