Subject: Forwarded from David Dawes: Announcing the Release of XFree86[TM] Beta Version 3.1.2D [repost]
To: None <port-i386@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Matthieu Herrb <matthieu@laas.fr>
List: port-i386
Date: 03/05/1996 08:16:47
------- start of forwarded message (RFC 934 encapsulation) -------
From: dawes@xfree86.org (David Dawes)
Subject: Announcing the Release of XFree86[TM] Beta Version 3.1.2D [repost]
Date: 4 Mar 1996 14:00:16 GMT
[This is a repost of the 3.1.2D announcement. This announcement was
originally posted on 29 Feb, but apparently it didn't get out from the
news server I usually use. This posting has an updated version of the
release notes.]
Announcing the Release of
XFree86[TM] Beta Version 3.1.2D
29 February 1996
The XFree86 Project, Inc's beta version 3.1.2D of XFree86 is now
available. This is a binary-only release.
Binaries are currently available for FreeBSD (2.0.5, also OK for 2.1.0),
Linux ELF and a.out, NetBSD 1.1, SVR4, ISC and Solaris 2.5. They can be
found at ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/3.1.2D/, and soon at most of
the usual XFree86 mirror sites. These binaries are complete sets and do
not require a previous version of XFree86 to be installed.
The release notes for this release describe the changes in version 3.1.2D,
and how to install it. A copy of the release notes is included below.
It can also be found at http://WWW.XFree86.org/3.1.2D/RELNOTES.html.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Release Notes for XFree86[TM] 3.1.2D (beta version)
The XFree86 Project, Inc
3 March 1996
This document describes the rationale and conditions of this beta
release, what is new in the XFree86 beta versions 3.1.2D, 3.1.2B and
3.1.2A compared with the current release version 3.1.2, and how to
install this beta release. Note: version 3.1.2C was an internal-only
release, but it will appear in source form in the X Consortium's
X11R6.1 release.
1. General Information about Beta Releases
This is a beta release of XFree86. XFree86 beta releases are
available to the public in binary form only. Source code is available
only to registered members of the XFree86 beta team. The main reason
for this is that XFree86 beta versions often contain source code from
other sources (such as the X Consortium) which is not yet available
for public release. If you want to test or work on these releases at
the source code level, you can apply for membership of the XFree86
beta team by sending email to XFree86@XFree86.org.
The X servers included in beta releases have a built-in expiry date.
The reason for this is to try to prevent them from persisting beyond
the date of the next release. The expiry date for 3.1.2D is 1 June
1996.
The XFree86 binary beta releases may be freely redistributed providing
that they are not modified in any way, and providing that an
unmodified version of this document and the BetaReport document is
included with the distribution.
The reasons for making this beta release publicly available are to
give it the widest possible testing, and also to make support for new
hardware available.
The XFree86 Project encourages people to test this beta release, and
to send us a report. We need both success and failure reports, and we
also need people using already supported hardware to test these beta
releases to make sure that we haven't broken anything while adding
support for new hardware. A template for the Beta test reports can be
found in the file ``BetaReport'' which should be available from the
same place you got this file. It is also installed in
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/. Beta test reports should be sent to
report@XFree86.org. Please do not send these reports to our usual
support address.
The XFree86 FAQ <http://www.xfree86.org/FAQ> contains a section about
the current beta version. It includes a regularly updated list of
known problems. If you are having problems with the current beta
version, please look here first.
Note that much of the documentation provided with this release has not
been updated and still refers to 3.1.2. If in doubt, check the date
shown in the file(s).
2. 3.1.2D and X11R6.1
XFree86 3.1.2D is based on the X Consortium's X11R6.1 release (which
has not yet been publicly released). For this reason, 3.1.2D is
distributed as a complete release rather than an upgrade release.
R6.1 is an update to R6, and is intended to be compatible with R6 at
the source and protocol levels. Binaries should be upward-compatible.
X11R6.1 includes some new Xserver extensions: DOUBLE-BUFFER, XKEYBOARD
and RECORD. LBX has been dropped from R6.1, and as such, has been
dropped from XFree86 too. It is expected that it will reappear in
some form in a future release.
