2 3Dfx Glide device driver for Mesa 3.3
6 Warning: this document is rather out of date, but most of the information
14 - A PC with a 3Dfx Voodoo1/2 Graphics or Voodoo Rush based board
15 (Pure3D, Monster 3D, R3D, Obsidian, Stingray 128/3D, etc.).
16 The Quantum3D Obsidian3D-2 X-24 requires some special env. setting
17 under Linux (more information in the "Useful Glide Environment
22 - The 3Dfx Glide library 2.3 or later for your OS (the 2.4 works fine).
23 The Voodoo2 requires the Glide library 2.51. The Glide 3.1 is not
24 compatible with the Glide 2.x so it doesn't work with the current
25 version of the driver;
27 - A compiler supported by the Glide library (Micro$oft VC++ (tested),
28 Watcom (tested), GCC for Linux (tested), etc.);
30 - A lot of patience, this is an alpha release.
32 - It's nice to have two monitors - one for your normal graphics
33 card and one for your 3Dfx card. If something goes wrong with
34 an application using the 3Dfx hardware you can still see your
35 normal screen in order to recover.
41 Windows 95 - David Bucciarelli
42 Windows NT - Henri Fousse
44 Linux - Daryll Strauss, Brian Paul, David Bucciarelli
47 MacOS - Fazekas Miklos
53 - It is able accelerate points, lines and polygon with flat
54 shading, gouraud shading, Z-buffer, texture mapping, blending, fog and
55 antialiasing (when possible). There is also the support for rendering
56 in a window with a slow trick for the Voodoo Graphics (available only
57 for Linux) and at full speed with the Voodoo Rush chipset.
58 Under Linux is also possible to switch on-the-fly between the fullscreen
59 and in-window rendering hack.
60 There is also the support for using more than one Voodoo Graphics in the
61 some application/PC (you can create one context for each board and use
62 multiple video outputs for driving monitors, videoprojectors or HMDs).
63 The driver is able to fallback to pure software rendering when afeature
64 isn't supported by the Voodoo hardware (however software rendering is
65 very slow compared to hardware supported rendering)
74 Here are the basic steps for using the 3Dfx hardware with Mesa
77 - You'll need the Glide library and headers. Mesa expects:
78 /usr/local/glide/include/*.h // all the Glide headers
79 /usr/local/glide/lib/libglide2x.so
81 If your Glide libraries and headers are in a different directory
82 you'll have to modify the Mesa-config and mklib.glide files.
84 - Unpack the MesaLib-3.1.tar.gz and MesaDemos-3.1.tar.gz archives;
86 - If you're going to use a newer Mesa/Glide driver than v0.27 then
87 unpack the new driver archive over the Mesa directory.
89 - In the Mesa-3.1 directory type "make linux-glide"
91 - Compilation _should_ finish without errors;
93 - Set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable so that the
94 libglide2x.so and Mesa library files can be found. For example:
95 setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "/usr/local/glide/lib:/SOMEDIR/Mesa-3.1/lib"
97 - You'll have to run Glide-based programs as root or set the suid
104 ./gears (hit ESC to exit)
106 - You can find the demos especially designed for the Voodoo driver in
107 in the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory (type "make" in order to compile
112 Check the WEB page at http://valerie.inf.elte.hu/~boga/Mesa.html
118 - The glide2x.lib have to be in the default MSVC++ lib directory;
120 - The Glide headers have to be in the default MSVC++ include directory;
122 - You must have the vcvars32.bat script in your PATH;
124 - Go to the directory Mesa-3.1 and run the mesafx.bat;
126 - The script will compile everything (Mesa-3.1/lib/OpenGL32.{lib,dll},
127 Mesa-3.1/lib/GLU32.{lib,dll}, Mesa-3.1/lib/GLUT32.{lib,dll} and
130 - At the end, you will be in the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory;
132 - Try some demo (fire.exe, teapot.exe, etc.) in order to check if
133 everything is OK (you can use Alt-Tab or Ctrl-F9 to switch between
134 the Voodoo screen and the windows desktop);
136 - Remember to copy the Mesa OpenGL32.dll, GLU32.dll and GLUT32.dll in the
137 some directory were you run your Mesa based applications.
139 - I think that you can easy change the Makefile.fx files in order
140 to work with other kind of compilers;
142 - To discover how open the 3Dfx screen, read the sources under
143 the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory. You can use the GLUT library or
144 the Diego Picciani's wgl emulator.
146 NOTE: the MSVC++ 5.0 optimizer is really buggy. Also if you install the
147 SP3, you could have some problem (you can disable optimization in order
148 solve these kind of problems).
151 Doing more with Mesa & Linux Glide:
152 -----------------------------------
154 The MESA_GLX_FX environment variable can be used to coax most
155 GLX-based programs into using Glide (and the __GLUT library
158 Full-screen 3Dfx rendering:
159 ---------------------------
161 1. Set the MESA_GLX_FX variable to "fullscreen":
164 export MESA_GLX_FX = "fullscreen"
166 setenv MESA_GLX_FX fullscreen
168 2. As root, run a GLX-based program (any GLUT demo on Linux).
170 3. Be careful: once the 3Dfx screen appears you won't be able
171 to see the GLUT windows on your X display. This can make using
172 the mouse tricky! One solution is to hook up your 3Dfx card to
173 a second monitor. If you can do this then set these env vars
176 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
177 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN
181 setenv SSTV2_VGA_PASS 1
182 setenv SSTV2_NOSHUTDOWN
184 Rendering into an X window with the help of the Voodoo hardware:
185 ----------------------------------------------------------------
187 1. Start your X server in 16 bpp mode (XFree86: startx -- -bpp 16)
188 in order to have the best performance and the best visual
189 quality. However you can use any visual depth supported by X.
191 2. Set the following environment variables:
192 export MESA_GLX_FX="window" # to enable window rendering
193 export SST_VGA_PASS=1 # to stop video signal switching
194 export SST_NOSHUTDOWN=1 # to stop video signal switching
196 setenv MESA_GLX_FX window
197 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
198 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN 1
200 (the Voodoo2 requires to use "SSTV2_" instead "SST_").
202 3. As root, try running a GLX-based program
204 How does it work? We use the 3Dfx hardware to do rendering then
205 copy the image from the 3Dfx frame buffer into an X window when
206 the SwapBuffers() function is called. The problem with this
207 idea is it's slow. The image must be copied from the 3Dfx frame
208 buffer to main memory then copied into the X window (and when the X
209 visual depth doesn't match the Voodoo framebufffer bit per pixel, it
210 is required also a pixel format translation).
212 NOTE: the in-window rendering feature only works with double-buffering.
215 On the fly switching between in window rendering and full screen rendering
216 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
218 The Mesa 2.6 has introduced the capability of switching
219 on-the-fly between the fullscreen/fullspeed rendering and the in-window
220 hack and vice versa. The on-the-fly switching requires a direct support
221 by the application but it is really easy to add. You have to start
222 your X server in 16 bpp mode and to add the following lines to your
225 #if defined(FX) && define(XMESA)
226 #include <GL/xmesa.h>
228 static int fullscreen=1;
233 /* In the GLUT keyboard event callback */
235 #if defined(FX) && !define(WIN32)
237 fullscreen=(!fullscreen);
238 XMesaSetFXmode(fullscreen ? XMESA_FX_FULLSCREEN : XMESA_FX_WINDOW);
243 See the 3Dfx/demos/tunnel.c program
244 for an example. You have to set the -DXMESA flag in the Makefile's COPTS
247 Rendering into an X window with the X11 software driver:
248 --------------------------------------------------------
250 Set the MESA_GLX_FX variable to "disable" your GLX-based program will use
251 the X11 software driver (the 3Dfx hardware isn't used at all).
255 Useful Glide Environment Variables:
256 -----------------------------------
258 - To disable the 3Dfx logo, set the FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH variable.
260 - To disable video signal switching:
261 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
262 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN
264 setenv SSTV2_VGA_PASS 1
265 setenv SSTV2_NOSHUTDOWN
267 - To set the default screen refresh rate:
268 setenv SST_SCREENREFRESH=75
270 the supported values are 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85, 90, 100, 120.
