Re: PC graphic adapters on Mac Harware
On Sun, Aug 03, 2003 at 07:51:42AM +0200, Jeroen Roovers wrote:
> On 3 Aug 2003 at 3:54, Michel Dänzer wrote:
>
> > Apparently, PC 3Dfx or Matrox cards might work, but possibly not out of
> > the box either, so why not save the hassle and simply get a Mac version?
> > :) (I understand some cards can also be reflashed, but you probably need
> > a proprietary OS for that, and there's always the risk of frying the
> > card in the process) IMHO a cheap Mac Radeon would deliver the most
> > 'bang for the buck'. :)
>
> As you mentioned in another message, some low level initialisation of
> the card needs to be done, but not necessarily by the firmware: for
> x86 computers at least there are lots of overclocking utilities out
> there. True, they don't initialise the card, but they do set
> registers on the chip(s) as the firmware would have. Most firmware is
> proprietary, so the possible is only limited by what the manufacturer
> allows and shares.
>
> I once flashed the firmware of an ATI Radeon 8500 LE (RV200) with
> some newer firmware somebody had scooped up and packaged. It didn't
> really work because apparently any resolution over VGA stressed the
> hardware too much I ended up with a garbled display on the monitor.
> Apparently the firmware usually sets the chipset registers to very
> specific values (timings, clock frequencies, maybe even voltages)
> that differ from model to model, maybe even from batch to batch.
>
> So the problem isn't initialising the chips without the firmware, but
> what to initialise them to. To get the firmware to run it on a PPC,
> ATI usually asks just about double the price for a Mac edition.
> compared with the x86 edition. The information with which to
> initialise a card (any card) properly will likely be viewed and
> handled as a business secret, and remain proprietary. I have no idea
> if Nvidia, Matrox or 3DFX are any better in this respect.
You buy the card, put it in a x86 box which initializes it, dump the
register information, and use these values to initialize the card,
possibly with a specialized version of radeonfb or something such.
To do it right, you need the cards spec or something such though.
Friendly,
Sven Luther
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