Re: S3 Trio3D configuration with RedHat 6.1

[Eric Larson <rlarson monmouth com>]

It doesn't matter one bit what Windows supports or doesn't. Many hardware
vendors write drivers for Windows only, and even refuse to release
the information necessary for Linux developers to write the drivers
themselves. As a result it is important to determine what hardware
is compatable with Linux BEFORE making a purchase. Supporting 
only hardware vendors that make available open drivers and DETAILED
specifications available is the most important action a computer
owner can take to keep freedom of choice in operating systems alive.

S3 generally releases such information, however they do not
release drivers, so you can expect that Linux support for S3 chips
will generally lag hardware introduction.

Reflecting this the S3 Trio3D chip is 'Tier 3' hardware according to Redhat. 
The definition Tier 3 is:

Tier 3 (Compatible, but Unsupported Hardware) 

Hardware listed as Tier 3 is mostly compatible, should be detected and work with the 
Linux kernel on certain setups. The drivers for this hardware may be experimental, or the 
hardware may be problematic to work with. 

Owners of the Official Red Hat Linux 6.1/Intel boxed set can expect information on which 
included drivers to use with this hardware and determining if Linux
recognizes the hardware. Drivers for this category are not always available 
from Red Hat, and no support for third party drivers will occur. 

RedHat provides the following information on getting the Trio3D to work:

The S3 Trio3D family of cards can be used with the SVGA server, but need special modelines 
to function properly. See the S3 documentation at
XFree86.org http://www.xfree86.org/3.3.5/S3V.html and the XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/XFree86-Video-Timings-HOWTO.html for more information. 

On Sat, Dec 04, 1999 at 03:05:14PM +0530, Dr Sanjay Srivastava wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have installed redhat 6.1 on an IBM 300 GL machine (P2 with an
> integrated S3 Trio 3D PCI graphic chip). Installation process was not able
> to detect it. Even later on, when I manually chose the chip using
> Xconfigurator, linux still is not able to use it. win-NT loaded on another
> partition correctly recognizes and uses Trio3D chip.
> 
> I would appreciate any help regarding this matter.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Sanjay Srivastava
> sanjay bits-pilani ac in
>