Voodoo GFX Emulation

[FOL]

Hey Toni,

Would it be possible to use the Voodoo1 / 2 Emulation that Dosbox and KVM(QEMU) use?

I know they were talking about emulating a Voodoo3 soon.

[Locutus]

Well..... The Voodoo2 and 3 3D hardware is really quite similar so probably its not impossible to extend the existing code to support a Voodoo3.

Hoooowever!

Only the 3D hardware is not going to get you anywhere, the 2D part is also needed to get a usable desktop which is not implemented anywhere and of course the Voodoo2 does not have this component at all.

So its far from just a matter of adapting some existing code.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Locutus

Well..... The Voodoo2 and 3 3D hardware is really quite similar so probably its not impossible to extend the existing code to support a Voodoo3.

Hoooowever!

Only the 3D hardware is not going to get you anywhere, the 2D part is also needed to get a usable desktop which is not implemented anywhere and of course the Voodoo2 does not have this component at all.

So its far from just a matter of adapting some existing code.

Crap, forgot about it being a dedicated 3D card, which also need needed Cirrus logic type 2D card.

[Toni Wilen]

I didn't check but it probably also lacks blitter emulation which is 100% required. At least last time I checked Cirrus Logic emulation was the only one that was complete.

[Locutus]

How much hardware acceleration features do existing P96/CGX drivers actually use?

[matthey]

Originally Posted by Locutus

Well..... The Voodoo2 and 3 3D hardware is really quite similar so probably its not impossible to extend the existing code to support a Voodoo3.

Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5 are very similar to the Voodoo 3. This is one of the best documented and most loved gfx boards of all time if that makes any difference.

Originally Posted by Locutus

Hoooowever!

Only the 3D hardware is not going to get you anywhere, the 2D part is also needed to get a usable desktop which is not implemented anywhere and of course the Voodoo2 does not have this component at all.

Actually, the Amiga Avenger Warp3D drivers do not use the 2D or VGA parts (registers and config) of the gfx board that I am aware of (P96 RTG would use the 2D part but it should be possible to put the 3D over another existing 2D standard). The texture uploading interface is probably used of which I didn't get far enough to figure out how that works. I have working modified W3D drivers and documentation. The Voodoo 3 Avenger W3D driver is compatible enough to work on the Voodoo 4 and 5 although most new features don't work.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Locutus

How much hardware acceleration features do existing P96/CGX drivers actually use?

A lot. At least Cirrus Logic P96 and CGX drivers use blitter heavily. (Apparently more than PC drivers because original QEMU emulation had many blitter emulation related bugs)