If you use the EGA chipset driver

monotext or colortext

to specify if your EGA card is in monochrome or color configuration.

If you use the Mach32 chipset driver

Clocks clock1 clock2 clock3 ...

to specify the Mach32 clocks. This is mandatory. However, if you omit it. svgalib will autodetect clocks and modify your /etc/vga/libvga.config file and abort. After this, every svgalib application started will find the proper Clocks command.

mach32eeprom /etc/vga/mach32.eeprom

is recommended to avoid slowish reads of the Mach32 EEPROM which will also cause annoying screen flickering.

If you use the Mach64 chipset driver

Chipset Mach64

if you want to use the experimental pre-alpha driver

If you use the S3 chipset driver

Clocks clock1 clock2 ...

to specify the clocks (take them from your Xfree86 configuration).

or

ClockChip icd2061a number

if you have an Icd2061a clockchip.

Ramdac chipname

if your Ramdac is not detected properly.

Dacspeed speed

if the default chosen is not right (probably too restrictive).

The remaining options are really only to be used in case of problems which you'll not generally encounter.

If you use the VESA chipset driver

VesaText

forces the driver to set 80x25 text mode, before any standard vga mode setting. Fixes text mode restoring with many cards, as well as standard VGA modes.

VesaSave

selects the bitmap to save and restore, using VESA functions. see VESA documentation for bits' meanings. The default is 1110 (=14) which is good for most cards, but some give better results with other numbers.

Mouse configuration

mouse mousetype

where mousetype is one of: Microsoft, MouseSystems, MMSeries, Logitech, Busmouse, PS2, MouseMan, gpm, Spaceball, none, IntelliMouse, or IMPS2. mousetype can also be a number (0 - 9) for the keywords Microsoft - none.

gpm allows for (hopefully) peaceful interaction with gpm, Spaceball enables support for the 6-axes Spacetec Spaceball mouse (well, probably more like a trackball), IntelliMouse and IMPS2 refer to the Microsoft IntelliMouse or Logitech MouseMan+, where IntelliMouse is for serial port and IMPS2 for such a mouse on the PS/2 port.

Note that it is not possible to specify the Microsoft IntelliMouse or Logitech MouseMan+ by a number. This is due to historical and compatibility reasons.

mouse_override

This command is only available if ALLOW_MOUSE_OVERRIDE was set in Makefile.cfg when svgalib was compiled (which is the default).

If given, svgalib ignores any mouse type the program specifies but uses the type configured with the mouse command.

For example, DOOM does not recognize MouseMan as a valid mouse type and defaults the mouse type to MouseSystems. This command allows to make svgalib ignore whatever DOOM specifies and use MouseMan anyway.

mdev mousedevice

Usually /dev/mouse (the default) will be a link to the mouse device. However, esp. with the Spacetec Spaceball you may want to specify a different device for svgalib(7) to use:

mdev /dev/ttyS0 # mouse is at /dev/ttyS0

Some multiprotocol mice use the state of RTS and DTR to find out which protocol to enable:

setRTS

set the RTS wire.

clearRTS

clear the RTS wire.

leaveRTS

leave the RTS wire alone (default) (Wire is usually set)

setDTR

set the DTR wire.

clearDTR

clear the DTR wire.

leaveDTR

leave the DTR wire alone (default) (Wire is usually set)

For example my mouse can emulate Microsoft and MouseSystems. It needs a low RTS to go into MouseSystems mode. Thus I use:

mouse MouseSystems clearRTS

Still I could just use mouse Microsoft and use the mouse with that protocol.. But then only 2 buttons instead of 3 are supported (not that I know many svgalib programs that uses more than 2 buttons.)

Other mice might need clearDTR as well or one set and clear. Try yourself.

Note: Having crtscts handshake enabled on the mouse tty may interfere with this option. Do not do that.

Finally, a special goodie for wheel mice:

mouse_fake_kbd_event upscancode downscancode

sends a fake keyboard event to the program when the wheel on a Microsoft IntelliMouse, Logitech MouseMan+, or similar wheel mouse is turned.

The up and down scancodes are the scancodes of the keys to simulate when the wheel is turned up and down, respectively.