3. New Features in 3.1.2D
3.1. General
o OS/2 support has advanced significantly. There should be OS/2
binaries available soon.
3.2. General X server changes
o A security problem related to the X server's lock files has been
fixed.
o The DGA extension has been implemented now for all servers that
can support it, and some bugs in the previous version have been
fixed. Connections are now only allowed from clients using a
local connection type (e.g., DISPLAY=":0").
o The VidMode extension (as used by xvidtune) now by default only
allows changes to modes by clients using a local connection
type. There is also an option to completely disable mode
changes via this extension.
o A new server extension called "XFree86-Misc" has been added.
The primary purpose of this is to allow reconfiguration of some
parameters while the server is running. Some functions
previously in the VidMode extension (like screen save functions)
have been moved to this new extension.
o Support has been added for the ALPS GlidePoint. A tap on the
pad is treated as a fourth button.
o A RecolorCursor problem that was present in servers/drivers
using HW cursors has been fixed.
o The XKEYBOARD extension is included in the servers as part of
X11R6.1. It is enabled by default, but can be disabled either
from the command line (see the Xserver man page) or from the
XF86Config file (see XkbDisable in the XF86Config man page).
With this extension enabled, you may see some differences in the
keyboard mappings.
3.3. PC98 Support
o Initial release of the PC98 NKV-NEC(cirrus) server. This server
is based on the PC-AT SVGA(cirrus) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 WABS server. This server is based on
the PC-AT SVGA(cirrus) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 GANB-WAP server. This server is
based on the PC-AT SVGA(cirrus) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 WAB-EP server. This server is based
on the PC-AT SVGA(cirrus) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 WSN-A2F server. This server is based
on the PC-AT SVGA(cirrus) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 EGC server. This server is based on
the PC-AT VGA16(generic) server.
o Initial release of the PC98 PEGC-480 server. This server is
based on the PC-AT SVGA(generic) server.
3.4. S3 server
o A Ti3026 clock problem that appears on some SPEA cards has been
fixed.
o Code has been added to automatically detect the Trio32 bug that
causes font cache problems. If you've needed to use the
"trio32_fc_bug" option in 3.1.2B, try removing it and let us
know if there are any problems.
o Framebuffer address problems with some 1MB Trio64 VLB cards
should be fixed.
o The low ICS5342 clock limit has been removed.
o A workaround is included for the "bright left border" problem
that shows up with some Trio64V+ cards.
o Detection of Diamond S3 cards has been improved. If you've
needed to use the "diamond" option to avoid screen wrapping in
previous releases, try removing it and let us know if there are
any problems.
o Memory parameter calculations for 2MB Trio64 cards have been
fixed. If you've needed to add something like "S3MClk 170" to
your XF86Config with previous versions, you should remove it
now.
o The handling of the S3RefClk XF86Config setting has been fixed
for cards with an IBM Ramdac.
o Fixes for S3 dashed lines are included. Part of this is a
workaround for a dashed line bug in some 968 chips.
3.5. Mach64 server
o The Mach64 server now correctly initialises Block I/O mode on
cards which report that it is available. This fixes the problem
of some Mach64 CT cards not being recognised in earlier
versions.
o In addition to the known problems listed below for version
3.1.2B, the following problems are known:
+ Olvwm icons may be displayed with some pieces missing.
+ Screen blanking at 16bpp doesn't work properly with CT (and
other?) cards.
3.6. I128 server
o Problems detecting some I128 cards have been fixed.
o The server doesn't yet support 8MB cards.
o The server is still completely unaccelerated.
3.7. SVGA/VGA16/Mono servers
o A PCI probe has been added to these servers. If it causes
problems, it can be disabled by adding the line:
Option "no_pci_probe"
to the Device section in your XF86Config file.
3.8. Trident driver (SVGA server)
o Known problems with TGUI9440 cards have been fixed (including
interlaced modes).
o Support for TGUI9660/9680 cards has been improved.
