2 3Dfx Glide device driver
9 The 3dfx Glide driver in Mesa is disabled by default. Not too many people
10 use this driver anymore and at some point down the road it will be dropped.
12 To use/enable the Glide driver either do this:
14 './configure --with-glide=DIR' Where DIR is the location of Glide, like
19 'make linux-x86-glide' If using the old-style Makefile system.
21 The rest of this file hasn't changed since Mesa 3.3. Some of it's out of
22 date, but some is still valid.
29 - A PC with a 3Dfx Voodoo1/2 Graphics or Voodoo Rush based board
30 (Pure3D, Monster 3D, R3D, Obsidian, Stingray 128/3D, etc.).
31 The Quantum3D Obsidian3D-2 X-24 requires some special env. setting
32 under Linux (more information in the "Useful Glide Environment
35 - The 3Dfx Glide library 2.3 or later for your OS (the 2.4 works fine).
36 The Voodoo2 requires the Glide library 2.51. The Glide 3.1 is not
37 compatible with the Glide 2.x so it doesn't work with the current
38 version of the driver;
40 - A compiler supported by the Glide library (Micro$oft VC++ (tested),
41 Watcom (tested), GCC for Linux (tested), etc.);
43 - It's nice to have two monitors - one for your normal graphics
44 card and one for your 3Dfx card. If something goes wrong with
45 an application using the 3Dfx hardware you can still see your
46 normal screen in order to recover.
52 Windows 95 - David Bucciarelli
53 Windows NT - Henri Fousse
55 Linux - Daryll Strauss, Brian Paul, David Bucciarelli
58 MacOS - Fazekas Miklos
64 - It is able accelerate points, lines and polygon with flat
65 shading, gouraud shading, Z-buffer, texture mapping, blending, fog and
66 antialiasing (when possible). There is also the support for rendering
67 in a window with a slow trick for the Voodoo Graphics (available only
68 for Linux) and at full speed with the Voodoo Rush chipset.
69 Under Linux is also possible to switch on-the-fly between the fullscreen
70 and in-window rendering hack.
71 There is also the support for using more than one Voodoo Graphics in the
72 some application/PC (you can create one context for each board and use
73 multiple video outputs for driving monitors, videoprojectors or HMDs).
74 The driver is able to fallback to pure software rendering when afeature
75 isn't supported by the Voodoo hardware (however software rendering is
76 very slow compared to hardware supported rendering)
85 Here are the basic steps for using the 3Dfx hardware with Mesa
88 - You'll need the Glide library and headers. Mesa expects:
89 /usr/local/glide/include/*.h // all the Glide headers
90 /usr/local/glide/lib/libglide2x.so
92 If your Glide libraries and headers are in a different directory
93 you'll have to modify the Mesa-config and mklib.glide files.
95 - Unpack the MesaLib-3.1.tar.gz and MesaDemos-3.1.tar.gz archives;
97 - If you're going to use a newer Mesa/Glide driver than v0.27 then
98 unpack the new driver archive over the Mesa directory.
100 - In the Mesa-3.1 directory type "make linux-glide"
102 - Compilation _should_ finish without errors;
104 - Set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable so that the
105 libglide2x.so and Mesa library files can be found. For example:
106 setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "/usr/local/glide/lib:/SOMEDIR/Mesa-3.1/lib"
108 - You'll have to run Glide-based programs as root or set the suid
115 ./gears (hit ESC to exit)
117 - You can find the demos especially designed for the Voodoo driver in
118 in the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory (type "make" in order to compile
123 Check the WEB page at http://valerie.inf.elte.hu/~boga/Mesa.html
129 - The glide2x.lib have to be in the default MSVC++ lib directory;
131 - The Glide headers have to be in the default MSVC++ include directory;
133 - You must have the vcvars32.bat script in your PATH;
135 - Go to the directory Mesa-3.1 and run the mesafx.bat;
137 - The script will compile everything (Mesa-3.1/lib/OpenGL32.{lib,dll},
138 Mesa-3.1/lib/GLU32.{lib,dll}, Mesa-3.1/lib/GLUT32.{lib,dll} and
141 - At the end, you will be in the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory;
143 - Try some demo (fire.exe, teapot.exe, etc.) in order to check if
144 everything is OK (you can use Alt-Tab or Ctrl-F9 to switch between
145 the Voodoo screen and the windows desktop);
147 - Remember to copy the Mesa OpenGL32.dll, GLU32.dll and GLUT32.dll in the
148 some directory were you run your Mesa based applications.