The following can be specified for the scancodes: letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), function keys (F1-F12), or any of the following - ESCAPE, MINUS, EQUAL, BACKSPACE, TAB, BRACKET_LEFT, BRACKET_RIGHT, ENTER, LEFTCONTROL, SEMICOLON, APOSTROPHE, GRAVE, LEFTSHIFT, BACKSLASH, COMMA, PERIOD, SLASH, RIGHTSHIFT, KEYPADMULTIPLY, LEFTALT, SPACE, CAPSLOCK, NUMLOCK, SCROLLLOCK, KEYPAD7, CURSORUPLEFT, KEYPAD8, CURSORUP, KEYPAD9, CURSORUPRIGHT, KEYPADMINUS, KEYPAD4, CURSORLEFT, KEYPAD5, KEYPAD6, CURSORRIGHT, KEYPADPLUS, KEYPAD1, CURSORDOWNLEFT, KEYPAD2, CURSORDOWN, KEYPAD3, CURSORDOWNRIGHT, KEYPAD0, KEYPADPERIOD, KEYPADCENTER, RIGHTCONTROL, CONTROL, KEYPADDIVIDE, PRINTSCREEN, RIGHTALT, BREAK, BREAK_ALTERNATIVE, HOME, CURSORBLOCKUP, PAGEUP, CURSORBLOCKLEFT, CURSORBLOCKRIGHT, END, CURSORBLOCKDOWN, PAGEDOWN, INSERT.

Note that this option has no effect unless the IntelliMouse or IMPS2 mouse type is used (see above). Also note that the simulated keypresses are instantaneous, so they cannot be used for functions that require a key to be held down for a certain length of time.

This example simulates a press of the left bracket ([) when the wheel is turned up and a press of the right bracket (]) when the wheel is turned down (good for selecting items in Quake II):

mouse_fake_kbd_event BRACKET_LEFT BRACKET_RIGHT

Mouse acceleration

Joystick configuration

joystick0 device

sets the device name to use for joystick 0. The commands joystick1, joystick2 and joystick3 configure the other joysticks. By default the names /dev/js0, /dev/js1, /dev/js2 and /dev/js3 are used.

Keyboard configuration

kbd_fake_mouse_event scancode [flag(s)] command [argument]

, as it says, sends a fake mouse event to the program. Scancode is a raw scancode as you can find them in <keyboard/vgakeyboard.h>.

Supported flag(s) are:

Supported commands are:

Here are some examples:

This is one I use in *uake: it turns around, looks down a bit and when the key is released it does the opposite, so it gets back to the starting state. With this one and the help of a rocket you can fly though the whole map :) (Scancode 28 is <Enter>):

kbd_fake_mouse_event 28 both deltax 8182
down deltay -1500
up deltay 1500

This one will switch off the y axis of the mouse while the key <Right Ctrl> is kept pressed.

kbd_fake_mouse_event 97 down deltay off
up deltay on

This one is the same as if you were pressing the left mouse button. (But if you move your mouse then the button state will reset even if you keep <Right Ctrl> down...)

kbd_fake_mouse_event 97 down button1 pressed
up button1 released

NOTE: This does only work when the keyboard is in raw keyboard mode!

Yet another feature brought to you by 101 (Attila Lendvai) <101@kempelen.inf.bme.hu>

nosigint

This command disables generation of a SIGINT signal when <Ctrl-C> is pressed.

This works regardless of ordinary or raw keyboard mode (albeit the hot key might be different from <Ctrl-C> in the first case).

Note that this is a very dangerous option. Disabling SIGINT will lock you in programs which can only by quit by <Ctrl-C>! However, there were request for it for Quake playing.

sigint (default)

Enables generation of SIGINT.

Monitor configuration

HorizSync min_kHz max_kHz

VertRefresh min_Hz max_Hz

specifies the range of frequencies acceptable to your monitor. They obsolete the monitor settings below, and this shouldn't be used if HorizSync and VertRefresh are defined. Examples:

HorizSync 31.5 35.5
VertRefresh 50 70

monitor monitor_class

where monitor_class is a digit 0 - 6 or the maximal horizontal frequency in kHz. Examples:

monitor 0 # Max horizontal sync is 31.5 kHz
monitor 1 # Max horizontal sync is 35.1 kHz
monitor 2 # Max horizontal sync is 35.5 kHz
monitor 3 # Max horizontal sync is 37.9 kHz
monitor 4 # Max horizontal sync is 48.3 kHz
monitor 5 # Max horizontal sync is 56.0 kHz
monitor 6 # No restrictions.