3.9. ARK driver (SVGA server)
o The ICS5342 clock support (required for the Diamond Stealth64
Graphics 2001 series) has been fixed.
3.10. ATI driver (SVGA server)
o The driver name has been changed back from "vgawonder" to "ati".
o Support is included for most recent Mach64 cards.
o The "undoc_clocks" option has been removed. If you had been
using it, remove it from your XF86Config file.
o A colourmap problem with VGA Wonder V3 boards has been fixed.
3.11. ET4000 driver (SVGA server)
o The ET4000 driver support in the SVGA server was broken in
3.1.2B for old ET4000 (non-W32) cards. This has been fixed.
3.12. Compaq AVGA driver (SVGA server)
o The Compaq AVGA driver has been disabled in this release because
it doesn't work, and nobody seems interested in fixing it.
3.13. Hercules mono driver
o The Hercules mono driver has been disabled in this release
because it has problems, and isn't likely to be fixed soon.
3.14. XInput Extension
o Bugs with the Wacom Tablet support have been fixed.
o The Eraser button of a Wacom stylus may now be used as a third
button.
o Joystick support is now included for NetBSD.
o XInput drivers are now dynamically loadable for Linux/ELF,
FreeBSD, and NetBSD.
o Multiple instances of XInput devices may be specified. As a
consequence, the "Joystick2" device has been removed.
3.15. SuperProbe
o Much improved detection for Mach64 cards.
o Improved detection for Trident cards.
o Added detection of SiS cards.
3.16. Client/Library Changes
o As part of the change to X11R6.1, the shared library revisions
for libX11, libXaw, libXext, and libXtst have been incremented
to 6.1.
o The client-side library code for the XFree86 extensions and the
ScreenSaver extension has been moved into separate libraries.
The old libXExExt has been removed.
o Colour support is now included by default in xterm. I18N
support in xterm has been improved (as part of X11R6.1). If
you've previously been using one of the many "color_xterm"
variants, try this and let us know if you have any problems.
o xdpyinfo has been updated to provide more detailed information
about the XInput extension and the XFree86 extensions.
o The setting/examining of extended screen saver parameters has
been added to xset (was in xvidtune). xset can now also be used
to set the keyboard repeat parameters.
4. New Features in 3.1.2B
4.1. General X server changes
o A new extension called XFree86-DGA is now provided. This allows
a client program to get direct access to the video card's
memory. This is currently only implemented for the S3 and
Mach64 servers and the Cirrus and Trident drivers of the SVGA
server. For details of the client-side API, see the file
README.DGA.
o An implementation of the XInput extension is now included. It
has support for the following devices:
+ Joystick (Linux and FreeBSD only at the moment)
+ Wacom tablet (Wacom IV protocol only)
+ Elographics touchscreen
Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) manual page for configuration
details.
o The default black and white pixel values are now black = 0 and
white = 1 for all servers. This may be swapped with the
`-flipPixels' command-line option.
o The RepeatMiddle keyword that was added in 3.1.2A has been
removed because it didn't work properly.
4.2. PC98 support
o Support has been added for PC98 machines. These are Intel based
machines which are common in Japan.
o Initial release of the PC98 NEC(S3) server. This server is based
on the PC-AT S3 server.
o Initial release of the PC98 SKB-PowerWindow(S3) server. This
server is based on the PC-AT S3 server.
o Initial release of the PC98 PowerWindowLB(S3) server. This
server is based on the PC-AT S3 server.
4.3. Number Nine Imagine 128 server
o A new server for the Number Nine Imagine 128 card is included.
This server is currently not accelerated.
4.4. Trident driver (SVGA server)
o TGUI9440 is now fully supported by the SVGA server.
o Major updates for most of the trident family of chips.
o Preliminary support for the 9660/9680 chipsets - please test!
o Hardware Cursor support has problems when mode switching. This
is only a positioning issue and shouldn't cause any problems.
o Check README.trident distributed with this release for full
details.
o Known problems:
+ There is a problem with interlaced modes with the SVGA
driver.