272 - To force the Mesa library to swap buffers as fast as possible,
273 without any vertical blanking synchronization (useful for benchmarks):
274 setenv FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL 0
275 setenv SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VIDSYNC 0
277 - You can slight improve the performances of your Voodoo1 board with
278 the following env. var.:
283 (don't use this setting with the Quantum3D 100SB or with any other
284 SLI configuration: it will hang everything !).
285 The following setting can be used with the Voodoo2:
286 setenv SSTV2_FASTMEM_RAS_READS=1
287 setenv SSTV2_FASTPCIRD=1
288 setenv SSTV2_GRXCLK=95
290 - The Quantum3D Obsidian3D-2 X-24 requires some special env. setting
291 in order to work under Linux:
293 export SSTV2_FT_CLKDEL=5
294 export SSTV2_TF0_CLKDEL=7
295 export SSTV2_TF1_CLKDEL=7
296 export SSTV2_TF2_CLKDEL=7
297 export SSTV2_SLIM_VIN_CLKDEL=3
298 export SSTV2_SLIM_VOUT_CLKDEL=2
299 export SSTV2_SLIS_VIN_CLKDEL=3
300 export SSTV2_SLIS_VOUT_CLKDEL=2
302 (Thanks to Phil Ross for this trick).
307 The Mesa/Voodoo Environment Variables:
308 --------------------------------------
310 - Only for Windows/Voodoo Rush users, if you define the
311 env. var. MESA_WGL_FX:
312 export MESA_WGL_FX=fullscreen
313 you will get fullscreen rendering;
315 - Only for Windows/Voodoo Rush users, if you define the
316 env. var. MESA_WGL_FX:
317 export MESA_WGL_FX=window
318 you will get window rendering (default value);
320 - Only for Linux users, you can find more informations about
321 the env. var. MESA_GLX_FX in the "Doing more with Mesa & Linux Glide"
324 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_SWAP_PENDING:
325 export MESA_FX_SWAP_PENDING=4
326 you will able to set the maximum number of swapbuffers
327 commands in the Voodoo FIFO after a swapbuffer (default value: 2);
329 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_INFO:
330 export MESA_FX_INFO=1
331 you will get some useful statistic.
333 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_NO_SIGNALS:
334 export MESA_FX_NO_SIGNALS=1
335 Mesa/FX will not install atexit() or signal() handlers.
339 Know BUGS and Problems:
340 -----------------------
342 - fog doesn't work in the right way when using the glDepthRange() function;
344 - Maximum texture size: 256x256 (this is an hardware limit);
346 - Texture border aren't yet supported;
348 - A GL_BLEND in a glTexEnv() is not supported (it is an hardware limit);
350 - Use the glBindTexture extension (standard in OpenGL 1.1) for texture
351 mapping (the old way: glTexImage inside a display list, download
352 the texture map each time that you call the display list !!!);
354 - Stencil buffer and Accumulation buffer are emulated in software (they are not
355 directly supported by the Hardware);
357 - Color index mode not implemented (this is an hardware limit);
359 - Thre is an know bug in the Linux Glide library so the in-window-rendering hack
360 and any other operations that requires to read the Voodoo frame buffer
361 (like the accumulation buffer support) doesn't work on Voodoo SLI cards.
363 - The driver switch to pure software (_slow_) rendering when:
366 - Using the Accumulation buffer;
367 - Blend enabled and blend equation != GL_FUNC_ADD_EXT;
368 - Color logic operation enabled and color logic operation != GL_COPY;
369 - Using GL_SEPARATE_SPECULAR_COLOR;
370 - The four values of glColorMask() aren't the some;
371 - Texture 1D or 3D enabled;
372 - Texture function is GL_BLEND;
373 - Using the Multitexture extension with Voodoo cards with only one TMU;
374 - Using the Multitexture extension with Voodoo cards with more than
375 one TMU, and texture function isn't GL_MODULATE;
376 - Point size is != 1.0 or point params vector != (1.0,0.0,0.0);
377 - Line width != 1.0 or using stipple lines.
