RIVA-128 Graphics Driver (Experimental)

As Be expands hardware support for the BeOS, we will occasionally release drivers for hardware not supported by the current BeOS CD "package", in advance of its inclusion in a future package. This page describes a graphics card driver for the RIVA-128 chipset (NV3 and NV3T). This driver may not be completely tested and certified, but it works on our systems, and should work on yours.

This driver was released on July 10, 1998.

Description

This page describes and offers for download an experimental driver for graphics cards based on the RIVA-128 chipset, including the following cards (these are the ones we've tested here at Be):

NV3 chipset:

• STB Velocity 128 (PCI or AGP)
• Canopus Total3D 128V (PCI)

NV3T chipset:

• STB Velocity 128 8Mb (PCI)

There is also some evidence to suggest that the driver will work with NV4-based boards (RIVA-TNT), but since we haven't actually tested it, we can guarantee nothing except the excitement of the unknown if you try it yourself.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is no guarantee these drivers will work with your system. We've used them on ours, but they are still considered "experimental." Use at your own risk. See below for recovery details if the driver should render your system unusable.

Who Can Use These Drivers

Anyone running the BeOS Release 3.1 or greater can download and install this driver. However, it will only be useful and effective on systems using a RIVA-128-based graphics card. If you don't have such a card, don't bother.

This update is for the BeOS running on the Intel Architecture platform only (cards based on these chipsets are not made for PowerPC systems, so far as we know.).

Version History

• July 14, 1998: Fix for AGP/PCI card conflicts on systems with lame BIOSes that force interrupt sharing between the AGP slot and the adjacent PCI slot. Version 1.4d2.
• July 9, 1998: Initial release. Version 1.4d1.

Known Limitations

• The driver does not work with the NV1 chipsets.

• The driver does not currently support video capture or any 3D acceleration.

• "Pixel sparkle."

  Many boards exhibit pixel sparkle in 32 bits-per-pixel (bpp) modes at high resolutions. More specifically, when displaying 32 bpp, pixel sparkle will be visible at 1152 x 900 at all refresh rates. Pixel sparkle will also be visible at 1024 x 768 at refresh rates above 67 Hz or so. Further, this artifact is visible only on cards utilizing a 13.5 MHz crystal (which is most cards).

  Pixel sparkle does not show up in 8- or 16-bpp modes, or on cards using a 14.31818 MHz crystal (such as the Canopus Total3D 128V).

  We are working with NVidia to determine a solution to this problem.

• High resolutions absent at 32 bpp.

  Due to pixel clock limitations for 32 bpp modes, the highest available resolution at 32 bpp is 1152 x 900. This limit is imposed independent of how much RAM may be installed on your card.

Getting and Installing the Drivers

Downloading and installing the RIVA-128 graphics driver is fairly simple. Please read the below instructions completely before beginning however, so that you are certain to follow the correct installation procedure.

The driver consist of one file, which must be installed into the /home/config/add-ons/app_server/ directory.

These installation instructions assume that you are installing onto a system which has only a single graphics card, the card intended to be used with the new RIVA-128 driver, and that you are currently using the SVGA graphics driver in grayscale mode. If your configuration or situation is different, you are assumed to be clever enough to modify the instructions to fit your situation.

1. From your BeOS system, download the RIVA-128 driver archive.

   The graphics driver is contained in a zip archive, and can be downloaded from the following locations:

   Via HTTP: http://www.be.com/support/updates/r3/intel/riva_exp_driver.zip
   Via FTP: ftp://ftp.be.com/pub/beos_updates/r3/intel/riva_exp_driver.zip

2. Decompress the RIVA-128 driver archive.

   Depending on your various preferences, this may happen automatically. If not, just double-click the downloaded archive, and click the Expand button in Expander to decompress the archive.

3. Move the graphics driver file to the /home/config/add-ons/app_server/ directory of your boot volume.

   The graphics driver file is named riva128.

4. Reboot your BeOS system.

   Your system should no longer use the grayscale SVGA graphics driver, and instead should boot and be usable in color.

How to Tell if the Drivers are Working

The new graphics driver is working if your system boots, and your screen is in color (assuming it was previously in grayscale mode).

How to Recover if the Drivers are Not Working

If your system is unable to boot with the new driver installed, you can reboot your system using the SVGA graphics driver:

1. Reboot your system, using a hard reset/power cycle if necessary.

2. When the BeOS Boot Sequence screen appears, press and hold the Space Bar until you enter the Boot Options screen.

3. Use the cursor keys to highlight the Select graphics mode boot option, and press Return.

4. Again use the cursor keys to highlight the Safe mode VGA option, and press Return.

5. Use the cursor keys to highlight the Boot BeOS option, and press Return to boot into the BeOS using the SVGA graphics mode.

6. Once you have booted into the BeOS, remove the RIVA-128 driver you just installed from your system, so you'll be able to boot into SVGA mode automatically. The driver is located in the /home/config/add-ons/app_server/ directory.

At this point, if you can tell us details about your card, that would be extremely helpful in tracking down the problem, and providing an improved driver to RIVA-128 card owners everywhere. Use our Support Request Form, and specifically mention your card make and model (and any other details you can give us about the card), and that it failed with the experimental RIVA-128 graphics driver.

Copyright and Legal Info

This driver was fleshed out by Leo L. Schwab (ewhac@be.com), who is currently maintaining it. A first pass of the driver was created by Duncan Wilcox, who in turn worked from David J. McKay's driver source code available from The XFree86 Project, Inc, who himself used source code materials from NVidia Corporation. So...

Copyright © 1998 Be, Incorporated.
Portions of this code Copyright © 1998 The XFree86 Project, Inc and David J. McKay.
Portions of this code Copyright © 1996-1998 NVIDIA, Corp. NVIDIA design patents pending in the U.S. and foreign countries.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED SOLELY ON AN AS-IS BASIS. BE, INCORPORATED; THE XFREE86 PROJECT, INC; DAVID J. MCKAY; AND NVIDIA CORPORATION ("AUTHORS") EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTHORS, EITHER SINGLY OR JOINTLY, BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES, OR OTHER LIABILITY -- WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE -- ARISING FROM, OUT OF, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, MISUSE, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE.