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Line 1

Release Notes for XFree86[tm] 4.0.2

Release Notes for XFree86[tm] 4.0.3

The XFree86 Project, Inc

17 December 2000

16 March 2001

Abstract

This document contains some information about the features present

in XFree86 4.0.2 and their status.

in XFree86 4.0.3 and their status.

1. Introduction to the 4.x Release Series

XFree86 4.0 was the first official release of the new XFree86 4 series. The

XFree86 4.0 was the first official release of the new XFree86 4 series.

current release (4.0.2) is the latest in that series. XFree86 4 represents a

XFree86 4.0.3 is the first update to 4.0.2, which is the latest full release

significant redesign of the XFree86 X server. Not all of the hardware

in that series. XFree86 4 represents a significant redesign of the XFree86 X

drivers from 3.3.x have been ported to 4.x yet, but conversely, 4.x has some

server. Not all of the hardware drivers from 3.3.x have been ported to 4.x

hardware support not present in 3.3.x. Our Driver Status document summarizes

yet, but conversely, 4.x has some hardware support not present in 3.3.x. Our

how the hardware driver support compares between 3.3.6 and 4.0.2. Please

Driver Status document summarizes how the hardware driver support compares

check there first before downloading 4.0.2.

between 3.3.6 and 4.0.3. Please check there first before downloading 4.0.3.

The 4.0.1 release introduced a new graphical configuration tool, "xf86cfg",

and a text mode interface was added to it for the 4.0.2 release. It is work

Line 28 built-in to the X server. It is include

for some hardware. To try it out, just run (as root) "XFree86 -configure".

Each of these configuration options will give you a reasonable starting point

for a suitable configuration file. We've put some effort into documenting

the 4.0.2 config file format, and you can find that information in the

the 4.0.3 config file format, and you can find that information in the

XF86Config manual page. Check that, the driver manual pages and the related

documentation for further information.

Line 37 release, please have a quick read throug

save you some time and help you figure out which of the binary releases you

need.

The next section describes what is new in the latest version (4.0.2). The

The next sections describe what has changed in the update release(s) as well

other sections below describe some of the new features and changes between

as what is new in the latest full release (4.0.2). The other sections below

3.3.x and 4.0. There are lot's of new features, and we definitely don't have

describe some of the new features and changes between 3.3.x and 4.0. There

enough space to cover them all here.

are lot's of new features, and we definitely don't have enough space to cover

them all here.

2. Summary of new features in 4.0.2.

2. Summary of updates in 4.0.3.

2.1 X server

o Some temporary file-related security vulnerabilities are fixed.

o Screen corruption problems and palette saving problems with some Neo-

magic chips are fixed.

o 'XFree86 -configure' problems are fixed in some drivers (including sis

and i810).

o A problem with some plain S3 ViRGE cards is fixed.

o Some Xaw incompatibilities with Xaw6 are fixed.

o Some XKB files are updated.

o Some trident driver updates, including fixing acceleration for the

Cyber9388.

o A palette saving problem in the vgahw module is fixed.

o Support for the wsmouse protocol is added for OpenBSD/i386.

o A load problem with the sis driver module, and some depth 24 problems

are fixed.

o Support for the "PD" variant of the ATI Rage 128 is added.

o Support for GNU Hurd is updated.

o Some TrueType font problems are fixed.

o The mga driver doesn't attempt to drive the G450 if the "mga_hal" module

isn't available.

o A problem with bold font simulation in xterm is fixed.

o The (DPS) stub files created by pswrap are now compatible with the Adobe

version.

o Some glint driver problems are fixed.

o Support for building on OpenBSD-current, and multi-thread support for

OpenBSD are provided.

o A problem with the ThinkingMousePS/2 protocol is fixed in the mouse

driver.

o Support for the Render extension with Xinerama is added.

o A DGA-related server crash is fixed.

o Some Chips & Technologies driver bugs are fixed.

o Some tseng driver bugs are fixed.

o Some Alpha platform updates are included.

o Support for the GeForce3 is added to the nv driver.

o Misc build-related issues are fixed.

o Various documentation updates, including a reworked XFree86(1) manual

page.

3. Summary of new features in 4.0.2.

3.1 X server

o Darwin/Mac OS X is now supported and the X server runs on PowerPC. The

X server for this platform is called "Xdarwin", and its installation and

Line 115 enough space to cover them all here.

