Solaris XFree86 Video Drivers and Porting Kit

The Solaris XFree86 Video Drivers and Porting Kit enables you to use XFree86 video drivers with the X Window System server for Solaris 8 (x86 Platform Edition) or for Solaris 9 (x86 Platform Edition). The Solaris XFree86 Video Drivers and Porting Kit expands the number of video devices that work with Solaris on x86 platforms.

The video devices supported by the current Solaris 8 Update (x86 Platform Edition) are listed on the Hardware Compatibility List. In addition, the newest Solaris (x86 Platform Edition) video support and bug fixes can be obtained by installing the latest version of Patch 109401, which is available from SunSolve.

A list of video devices included the Porting Kit can be found in XFree86 4.2.0 Release Notes. In particular, the Porting Kit includes support for many notebook video devices, as well as a generic VESA mode driver that works on almost all video devices at practical resolutions and color depth. Therefore users can always try VESA driver for any unsupported video driver. Note, the Porting Kit DOES NOT INCLUDE XFree86 support for the video devices on the Intel 810 or 815 chips, nor will the generic VESA driver work with these chips (due to the absence of a kernel driver that works with XFree86 code). However, Intel 810 and 815 devices are supported in the current Solaris 8 (x86 Platform Edition) and Solaris 9 (x86 Platform Edition).

Two editions of the Porting Kit are available:

• Source Edition

  Includes MODIFIED and AUGMENTED XFree86 source code that builds XFree86 video drivers, XFree86 library modules, and other components. Examples of these components include the interface module (or the wrapper module) and configuration files. You need these components to run and to configure XFree86 video drivers on Solaris (x86 Platform Edition).

  The Source Edition is intended primarily for developers who want to create additional video-device driver support for Solaris (x86 Platform Edition), fix bugs, or enhance and redistribute the Porting Kit with additional features.

• Binary Edition

  Includes binary files that Sun Microsystems builds from the source that is included in the Source Edition. These binary files are delivered in Solaris software packages. When you install and configure these Solaris software packages, you can use the XFree86 video drivers on Solaris (x86 Platform Edition) just as you do the video drivers that Sun Microsystems provides with the Solaris operating environment.

  The Binary Edition is intended primarily for users who want to use graphic cards that are not currently supported for use in the Solaris operating environment.

The Porting Kit is not XFree86 on Solaris OE (x86 Platform Edition). XFree86 on Solaris OE (x86 Platform Edition) is a freely redistributable open-source implementation of the X Window System that runs on Solaris operating environment (x86 Platform Edition) (See http://www.xfree86.org for details). It includes its own X Window System server, its own set of features, its own subsystems for configuration, fonts, and rendering. The Porting Kit provides additional support for video chip device drivers on Solaris (x86 Platform Edition) only. Consequently, the Solaris X Window System server's features and extensions--such as fonts, Adobe® Display PostScript, and existing mouse and keyboard drivers--are retained.

The Porting Kit is available for use with the Solaris operating environment (x86 Platform Edition) only. It is not available for use with the Solaris operating environment SPARC Platform Edition.

Solaris XFree86 Video Drivers and Porting Kit is a freeware product for users and developers of Solaris Operating Environment (x86 Platform Edition). It is NOT supported by Sun Microsystems, Inc. As with XFree86, the video drivers in the Porting Kit includes support for 16-bit color depths (65536 colors). This color depth is not fully supported by the Solaris X Server and many applications, including the Solaris Installer and other freeware products. If you use this color depth and encounter problems, please change to either an 8- or 24-bit color depth.

People seeking discussion and willing to provide collaborative help with this product may find open discussion at public forum alt.solaris.x86. Feedbacks, suggestions and comments can be submitted to xf86@west.sun.com.

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