150 - I think that you can easy change the Makefile.fx files in order
151 to work with other kind of compilers;
153 - To discover how open the 3Dfx screen, read the sources under
154 the Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos directory. You can use the GLUT library or
155 the Diego Picciani's wgl emulator.
157 NOTE: the MSVC++ 5.0 optimizer is really buggy. Also if you install the
158 SP3, you could have some problem (you can disable optimization in order
159 solve these kind of problems).
162 Doing more with Mesa & Linux Glide:
163 -----------------------------------
165 The MESA_GLX_FX environment variable can be used to coax most
166 GLX-based programs into using Glide (and the __GLUT library
169 Full-screen 3Dfx rendering:
170 ---------------------------
172 1. Set the MESA_GLX_FX variable to "fullscreen":
175 export MESA_GLX_FX = "fullscreen"
177 setenv MESA_GLX_FX fullscreen
179 2. As root, run a GLX-based program (any GLUT demo on Linux).
181 3. Be careful: once the 3Dfx screen appears you won't be able
182 to see the GLUT windows on your X display. This can make using
183 the mouse tricky! One solution is to hook up your 3Dfx card to
184 a second monitor. If you can do this then set these env vars
187 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
188 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN
192 setenv SSTV2_VGA_PASS 1
193 setenv SSTV2_NOSHUTDOWN
195 Rendering into an X window with the help of the Voodoo hardware:
196 ----------------------------------------------------------------
198 1. Start your X server in 16 bpp mode (XFree86: startx -- -bpp 16)
199 in order to have the best performance and the best visual
200 quality. However you can use any visual depth supported by X.
202 2. Set the following environment variables:
203 export MESA_GLX_FX="window" # to enable window rendering
204 export SST_VGA_PASS=1 # to stop video signal switching
205 export SST_NOSHUTDOWN=1 # to stop video signal switching
207 setenv MESA_GLX_FX window
208 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
209 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN 1
211 (the Voodoo2 requires to use "SSTV2_" instead "SST_").
213 3. As root, try running a GLX-based program
215 How does it work? We use the 3Dfx hardware to do rendering then
216 copy the image from the 3Dfx frame buffer into an X window when
217 the SwapBuffers() function is called. The problem with this
218 idea is it's slow. The image must be copied from the 3Dfx frame
219 buffer to main memory then copied into the X window (and when the X
220 visual depth doesn't match the Voodoo framebufffer bit per pixel, it
221 is required also a pixel format translation).
223 NOTE: the in-window rendering feature only works with double-buffering.
226 On the fly switching between in window rendering and full screen rendering
227 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
229 The Mesa 2.6 has introduced the capability of switching
230 on-the-fly between the fullscreen/fullspeed rendering and the in-window
231 hack and vice versa. The on-the-fly switching requires a direct support
232 by the application but it is really easy to add. You have to start
233 your X server in 16 bpp mode and to add the following lines to your
236 #if defined(FX) && define(XMESA)
237 #include <GL/xmesa.h>
239 static int fullscreen=1;
244 /* In the GLUT keyboard event callback */
246 #if defined(FX) && !define(WIN32)
248 fullscreen=(!fullscreen);
249 XMesaSetFXmode(fullscreen ? XMESA_FX_FULLSCREEN : XMESA_FX_WINDOW);
254 See the 3Dfx/demos/tunnel.c program
255 for an example. You have to set the -DXMESA flag in the Makefile's COPTS
258 Rendering into an X window with the X11 software driver:
259 --------------------------------------------------------
261 Set the MESA_GLX_FX variable to "disable" your GLX-based program will use
262 the X11 software driver (the 3Dfx hardware isn't used at all).
266 Useful Glide Environment Variables:
267 -----------------------------------
269 - To disable the 3Dfx logo, set the FX_GLIDE_NO_SPLASH variable.