Line 181 enough space to cover them all here.

o Big endian problems in Xinerama have been fixed.

o The new "render" extension has been added (see below (section 4.11, page

o The new "render" extension has been added (see below (section 5.11, page

1)). The design has been extended in the following ways:

o A new FillRectangles request was added.

Line 234 enough space to cover them all here.

Line 300 enough space to cover them all here.

some of the bugs in the current options. A protocol for plugging in

external modules is also planned.

2.2 X libraries and clients.

3.2 X libraries and clients.

o Significant updates to the internationalisation support in Xlib (see

below (section 2.3, page 1)).

below (section 3.3, page 1)).

o Some xfs updates, including font path verification, and new options.

Line 245 enough space to cover them all here.

Line 311 enough space to cover them all here.

o New "xvinfo" client for querying the XVideo extension.

2.3 Fonts and Internationalisation

3.3 Fonts and Internationalisation

o Many of the "misc" bdf fonts have been updated and extended, and a wider

range of ISO-8859 subsets have been added. These are now auto-generated

Line 274 enough space to cover them all here.

Line 340 enough space to cover them all here.

o XKB keyboard definitions have been added and updated for some countries.

2.4 Platforms

3.4 Platforms

o Darwin/Mac OS X.

Line 285 enough space to cover them all here.

Line 351 enough space to cover them all here.

o Support has been added for more Alpha platforms under Linux. This now

includes all platforms that require sparse memory mapping.

3. Drivers

4. Drivers

3.1 Video Drivers

4.1 Video Drivers

XFree86 4.0.2 includes the following video drivers:

XFree86 4.0.3 includes the following video drivers:

+--------------+--------------------------+----------------------------------+

|Driver Name | Description | Further Information |

Line 341 Drivers marked with (-) are for Linux/mi

Line 407 Drivers marked with (-) are for Linux/mi

Darwin/Mac OS X uses IOKit drivers and does not use the module loader drivers

listed above. Further information can be found in README.Darwin.

XFree86 4.0.2 includes the following input drivers:

XFree86 4.0.3 includes the following input drivers:

3.2 Input Drivers

4.2 Input Drivers

+------------+--------------------+---------------------+

|Driver Name | Description | Further Information |

Line 364 XFree86 4.0.2 includes the following inp

Line 430 XFree86 4.0.2 includes the following inp

|wacom | Wacom tablets | wacom(4) |

+------------+--------------------+---------------------+

4. Summary of XFree86 4.

5. Summary of XFree86 4.

Unlike XFree86 3.3.x where there are multiple X server binaries, each of

which drive different hardware, XFree86 4.0.2 has a single X server binary

which drive different hardware, XFree86 4.0.3 has a single X server binary

called XFree86. This binary can either have one or more video drivers linked

in statically, or, more usually, dynamically load the video drivers and other

modules that are needed.

XFree86 4.0.2 has X server support for most UNIX(R) and UNIX-like operating

XFree86 4.0.3 has X server support for most UNIX(R) and UNIX-like operating

systems on Intel/x86 platforms, plus support for Linux on Alpha, PowerPC,

IA-64, Sparc, and Mips platforms, and for Darwin on PowerPC. Work on support

for additional architectures and operating systems is in progress, and is

planned for future releases.

4.1 Loader and Modules

5.1 Loader and Modules

The XFree86 X server has a built-in run-time loader, donated by Metro Link

<URL:http://www.metrolink.com>. This loader can load normal object files and

Line 394 they do not need to be recompiled for ev

Line 460 they do not need to be recompiled for ev

the future we plan to take advantage of this to provide more frequent driver

module updates in between major releases.

The loader in version 4.0.2 has support for Intel (x86), Alpha and PowerPC

The loader in version 4.0.3 has support for Intel (x86), Alpha and PowerPC

platforms. It also has preliminary support for Sparc platforms.

The X server makes use of modules for video drivers, X server extensions,

Line 416 Note about module security

Line 482 Note about module security

hope to have a mechanism for signing/verifying the modules that we

provide available in a future release.

4.2 Configuration File

5.2 Configuration File

The X server configuration file format has been extended to handle some of

the new functionality. The xf86config utility can be used to generate a

Line 576 The config file search patch has been ex

Line 642 The config file search patch has been ex

and /usr/X11R6/etc/X11 being added. The full search path details are docu-

mented in the XF86Config manual page.

4.3 Command Line Options

5.3 Command Line Options

The following new X server command line options have been added:

Line 687 The following X server command line opti

Line 753 The following X server command line opti

This makes it possible for users to choose from multiple

config files that the the sysadmin has provided.

