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Date:      Fri, 27 Apr 2001 22:16:11 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Rich Wales <richw@webcom.com>
To:        freebsd-stable@freebsd.org
Subject:   Followup on silo overflows
Message-ID:  <20010428045358.75024.richw@wyattearp.stanford.edu>
In-Reply-To: <20010304065203.30478.richw@wyattearp.stanford.edu>

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Some time ago, I reported "silo overflow" problems when directing
high-speed serial input to an "xterm" window.  I'm running 4.2-RELEASE
and XFree86-4.0.1.

After some other people pointed out a connection between this problem
and the use of XFree86 4.x (as opposed to 3.3.6), I brought up the
issue on the "xpert@xfree86.org" list, where someone suggested that
some of the acceleration routines might be overly aggressive -- pipe-
lining commands to the video card in such a way that the PCI bus got
locked up, and thereby delaying serial interrupt handling.

I experimented with the undocumented "XaaNo..." options to the video
accelerator code, and found that the silo overflows went away if I
included either one of the following two lines in the "Device" section
of my /etc/X11/XF86Config file:

	Option "XaaNoSolidFillRect" "on"
	Option "XaaNoScanlineCPUToScreenColorExpandFill" "on"

(Note:  I didn't need to use both of the above options -- just one was
enough in my case.)

I'm using an ATI Xpert 128 video card, which is supported in XFree86
4.x via the "r128" driver.  I suppose it's possible that a system with
a different card might require a different "XaaNo..." option -- or that
none of the "XaaNo..." options will get rid of the silo overflows for
some cards.

I've updated PR 26261 accordingly.  I don't propose to close the PR
yet, because there still might be a kernel bug that is allowing the
bus to get locked up by the video driver.

Rich Wales         richw@webcom.com         http://www.webcom.com/richw/


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