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Re: server X
- To: "GoatCheez" <gcheez at tampabay dot rr dot com>, "Jeff Sturm" <jsturm at sigma6 dot com>, "David Fox" <dsfox at cogsci dot ucsd dot edu>
- Subject: Re: server X
- From: Larry Hall <lhall at rfk dot com>
- Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 15:47:41 -0400
- Cc: <gnu-win32 at cygnus dot com>
The problem is DirectX versions don't get updated on NT with the same
alacrity that they do on 9x. I think the currently supported(?) version
is DirectX 3 on NT. Here is one place where capabilities in 9x outstrip
those in NT! So a DirectX approach will not allow an XFree86 "port" to
address the need of both 9x and NT users at this time...
Larry Hall lhall@rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc. (781) 239-1053
8 Grove Street (781) 239-1655 - FAX
Wellesley, MA 02482-7797 http://www.rfk.com
At 10:48 PM 9/22/98 -0700, GoatCheez wrote:
> In the most recent version of DirectX (6), another version of DirectDraw
>was implemented(4). This version allows the locking and unlocking of a video
>surface without the rest of the windows system to stop... in other words,
>accessing the cideo memory directly isn't as scary as it previously was.
>Before, when someone would lock the video memory, the entire cpu would give
>access to only that program running, which made all other applications cease
>untill the surface was unlocked. It was done for backwards compatablility or
>something, but in DirectX6 there's an option to allow the system to respond
>normally. The old system would also not allow debugging because the debugger
>wouldn't be running then the surface was locked. A DirectX X server would
>be a good idea. The only thing needed is some DirectX programmers that are
>willing to port the XFree86 code... I know a little DirectDraw and would be
>willing to help, but we would need a lot more.
>
>GoatCheez
>gcheez@tampabay.rr.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jeff Sturm <jsturm@sigma6.com>
>To: David Fox <dsfox@cogsci.ucsd.edu>
>Cc: <gnu-win32@cygnus.com>
>Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 7:30 PM
>Subject: Re: server X
>
>
>>David Fox wrote:
>>> Sergey Okhapkin <sos@prospect.com.ru> writes:
>>> > Porting _Xfree86_ to win32 is a bad idea, because Xfree86 requires
>direct
>>> > video hardware access.
>>>
>>> Could you expand on this further? Why is direct video hardware access
>>> more of a problem under windows than it is under Unix?
>>
>>(A small clarification to Sergey's post: XFree86 is designed for video
>>framebuffer access. It need not access video registers directly.
>>Recent work in Linux for example has moved video drivers out of X and
>>into the kernel; X opens the display via the /dev/fb device.)
>>
>>The big difference is that under Unix, the X server controls the entire
>>display. Under Win32 however, X has to cooperate with the native window
>>subsystem. I think that precludes an X server from accessing video
>>memory from Win32 (does anyone know otherwise?). It may be able to
>>write to backing store... I'm not sure if this is better (easier or more
>>efficient, that is) than just translating X drawing requests into GDI
>>requests.
>>
>>If it turns out that the "virtual framebuffer" technique is feasible,
>>I'd contend that the XFree86 source is a better starting point than
>>TOG's X11R6.4, since they have cleaned up and fixed a lot of the cfb
>>code.
>>
>>--
>>Jeff Sturm
>>jsturm@sigma6.com
>>-
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>
>-
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>
>
Larry
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