4.4 XAA

5.4 XAA

The XFree86 Acceleration Architecture (XAA) has been completely rewritten

from scratch for XFree86 4.x. Most drivers implement acceleration by making

use of the XAA module.

4.5 Multi-head

5.5 Multi-head

Some multi-head configurations are supported in XFree86 4.x, primarily with

multiple PCI/AGP cards. However, this is an area that is still being worked

Line 709 to be resolved. Some combinations can b

Line 775 to be resolved. Some combinations can b

which card is the primary card (either by using a different PCI slot, or by

changing the system BIOS's preference for the primary card).

4.6 Xinerama

5.6 Xinerama

Xinerama is an X server extension that allows multiple physical screens to

behave as a single screen. With traditional multi-head in X11, windows can-

Line 731 Known problems:

Line 797 Known problems:

an issue that needs to be dealt with in the individual window managers,

and isn't specifically an XFree86 problem.

4.7 DGA version 2

5.7 DGA version 2

DGA 2.0 is included in 4.0.2, but is not implemented by all drivers. Prelim-

DGA 2.0 is included in 4.0.3, but is not implemented by all drivers. Prelim-

inary documentation for the client libraries can be found in the README.DGA

document. A good degree of backwards compatibility with version 1.0 is pro-

vided.

4.8 DDC

5.8 DDC

The VESA(R) Display Data Channel (DDC[tm]) standard allows the monitor to

tell the video card (or on some cases the computer directly) about itself;

Line 760 to the and non-DDC default value 75 with

Line 826 to the and non-DDC default value 75 with

the X server, or by specifying appropriate screen dimensions with the "Dis-

playSize" keyword in the "Monitor" section of the config file.

4.9 GLX and the Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI)

5.9 GLX and the Direct Rendering Infrastructure (DRI)

Precision Insight <URL:http://www.precisioninsight.com> (now part of the Pro-

fessional Services group at VA Linux Systems <URL:http://www.valinux.com>)

Line 781 cards, ATI Rage 128, and Matrox G400. U

Line 847 cards, ATI Rage 128, and Matrox G400. U

drivers can be found at the DRI Project <URL:http://dri.sourceforge.net> on

SourceForge <URL:http://www.sourceforge.net>.

4.10 XVideo Extension (Xv)

5.10 XVideo Extension (Xv)

The XVideo extension is supported in XFree86 4.x. An XvQueryPortAttributes

function has been added as well as support for XvImages. XvImages are XIm-

Line 789 ages in alternate color spaces such as Y

Line 855 ages in alternate color spaces such as Y

through shared memory segments. This allows clients to display YUV data with

high quality hardware scaling and filtering.

4.11 X Rendering Extension (Render)

5.11 X Rendering Extension (Render)

The X Rendering extension provides a 2D rendering model that more closely

matches application demands and hardware capabilities. It provides a render-

Line 801 anti-aliased text and geometric objects

Line 867 anti-aliased text and geometric objects

overlays and other image operations not possible with the core X rendering

system.

XFree86 4.0.2 provides a partial implementation of Render sufficient for

XFree86 4.0.3 provides a partial implementation of Render sufficient for

drawing anti-aliased text and image composition. Still to be implemented are

geometric primitives and affine transformation of images.

Line 811 This allows the client greater control o

Line 877 This allows the client greater control o

access to the available font information while still providing hardware

acceleration. The Xft library provides font access for Render applications.

4.11.1 The Xft Library

5.11.1 The Xft Library

On the client side, the Xft library provides access to fonts for applications

using the FreeType library, version 2. FreeType currently supports Type1 and

Line 833 tion about which directories contain fon

Line 899 tion about which directories contain fon

cated font aliasing mechanism. Documentation for that file is included in

the Xft man page.

4.11.2 Building FreeType support for Xft

5.11.2 Building FreeType support for Xft

XFree86 4.0.2 includes sources for FreeType version 2.0.1, but they are not

XFree86 4.0.3 includes sources for FreeType version 2.0.1, but they are not

built and installed automatically. As a result, Xft is configured to provide

only core fonts by default.

Line 853 Second, XFree86 needs to know the instal

Line 919 Second, XFree86 needs to know the instal

Finally, build XFree86 with "make World" from the top.

4.11.3 Application Support For Anti-Aliased Text

5.11.3 Application Support For Anti-Aliased Text

Only three applications have been modified in XFree86 4.0.2 to work with the

Only three applications have been modified in XFree86 4.0.3 to work with the

Render extension and the Xft and FreeType libraries to provide anti-aliased

text. Xterm, xditview and x11perf. Migration of other applications may

occur in future releases.

