New version of xserver-svga gives poorer display on laptop
I have a laptop that uses the S3 Virge/MX video chip.
I had this working well with the xserver-svga from slink. I recently upgraded
to 3.3.6-3 and found that the quality of the display became significantly
worse. I have not seen any reference to such a problem anywhere I have
looked. Since I don't have any idea how the xserver works, I don't have a
clue about the cause of the problem, let alone how to solve it.
The nature of the problem is this:
There is a tendency for the image to be smeared to the right. This is
particularly noticeable with the mouse cursor, which trails a small comet
around, about 1.5 inches long. In an xterm window (black foreground, white
background, all the characters tend to smear to the right. This effect is
fairly permanent, but not so permanent as the comet from the mouse cursor.
Sometimes the screen is almost clear, but at other times it is so blurred
as to be nearly unreadable. This is at its worst in xterms; an xeyes shows
ragged edges to the black parts, but no smearing. The root window again
shows ragged edges (on a photo of Mars) and some abnormal areas of colour
(some bits of shading with bright dots where I used to see a more gradual
colour change).
I have tried all the documented options to the server and find that none of
them make any difference. Can you suggest anything else to try, apart from
reverting to the slink version?
Hardware: generic laptop; FCC approval: LMDNX2000-S-01 (this would be common
whatever the badge)
XF86Config (extract):
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Primary Monitor"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 31.5-57.0
VertRefresh 50-90
Modeline "1024x768" 75.00 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync
-vsync
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Primary Card"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "S3 ViRGE/MX (generic)"
chipset "s3_virge"
VideoRam 4096
#Option "lcd_center"
#Set_LCDClk <pixel_clock_for_LCD>
#Option "xaa_benchmark"
Option "fifo_conservative"
Option "pci_burst_on"
Option "pci_retry"
Option "hw_cursor"
Option "slow_edodram"
Option "early_ras_precharge"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "Accel"
Device "Primary Card"
Monitor "Primary Monitor"
DefaultColorDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "SVGA"
Device "Primary Card"
Monitor "Primary Monitor"
DefaultColorDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "VGA16"
Device "Primary Card"
Monitor "Primary Monitor"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "VGA2"
Device "Primary Card"
Monitor "Primary Monitor"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Driver "Mono"
Device "Primary Card"
Monitor "Primary Monitor"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Startup trace:
XFree86 Version 3.3.6 / X Window System
(protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 6300)
Release Date: January 8 2000
If the server is older than 6-12 months, or if your card is newer
than the above date, look for a newer version before reporting
problems. (see http://www.XFree86.Org/FAQ)
Operating System: Linux 2.2.13lvm_reiser i686 [ELF]
Configured drivers:
SVGA: server for SVGA graphics adaptors (Patchlevel 0):
NV1, STG2000, RIVA 128, RIVA TNT, RIVA TNT2, RIVA ULTRA TNT2,
RIVA VANTA, RIVA ULTRA VANTA, RIVA INTEGRATED, GeForce 256,
GeForce DDR, Quadro, ET4000, ET4000W32, ET4000W32i, ET4000W32i_rev_b,
ET4000W32i_rev_c, ET4000W32p, ET4000W32p_rev_a, ET4000W32p_rev_b,
ET4000W32p_rev_c, ET4000W32p_rev_d, ET6000, ET6100, et3000, pvga1,
wd90c00, wd90c10, wd90c30, wd90c24, wd90c31, wd90c33, gvga, r128, ati,
sis86c201, sis86c202, sis86c205, sis86c215, sis86c225, sis5597,
sis5598, sis6326, sis530, sis620, sis300, sis630, sis540, tvga8200lx,