For your convenience you may specify the max horizontal sync explicitly. The correct class will the be chosen. You may use floats consisting of digits and a decimal point for this too:

monitor 40.0 # equivalent to monitor 3

This command is privileged.

Mode timings

modeline label pxcl HDsp HSS HSE HTot VDsp VSS VSE VTot flags

Everything should be on one line. The values for the horizontal timings must be multiples of eight.

These are preferred over the default timings (if monitor and chipset can handle them). The format is identical to the one used by XFree86, but the label following the modeline keyword is ignored by vgalib.

Here some examples:

modeline 640x480@100 43 640 664 824 848 480 483 490 504
modeline 800x600@73 50 800 856 976 1024 600 637 643 666
modeline 1024x768@75 85 1024 1048 1376 1400 768 771 780 806

IMPORTANT! Not all drivers, that is SVGA cards, use the values. Only drivers using timing.c. As of this writing, drivers using this feature are: Ark, Cirrus, Chips & Technologies, Et6000, S3.

The Mach32 driver provides a similar feature separately, you have to use the define command described below.

ET4000 (and to some extent EGA) allow one to use a binary file created by some utility. All other chipset driver use predefined timings that are hardcoded in register dumps within the drivers. See svgalib.et4000(7) for more information.

Chipset detection

chipset type

where type is (currently) one of: VGA, ET4000, Cirrus, TVGA, Oak, EGA, S3, ET3000, Mach32, GVGA6400, ARK, ATI, ALI, Mach64, C&T, APM, NV3, ET6000, VESA, MX, PARADISE, and RAGE.

You can also specify a number in range 1 - 22 to specify the type-th chipset type or 0 to enforce autodetection.

Warning, incorrect settings may damage your hardware. This command is privileged.

chipset type param1 param2

use this form if the size of memory or an additional configuration option is misdetected. For example:

chipset Mach32 0 2048

Note that always two integers have to be specified. Usually (Mach32) the second parameter is the memory amount. Look at the *_init function of the specific device driver sources or information on that type of cards in svgalib(7).

Note that there is a more convenient command setuplinear for enforcing specific memory-aperture configurations for Mach32

This command is privileged.

Specific options required for the EGA-driver.

monotext

Card is in monochrome emulation mode

colortext

Card is in color emulation mode

This command is privileged.

RAMDAC configuration

Ramdac Sierra32K

Ramdac SC15025

Ramdac SDAC

S3 SDAC

Ramdac GenDAC

S3 GenDAC

Ramdac ATT20C490

AT&T 20C490, 491, 492 (and compatibles)

Ramdac ATT20C498

AT&T 20C498

Ramdac IBMRGB52x

IBM RGB524, 526, 528 (and compatibles)

BEWARE! The Mach32 driver features an own ramdac command (which is usually not required). If you have a Mach32, see svgalib.mach32(7).

Dacspeed speed

speed is a floating point number in MHz (like in Dacspeed40.0") specifying the maximal allowable pixel clock of the Ramdac in use. Currently this option is only supported by the S3 driver. The Mach32 driver supports maxclock8, maxclock16, maxclock24, and maxclock32 commands which have a similar effect. Nevertheless, the Mach32 has a very good idea on the capabilities of the Ramdac in use. The settings are more intended to specify the VGA memory bandwidth.

Pixel clocks

Clocks list of clock values as floats or ints

Some chipsets need a list of dot clocks for optimum operation. Some includes or supports a programmable clock chip. You'll need to specify them here.

Fixed clocks example: (The following is just an example, get the values for your card from you X setup)

Clocks 25.175 28.3 40 70 50 75 36 44.9 0 118 77 31.5 110 65 72 93.5

BEWARE! The Clocks command for the Mach32 features only integer clocks. Please round your clocks to the next integer data. The Mach32 only uses these values to check monitor requirements and to compare the quality of modes. The rounding errors are of no importance there as the difference in the resulting monitor timings is barely measurable. See the Mach32 section below.

