Linux/Alpha currently boots in VGA mode, so pretty much any graphics card should do for Linux. However, the graphics card also needs to work with the firmware (which needs to initialize the graphics card to bring it into an EGA or VGA compatible mode). The SRM firmware includes an x86 emulator that is used to execute the BIOS initialization code on the graphics card. In theory, it therefore should be possible for the firmware to accept any PC graphics card. The following cards are known to work:
Others are likely to work as well, but there is no guarantee (please let us know if you know of other cards that work). There are hw-compatibility lists for both OSF/1 and Windows NT. You may wanna consult those before making a purchasing decision.
MILO now contains an x86 emulator as well. Emulation certainly is incomplete at this stage. Nevertheless, the following graphics cards are known to initialize properly:
bus card type: chip: BIOS version: Note:
--- --------------------------- ------ --------------------------- -----
ISA #9 GXE Level 12 S3 928 BIOS Version 1.13.03S 1
PCI #9 GXE 64 PCI S3 864 BIOS Version 1.02.09u
PCI Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI S3 864 BIOS Version 1.14 2
PCI Diamond Video 64 DRAM PCI S3 868 BIOS Version 1.02 2
Notes:
------
1: Requires selecting video mode 2 or 3 after initializing BIOS in
order to get clocks programmed correctly.
2: Reported by <url url="mailto:pgwduane@mail.atnet.net" name="pgwduane@mail.atnet.net">.
Regarding X11: there is currently a server for S3-based cards only. It is known to work with 805, 864, 928 based cards (e.g., Orchid Fahrenheit 1280, #9 GXE64, #9 Level 12). So if you want to run X11 right away, you need to get such an S3 based card for now.
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