271 - To disable video signal switching:
272 setenv SST_VGA_PASS 1
273 setenv SST_NOSHUTDOWN
275 setenv SSTV2_VGA_PASS 1
276 setenv SSTV2_NOSHUTDOWN
278 - To set the default screen refresh rate:
279 setenv SST_SCREENREFRESH=75
281 the supported values are 60, 70, 72, 75, 80, 85, 90, 100, 120.
283 - To force the Mesa library to swap buffers as fast as possible,
284 without any vertical blanking synchronization (useful for benchmarks):
285 setenv FX_GLIDE_SWAPINTERVAL 0
286 setenv SST_SWAP_EN_WAIT_ON_VIDSYNC 0
288 - You can slight improve the performances of your Voodoo1 board with
289 the following env. var.:
294 (don't use this setting with the Quantum3D 100SB or with any other
295 SLI configuration: it will hang everything !).
296 The following setting can be used with the Voodoo2:
297 setenv SSTV2_FASTMEM_RAS_READS=1
298 setenv SSTV2_FASTPCIRD=1
299 setenv SSTV2_GRXCLK=95
301 - The Quantum3D Obsidian3D-2 X-24 requires some special env. setting
302 in order to work under Linux:
304 export SSTV2_FT_CLKDEL=5
305 export SSTV2_TF0_CLKDEL=7
306 export SSTV2_TF1_CLKDEL=7
307 export SSTV2_TF2_CLKDEL=7
308 export SSTV2_SLIM_VIN_CLKDEL=3
309 export SSTV2_SLIM_VOUT_CLKDEL=2
310 export SSTV2_SLIS_VIN_CLKDEL=3
311 export SSTV2_SLIS_VOUT_CLKDEL=2
313 (Thanks to Phil Ross for this trick).
318 The Mesa/Voodoo Environment Variables:
319 --------------------------------------
321 - Only for Windows/Voodoo Rush users, if you define the
322 env. var. MESA_WGL_FX:
323 export MESA_WGL_FX=fullscreen
324 you will get fullscreen rendering;
326 - Only for Windows/Voodoo Rush users, if you define the
327 env. var. MESA_WGL_FX:
328 export MESA_WGL_FX=window
329 you will get window rendering (default value);
331 - Only for Linux users, you can find more informations about
332 the env. var. MESA_GLX_FX in the "Doing more with Mesa & Linux Glide"
335 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_SWAP_PENDING:
336 export MESA_FX_SWAP_PENDING=4
337 you will able to set the maximum number of swapbuffers
338 commands in the Voodoo FIFO after a swapbuffer (default value: 2);
340 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_INFO:
341 export MESA_FX_INFO=1
342 you will get some useful statistic.
344 - If you define the env. var. MESA_FX_NO_SIGNALS:
345 export MESA_FX_NO_SIGNALS=1
346 Mesa/FX will not install atexit() or signal() handlers.
350 Know BUGS and Problems:
351 -----------------------
353 - fog doesn't work in the right way when using the glDepthRange() function;
355 - Maximum texture size: 256x256 (this is an hardware limit);
357 - Texture border aren't yet supported;
359 - A GL_BLEND in a glTexEnv() is not supported (it is an hardware limit);
361 - Use the glBindTexture extension (standard in OpenGL 1.1) for texture
362 mapping (the old way: glTexImage inside a display list, download
363 the texture map each time that you call the display list !!!);
365 - Stencil buffer and Accumulation buffer are emulated in software (they are not
366 directly supported by the Hardware);
368 - Color index mode not implemented (this is an hardware limit);
370 - Thre is an know bug in the Linux Glide library so the in-window-rendering hack
371 and any other operations that requires to read the Voodoo frame buffer
372 (like the accumulation buffer support) doesn't work on Voodoo SLI cards.
374 - The driver switch to pure software (_slow_) rendering when:
377 - Using the Accumulation buffer;
378 - Blend enabled and blend equation != GL_FUNC_ADD_EXT;
379 - Color logic operation enabled and color logic operation != GL_COPY;
380 - Using GL_SEPARATE_SPECULAR_COLOR;
381 - The four values of glColorMask() aren't the some;
382 - Texture 1D or 3D enabled;
383 - Texture function is GL_BLEND;
384 - Using the Multitexture extension with Voodoo cards with only one TMU;
385 - Using the Multitexture extension with Voodoo cards with more than
386 one TMU, and texture function isn't GL_MODULATE;
387 - Point size is != 1.0 or point params vector != (1.0,0.0,0.0);
388 - Line width != 1.0 or using stipple lines.
