mga driver / HALlib

[Luc Verhaegen]

On Thu, Jul 27, 2006 at 03:45:06PM +0200, Stefan Dirsch wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I wonder how the HAL module in the mga driver could be built with
> X.Org 7.1. Looks like this isn't intended any more. There is nothing
> provided in configure/Makefile.am files to still build the mga_hal_drv
> module.
> 
> The driver still tries to load it as you can see in mga_driver.c
> (...xf86LoadSubmodule (... "mga_hal") ...) when USEMGAHAL is set. So
> the code has not been dropped yet. And it still seems to be required
> for features like MergedFB as you can see in the driver output, when
> you try to enable MergedFB.
> 
>   ' HALLib not loaded! NOT using "Merged Framebuffer" mode. '
> 
> Best regards,
> Stefan
> 
mga_hal being the binary matrox keeps on holding on to.

I doubt that the Xorg driver is still in sync with that binary and the 
codedrops matrox does or does not provide (not certain anymore). The 
reason for this not being backported could be any of the following:
* horrendous click-through license on any download from the matrox site.
  Ask ajax about his adventures with matrox.
* mga_hal binary should die.
* nobody cares enough.

It should be possible to replace mga_hal almost entirely: the 
information for this is available through more-or-less freely available 
datasheets (they were at one point sitting off the mplayer site), and 
the FB drivers have implemented quite a bit, if not all, of what is 
neccessary.

All it takes is for someone who is properly inclined to spend some 
quality time with the relevant hardware.

Luc Verhaegen.