LINUX & a Diamond Viper Card

[mikebw at bilow.bilow.uu.ids.net (Mike Bilow)]

Jim Sherwood wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:

 JS> I discovered to my dismay that LINUX and
 JS> Diamond video cards, the Viper in particular, may mix like
 JS> oil & water. Is this true?

This was true at one time because Diamond would not disclose the necessary
information to write drivers.  Since Linux source code is publicly available to
anyone, Linux cannot support hardware which is subject to non-disclosure.

 JS> Or is there a driver that I can
 JS> use with LINUX and my Viper card to run X-Windows?  If not,
 JS> any suggestions as to a fast video card that is happy to run
 JS> LINUX?  My board is VLB, no PCI slots. 

My understanding is that Diamond has been more cooperative lately, and that
Linux drivers are available.  The Viper card is a special case, since its
engine is the Weitek 9000 rather than the S3 chipsets used in most of the other
Diamond cards.

Don't hesitate to call up manufacturers and ask them about Linux support; that
is the only way you will ever get them to realize that there is a Linux market.
 STB, in particular, seems to be concerned about Linux support for their cards,
but I don't know if they have translated that into action.

 JS> I look forward to hearing from some of you LINUX gurus.

I'll leave it to someone more knowledgeable to comment on Viper support.
 
-- Mike