378 - Using polygon offset or stipple polygons;
380 NOTE: this is list is not yet complete.
383 Hints and Special Features:
384 ---------------------------
386 - Under Linux and with a Voodoo Graphics board, you can use
387 XMesaSetFXmode(XMESA_FX_FULLSCREEN or XMESA_FX_WINDOW) in order to
388 switch on the fly between fullscreen rendering and the in-window-rendering
391 - The driver is able to use all the texture memory available: 2/4MB on
392 Voodoo1 boards and 8MB (!) on high-end Voodoo1 and Voodoo2 boards.
394 - Trilinear filtering is fully supported on Voodoo boards with two TMUs
395 (high-end Voodoo1 boards and Voodoo2 boards). When only one TMU is
396 available the driver fallback to bilinear filter also if you ask
397 for trilinear filtering.
399 - The Voodoo driver support multiple Voodoo Graphics boards in the
400 some PC. Using this feature, you can write applications that use
401 multiple monitors, videoprojectors or HMDs for the output. See
402 Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/tunnel2.c for an example of how setup one
403 context for each board.
405 - The v0.19 introduces a new powerful texture memory manager: the
406 texture memory is used as a cache of the set of all defined texture
407 maps. You can now define several MBs of texture maps also with a 2MB
408 of texture memory (the texture memory manager will do automatically
409 all the swap out/swap in
410 texture memory work). The new texture memory manager has also
411 solved a lot of other bugs/no specs compliance/problems
412 related to the texture memory usage.
414 - Use triangles and quads strip: they are a LOT faster than sparse
417 - The Voodoo driver supports the GL_EXT_paletted_texture. it works
418 only with GL_COLOR_INDEX8_EXT, GL_RGBA palettes and the alpha value
419 is ignored because this is a limitation of the the current Glide
420 version and of the Voodoo hardware. See Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/paltex.c for
421 a demo of this extension.
423 - The Voodoo driver directly supports 3Dfx Global Palette extension.
424 It was written for GLQuake and I think that it isn't a good idea
425 to use this extension for any other purpose (it is a trick). See
426 Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/glbpaltex.c for a demo of this extension.
428 - The Voodoo driver chooses the screen resolution according to the
429 requested window size. If you open a 640x480 window, you will get
430 a 640x480 screen resolution, if you open a 800x600 window, you
431 will get a 800x600 screen resolution, etc.
432 Most GLUT demos support the '-geometry' option, so you can choose
433 the screen resolution: 'tunnel -geometry 800x600'.
434 Clearly, you Voodoo board must have enough framebuffer RAM (otherwise
435 the window creation will fail).
437 - The glGetString(GL_RENDERER) returns more information
438 about the hardware configuration: "Mesa Glide <version>
439 <Voodoo_Graphics|Voodoo_Rush|UNKNOWN> <num> CARD/<num> FB/
440 <num> TM/<num> TMU/<NOSLI|SLI>"
441 where: <num> CARD is the card used for the current context,
442 <num> FB is the number of MB for the framebuffer,
443 <num> TM is the number of MB for the texture memory,
444 <num> TMU is the number of TMU. You can try to run
445 Mesa/demos/glinfo in order to have an example of the output.
447 Did you find a lot BUGs and problems ? Good, send me an email.
454 For a complete FAQ check the Bernd Kreimeier's Linux 3Dfx HOWTO
455 available at http://www.gamers.org/dEngine/xf3D (it includes also
456 a lot of informations not strictly related to Linux, so it can be
457 useful also if you don't use Linux)
461 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. is the company which builds the VooDoo 3-D graphics
462 chipset (and others) used in popular PC cards such as the Diamond Monster 3D
463 and the Orchid Righteous 3D (more informations at http://www.3dfx.com).
468 Glide is a "thin" programming interface for the 3Dfx hardware. It was
469 originally written for Windows/Intel but has been ported to Linux/Intel
472 3Dfx, Inc. should be applauded for allowing the Linux version of Glide
475 You can directly program with the Glide library if you wish. You can
476 obtain Glide from the "Developer" section of the 3Dfx website: www.3dfx.com
477 There's a Linux/Glide newsgroup at news://news.3dfx.com/3dfx.glide.linux
482 "fxmesa" is the name of the Mesa device driver for the 3Dfx Glide library.
