Matrox HAL lib still required?

[Alex Deucher]

On 10/18/05, Stefan Dirsch <sndirsch at suse.de> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I wonder whether the Matrox HAL library is still required. Matrox
> writes in the latest driver (4.2.0) for X.Org 6.8.2:
>
> " [...]
> The Matrox HAL ("Hardware Abstraction Layer") is a special library
> to enable features not supported by the standard XFree86 driver.
> It's required for DualHead, TV output, and DVI support with G400-
> based graphics hardware, for multi-display support with G200/G450 MMS
> products, and for DVI support. The HAL library is not required for
> basic DualHead support (without a DVI monitor) with G450- and G550-based
> graphics hardware. Also please take not that TV output is not supported
> with G450- and G550- based graphics hardware in Linux. [...] "
>
> So one still needs it for Dualhead on G400 boards and DVI support in
> general? Or did this change in the past?
>

still needed AFAIK.  sometimes you can get single head DVI working
without HAL if the bios initialized the TMDS controller correctly for
your monitor.  Several people have threatened to fix the driver to not
need HAL (myself included), but nothing has come of it.

Alex


> Best regards,
> Stefan
>
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