README revision 1.1.1.3
1 OpenChrome Version 0.4.0 Release Note (March 30th, 2016) 2 -------------------------------------------------------- 3 4 OpenChrome is an open source implementation of x.org X Server 5 DDX (Device Dependent X) graphics device driver for VIA Technologies 6 UniChrome and Chrome9 IGPs (Integrated Graphics Processor). 7 Please note that OpenChrome does not support VIA Technologies IGPs 8 that are related to Trident Microsystems (i.e., Apollo MVP4, PLE133, 9 and KLE133) or S3 Graphics (i.e., KM266). 10 Here is the project home page for OpenChrome. 11 12 http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Openchrome/ 13 14 Please note that VIA Technologies does not support OpenChrome in any way. 15 16 17 Supported Chipsets 18 ------------------ 19 20 - CLE266 21 - KM400 / KM400A / KN400 / P4M800 22 - K8M800 / K8N800 23 - PM800 / PN800 / PM880 / CN333 / CN400 24 - P4M800 Pro / VN800 / CN700 25 - CX700 / VX700 26 - P4M890 / VN890 / CN800 27 - K8M890 / K8N890 28 - P4M900 / VN896 / CN896 29 - VX800 / VX820 30 - VX855 / VX875 31 - VX900 32 33 34 Supported Features 35 ------------------ 36 37 - VGA 38 - DVI from an integrated TMDS transmitter (CX700, VX700, and 39 VX900 chipsets) 40 - LVDS flat panel (i.e., laptop LCD flat panel) 41 - EXA acceleration (RENDER acceleration) 42 - Xv and XvMC 43 - Dual screen (Screen clone mode only. No extended screen support at 44 this point.) 45 46 47 Unproven Features 48 ----------------- 49 50 - Standby (ACPI S1 and S3 State) resume 51 - TV out 52 - KMS support (Kernel Mode Setting; requires the use of VIA 53 Technologies IGP DRM module supporting KMS. See "Where to Obtain 54 OpenChrome Source Code" chapter for more details.) 55 56 57 Unimplemented Features 58 ---------------------- 59 60 - Extended screen support 61 - Hardware cursor support for CLE266, KM400, KM400A, KN400, and 62 P4M800 chipsets 63 - DVI via VT1632A TMDS transmitter (functionality is currently disabled) 64 - DVI via Silicon Image SiI 164 TMDS transmitter 65 - External HDMI transmitter (i.e., Jetway J7F5M-VHE-LF motherboard, 66 VIA Embedded EPIA-P720 motherboard, etc.) 67 - DisplayPort and HDMI support for VX900 chipset (Might work with 68 the experimental DRM module that supports KMS. See "Where to Obtain 69 OpenChrome Source Code" chapter for more details.) 70 71 72 What's New for OpenChrome Version 0.4.0 73 --------------------------------------- 74 75 OpenChrome Version 0.4.0 is a major break from the past versions where 76 configuring the display resources were done manually. Now the displays 77 are detected mostly automatically, although a few manual options still 78 remain. These will be retired in the near future. Besides that, two 79 alternative mode setting options were discontinued (VBE mode setting 80 and "legacy" mode setting), in order to simplify the code. A regression 81 affecting those with DVI to VGA adapter, which appeared in OpenChrome 82 Version 0.3.x, is fixed. More importantly, devices that were not 83 registered with a known device table (a table that is located 84 internally inside the code) used to crash at boot time, but since this 85 table was removed completely, this bug does not appear anymore. 86 87 - Removal of VBE (VESA BIOS Extension) mode setting 88 (removal of VBEModes and VbeSaveRestore options) 89 - Removal of "legacy" mode setting 90 (removal of ModeSwitchMethod option) 91 - Removal of ActiveDevice option 92 - Removal of ForcePanel option 93 - Removal of PanelSize option 94 - Removal of a known device table internally 95 - Mostly automatic display detection 96 - Fix for a regression affecting those with DVI to VGA adapter 97 - Fix for a boot time crash for devices that were not on the known 98 device table 99 - Fix for a possible OLPC XO-1.5 detection issue (untested) 100 - Fix for various small compilation warnings / errors 101 102 103 Known Bugs for OpenChrome Version 0.4.0 104 --------------------------------------- 105 106 Please note that the developers are committed to fixing every one of 107 these bugs eventually, but due to time and resource issues, these bugs 108 remain in the code currently. 109 110 111 * The computer will fail to boot if RCA composite Video is used 112 113 This was observed with the following motherboard. 114 115 - VIA Embedded EPIA-M motherboard (CLE266 chipset) 116 117 118 * Resume from ACPI S3 State or Suspend to RAM (STR) will cause a hang 119 120 This was observed with the following motherboards. 121 122 - VIA Embedded EPIA-CL motherboard (CLE266 chipset) 123 - VIA Embedded EPIA-M motherboard (CLE266 chipset) 124 - Foxconn 400M01-G-6L motherboard (KM400 chipset) 125 - VIA Embedded EPIA-M830 motherboard (VX800 chipset) 126 - Quanta IL1 laptop (VX800 chipset) 127 128 129 * Resume from ACPI S3 State or Suspend to RAM (STR) will not cause 130 a hang, but LVDS flat panel screen is lost or gets messed up 131 132 If VGA still works, you might still be able to partially operate the 133 computer. This was observed with the following computer. 134 135 - Sylvania gnet 13001 netbook (VX700 chipset) 136 - Epic Learning Epic 1314 laptop (MSI VR321 laptop equivalent, 137 VN896 chipset) 138 139 140 * There is no cursor on the screen in Lubuntu 10.04 141 142 This bug affects CLE266, KM400, KM400A, KN400, and P4M800 chipsets. 143 It is related to the lack of hardware cursor support in OpenChrome 144 code for these chipsets at the present time. This bug does not affect 145 Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. 146 147 148 * Window title for LXTerminal is not displayed correctly in 149 Lubuntu 10.04 150 151 This bug likely affects every supported chipset. 152 153 154 * DVI does not work 155 156 DVI coming out of VT1632A DVI transmitter chip is currently broken, 157 so the code to initialize it is currently disabled. Another possibility 158 is that DVI is coming out of Silicon Image SiI 164 TMDS transmitter. 159 SiI 164 is not supported by OpenChrome at this time. 160 161 162 * DVI and flat panel does not work simultaneously in clone mode 163 164 This has been observed with Sylvania gnet 13001 netbook (i.e., laptops 165 based on VIA Technologies NanoBook reference design). 166 167 168 * GUI screen will crash when the screen resolution is changed via a 169 utility 170 171 This bug has been observed in Lubuntu 12.04, but likely affects other 172 OSes. 173 174 175 How to Contact OpenChrome Developers 176 ------------------------------------ 177 178 Please visit these OpenChrome mailing lists. 179 180 http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/openchrome-users 181 http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/openchrome-devel 182 183 openchrome-users mailing list is meant for casual, non-technical 184 users asking questions about how to use OpenChrome, etc. 185 openchrome-devel mailing list is for discussing OpenChrome development 186 issues. 187 188 189 Where to File a Bug Report 190 -------------------------- 191 192 In order to file a bug report, please visit http://bugs.freedesktop.org. 193 When you file the bug, file it against "xorg." When specifying the 194 component, please select "Driver/openchrome." This allows a message to 195 be sent to openchrome-devel mailing list, so that developers can be 196 notified of the bug. 197 It is highly recommended to file the bug report over at 198 http://bugs.freedesktop.org rather than sending a message to 199 openchrome-devel mailing list. Also, filing a bug report against the 200 Linux / BSD distribution you are using (i.e., Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, 201 etc.) will likely be a waste of your time since the developers for those 202 distributions do not directly work on developing OpenChrome. 203 204 205 Where to Submit a Patch 206 ----------------------- 207 208 In order to submit a patch to improve OpenChrome, please visit 209 http://bugs.freedesktop.org. Open a bug report and upload the patch there. 210 When you file the bug, file it against "xorg." When specifying the 211 component, please select "Driver/openchrome." This allows a message to 212 be sent to openchrome-devel mailing list, so that developers can be 213 notified of the bug. 214 215 216 Where to Obtain OpenChrome Source Code 217 -------------------------------------- 218 219 The OpenChrome source code repository is located at. 220 221 http://cgit.freedesktop.org/openchrome/xf86-video-openchrome/ 222 223 224 The experimental DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) module that supports 225 KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) is located at. 226 227 https://cgit.freedesktop.org/openchrome/drm-openchrome/tree/drivers/gpu/drm/via 228 229 230 If You See a Bug 231 ---------------- 232 233 If you see a bug, please don't be surprised. OpenChrome has been in 234 development for more than 10 years. In that process, there were many 235 different developers that wrote the code in varying ways. Due to the fact 236 that OpenChrome is a unified graphics device driver that supports every 237 UniChrome and Chrome9 IGP (even the VIA Technoloiges in house unified 238 graphics device driver does not support the number of devices OpenChrome 239 does), and UniChrome and Chrome9 IGPs tend to rely heavily on many 240 different external encoders and transmitters. As a result, it is very 241 difficult to get the code right for every possible configuration. 242 Starting with OpenChrome Version 0.4.0, the project is under new 243 management, and moving forward, the emphasis will be on device driver 244 reliability, and code maintainability. 245 246 (End of this document.) 247
Indexes created Tue Oct 27 00:25:24 UTC 2026