A straight answer about Diamond, please!

I know this is probably a bit out of date, but since I had lots
of problems getting my Speedstar 24X to work with XFree, I'll
post it in the hopes that it helps some of the frustrated Diamond
owners out there. I will say this - I kept finding information
about this Xconfig setup or that Xconfig setup and came to two
conclusions concerning my computer/monitor setup.

1. None of the setups I found in any file anywhere worked for 1024x768
mode (or 800x600 either I think), though I could get 640x480.

2. It was possible to get XFree to work with my card in all modes,
and probably is with most other cards. It also states somewhere that
the Mono mode will work with most (if not all) Diamond cards.

I managed to get everything working by using the 'freq' program
(mentioned in the description for the speedstar-fix.tar.Z file.
I know a lot of the files have been moved around on sunsite since
this file was made, but I think that if you find a Xconfig setting
that gives you one mode, and then play around with the 'freq' program
you can get everything to work without too much effort. I'll be happy
to try to help anyone through email, or mail them a uuencoded copy
of the 'freq' program if they can't find it, but I warn you in advance,
my free time is short right now, so there could be quite a wait
before I can reply to any email.

Kevin

Diamond.FAQ:

This FAQ pertains to the use of Diamond Computer's video card products
and XFree86 with the Linux Operating system. I haven't spoken with
many people from the BSD groups. If you find any of these utilities
of use, please let me know, so that the BSDs may be covered as well.

Please forward any comments, corrections, enhancements, flames,
suggestions, etc... to:

S: ToC

* Warning, Please read this first!

* Introduction

* Writing Diamond

* Some Questions & answers about Diamond Video Cards

* Fixes (procedures some of us netters have used to get
our Xwindows systems up and running).

+ Joe's fix for Stealth 24 (ISA)

+ Johnson's fix for the Speedstar+

+ Vesku's fix for the Stealth VRAM v.2.32

+ Console fix

+ Cybard's fix Diamond SS24

* THE END & contributors list

To ease your quest, search for:
S: Major sections
Q: Questions
F: Fixes
C: preceeds & trails the Xconfigs

S: Warning
WARNING: THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE RECOMMENDED OR TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED
WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT:

* MAY * DAMAGE * YOUR * VIDEO * CARD * AND/OR * MONITOR *.

(Side note: It seems very few and far between that it happens, but it
has happened, or so I've heard. Please send any such problems to
You have been warned, so don't hold me
responsible!)

I believe this pertains to frequencies which may exceed your monitor's
capabilities, particularly if you have an older or lower-quality
monitor!

Frequencies which work great on one monitor may cause monitor and/or
video card damage when used on a different system or monitor.

It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that any setting you use meets the
safe operating parameters of your monitor.

NO WARRANTY

THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THIS DOCUMENT, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE DOCUMENT "AS IS" WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND
PERFORMANCE OF THE DOCUMENT IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE DOCUMENT PROVE
DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR
CORRECTION.

S: Introduction

David C. Niemi is responsible for initiating this FAQ, I
() have taken over it's maintenence.

Purpose: Diamond Computer Systems, Inc. the maker of the Diamond
{SpeedStar, Stealth, Viper, etc.} have a policy which hinders the
ability to write free software for several of their products.

It seems very strange that any company would hold a policy such as
this. My understanding is that it protects "trade secrets" they
own, and would like to protect.

Because of this, this FAQ exists and hopefully will cut down on the
bandwidth consumed by owners of Diamond Computer Systems, Inc. video
card product, in reguards to XFree86 Xwindows System.

The creators of this FAQ are not in any way affiliated with Diamond
Computer Systems, Inc. and do not advocate purchasing Diamond
products. This posting is not intended to encourage, nor discourage
people from buying Diamond video cards. For those of use who own
Diamond products, and wish to be able to use them with XFree86, this
FAQ *may* be of use.

S: Writing Diamond

It seems unlikely that Diamond Computer Systems, Inc. will change
their practice, especially if we barrage them with hostile letters
proclaiming dissatisfaction with them and/or their practice of
non-disclosure.

If you feel strongly enough to write them, use a cool calm voice.
State your position, and organizations with which you are involved and
your influence in future purchases. State weather you would recommend
their product in the future and why or why not.

Remember, you're trying to persuade. Anger is not persuasive. Give
yourself a cool down period, if needed. Leave the letter alone, and
come back to it tomorrow.

