Re: [Dri-users] CPU Architecture Question

[Alex D. <ale...@gm...>]

On 1/5/06, Joseph Cooper <fra...@ho...> wrote:
> >Not at the moment.  As I recall certain sgi firmware is needed to get
> >the 3D up and running. that probably poses a legal problem.  If that
> >was sorted out you'd still have to write the 3d driver.  The octane
>
> I'm WAY too dumb to be writing any drivers, lol.
>
> >I tried a cx88 card, but there were issues with the driver.  I haven't
> >investigated enough to know if they are endian related or just octane
> >pci wonkiness.  I'm gonna try a bttv card next.
>
> What is a cx88? Is that a sound card? That sounds vaguely familiar.
>

it's a tv-tuner. Conexant's follow up to the bt878.

> >USB and firewire worked out of the box.  I tested several USB
>
> ...Rad.
>
> >there's currently no 3D accel for the standalone voodoo cards,
> >although you could write support.  the chips are well documented and
> >the glide source is available for reference.  the matrox X server will
>
> You mean DRI doesn't support Voodoo?
>
> I used to have a Voodoo3 and I used DRI all the time! Depreciated?
>
> I do remember it ran through Glide3x.

voodoo1 and 2 are different beasts.  They were 3d only pass through
cards that worked in conjunction with another 2d card.  they can
however be programmed to work as standalone 2D cards.  the tdfx driver
supports the voodoo3 through 5.

>
> >probably need some love since you need that for 3D accel and only the
> >matroxfb can cold boot the chip. you might be able to get away with
> >letting matroxfb cold boot your chip, then loading up the X server.  I
>
> That's kinda what I was thinking... Actually, I *think* the Fedora
> setup I have at home automatically loads framebuffer on boot, but
> it has no trouble running the specialized NVidia drivers.
>
> >think though you'll have to comment out the vga stuff in the driver thou=
gh.
>
> ...Be more specific? What do you mean by 'vga stuff', and which driver?
>
> The Matrox X driver?

yes the matrox X server. if it tries to access legacy vga stuff, it
probably won't work.  you'd have to try and comment out the code that
messes with the vga regs.

>
> >I'm planning to try out an old matrox millenium in my octane soon.
>
> I'm definately gonna wanna hear about that once you do.

no problem.

>
> >PCI domain stuff could be a problem too.  I don't recall if the
> >octane has multiple pci domains or not.
>
> I'm a little weak on this... What do you mean by "PCI domains"?
>
> Do I need multiples?

it's not whether you need multiples or not, it's whether or not you
have multiple domains or not.  most x86 and AMD64 hardware only has
one domain so it's not a problem.  ppc, sparc, alpha, probably octanes
(I'll have to check when I get home), have multiple domains.=20
Currently Xorg does not handle multiple PCI domains properly.  there
is some work going on now to support them better, so this problem may
go away at some point.

>
> Also: How many PCI devices can I install? I need a special addon
> for that I think I read, but I'm not sure how much I can fit into it. I
> think
> I'll only need a USB adapter and (maybe) a video card, but I'm not sure.
>

The PCI cage has 3 64 bit PCI slots; 2 full length and 1 half length.=20
there are also single slot PCI horseshoe carriers that use the XIO
slots, but they are pretty hard to find.

> >SW rendering might be all you need.
>
> It might be...
>
> > > You've use it on SGI? Any other tips?
> >yes.  works fine.
>
> It might be all I need... In fact, I used to use soft-rendering
> on my 75mhz Pentium non-MMX to run Blender.
>
> What about other hardware? As I understand it so far,
> I'll have USB (with add ons), and I assume ethernet works,
> but what about sound? What is there to worry about it?

everything but the parallel port works: sound, Ethernet, serial, scsi...

>
> >debian and gentoo are your best bets.  I've been using gentoo.  it
> >seems to be the most up to date and most active.
>
> Awesome, thanks.
>
> >the motherboard can take single or dual cpu modules.  the CPU modules
> >are either single or dual.  if you want to upgrade to dual processors,
> >you'll have to buy a dual module.  you can't add a second CPU to an
> >existing CPU.  I've got a dual r12k 300.  it's slow though for having
> >processing like compiling.  The octanes can actually support up to 4
> >CPUs but SGI never made any quad modules.
>
> CPU modules? I'm not familiar with this...

It's just a daughter card with one or two CPUs on it that snaps onto
the motherboard.  if you want to upgrade your system, just remove the
old module and add the new one.

>
> What's the best one I can buy, and how do CPU modules work?

they range anywhere from single 175 Mhz R10k modules to dual 600 Mhz
R14k modules. just search ebay for "sgi octane".  The r14k chips are
hard to find and VERY expensive.

>
> >all you need is a 80 pin sca scsi drive.  both the full height and
> >half height drives will fit.  A harddrive tray is nice, but they are
> >not necessay.  I've got my drive propped up on some foam peanuts (the
> >tray I bought doesn't fit).
>
> Are harddrive trays difficult to find?

no.  just check ebay for octane hardrive trays.  I think the seller
"accidently" sent me a tray from an origin or something.  it's close,
but doesn't quite fit.

>
> >It's _REAL_ heavy. I think mine weights about 65 lbs.
>
> Rather heavy!!!
>
> That might complicate matters cause at some point I'm
> moving to Poland this year, and I'm not sure if I want to buy
> this before or after. It'd be expensive to ship when I go, but
> I have absolutely no idea how common SGI's stuff is in Europe.
>

neither do I.  Although, FWIW, the linux Octane port developer is from
Poland, and did most of the port while he lived there.

Alex