Linux Driver for V5 5500

[amp_man]

Okay, I've been away from the 3dfx community for, oh, I don't even know how long. I'm actually somewhat amazed and delighted that this site still exists. Now, down to business. I'm playing around with various distros on a 466MHz Celeron with 256mb of ram, gentoo is the current flavor of the week, but I'm looking at several others. I know there are drivers out there (and even included in the kernel) for the V5 5500, but last I knew, they only used one of the VSAs. Is this still the case? And is there a patch or seperate driver to support both GPUs? Also, I see that XiGraphics has a driver that allegedly (according to x-3dfx) supports both gpus. Does anyone have experience with this? 3dfx isn't even listed on their homepage, which is why I ask. Thanks for any info!

[dborca]

Originally posted by amp_man

I know there are drivers out there (and even included in the kernel) for the V5 5500, but last I knew, they only used one of the VSAs. Is this still the case?

Yes.

And is there a patch or seperate driver to support both GPUs?

No.

Also, I see that XiGraphics has a driver that allegedly (according to x-3dfx) supports both gpus. Does anyone have experience with this? 3dfx isn't even listed on their homepage, which is why I ask. Thanks for any info!

In theory, it is possible to use all GPUs.  But with DRI, it requires changes in the X server.  Non-DRI options still exist, like DGA (quite obsolete) or CINIT (direct hardware access).  I wrote the code for DGA and CINIT, but encountered some problems and never finished it.