4.5. ARK driver (SVGA server)
o The ICS5342 clock support (required for the Diamond Stealth64
Graphics 2001 series) reportedly didn't work in the 3.1.2A
version. A problem with it has been found and fixed in 3.1.2B,
but it hasn't been tested.
4.6. S3 server
o Workaround for the hardware bug in some new Trio32 chips that
causes font corruption. To enable this workaround, add the
following line to the Device section of your XF86Config:
Option "trio32_fc_bug"
o Support for S3 and Bt485 HW cursor in doublescan modes.
o Fix positioning of IBM RGB Ramdac HW cursor in interlace and
doublescan modes (the cursor shape still isn't correct).
o Fixed detection of Trio64V+ cards.
o Improved linear fb detection for PCI cards. In particular this
should allow most Trio64V+ cards to use the linear fb, which
seems to prevent a lot of the lockups that have been reported.
o Support for the ELSA Elsa Winner2000PRO/X-2,4 Rev.G which uses
an ICS9161A clock chip as well as the Ti3026 RAMDAC (clock
doubling not supported yet).
o The AT&T20C409 RAMDAC now supported at clocks up to 135MHz in
8bpp mode.
4.7. Mach64 server
o The Mach64 CT (also known as the 264CT, or 215CT22200) chip is
now supported. This chip has a integrated RAMDAC and clockchip,
and is used on some Graphics Xpression and WinBoost cards.
o The Mach64 GX-F (GX rev 3) is now supported.
o The IBM RGB514 RAMDAC is now supported (as used on the ATI
Graphics Turbo Pro 1600).
o The "program_clocks" option added in the 3.1.2A version has been
removed, so if you have been using it in your XF86Config you
will need to remove it. The use of programmed clocks is now the
default when a programmable clock chip is present. This can be
disabled if necessary by adding the following line to the Device
section of the XF86Config:
Option "no_program_clocks"
o The memory base should now be correctly detected for VLB cards.
If you've needed to add a `MemBase' line to the XF86Config for
previous versions, please try removing it, and let us know if
there are any problems.
o Cursor colour problems at 16bpp/32bpp mode with some RAMDACs
have been fixed.
o Errors in detecting some RAMDACs (like the CH8398) should now be
fixed.
o 8 bit-per-RGB mode (when running at 8bpp) is now default for
RAMDACs that support it.
o Known problems with this version of the Mach64 server are:
+ The Background colour is not correctly set after exiting the
server when using a GPT1600 card.
+ VT switching does not work for cards with the CH8398 and
AT&T20C409 RAMDACs.
+ The background colour of the cursor in xterms for the CH8398
and AT&T20C409 RAMDACs is blue instead of black in 16bpp and
32bpp modes.
+ When using the software cursor, after switching to the
console and back, it leaves ``droppings'' when entering and
exiting windows (this bug is also present in 3.1.2).
4.8. ET4000/W32 server
o Support for the STG1703 RAMDAC/clock has been added. Clocks up
to 135MHz should be OK. To use the programmable clock add the
following line to the Device section of the XF86Config:
ClockChip "stg1703"
o Options have been added to allow PCI burst mode and W32
interleaving to be turned on or off. The XF86Config Device
section entries for these are:
Option "pci_burst_on"
Option "pci_burst_off"
Option "w32_interleave_on"
Option "w32_interleave_off"
4.9. SiS 86C201 support
o Support is included in 3.1.2B for the SiS 86C201 PCI graphics
card. It is currently only supported by the VGA16 and Mono
servers. Support for 256 colour operation is being worked on.
4.10. Client/Library changes
o The following new clients have been added:
+ dga -- a test program for the XFree86-DGA extension.
+ xsetmode, xsetpointer -- programs for use with the XInput
extension.
5. New Features in 3.1.2A
5.1. General X server changes
o Underscore characters are now ignored in Options and keywords in
the XF86Config file.
o The built-in X server malloc is used by default.
o Fix a problem that can cause the X server to crash when running
xvidtune.
o A new pointer keyword RepeatMiddle has been added to support
dual-protocol 3-button mice which repeat the previous button
event when the middle button is pressed in Microsoft-compatible
mode. If you've had problems getting the middle button working
on your mouse, try this.
o Bitmap fontpath elements can have ":unscaled" appended to
prevent the fonts from being treated as scalable. This works
with the fontserver (xfs) too.
