From owner-freebsd-hackers Tue Dec 19 12:48: 2 2000 From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Dec 19 12:47:58 2000 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from smtp02.primenet.com (smtp02.primenet.com [206.165.6.132]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B9DC637B400 for ; Tue, 19 Dec 2000 12:47:58 -0800 (PST) Received: (from daemon@localhost) by smtp02.primenet.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) id NAA26596; Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:39:07 -0700 (MST) Received: from 206-132-48-244.nas-1.SCF.primenet.com(206.132.48.244), claiming to be "max" via SMTP by smtp02.primenet.com, id smtpdAAAnlaiWZ; Tue Dec 19 13:38:52 2000 Reply-To: From: "Steve Shoecraft" To: "'Soren Schmidt'" Cc: Subject: RE: FreeBSD vs Linux, Solaris, and NT Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 13:46:24 -0700 Message-ID: <000101c069fc$c0e3bf00$f43084ce@max.home.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <200012192031.VAA61360@freebsd.dk> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4 Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG > > It seems Steve Shoecraft wrote: > > > > There are a number of reasons why a manufacturer can > not/will not release > > source code for a driver. A few that come to mind are: > > > > a) A device driver is a reflection of the > hardware. Manufacturers in > > highly competitive markets could potentially be giving away > trade secrets > > for their new wiz-bang technology by publishing the source code. > > > > b) Manufacturers license technology from other > manufacturers for inclusion > > into their product. The license/NDA does not allow them to > disseminate the > > information (either through source or documentation). > > c. the driver is so embarrasing they wont show it to the world > > This is more common than you would belive :) Heh. This is true of the ATI example source ... *whew* is it bad =P > > > EXAMPLE: I have been trying to deal with ATI recently > regarding my > > All-In-Wonder 128 and TV-Out. Although they have been > *VERY* helpful in > > giving me example source and datasheets for the R128 > chipset, they cannot > > give me the information on how to enable TV-Out. This is > because the > > ImpactTV chipset on my AIW contains technology licensed > from Macrovision, > > and for them (ATI) to release the information to me would > breach their > > agreement with Macrovision and open them up to a nice fat > lawsuit. I *MAY* > > have to try and get a license from Macrovision and then > present my licensing > > info to ATI -- and even if I did, I would not be able to > distribute the > > source for that component of the driver... (sigh) > > Well, go read the GATOS project source, they know how to switch the > TVout stuff at least it works on my AIW :) > Is your AIW based on the R128 or M64? GATOS has R128 TV-Out support disabled by default. Enabling it (commenting out the if (ati.r128) return 0;) doesn't seem to work on my card, and I didn't spend a whole lot of time playing with it. I grabbed the latest CVS source about a month ago. > > -Søren > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message > - Steve To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message