389 - Using polygon offset or stipple polygons;
391 NOTE: this is list is not yet complete.
394 Hints and Special Features:
395 ---------------------------
397 - Under Linux and with a Voodoo Graphics board, you can use
398 XMesaSetFXmode(XMESA_FX_FULLSCREEN or XMESA_FX_WINDOW) in order to
399 switch on the fly between fullscreen rendering and the in-window-rendering
402 - The driver is able to use all the texture memory available: 2/4MB on
403 Voodoo1 boards and 8MB (!) on high-end Voodoo1 and Voodoo2 boards.
405 - Trilinear filtering is fully supported on Voodoo boards with two TMUs
406 (high-end Voodoo1 boards and Voodoo2 boards). When only one TMU is
407 available the driver fallback to bilinear filter also if you ask
408 for trilinear filtering.
410 - The Voodoo driver support multiple Voodoo Graphics boards in the
411 some PC. Using this feature, you can write applications that use
412 multiple monitors, videoprojectors or HMDs for the output. See
413 Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/tunnel2.c for an example of how setup one
414 context for each board.
416 - The v0.19 introduces a new powerful texture memory manager: the
417 texture memory is used as a cache of the set of all defined texture
418 maps. You can now define several MBs of texture maps also with a 2MB
419 of texture memory (the texture memory manager will do automatically
420 all the swap out/swap in
421 texture memory work). The new texture memory manager has also
422 solved a lot of other bugs/no specs compliance/problems
423 related to the texture memory usage.
425 - Use triangles and quads strip: they are a LOT faster than sparse
428 - The Voodoo driver supports the GL_EXT_paletted_texture. it works
429 only with GL_COLOR_INDEX8_EXT, GL_RGBA palettes and the alpha value
430 is ignored because this is a limitation of the the current Glide
431 version and of the Voodoo hardware. See Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/paltex.c for
432 a demo of this extension.
434 - The Voodoo driver directly supports 3Dfx Global Palette extension.
435 It was written for GLQuake and I think that it isn't a good idea
436 to use this extension for any other purpose (it is a trick). See
437 Mesa-3.1/3Dfx/demos/glbpaltex.c for a demo of this extension.
439 - The Voodoo driver chooses the screen resolution according to the
440 requested window size. If you open a 640x480 window, you will get
441 a 640x480 screen resolution, if you open a 800x600 window, you
442 will get a 800x600 screen resolution, etc.
443 Most GLUT demos support the '-geometry' option, so you can choose
444 the screen resolution: 'tunnel -geometry 800x600'.
445 Clearly, you Voodoo board must have enough framebuffer RAM (otherwise
446 the window creation will fail).
448 - The glGetString(GL_RENDERER) returns more information
449 about the hardware configuration: "Mesa Glide <version>
450 <Voodoo_Graphics|Voodoo_Rush|UNKNOWN> <num> CARD/<num> FB/
451 <num> TM/<num> TMU/<NOSLI|SLI>"
452 where: <num> CARD is the card used for the current context,
453 <num> FB is the number of MB for the framebuffer,
454 <num> TM is the number of MB for the texture memory,
455 <num> TMU is the number of TMU. You can try to run
456 Mesa/demos/glinfo in order to have an example of the output.
458 Did you find a lot BUGs and problems ? Good, send me an email.
465 For a complete FAQ check the Bernd Kreimeier's Linux 3Dfx HOWTO
466 available at http://www.gamers.org/dEngine/xf3D (it includes also
467 a lot of informations not strictly related to Linux, so it can be
468 useful also if you don't use Linux)
472 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. is the company which builds the VooDoo 3-D graphics
473 chipset (and others) used in popular PC cards such as the Diamond Monster 3D
474 and the Orchid Righteous 3D (more informations at http://www.3dfx.com).
479 Glide is a "thin" programming interface for the 3Dfx hardware. It was
480 originally written for Windows/Intel but has been ported to Linux/Intel
483 3Dfx, Inc. should be applauded for allowing the Linux version of Glide
486 You can directly program with the Glide library if you wish. You can
487 obtain Glide from the "Developer" section of the 3Dfx website: www.3dfx.com
488 There's a Linux/Glide newsgroup at news://news.3dfx.com/3dfx.glide.linux
493 "fxmesa" is the name of the Mesa device driver for the 3Dfx Glide library.