Clockchip ICD2061A

Configure for a programmable clockchip. ICD2061A is the only one supported right now.

Miscellaneous options

security revoke-all-privs

Make sure it is impossible to regain root access after vga_init(3) was called. (default)

security compat

For compatibility to pre 1.2.11, do not close a security hole using saved uids.

verbose

Mach32: show messages while processing all info to build up a mode table.

quiet

Turn verbose messages off (default).

nolinear

Inhibit use of a linear mmaped frame buffer.

linear

Allow (not enforce!) use of a linear mmaped frame buffer.

overrideenable

Allow privileged commands outside the main configuration file.

Common options currently used by Mach32 only

maxclock16 maxclk

The maximum pixel clock to use for 16bpp modes. This is used by Mach32 to find out which settings may be used for 16bpp modes. the Mach32 default for this is 2000, thus it is effectively switched off. maxclk must be an integer.

maxclock24 maxclk

The maximum clock to use for 24bpp modes. (see above) Experience showed that the Mach32 default 49 is good for my 2MB VRAM card.

maxclock32 maxclk

The same for 32bpp modes (24bpp with one fill byte for faster memory access (not fully implemented (esp. for Mach32) yet). Mach32 default (good for my VRAM card) is 39.

maxclock8 maxclk

Just for completeness the same for 8bpp modes (I doubt anyone needs it), default is 2000 to disable this feature.

The maxclock commands are privileged.

clocks list of clocks

Sets the frequencies of the clocks the chips can generate. Exactly 16 values have to be specified for mach32. Use 0 to disable a specific clock.

Note that the mach32 can divide clocks by 2. Thus there are actually 32 clocks And you can also use the divided clocks in a define command. On contrary to Xfree96 or the clocks command above only integers are allowed for Mach32. Simply round them to the nearest integer.

This line is mandatory for Mach32. If it is not there it will be auto detected and added at the beginning of the config file. The program will then exit and when you start it next, everything should be ok.

Common clock values for Mach32:

In my own correspondence with ATI they say every Mach32 would have a 18811-1, so it should be possible just to take the 18811-1 line. However I have now reports of third party cards and motherboards with on board Mach32 chips, so be careful.

Please read svgalib.mach32(7) for additional info on clocks.

The clocks command is privileged.

variablelinelength

Sometimes a mode cannot be realized with the logical linelength = pixels in a row * bytes per pixel. (definitely true for Mach32 800x600). The default behavior of Mach32 is to adjust xbytes (see vga_getmodeinfo(3)) in the info table appropriately.

This command enforces this default operation and adjusts xbytes appropriately, thus overriding the standard svgalib mode. This may yield to problems with ..umm.. not well designed applications.

duplicatelinelength

Don't touch the standard mode but create an exact copy, a dynamic mode, with the adjusted xbytes value. Expect noise at some pixels in 800x600 for more than 256 colors on Mach32 when not using the dynamic mode.

strictlinelength

Same as above but delete the standard mode thus creating the non conforming xbytes modes only as dynamic modes.

To enforce the standard linelength for non-conforming modes use setlinelength below.

The linelength commands are not privileged.

In the following commands a mode is specified with horzXvertXcolors. Valid settings for colors in the mach32 driver are: 256, 32K, 64K, 16M, 16M4. 16M4 is for the 16M colors with 32bpp modes. These are expected to support slightly faster drawing.

Examples: 640x480x256, 1024x768x64K, etc...

inhibit mode1 [mode2 mode3...]

Switch the specified SVGA-Modes off. For example:

inhibit 800x600x32K 800x600x64K 800x600x16M

disallows the maybe toasted mach32 800x600 modes.

The inhibit command is not privileged.

setlinelength length mode1 [mode2 mode3...]

Force the logical line length (xbytes) in the given modes to length pixels (not bytes!). See also variablelinelength, strictlinelength, and duplicatelinelength above. For example:

setlinelength 800 800x600x32K 800x600x64K 800x600x16M

sets the linelength, and thus xbytes, for the 800x600 modes to the equivalent of 800 pixels. For Mach32 this will give badly designed applications an 800x600 with which they can cope. However, the Mach32 will generate a noisy video signal in some configurations.

