README revision 1.1.1.2
1 1.1 mrg Information for SiS and XGI Users 2 1.1.1.2 mrg Thomas Winischhofer (thomas (a] winischhofer.net) 3 1.1 mrg 6 July 2005 4 1.1 mrg ____________________________________________________________ 5 1.1 mrg 6 1.1 mrg Table of Contents 7 1.1 mrg 8 1.1 mrg 9 1.1 mrg 1. Introduction 10 1.1 mrg 2. xorg.conf Options 11 1.1 mrg 2.1 For all chipsets 12 1.1 mrg 2.2 Old series specific options 13 1.1 mrg 2.3 300/315/330/340 series specific options 14 1.1 mrg 2.4 300 series specific options 15 1.1 mrg 2.5 315/330/340 series specific options 16 1.1 mrg 17 1.1 mrg 18 1.1 mrg ______________________________________________________________________ 19 1.1 mrg 20 1.1.1.2 mrg 1. Introduction 21 1.1 mrg 22 1.1 mrg 23 1.1 mrg This driver is written by Thomas Winischhofer and is a (nearly) 24 1.1 mrg complete re-write of a driver written for the SiS6326 and SiS530 by 25 1.1 mrg Alan Hourihane and others. 26 1.1 mrg 27 1.1 mrg It currently supports the following chipsets: 28 1.1 mrg 29 1.1.1.2 mrg o old series: SiS 5597/5598, 6236/AGP/DVD, 530/620 30 1.1 mrg 31 1.1.1.2 mrg o 300 series: SiS 300/305, 540, 630/730 32 1.1 mrg 33 1.1.1.2 mrg o 315 series: SiS 315/E/PRO, 55x, 650, 651, M650, 740, 34 1.1 mrg [M]661&[F/M/G]X, [M]741[GX] 35 1.1 mrg 36 1.1.1.2 mrg o 330 series: SiS 330 ("Xabre"), [M]760[GX], [M]761[GX] 37 1.1 mrg 38 1.1.1.2 mrg o 340 series: SiS 34x, XGI Volari Z7, V3XT, V5, V8 39 1.1 mrg 40 1.1 mrg Among other features, the driver supports 41 1.1 mrg 42 1.1.1.2 mrg o 8/16/24 bits color depth; old series also 15 43 1.1 mrg 44 1.1.1.2 mrg o Hardware cursor; 315/330/340 series: Color HW cursor 45 1.1 mrg 46 1.1.1.2 mrg o XAA; EXA; XVideo (Xv); RENDER and other extensions 47 1.1 mrg 48 1.1.1.2 mrg o 6326: TV output 49 1.1 mrg 50 1.1.1.2 mrg o 300/315/330/340 series: TV output via Chrontel TV encoders or SiS 51 1.1 mrg video bridges 52 1.1 mrg 53 1.1.1.2 mrg o 300/315/330/340 series: LCD output via LVDS transmitters or SiS 54 1.1 mrg video bridges 55 1.1 mrg 56 1.1.1.2 mrg o 300/315/330/340 series: Dual head mode; Xinerama; Merged 57 1.1 mrg framebuffer mode 58 1.1 mrg 59 1.1.1.2 mrg o 300/315/330/340 series: Interface for SiSCtrl (see below) 60 1.1 mrg 61 1.1 mrg This document provides a brief overview over the driver's features and 62 1.1 mrg configuration options. Please see 63 1.1.1.2 mrg http://www.winischhofer.eu/linuxsisvga.shtml for detailed 64 1.1 mrg documentation and updates. 65 1.1 mrg 66 1.1 mrg 67 1.1.1.2 mrg 2. xorg.conf Options 68 1.1 mrg 69 1.1 mrg 70 1.1 mrg The following options are of particular interest for the SiS driver. 71 1.1 mrg Each of them must be specified in the Device section of the xorg.conf 72 1.1 mrg file for this card. 73 1.1 mrg 74 1.1 mrg In the list below, the options' arguments are described by type. For 75 1.1 mrg "boolean", the keywords "on", "true" and "yes", as well as "off", 76 1.1 mrg "false" and "no" respectively have the same meaning. 77 1.1 mrg 78 1.1 mrg 79 1.1.1.2 mrg 2.1. For all chipsets 80 1.1 mrg 81 1.1 mrg 82 1.1 mrg 83 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 84 1.1 mrg > 85 1.1 mrg 86 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 87 1.1 mrg These options select whether the software (SW) or hardware (HW) 88 1.1 mrg cursor should be used. The default is using the hardware cursor. 89 1.1 mrg 90 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 91 1.1 mrg Disables 2D acceleration. By default, 2D acceleration is 92 1.1 mrg enabled. 