S: Questions

Q: What are the different video cards has Diamond Computer Systems
Inc. produced?

1. SpeedStar VGA: Tseng(ET4000) chipset and Music DAC
2. SpeedStar High Color: Tseng(ET4000) chipset and Sierra DAC
3. SpeedStar 24: Tseng(ET4000) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
4. SpeedStar 24X: Western Digital(WD90C31) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
5. Stealth Vram: S3(P86C911) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
6. SpeedStar Pro ISA: Cirrus Logic chipset
7. SpeedStar Pro VLB: Cirrus Logic chipset
8. Stealth 24 ISA: S3(P86C801) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
9. Stealth 24 VLB: S3(P86C805) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
10. Stealth Pro ISA: S3(P86C928) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
11. Stealth Pro VLB: S3(P86C928) chipset and Diamond(SS2410) DAC
12. Viper VLB 1/2 MB: Weitek(P9000) chipset and Bt(485KPJ110) DAC

Q: What makes the Diamond so special???

Several of their video cards use Diamond's custom clock generator
chip, which is not compatible with the clock from any other vendor.

Some of the older products, don't suffer from this clock generator
because they pre-date the custom clock generator.

Q: How can they claim "Compatibility" and still be excluded from
Xfree86?

Using BIOS level calls, most of the video modes, including SVGA
specific modes can be attained with the card. Most Unicices do not
work in the ``real'' mode of Intel platforms. This makes a BIOS level
call difficult, if not impossible.

The XFree86 team has much work. Adding a platform specific --
complicated feature such as bios calls is the least of their worries.

Q: What about the Diamond Viper?

It is based on the Weitek P9000, not an S3 chip, so it needs
completely different drivers from the rest of the Diamond Stealth
series.

You can use the VGA add-on of the Viper with the Mono X-server, but
you will neither have color nor use the accelerated features of the
Viper.

The P9000 chipset (and so the Viper) is currently not supported and
will probably not be supported in the near future by the XFree team.

Diamond Viper X Server Development Team:

Contact Harry Langenbacher () for info on
a group of programmers developing an Xfree/Linux driver for the
Diamond Viper.

Q: Can I use a Diamond products with XFree86?

Yes, at least under Linux. XFree86 will work out of the box with the
monochrome server (/usr/X386/bin/XF86_Mono) at 640x480.

For several of the SpeedStars's to get 640x480 color use the XSVGA
Server. To get higher resolutions, you will need to specially set the
Diamond Clock on your card (please read the WARNING first).

For the Stealth 24's get 640x480 color, install XS3 and the fix
sections of this FAQ. To get higher resolutions, you will need to
specially set the Diamond Clock on your card (please read the WARINING
first).

For the Viper, see Question above "What is the Diamond Viper."

The clockchip for Diamond products will not be supported in the
further (future) XFree86 releases. Though you should be able to use
the freq, s3, or ds3 program to set the clocks from the server (as in
ClockProg option line in Xconfig).

XFree86-2.0 (this will replace XS3) will support more than 1 MB and
will allow higher resolutions. Most s3 chips, however, only work
accelerated at horizontal resolutions 640, 800, 1024 and 1280 (the
most recent chips also at 1152).

Q: I get funny black blocks and few if any text when I bring up
XS3-0.4.4 on my Diamond Stealth. I also see black and white
vertical lines before the normal X stipple background is
loaded. How do you fix this?

In /usr/X386/lib/X11/Xconfig, change the "Virtual 1024 1024" line to
be "Virtual 1024 768". XS3 uses the other 256KB of memory for a font
cache, whether it is in use or not; this is not a Diamond problem per
se.

Q: I have a Diamond Stealth 24 VLB card, and menus and popups don't
get erased under my window manager.

Add the following line to your Xconfig:
Vendor "nolinear"

This may make things a bit slower, but this card is fast enough you
probably won't notice, and at least it will work.

S:Q: How do I set the Diamond Clock?

(Note, to run programs that set clock frequencies, you'll have to be
root, or the program will have to be suid root.)

xclk.gz Useful calculating ModeDB timings, based
on parameters passed to it.
(xclk.gz only contains a binary that works on
Linux. I don't know where the source code
can be found.)

vgaset.tpz Helps fine tune timing values in Xconfig. This
was included with the SLS 1.03 distribution
...
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