TIP G400 DualHead and XFree/XOrg using matrox source

gtaluvit

For a while I've been using XFree with the Matrox binary drivers for 4.3 inorder to run dual head. Only problem is that recently I've had issues with X freezing during OpenGL games and if I try to shutdown X forcing me to reboot and rebooting is bad

. As such, I finally found a way to get X working by compiling in the HAL with the source instead of using the binary only drivers. Here's how it works:

G400 DualHead in X from source

Changes:

Made things pretty: 4-13-04

First, download the source mgadrivers-3.0-src.tgz from the Matrox website

Unpack the source to some directory.

radagast · Posted: Mon May 24, 2004 4:24 am Post subject:

i tried it. had to, cos i've got an AMD64 and i need to compile to 64bit.
i think the line that matters is the bold one.
i guess i'll do some more reading and ask in the AMD64 forum, and post the answer here when i find it...

making all in programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers...
make[5]: Entering directory `/var/tmp/portage/xfree-4.3.0-r5/work/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers'
making all in programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers/mga...
make[6]: Entering directory `/var/tmp/portage/xfree-4.3.0-r5/work/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers/mga'
rm -f mga_hal_drv.o
gcc -nostdlib -r mga_halmod.o clientlx.o HALlib/mgaHALlib.a -o mga_hal_drv.o
/usr/lib/gcc-lib/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/3.3.3/../../../../x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/bin/ld: Relocatable linking with relocations from format elf32-i386 (HALlib/mgaHALlib.a(binding.o)) to format elf64-x86-64 (mga_hal_drv.o) is not supported
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make[6]: *** [mga_hal_drv.o] Error 1
...
!!! ERROR: x11-base/xfree-4.3.0-r5 failed.
!!! Function src_install, Line 636, Exitcode 2
!!! (no error message)

gtaluvit · Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 4:00 am Post subject:

Probably won't ever work for you. The lib from matrox is 32 bit for x86. That line looks like its trying to convert from 32bit to 64 and it won't let you. I can't help you there.
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sl70 · Guru Joined: 18 Jun 2002 Posts: 449 Location: Saitama, JP

This has nothing to do with the AMD64 problem, but anyone rebuilding from source should note that the file {path-to-(xfree|xorg)-sources}/xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers/mga/mga.h
has to be edited as well. There's a line in it that refers to
/opt/xc.430/programs/.... That should be changed to /var/tmp/portage/xfree-{version}/work/xc/... or it won't build.

vood00 · n00b Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 1

hey, nice howto, thanks.

works fine with xorg 6.8.0-r3 , matrox g550, lcd display and mgadriver-4.0-src too :-)

tam · Guru Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 569

tam · Guru Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 569

Manfred · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 65

Anybody already managed DualHead (e.g.TwinView with G450 or G550) under Modular Xorg >= 7.0 ?
m.

spitzwegerich · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 12:23 am Post subject:

@Manfred:
There is a thread on the Matrox forum called G550 Moduler Xorg 7.0 and mga_hal working.
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Manfred · n00b Joined: 27 Apr 2004 Posts: 65

Thanks a lot for the hint.
But my problem was _not_ "7.0 and HAL", but "Dual Head".

One of the main differences between G550 and the earlier versions of the card is that the G550 does _not_ need HAL for DualHead.
Already with the monolithic server, DualHead was running fine without incorporating HAL.

But there seems to be some trouble with the initialization process; c.f.
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=615#c17 and
http://forum.matrox.com/mga/viewtopic.php?p=97295#97295 .

In between, with the modular server, I am using the clean unpatched mga-1.4.1 code (Gentoo: x11-drivers/xf86-video-mga-1.4.1) straight away. Exploiting the "trick" to first (only once) start X in SingleView, afterwards TwinView works fine and absolutely stable.

Kind regards
Manfred

P.S. / Hint :

The G550 is also the very last of the Matrox cards that does _not_ need a proprietary driver.
Matrox has recently released a version with a "PCI Express x1 interface, compatible with all compliant PCI Express slots (PCIe x1, x4, x8, and x16)", c.f.
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/workstation/cre_pro/products/gseries/g550_PCIe.cfm .

The problem with the missing 64-bit source still remains -
and also the legal problems resulting from Matrox' license policy, hindering open-source developers of adapting by themselves; cf. eg.
http://forum.matrox.com/mga/viewtopic.php?t=12917 .

spitzwegerich · Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 1:48 pm Post subject:

@Manfred:
You seem to know quite a bit about the mga driver, so I want to point you to the problem I currently have in the hope that you have some hint for me.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I got myself a G550 Dual DVI (AGP, with LFH60 connector) because I thought the driver is totally open source. When I found out about the closed sourced HAL library afterwards, I was quite disappointed.

I want to connect 2 DVI displays to my card (via the dual DVI cable plugged into the LFH60 connector) and use them in Xinerama mode. Does this require the HAL library?

With the 4.1 version of the mga driver + the HAL library, this was working perfectly until I updated to the 4.3 version of the driver.

Now, my setup only works with analog VGA connectors, but not with DVI. The details can be found in this thread.
_________________
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes."
-Oskar Wilde

Swisside · n00b Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Posts: 27

Hey Guys, as you seem to know a lot about those mga drivers, could you help me with that:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-533286-highlight-mga+xorg.html ???

Thanks in advance...