Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:09:45 -0800 From: Andy Sparrow <spadger@best.com> To: Bjarne Wichmann Petersen <freebsd.nospam@mekanix.dk> Cc: freebsd-multimedia@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: ATI Rage Mobility and XVideo Message-ID: <20030127210945.5DBE3ED@CRWdog.demon.co.uk> In-Reply-To: Message from Bjarne Wichmann Petersen <freebsd.nospam@mekanix.dk> of "Mon, 27 Jan 2003 13:44:20 %2B0100." <200301271344.20485.freebsd.nospam@mekanix.dk>
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--==_Exmh_-1761214438P
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> > > I've got a ATI 3D Rage Mobility (Mach64), which I'd like to enable XVideo
> > > support. How do I do that?
> >
> > Use the enhanced ATI drivers from gatos.sourceforge.net. Thanks to the
> > XFree platform-independant loader mechanism (for like CPU platforms
> > only), you can simply install the Linux binary drivers directly without
> > even needing Linux emulation.
>
> Thx... works... sort of... does XVideo need extra RAM? I'm usually running my
> laptop in 1024x768-24, but XVideo chokes on that. But if I run in 16-bit
> depth it's ok (but doesn't look so nice).
Well, I tend to run in 16 bit anyway as I can rarely tell the difference
(especially on a TFT), and 16 bit mode is faster.
I seem to recall that XV might be restricted to 16 bit, but I might be
mistaken on that. I know it doesn't work on extremely large resolutions,
and there may well be issues with depth at higher resolutions (I tend to
use 1024x768 even when docked, as otherwise my window placements get
kinda funky when I undock).
> And what do you do to enable DGA? My setup barks even if I run as root.
i) Check it's enabled in the server:
xdpyinfo | grep DGA
XFree86-DGA
If not, check for it being disabled in whichever config file you're
using for XFree86, and comment it out (I seem to recall the loading of
DGA is disabled by default):
# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
SubSection "extmod"
#Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA
extension
EndSubSection
You'll need to re-start X at this point, naturally.
ii) Run 'mplayer' and tell it to use DGA for output, e.g.:
mplayer -vo dga
You'll need permissions to write /dev/mem, with default permissions
you'll
need 'root' privs.
This gives you a full-screen DGA output, with a "postage stamp" video
window.
Check for output like the following:
vo: X11 running at 1024x768 with depth 16 and 16 bpp (":0.0" => local
display)
vo_dga: Mode: depth=15, bpp=16, r=007c00, g=0003e0, b=00001f, native
(fast), (-bpp 15)
vo_dga: Mode: depth=16, bpp=16, r=00f800, g=0007e0, b=00001f, native
(fast), (-bpp 16)
vo_dga: Mode: depth=24, bpp=24, r=ff0000, g=00ff00, b=0000ff, native
(fast), (-bpp 24)
vo_dga: Mode: depth=24, bpp=32, r=ff0000, g=00ff00, b=0000ff, native
(fast), (-bpp 32)
iii) Sort out the "root permissions" issue. I generally set '/dev/mem'
0664,
leave the default group 'kmem', and make the 'mplayer' executable SGID
kmem, e.g. (as 'root'):
chgrp kmem `which mplayer`
chmod 02555 `which mplayer`
I happen to feel that this is appropriate for a single-user laptop with
a
firewall, YMMV...
iv) Provide some "special" video modes for DGA, so that when DGA wants
to
select a video mode/depth to switch to for full-screen, it actually has
some available other than the auto-calculated/built-in XFree modes.
I use some of the following for common AVI/MPEG sizes:
Mode "320x240"
DotClock 15.75
HTimings 320 336 384 400
VTimings 240 244 246 262
Flags "Doublescan"
EndMode
Mode "352x240"
DotClock 15.750
HTimings 352 368 416 432
VTimings 240 244 246 262
Flags "Doublescan"
EndMode
Mode "352x280"
DotClock 15.750
HTimings 352 368 416 432
VTimings 280 286 288 302
Flags "Doublescan"
EndMode
Mode "352x288"
DotClock 15.750
HTimings 352 368 416 432
VTimings 288 290 296 310
Flags "Doublescan"
EndMode
Mode "384x288"
DotClock 15.750
HTimings 384 400 416 432
VTimings 288 290 296 310
Flags "Doublescan"
EndMode
Mode "480x288"
DotClock 15.75
HTimings 480 495 510 525
VTimings 288 289 293 302
Flags "+hsync" "+vsync"
EndMode
Mode "536x344"
DotClock 31.5
HTimings 536 556 656 700
VTimings 344 345 348 364
Flags "+hsync" "+vsync"
EndMode
Mode "544x352"
DotClock 15.75
HTimings 544 560 656 700
VTimings 352 353 357 372
Flags "+hsync" "+vsync"
EndMode
Modeline "544x352" 31.50 544 560 640 680 352 353 354 366 -hsync
-vsync
Modeline "800x600" 40 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628
Modeline "712x600" 35.0 712 740 850 900 400 410 412 425
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525
Modeline "400x300" 20 400 416 480 528 300 301 303 314
Doublescan
Modeline "352x288" 25.10 352 368 416 432 288 296 290 310
Modeline "352x240" 15.750 352 368 416 432 240 244 246 262
Doublescan
Modeline "320x240" 12.588 320 336 384 400 240 245 246 262
Doublescan
(Some of the above are almost certainly bogus, BTW...)
DGA will pick the best (e.g. "closest") color depth/mode to the native
size of the video you're playing, and the video window will fill the
screen. You'll get a black band if the image doesn't exactly fit (e.g.
like "letterbox" mode, although the bands could be on the sides, or both
top/bottom and the sides, if it's not listed or standard).
This will use more CPU than XV, but the colors are way more natural,
IME. If you have excess CPU left over, try using the '-autoq XX' option
to post-process the video streams.
I find that a PIII 600 doesn't have any grunt left over for
post-processing at resolutions larger than, say ~352x264 with DGA (e.g.
VCD is fine, SVCD gives it a hard time), but it depends on the video
stream - some larger images play better than others. Also, some video
streams look fine with XV, whilst others look really lurid and
florescent, with harsh color gradients and are generally unnatural and
unconvincing.
So, I default to XV in 'mplayer.conf', and use DGA when I can. Note that
you can't use the 'mplayer' GUI with DGA either (or, if you can, let me
know /how/ ;-).
Oh, and if 'mplayer' crashes whilst using DGA (much less likely these
days), it can be awkward to regain control.. Another reason to check
that 'mplayer' doesn't choke on the video in XV or SDL mode before
running it with DGA...
'mplayer' rocks. Mucho thanks to everyone working hard on keeping it
up-to-date in ports, you're doing a fantastic job!
HTH.
Cheers,
AS
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