Line 874 aliased, anti-aliased with sub-pixel sam

Line 940 aliased, anti-aliased with sub-pixel sam

through the Render extension, a path which has not been optimized within the

X server yet.

4.12 Other extensions

5.12 Other extensions

The XFree86-Misc extension has not been fully ported to the new server archi-

tecture yet. This should be completed in a future release.

Line 887 The new xgamma utility makes use of this

Line 953 The new xgamma utility makes use of this

3.3.x version of the extension is provided. The missing parts of this exten-

sion and some new features should be completed in a future release.

4.13 Xaw

5.13 Xaw

Two versions of the Xaw library are provided with XFree86 4.x. A version with

bug fixes and a few binary compatible improvements and a new version with

Line 946 Bug fixes:

Line 1012 Bug fixes:

o Several bugs were fixed in the text code, while some code was rewritten

from scratch.

4.14 Xpm

5.14 Xpm

Version 3.4k of the Xpm (X pixmap) library is now integrated into XFree86.

4.15 xedit

5.15 xedit

Xedit have been changed to use most of the new features added to the new ver-

sion of the Xaw library, and some xedit only features were added. Emacs users

Line 989 xedit. These include:

Line 1055 xedit. These include:

o C-mode: this mode is expected to be stable, and fully usable.

4.16 Font support

5.16 Font support

Details about the font support in XFree86 4.x can be found in the

README.fonts document.

4.17 TrueType support

5.17 TrueType support

XFree86 4.x comes with two TrueType backends, known as `xfsft' (the

"freetype" module) and `X-TrueType' (the "xtt" module). Both of these back-

ends are based on the FreeType library.

4.18 CID font support

5.18 CID font support

Support for CID-keyed fonts is included in XFree86 4.x. The CID-keyed font

format was designed by Adobe Systems <URL:http://www.adobe.com> for fonts

Line 1008 with large character sets. The CID-keye

Line 1074 with large character sets. The CID-keye

by SGI <URL:http://www.sgi.com>. See the LICENSE document for a copy of the

CID Font Code Public License.

4.19 Internationalisation of the scalable font backends

5.19 Internationalisation of the scalable font backends

XFree86 4.x has a ``fontenc'' layer to allow the scalable font backends to

use a common method of font re-encoding. This re-encoding makes it possible

Line 1017 layer is used by the Type1 and Speedo ba

Line 1083 layer is used by the Type1 and Speedo ba

TrueType backend. The `X-TrueType' version of the TrueType backend uses a

different re-encoding method based on loadable encoding modules.

4.20 Large font optimisation

5.20 Large font optimisation

The glyph metrics array, which all the X clients using a particular font have

access to, is now placed in shared memory, so as to reduce redundant memory

consumption. For non-local clients, the glyph metrics array is transmitted

in a compressed format.

4.21 Unicode/ISO 10646 support

5.21 Unicode/ISO 10646 support

What is included in 4.x:

Line 1057 What is included in 4.x:

Line 1123 What is included in 4.x:

o Both the xfsft (the "freetype" module) and the X-TrueType (the "xtt"

module) TrueType font backends support Unicode-encoded fonts.

4.22 Lucidux fonts from Bigelow and Holmes

5.22 Lucidux fonts from Bigelow and Holmes

XFree86 now includes the ``Lucidux'' family of professionally hinted Type 1

fonts. This family consists of the fonts ``Lucidux Serif'', ``Lucidux Sans''

Line 1070 Blenda Horn from Y&Y, Inc. For more inf

Line 1136 Blenda Horn from Y&Y, Inc. For more inf

<design@bigelowandholmes.com> or <sales@yandy.com>, or consult Y&Y's web site

<URL:http://www.yandy.com>.

4.23 Directory rearrangements

5.23 Directory rearrangements

Some changes to the installed XFree86 directory structure have been imple-

mented for 4.x. One important change is a modified search path for the X

Line 1081 location pointing to the new location.

Line 1147 location pointing to the new location.

located under the appropriate subdirectories of /var, again with the relevant

symbolic links in the old location.

Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/RELNOTES.sgml,v 1.58 2000/12/17 23:01:10 dawes Exp $

Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/RELNOTES.sgml,v 1.58.2.2 2001/03/16 15:57:44 dawes Exp $

$XFree86: xc/RELNOTES,v 1.1 2000/12/18 02:45:46 dawes Exp $

$XFree86$

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