483 It was written by David Bucciarelli and others. It works on both Linux
484 and Windows. Basically, it allows you to write and run OpenGL-style programs
485 on the 3Dfx hardware.
490 Quake is a very popular game from id software, Inc. See www.idsoftware.com
491 GLQuake is a version of Quake written for OpenGL. There is now a Linux
492 version of GLQuake with works with the Mesa/3Dfx/Glide combo.
494 Here's what you need to run GLQuake on Linux:
495 PC with 100MHz Pentium or better
497 Mesa 3.1 libraries: libMesaGL.so libMesaGLU.so
498 Glide 2.4 libraries: libglide2x.so libtexus.so
501 Also, the windows version of GLQuake works fine with the Mesa OpenGL32.dll,
502 you have only to copy the Mesa-3.1/lib/OpenGL32.dll in the GLQuake directory
503 in order to test 'MesaQuake'.
508 GLUT is Mark Kilgard's OpenGL Utility Toolkit. It provides an API for
509 writing portable OpenGL programs with support for multiple windows, pop-
510 up menus, event handling, etc.
512 Check the Mark's home page for more informations (http://reality.sgi.com/mjk_asd).
514 Every OpenGL programmer should check out GLUT.
516 GLUT on Linux uses GLX.
521 GLX is the OpenGL extension to the X Window System. I defines both a
522 programming API (glX*() functions) and a network protocol. Mesa implements
523 an emulation of GLX on Linux. A real GLX implementation would requires
524 hooks into the X server. The 3Dfx hardware can be used with GLX-based
525 programs via the MESA_GLX_FX environment variable.
528 7. Is the Voodoo driver able to use the 4Mb texture memory of
531 Yes, the Voodoo driver v0.20 includes the support for Voodoo
532 Graphics boards with more than 2Mb of texture memory.
535 8. Do the Voodoo driver support the Voodoo Rush under Windows ?
537 Yes, Diego Picciani has developed the support for the Voodoo
538 Rush but David Bucciarelli has a Pure3D and a Monster3D and Brian Paul
539 has a Monster3D, so the new versions of the Mesa/Voodoo sometime are
540 not tested with the Voodoo Rush.
543 9. Do the Voodoo driver support the Voodoo Rush under Linux ?
545 No because the Linux Glide doesn't (yet) support the Voodoo Rush.
548 10. Can I sell my Mesa/Voodoo based software and include
549 a binary copy of the Mesa in order to make the software
550 working out of the box ?
555 11. Which is the best make target for compiling the Mesa for
556 Linux GLQuake ('make linux-glide', 'make linux-386-glide', etc.) ?
558 'make linux-386-opt-glide' for Voodoo1 and 'make linux-386-opt-V2-glide'
559 for Voodoo2 boards because it doesn't include the '-fPIC'
560 option (4-5% faster).
563 12. Can I use a Mesa compiled with a 'make linux-386-opt-V2-glide'
564 for my applications/programs/demos ?
566 Yes, there is only one constrain: you can't run two Mesa applications
567 at the some time. This isn't a big issue with the today Voodoo Graphics.
573 Henri Fousse (he has written several parts of the v0.15 and the old GLUT
576 Diego Picciani (he has developed all the Voodoo Rush support and the wgl
579 Daryll Strauss (for the Linux Glide and the first Linux support);
581 Brian Paul (of course);
583 Dave 'Zoid' Kirsch (for the Linux GLQuake and Linux Quake2test/Q2 ports)
585 Bernd Kreimeier (for the Linux 3Dfx HOWTO and for pushing companies to offer
586 a better Linux support)
588 3Dfx and Quantum3D (for actively supporting Linux)
590 The most update places where find Mesa VooDoo driver related informations are
591 the Mesa mailing list and my driver WEB page
592 (http://www-hmw.caribel.pisa.it/fxmesa/index.shtml)
595 David Bucciarelli (davibu@tin.it)
600 Tel./Fax +39-50-554108
601 email: info.hmw@plus.it
602 www: www-hmw.caribel.pisa.it