93 1.1 mrg 94 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 95 1.1 mrg Determines which acceleration architecture should be used. 96 1.1 mrg Possible arguments are "XAA" or "EXA". As of this writing, EXA 97 1.1 mrg is still experimental and it is not recommended to be used on 98 1.1 mrg production machines. By default, XAA will be used. 99 1.1 mrg 100 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 101 1.1 mrg This option enables clockwise ("CW") or counter-clockwise 102 1.1 mrg ("CCW") rotation of the display. Enabling either CW or CCW 103 1.1 mrg rotation disables the RandR extension as well as all 2D 104 1.1 mrg acceleration and Xv support. Default: no rotation. 105 1.1 mrg 106 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 107 1.1 mrg This option enables reflecting the display horizontally ("X"), 108 1.1 mrg vertically ("Y") or in both directions ("XY"). Enabling 109 1.1 mrg reflection disables the RandR extension as well as all 2D 110 1.1 mrg acceleration and Xv support. Default: no rotation. 111 1.1 mrg 112 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 113 1.1 mrg This option enables the shadow framebuffer layer. By default, it 114 1.1 mrg is disabled. 115 1.1 mrg 116 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 117 1.1 mrg Disables the XVideo (Xv) support. Apart from the XGI Volari Z7, 118 1.1 mrg all chipsets support Xv. By default, XVideo support is enabled. 119 1.1 mrg 120 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 121 1.1 mrg Enables or disables gamma correction. Default: gamma correction 122 1.1 mrg is enabled. 123 1.1 mrg 124 1.1 mrg 125 1.1.1.2 mrg 2.2. Old series specific options 126 1.1 mrg 127 1.1 mrg 128 1.1 mrg 129 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 130 1.1 mrg Enables 1 cycle memory access for read and write operations. The 131 1.1 mrg default depends on the chipset used. 132 1.1 mrg 133 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 134 1.1 mrg SiS chipsets have the ability to extend the engine command queue 135 1.1 mrg in video RAM. This concept is called "TurboQueue" and gives some 136 1.1 mrg performance improvement. Due to hardware bugs, the TurboQueue is 137 1.1 mrg disabled on the 530/620, otherwise enabled by default. 138 1.1 mrg 139 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 140 1.1 mrg For 5597/5598 only. This option, if set, disables the CPU to VGA 141 1.1 mrg host bus. Disabling the host bus will result in a severe 142 1.1 mrg performance regression. 143 1.1 mrg 144 1.1.1.2 mrg VideoRAM [size] 145 1.1 mrg The SiS 6326 can only directly address 4096K bytes of video RAM. 146 1.1 mrg However, there are some cards out there featuring 8192K (8MB) of 147 1.1 mrg video RAM. This RAM is not addressable by the engines. 148 1.1 mrg Therefore, by default, the driver will only use 4096K. This 149 1.1 mrg behavior can be overridden by specifying the amount of video RAM 150 1.1 mrg using the VideoRAM keyword. If more than 4096K is specified, the 151 1.1 mrg driver will disable 2D acceleration, Xv and the HW cursor. On 152 1.1 mrg all other chipsets, this keyword is ignored. The size argument 153 1.1 mrg is expected in KB, but without "KB". 154 1.1 mrg 155 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 156 1.1 mrg Due to hardware bugs, XVideo may display a corrupt image when 157 1.1 mrg using YV12 encoded material. This option, if set, disables 158 1.1 mrg support for YV12 and hence forces the Xv-aware application to 159 1.1 mrg use either YUV2 or XShm for video output. 160 1.1 mrg 161 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 162 1.1 mrg (6326 only) Selects the TV output standard. May be PAL or NTSC. 163 1.1 mrg By default, this is selected by a jumper on the card. 164 1.1 mrg 165 1.1 mrg 166 1.1.1.2 mrg 2.3. 300/315/330/340 series specific options 167 1.1 mrg 168 1.1 mrg 169 1.1 mrg 170 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 171 1.1 mrg This option enables/disables the driver's interface for the 172 1.1 mrg SiSCtrl utility. Please see 173 1.1.1.2 mrg http://www.winischhofer.eu/linuxsisvga.shtml for more 174 1.1 mrg information. 175 1.1 mrg 176 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 177 1.1 mrg (300 series only) SiS chipsets have the ability to extend the 178 1.1 mrg engine command queue in video RAM. This concept is called 179 1.1 mrg "TurboQueue" and gives some performance improvement. The 180 1.1 mrg TurboQueue is enabled by default. 181 1.1 mrg 182 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 183 1.1 mrg Enables or disables CRT1 (= the external VGA monitor). By 184 1.1 mrg default, the driver will use CRT1 if a monitor is detected 185 1.1 mrg during server start. Some older monitors can't be detected, so 186 1.1 mrg they may require setting this option to true. To disable CRT1 187 1.1 mrg output, set this option to false. 188 1.1 mrg 189 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 190 1.1 mrg (For SiS 650, M650, 651, 661, 741, 760 with either SiS 301LV, 191 1.1 mrg 302LV or SiS 301C video bridge only) The argument may be "VGA", 192 1.1 mrg "LCD" or "OFF". Specifying LCD will force the driver to use the 193 1.1 mrg VGA controller's CRT1 channel for driving the LCD while CRT2 is 194 1.1 mrg free for TV usage. "OFF" is the same as setting the option 195 1.1 mrg ForceCRT1 to "false". Default is VGA. 196 1.1 mrg 197 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 198 1.1 mrg Selects the CRT2 output device type. Valid parameters are "LCD", 199 1.1 mrg "TV", "SVIDEO", "COMPOSITE", "SVIDEO+COMPOSITE", "SCART", "VGA", 200 1.1 mrg "YPBPR480I", "YPBPR480P", "YPBPR720P", "YPBPR1080I" or "NONE". 201 1.1 mrg NONE disables CRT2. SVIDEO, COMPOSITE, SVIDEO+COMPOSITE, SCART 202 1.1 mrg and all the YPBPR alternatives are only for systems with a SiS 203 1.1 mrg video bridge and select the desired plug or TV standard type. 204 1.1 mrg For Chrontel systems, TV should be used instead. VGA means 205 1.1 mrg secondary VGA and is only available on some SiS video bridges 206 1.1 mrg (301, 301B, 301C). 207 1.1 mrg 208 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 209 1.1 mrg (For SiS video bridges only) This option enables or disables 210 1.1 mrg gamma correction for CRT2. Default: gamma correction for CRT2 is 211 1.1 mrg enabled. 212 1.1 mrg 213 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 214 1.1 mrg Although this option is accepted for all chipsets, it currently 215 1.1 mrg only makes sense on the 300 series; DRI is only supported on 216 1.1 mrg these chipsets. This option enables/disables DRI. 217 1.1 mrg 218 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 219 1.1 mrg Selects the TV output standard. May be PAL or NTSC, on some 220 1.1 mrg machines (depending on the hardware) also PALM and PALN. 221 1.1 mrg Default: BIOS setting. 222 1.1 mrg 223 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 224 1.1 mrg > 225 1.1 mrg 226 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 227 1.1 mrg These options allow relocating the image on your TV. Both 228 1.1 mrg options take an integer within the range of -16 to 16. Default: 229 1.1 mrg 0. Not supported for Chrontel 7019. 230 1.1 mrg 231 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 232 1.1 mrg (For Chrontel TV encoders only) Selects whether TV output should 233 1.1 mrg be overscan or underscan. 