5.2. Trident driver (SVGA server)
o Preliminary support is included for the TGUI 9440.
5.3. Cirrus driver (SVGA server)
o Support has been added for the CL-GD7543.
o The programmable clock code has been improved to avoid unstable
settings.
5.4. ARK driver (SVGA server)
o Preliminary support has been added for the ICS5342
RAMDAC/programmable clock, which is used on the Stealth64
Graphics 2001 card. This has had very little testing so far.
To enable this, add the following lines to the Device section of
your XF86Config file:
Ramdac "ics5342"
ClockChip "ics5342"
Do not include any Clocks lines in your XF86Config file.
o Panning has been fixed for ARK2000PV cards with 2MB of video
memory.
5.5. WD90C24 driver (SVGA server)
o A problem with snow at high clocks has been fixed.
5.6. S3 server
o The default InvertVCLK settings have been changed for #9 Motion
771 cards and Hercules Terminator 64 Pro cards. If you have
needed to add Invert_VCLK lines to your XF86Config file to avoid
screen wrapping with version 3.1.2, please remove them when
testing this version. If there are problems with the new
defaults, please report them to us.
o Preliminary support has been added for the AT&T 20C409 and AT&T
20C499 RAMDACs with 868 cards. 8bpp pixel multiplexing
currently does not work.
o The IBM RGB526 RAMDAC used on the newer Diamond Stealth64 Video
3240/3400 cards isn't yet auto-detected, but it will work if the
following line is added to the Device section of your XF86Config
file:
Ramdac "ibm_rgb526"
5.7. Mach32 server
o Hardware cursor mask problem has been fixed.
5.8. Mach64 server
o Hardware cursor mask problem has been fixed.
o Support for the AT&T 20C408 RAMDAC/Clockchip has been added.
o Arbitrary clocks can be used on most boards with supported clock
chips. This is enabled with the "program_clocks" option.
5.9. ET4000/W32 server
o Support has been added for the ICS5341 programmable clock. To
enable this, add the following lines to the Device section of
your XF86Config file:
Ramdac "ics5341"
ClockChip "ics5341"
o Problems that could cause the W32 server to crash at startup or
get stuck in a loop at exit have been fixed.
5.10. AGX server
o Fix for clock probing with AGX-010 chips.
5.11. VGA16 server
o A problem preventing the StaticGray visual from working has been
fixed.
5.12. xf86config utility
o Incorrect handling of IBM RGB Ramdacs has been fixed.
5.13. SuperProbe
o Added detection for C&T 65548, Cirrus CL-GD7543/1, AT&T 20C409,
AT&T20C499, and fixed an incorrect ET4000/W32 probe problem.
5.14. Client/Library changes
o The xdm security fix from the X Consortium's fix-13 is included.
o xconsole has been updated for Unixware 2.x.
o Colour support has been added to xterm.
o XNLS support has been added for KOI8-R.
o xrdb dynamically allocates string space to avoid overruns.
o A memory overrun problem in xterm has been fixed.
o An "AllowNullPasswd" resource has been added to xdm.
o libXt bug fix from the X Consortium's fix-13.
6. Installing the XFree86 3.1.2D Beta Release
The XFree86 3.1.2D binary beta release is distributed as a full
release, not as an upgrade. For most operating systems, it consists
of the following files.
What follows is a list of the XFree86 3.1.2D components. There may be
some variations in this for some OSs.
The following are required for all installations:
BetaReport Beta test report template form
X312Dbin.tgz Clients, run-time libs, and app-defaults files.
X312Ddoc.tgz Documentation
X312Dfnts.tgz 75dpi and misc fonts
X312Dlib.tgz Data files required at run-time.
X312Dman.tgz Manual pages
The following X servers are for PC/AT hardware. Choose at least one
which matches your hardware.
