"Fuzzy" display in X > 8bpp (3.1.2, Stealth Video VRAM 3200)

by Piercarlo Gran » Fri, 01 Mar 1996 04:00:00

pcolucci> Hello,
pcolucci> I have had 8bpp and 16 bpp running fine (Xfree86 3.1.2, Diamond
pcolucci> Stealth 64 Video VRAM 3200 with IBM_526 220 MHz RAMDAC). I
pcolucci> have noticed a peculiarity in > 8bpp color.
pcolucci> When I look closely at the characters in an xterm for example,
pcolucci> the fonts are fuzzy, it looks very similar to a hot driveway
pcolucci> and the hot air give a distorded, wavy, 'shimmering' image.
pcolucci> This problem does not appear in 8bpp. I am using a NEC 4FG
pcolucci> 15" monitor.

It's probable that you are driving some electronics too hard. Either the
card, the cable, or monitor. The card (VRAM, 220MHz ramdac) seems not to
be the culprit; probably it's either the cable or the monitor. Yet the
fact that it happens in 16bpp but not 8bpp mode seems to point back to
the card. Are you sure that the release of Xfree86 you are using can
really do the frequency you are asking it to do in 16bpp mode? Some
cards have _very_ different limits for 8bpp vs. 16bpp, and requires
different programming too.

Top

1. How do I use bpp 16,24,32 (Stealth 64 VRAM Video 3200)?

Hello,
I am new to Linux (I use unix as a user). I have struggled a bit
but have gotten far so far (!). I generally read HOWTO's and other
documentation (readme's, man pages) and don't ask questions until
I have tried to answer them myself. I have had success in getting
X up and running on my Stealth 64 VRAM Video 3200 (s3-968) in
a simple configuration (8 bpp, 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768).

I have been unable to get other than 8 bpp color. There are
several entries in the "Screen" sections. I understand (?) that
the one that is selected is the one that /usr/X11R6/bin/X points
to (I have a symbolic link to XF86_S3, an accellerated server,
so I presume it uses the screen section with the "Accel" driver line.
If I have a symbolic link to another server (XF86_Mono for example)
I think it would use the Screen section with the "Mono" drivere line,
is this how the particular 'screen' section is chosen?). Hopefully
I understand how the particular 'screen' selection is run.

Now, under the Screen section, there are several 'Display' sections.
As is in the man pages, if there are multiple display sections, they
each must have a diff. color depth. If there is only one and it is
not specified, it runs at the color depth that the X server defaults to.
I have 4 such sections, for 8, 16, 24 and 32 bpp. I always seem to
be running 8 bpp. The question is simply: How do I run an alternate
Display section (other than 8bpp)? Is there an argument to startx
I have missed?

On a related topic, when I run 1280x1024 the screen is vertically
stretched, and the crosshair does not properly indicate where
the pointer is . I have selected option "Diamond", and use
the RAMDAC "IBM524" line and set the speed to 220 MHz, as has
been suggested in this newsgroup. (My card has the IBM526 220MHz
RAMDAC, visual inspection. I use XFree86 3.1.2, which does not
support the 526, but it is backward compatable with the 524 and
I have been suggested to try setting is as such). I think this is
perhaps more a monitor problem (I use NEC 4FG) having to do with
the timings. I think this monitor only does this higher res interlaced.
Any suggestions? If it is adviseable, I will post my configuratino
file.

Thanks for any assistance you have to offer,

--
Paul Colucci
Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Dept. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
State University of New York at Buffalo

2. calling asm procedures from C (linux/gcc/gas), how?

3. : Weird ">" redirect behavior vs. ">>" redirect behavior

4. Capturing the tty I/O

5. GETSERVBYNAME()????????????????????"""""""""""""

6. A question about the "etc/hosts.equiv" file

7. """"""""My SoundBlast 16 pnp isn't up yet""""""""""""

8. bus mouse

9. HELP!: "snow" in XFree w/ Stealth 64 VRAM (964)

10. How to get "cin >> char" not to need "Enter"?

11. extention "RENDER" missing on display ":"0.0".