234 1.1 mrg 235 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 236 1.1 mrg (For Chrontel 7005 TV encoders in PAL mode only) Selects whether 237 1.1 mrg TV output should be super-overscan (slightly larger than the 238 1.1 mrg viewable area) or not. 239 1.1 mrg 240 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 241 1.1 mrg > 242 1.1 mrg 243 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 244 1.1 mrg (For SiS video bridges only) These options allow zooming the 245 1.1 mrg image on your TV. SISTVXScale takes an integer within the range 246 1.1 mrg of -16 to 16. SISTVYScale accepts -4 to 3. Default: 0. Not all 247 1.1 mrg modes can be scaled. 248 1.1 mrg 249 1.1 mrg 250 1.1.1.2 mrg 2.4. 300 series specific options 251 1.1 mrg 252 1.1 mrg 253 1.1 mrg 254 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 255 1.1 mrg This option might only be needed if you are running X on a Linux 256 1.1 mrg 2.4 series kernel. This option is not needed and should be 257 1.1 mrg omitted on Linux 2.6 and *BSD. 258 1.1 mrg 259 1.1 mrg The Linux kernel features a framebuffer driver named "sisfb" 260 1.1 mrg which takes care of memory management for DRI/DRM (such as for 261 1.1 mrg 3D texture data). In order to keep the X driver and sisfb from 262 1.1 mrg overwriting each other's video memory, sisfb reserves a certain 263 1.1 mrg amount of video memory for the X driver. Reserved memory is for 264 1.1 mrg X 2D, pixmap cache and video data only. Sisfb will not present 265 1.1 mrg this memory to the DRI. The amount of reserved memory can either 266 1.1 mrg be selected using sisfb's mem parameter or auto-selected 267 1.1 mrg depending on the total amount of video RAM available. 268 1.1 mrg 269 1.1 mrg Fact of the matter is, the X driver needs to know about the 270 1.1 mrg amount of RAM sisfb reserved. For this purpose, the Option 271 1.1 mrg "MaxXFBMem" exists. 272 1.1 mrg 273 1.1 mrg If you start sisfb with a valid mode (ie you run a graphical 274 1.1 mrg console), the X driver can communicate with sisfb and doesn't 275 1.1 mrg require setting the MaxXFBMem option at all. The X driver will 276 1.1 mrg receive enough information from sisfb in this case. 277 1.1 mrg 278 1.1 mrg If you, on the other hand, use sisfb for memory management only, 279 1.1 mrg ie you started sisfb with mode=none and still have a text mode 280 1.1 mrg console, there is no communication between sisfb and the X 281 1.1 mrg driver. In this - and ONLY this - case, you need to set 282 1.1 mrg MaxXFBMem to the same value as you gave sisfb with its mem 283 1.1 mrg parameter. If you didn't specify any mem parameter, sisfb will 284 1.1 mrg reserve (and you will have to specify by MaxXFBMem) 12288KB if 285 1.1 mrg more than 16MB of total video RAM is available, 8192KB if 286 1.1 mrg between 12 and 16MB of video RAM is available, 4096KB in all 287 1.1 mrg other cases. The size is expected in KB, without the "KB". 288 1.1 mrg 289 1.1 mrg Final word of advice: If you intend to use DRI on an integrated 290 1.1 mrg chipset (such as the 540/630/730), it is recommended to set the 291 1.1 mrg total video memory in the BIOS setup utility to 64MB. 292 1.1 mrg 293 1.1 mrg 294 1.1.1.2 mrg 2.5. 315/330/340 series specific options 295 1.1 mrg 296 1.1 mrg 297 1.1 mrg 298 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 299 1.1 mrg Enables or disables RENDER acceleration. This feature, for 300 1.1 mrg instance, accelerates output of anti-aliased text. By default, 301 1.1 mrg RENDER acceleration is enabled. RENDER acceleration is currently 302 1.1 mrg only supported for XAA, not EXA. 303 1.1 mrg 304 1.1.1.2 mrg Option 305 1.1 mrg (For 315, 650, 740, 330, 340 and XGI chips only) This option 306 1.1 mrg selects whether the XVideo (Xv) overlay should be displayed on 307 1.1 mrg CRT1 or CRT2. Setting this option means CRT2. The other CRT will 308 1.1 mrg only display the (by default: blue) color key or a black/red 309 1.1 mrg pattern. 310 1.1 mrg 311 1.1 mrg 312 1.1 mrg 313
Indexes created Tue Oct 27 00:25:24 UTC 2026