tvga8800cs, tvga8900b, tvga8900c, tvga8900cl, tvga8900d, tvga9000,
tvga9000i, tvga9100b, tvga9200cxr, tgui9400cxi, tgui9420, tgui9420dgi,
tgui9430dgi, tgui9440agi, cyber9320, tgui9660, tgui9680, tgui9682,
tgui9685, cyber9382, cyber9385, cyber9388, cyber9397, cyber9520,
cyber9525, 3dimage975, 3dimage985, cyber9397dvd, blade3d, cyberblade,
clgd5420, clgd5422, clgd5424, clgd5426, clgd5428, clgd5429, clgd5430,
clgd5434, clgd5436, clgd5446, clgd5480, clgd5462, clgd5464, clgd5465,
clgd6205, clgd6215, clgd6225, clgd6235, clgd7541, clgd7542, clgd7543,
clgd7548, clgd7555, clgd7556, ncr77c22, ncr77c22e, cpq_avga, mga2064w,
mga1064sg, mga2164w, mga2164w AGP, mgag200, mgag100, mgag400, oti067,
oti077, oti087, oti037c, al2101, ali2228, ali2301, ali2302, ali2308,
ali2401, cl6410, cl6412, cl6420, cl6440, video7, ark1000vl, ark1000pv,
ark2000pv, ark2000mt, mx, realtek, s3_savage, s3_virge, AP6422, AT24,
AT3D, s3_svga, NM2070, NM2090, NM2093, NM2097, NM2160, NM2200,
ct65520, ct65525, ct65530, ct65535, ct65540, ct65545, ct65546,
ct65548, ct65550, ct65554, ct65555, ct68554, ct69000, ct64200,
ct64300, mediagx, V1000, V2100, V2200, p9100, spc8110, i740, i740_pci,
Voodoo Banshee, Voodoo3, smi, generic
(using VT number 7)
XF86Config: /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config
(**) stands for supplied, (--) stands for probed/default values
(**) XKB: rules: "xfree86"
(**) XKB: model: "pc101"
(**) XKB: layout: "gb"
(**) Mouse: type: PS/2, device: /dev/mouse, resolution: 100
(**) Mouse: buttons: 3, 3 button emulation (timeout: 60ms)
(**) SVGA: Graphics device ID: "Primary Card"
(**) SVGA: Monitor ID: "Primary Monitor"
(**) FontPath set to "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11
/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,/usr/X11R6/lib/X
11/fonts/Type1,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc,/u
sr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11
/fonts/freefont/"
(--) SVGA: PCI: S3 ViRGE/MX rev 6, Memory @ 0xe0000000
(--) SVGA: S3V: ViRGE/MX rev 6, Linear FB @ 0xe0000000
(--) SVGA: Detected S3 ViRGE/MX
(--) SVGA: using driver for chipset "s3_virge"
(**) SVGA: videoram: 4096k
(--) SVGA: Ramdac speed: 135 MHz
(--) SVGA: assuming RefCLK value of 14.318 MHz
(--) SVGA: Detected current MCLK value of 83.045 MHz
(--) SVGA: LCD size 1024x768, clock 65.028 MHz
(**) SVGA: chipset: s3_virge
(**) SVGA: videoram: 4096k
(**) SVGA: Option "slow_edodram"
(**) SVGA: Option "early_ras_precharge"
(**) SVGA: Option "fifo_conservative"
(**) SVGA: Option "pci_burst_on"
(**) SVGA: Option "hw_cursor"
(**) SVGA: Option "pci_retry"
(**) SVGA: Using 16 bpp, Depth 16, Color weight: 565
(--) SVGA: Maximum allowed dot-clock: 135.000 MHz
(**) SVGA: Mode "1024x768": mode clock = 75.000
(--) SVGA: Virtual resolution set to 1024x768
(--) SVGA: s3_virge: Using hardware cursor
restarting S3 graphics engine reset 1 ...
(--) SVGA: Using XAA (XFree86 Acceleration Architecture)
(--) SVGA: XAA: Solid filled rectangles
(--) SVGA: XAA: Screen-to-screen copy
(--) SVGA: XAA: 8x8 pattern fill
(--) SVGA: XAA: 8x8 color expand pattern fill
(--) SVGA: XAA: CPU to screen color expansion (bitmap, TE/NonTE imagetext,
TE/NonTE polytext)
(--) SVGA: XAA: Using 8 128x128 areas for pixmap caching
(--) SVGA: XAA: Caching tiles and non-transparent stipples
(--) SVGA: XAA: Horizontal and vertical lines and segments
--
Oliver Elphick Oliver.Elphick@lfix.co.uk
Isle of Wight http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
PGP key from public servers; key ID 32B8FAA1
========================================
"Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them
that weep. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide
things honest in the sight of all men."
Romans 12:14,15,17
Reply to: