[LI] X on i810 - The step-by-step guide

[Shanker Balan <shanu@xxxxxxxx>]

	Setting up X on Intel 810 based VGA chipset
	-------------------------------------------

	Support for i810 will be included only in the next release of X11 which
might take some time. However, a binary only driver is available from
Precision  Insight. The following is a stp-by-step guide to get X up and
running using the Xserver provided by insight. I have not yet looked up
the support pages for the i810 at intel.com, all the info i have
gatehered are from newgroup archives and  various searche engines.
	
	Please note, this is not comprehensive and should  not be considered as
authoritative. As usual, all standard disclaimers apply.

1. Download the necessarry file

  All the files are available from
ftp.precisioninsight.com/pub/precisio/XFCom/.

  * Information for i810 Users
    ftp.precisioninsight.com/pub/precisio/XFCom/README.i810
  
  * The Xserver for RedHat Linux 6.1
   
ftp.precisioninsight.com/pub/precisio/XFComXFCom-i810-glibc2.1-1.0.0-rh61.i386.rpm  
  
  * agpgart.o kernel module source
    ftp.precisioninsight.com/pub/precisio/XFCom/I810Gtt-0.1-4.src.rpm
  
2. Compiling the AGP module

   I had a little trouble compiling the module. The sanity check failed
even though i had a 2.2 kernel running, 2.2.13 to be exact. The fix is
simple, but before that, see whether a rpm --rebuild
I810Gtt-0.1-4.src.rpm works. If not, read on.
    
    Install the src by running rpm -ivh I810Gtt-0.1-4.src.rpm. The
tarball will get dumped to /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES. gzip -cd
I810Gtt.tar.gz |tar xf - will untar and uncompress it. Open the Makefile
with an editor. There would be something like (on or near line 20) ...

    KERNEL_VERSION=$(shell ./version-test.sh)

    Replace it with 

    KERNEL_VERSION=2.2

    This would bypass version-test.sh. Run make. NOTE: The C development
libraries is reqd at this stage. If all goes well, u would have a file
names agpgart.o in the source directory. Copy the file to
/usr/lib/modules/<kernel-version>/misc and run depmod -a.

    I have made an entry in /etc/modules so that it will load
automatically during the boot process. This would be preferred to
modprobing it each time before firing up X.

    A precompiled agpgart.o module for RHL is available from the ftp
site which can also be used.

3. The X server

   * Install the X server
   rpm -ivh XFCom-i810-glibc2.1-1.0.0-rh61.i386.rpm would install the
server. 
   * Change the symlink
   ln -sf /usr/bin/X11/XFCom_i810 /etc/X11/

4. Adding the entry in /etc/X11/XF86Config

   * The final step would be to add the "Device" and "Screen" entry. I
have this in my config file. Modify it to suit your requirements.

   Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Intel 810 (generic)"
	VendorName  "Unknown"
	BoardName   "Unknown"
	#VideoRam    4096
	#Option     "no_accel"
	#Option     "sw_cursor"
	#Option     "hw_cursor"
	#Option     "sgram"
	#Option     "sdram"
   EndSection

   Section "Screen"
	Driver      "svga"
	Device      "Intel 810 (generic)"
	Monitor     "My Monitor"
	DefaultColorDepth   16
	Subsection "Display"
	Depth       16
	Modes       "800x600"
	ViewPort    0 0
	Virtual	    1024 768
   EndSubsection

	The XFCom server does not support color depths greater that 24 bpp.
Since Netscape color palatte is screwed up in 24 bpp, i have opted to
run at 16 bpp only. The readme file has all the details.
	
5. The "smoke test"

   X -probeonly would let u debug any problems at this
level. So try it out. Problems if any, could be traced back to
XF86Config at this stage.

6. And finally...

   startx.

Notes:
 
	I think this cards supports OpenGL. Nevertheles, the video performance
of this card on Quake rocks. The picture quality is comparable to the
glossy OpenGL screenshots u find in the magazines. 
  
  	How to get Quake up on an i810 ??? Well, thats a story i am saving
for another day :)

  Happy hacking


	

   
-- 
  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - = = (SHANU) = = - -
  St. Albert's College             Debian/GNU Linux 2.2.1 (Aloo)
  Cochin  India

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