X312D8514.tgz 8514/A server
X312DAGX.tgz AGX server
X312DI128.tgz I128 server
X312DMa32.tgz Mach 32 server
X312DMa64.tgz Mach 64 server
X312DMa8.tgz Mach 8 server
X312DMono.tgz Mono server
X312DP9K.tgz P9000 server
X312DS3.tgz S3 server
X312DSVGA.tgz SVGA server
X312DVG16.tgz 16 colour VGA server
X312DW32.tgz ET4000/W32 server
The following X servers are for PC98 hardware. If you have a PC98
machine, choose one which suits your hardware. If you don't know what
a PC98 machine is, you don't need any of these.
X312D9NS3.tgz PC98 NEC(S3) server
X312D9SPW.tgz PC98 PCSKB-PowerWindow(S3) server
X312D9LPW.tgz PC98 PowerWindowLB(S3) server
X312D9EGC.tgz PC98 EGC(generic) server
X312D9GAN.tgz PC98 GANB-WAP(cirrus) server
X312D9480.tgz PC98 PEGC-480(generic) server
X312D9NKV.tgz PC98 NKV-NEC(cirrus) server
X312D9WBS.tgz PC98 WABS(cirrus) server
X312D9WEP.tgz PC98 WAB-EP(cirrus) server
X312D9WSN.tgz PC98 WSN-A2F(cirrus) server
The following are optional.
X312Df100.tgz 100dpi fonts
X312Dfcyr.tgz Cyrillic fonts
X312Dfnon.tgz Other fonts (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew)
X312Dfscl.tgz Scalable fonts (Speedo and Type1)
X312Dfsrv.tgz Font server and config files
X312Dprog.tgz X header files, config files and compile-time libs
X312Dcfg.tgz sample config files for xinit, xdm
X312Dnest.tgz Nested X server
X312Dvfb.tgz Virtual framebuffer X server
If you already have a version of XFree86 installed, MAKE A BACKUP OF
/usr/X11R6 BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. The standard installation
procedure will overwrite your existing version of XFree86.
If you have a previous version of XFree86 installed, you can upgrade
to the new version by first running the script preinst.sh, and then
extracting the required .tgz files over the previous version in
/usr/X11R6. The preinst.sh script must be run before removing any
previous beta versions you have installed. It removes symbolic links
that are going to be replaced by either files or new links in this
version (tar won't overwrite existing symbolic links).
If you are installing from scratch, create a directory called
/usr/X11R6, then extract the required .tgz files. If you don't have
enough space in /usr for this, create a directory elsewhere and create
a symbolic link to it. E.g., if you create a directory in /home:
mkdir /home/X11R6
ln -s /home/X11R6 /usr
The .tgz files are gzipped tar files. To extract them, go to
/usr/X11R6, and run the following as root for each file you need:
gzip -d < X312Dfile.tgz | tar vxf -
If you are using NetBSD or FreeBSD, an alternative to using the
preinst.sh script is to extract the .tgz files with:
gzip -d < X312Dfile.tgz | tar -v -x --unlink -f -
If you have GNU cpio (as Linux does) or SVR4 cpio, an alternative to
using the preinst.sh script is to extract the .tgz files with:
gzip -d < X312Dfile.tgz | cpio -i -v -u -H ustar
Note that there is no postinst.sh script to be run for this release.
However, for OSs which use ldconfig (like Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD),
you should either run ldconfig or reboot to complete the installation.
On FreeBSD and NetBSD, ldconfig takes arguments. In particular, you
should at least include /usr/lib and /usr/X11R6/lib on the command
line. Check /etc/rc to see how ldconfig gets run at boot time.
- --
David Dawes Email: dawes@XFree86.org
The XFree86 Project, Inc Phone: +61 2 351 2639
c/- School of Physics, Fax: +61 2 660 2903
University of Sydney 2006 AUSTRALIA
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You came along for a weekend, but you only stayed for one night.
You took off your hair, you pulled out your teeth. I almost died of fright.
-- Deep Purple "Living Wreck"
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