494 It was written by David Bucciarelli and others. It works on both Linux
495 and Windows. Basically, it allows you to write and run OpenGL-style programs
496 on the 3Dfx hardware.
501 Quake is a very popular game from id software, Inc. See www.idsoftware.com
502 GLQuake is a version of Quake written for OpenGL. There is now a Linux
503 version of GLQuake with works with the Mesa/3Dfx/Glide combo.
505 Here's what you need to run GLQuake on Linux:
506 PC with 100MHz Pentium or better
508 Mesa 3.1 libraries: libMesaGL.so libMesaGLU.so
509 Glide 2.4 libraries: libglide2x.so libtexus.so
512 Also, the windows version of GLQuake works fine with the Mesa OpenGL32.dll,
513 you have only to copy the Mesa-3.1/lib/OpenGL32.dll in the GLQuake directory
514 in order to test 'MesaQuake'.
519 GLUT is Mark Kilgard's OpenGL Utility Toolkit. It provides an API for
520 writing portable OpenGL programs with support for multiple windows, pop-
521 up menus, event handling, etc.
523 Check the Mark's home page for more informations (http://reality.sgi.com/mjk_asd).
525 Every OpenGL programmer should check out GLUT.
527 GLUT on Linux uses GLX.
532 GLX is the OpenGL extension to the X Window System. I defines both a
533 programming API (glX*() functions) and a network protocol. Mesa implements
534 an emulation of GLX on Linux. A real GLX implementation would requires
535 hooks into the X server. The 3Dfx hardware can be used with GLX-based
536 programs via the MESA_GLX_FX environment variable.
539 7. Is the Voodoo driver able to use the 4Mb texture memory of
542 Yes, the Voodoo driver v0.20 includes the support for Voodoo
543 Graphics boards with more than 2Mb of texture memory.
546 8. Do the Voodoo driver support the Voodoo Rush under Windows ?
548 Yes, Diego Picciani has developed the support for the Voodoo
549 Rush but David Bucciarelli has a Pure3D and a Monster3D and Brian Paul
550 has a Monster3D, so the new versions of the Mesa/Voodoo sometime are
551 not tested with the Voodoo Rush.
554 9. Do the Voodoo driver support the Voodoo Rush under Linux ?
556 No because the Linux Glide doesn't (yet) support the Voodoo Rush.
559 10. Can I sell my Mesa/Voodoo based software and include
560 a binary copy of the Mesa in order to make the software
561 working out of the box ?
566 11. Which is the best make target for compiling the Mesa for
567 Linux GLQuake ('make linux-glide', 'make linux-386-glide', etc.) ?
569 'make linux-386-opt-glide' for Voodoo1 and 'make linux-386-opt-V2-glide'
570 for Voodoo2 boards because it doesn't include the '-fPIC'
571 option (4-5% faster).
574 12. Can I use a Mesa compiled with a 'make linux-386-opt-V2-glide'
575 for my applications/programs/demos ?
577 Yes, there is only one constrain: you can't run two Mesa applications
578 at the some time. This isn't a big issue with the today Voodoo Graphics.
584 Henri Fousse (he has written several parts of the v0.15 and the old GLUT
587 Diego Picciani (he has developed all the Voodoo Rush support and the wgl
590 Daryll Strauss (for the Linux Glide and the first Linux support);
592 Brian Paul (of course);
594 Dave 'Zoid' Kirsch (for the Linux GLQuake and Linux Quake2test/Q2 ports)
596 Bernd Kreimeier (for the Linux 3Dfx HOWTO and for pushing companies to offer
597 a better Linux support)
599 3Dfx and Quantum3D (for actively supporting Linux)
601 The most update places where find Mesa VooDoo driver related informations are
602 the Mesa mailing list and my driver WEB page
603 (http://www-hmw.caribel.pisa.it/fxmesa/index.shtml)
606 David Bucciarelli (davibu@tin.it)
611 Tel./Fax +39-50-554108
612 email: info.hmw@plus.it
613 www: www-hmw.caribel.pisa.it