The setlinelength command is not privileged.

define mode1 [mode2 mode3...] clock horz_timing vert_timing flags

where clock is a clock in MHz (as an integer! Has to be known by the driver. (one of the set clocks, or the exact half of one)). Only clocks in a clocks command issued before the define can be used.

You may use :n to specify the n-thclock (n = 0 .. 31 for mach32).

horz_timing is four integers: hdisp h_sync_strt h_sync_wid h_total.

vert_timing has the same format but for vertical.

You may specify one or more flags out of: Interlace, +vsync, -vsync, +hsync, or -hsync to select interlace mode and polarity of sync signals. This format is almost the same Xfree uses, s.t. you may use their mode table and the modegen spreadsheet package for mode creation. You simple need to round the clock to the next integer, add the resolution instead of the timing name for Xfree and replace the modeline keyword with define. Here is a 1024x768x256 mode as example:

define 1024x768x256 80 1024 1024 1184 1312
768 768 772 791 +vsync -hsync

or

define 1024x768x256 1024x768x32K 1024x768x64K
:11 1024 1024 1184 1312 768 768 772 791

(yes any whitespace in a command is allowed, even a newline !)

Both commands define the same timings (if the 11-th clock is 80) but the first explicitly specifies the polarity of sync signals whereas the second declares that these timings are also to be used for a 32K and 64K mode.

The define command is privileged.

There is one really dangerous option (except faking clocks). Please use it only if you are sure what you are doing. Wrong setup will lead to multiple components accessing your bus at once and thus to probable hardware damage:

setuplinear address size

Sets up a linear frame buffer at address of size size (both are given in MB). If the values make sense (for example address <16MB for ISA cards) the linear aperture is setup. Since the Mach32-driver auto detects configured address itself, I strongly discourage use of this command. However I was asked for it as some PCI mach32-cards didn't setup the linear aperture correctly.

Please ensure that the address range from address to address + size (exclusively) is not used in your system. Obey that due to memory remapping for example 16MB Ram may exceed the 16MB address limit.

Valid Mach32 values for size are 1 and 4 (only 4 in PCI configurations), address + size have to be below 16MB for ISA, 4GB for multiplexed PCI, and 128MB else. Example: (my setup)

setuplinear 64 4

for a 4MB linear frame buffer at address 0x4000000.

It is also valid to specify setuplinear 0 0. This will actually disable/de-configure any linear frame buffer. Useful to disable mach32 aperture even if it is enabled in the EEPROM.

The setuplinear command is privileged.

blit subcommand1 subcommand2 ...

This is a command to control the Mach32 support for oldstyle accelerator functions.

Valid subcommands are bit, fill, image, and hlinelist. They enable support for the corresponding blit functions. Precede them with no to turn them off (no space after no allowed). Use memimage to emulate the image blit using a linearframebuffer, which is usually much faster for Mach32. Use nomemimage to never use this emulation. On the Mach32 this emulation can be used in more resolutions than the actual imageblit accelerator function. Again order is vital! (esp. for the *image commands).

As the Mach32 now has also new style vga_accel(3) support there are now also the subcommands: settrans, setrop, fillbox, screencopy, drawline, putimage, drawhlinelist, putbitmap, screencopymono, setmode, polyline, polyhline, and polyfillmode. Which are also supported with a leading no. They allow to control support for the subfunctions of vga_accel(3). In addition, memimage emulation applies to putimage as well.

Some examples:

Mach32 default is:

blit bit fill image hlinelist settrans setrop
fillbox screencopy drawline putimage
drawhlinelist putbitmap screencopymono
setmode polyline polyhline polyfillmode
memimage

The blit command is not privileged.

The Mach32 has also a few intermediate debug options for low level timing adjust. They are:

vfifo8 number
vfifo16 number
vfifo24 number
vfifo32 number
blank number
latch number

There also options which are useful to support broken Mach32 cards or third party hardware based on Mach32 which does not follow the ATI specifications completely. For example:

vendor ati
misc_ctl keep-off
svgaclocks 9
ramdac auto

For details about these options see svgalib.mach32(7). All of them are privileged.