Radeon 9200 ArcadeVGA w/ Linux AdvMame

[Tony]

Well :

I have been trying to set up my Wells Gardner D9200 and my AcadeVGA (Radeon 9200 Chipset) to work with Advanced Mame on Linux.  I have been trying to get SVGAlib(version 1.9.19) going and have had zero success.  I believe the problem is the SVGAlib driver R128 I have also tried the standard VGA with the same results.    The test programs in SVGAlib dont seem to work at all in any resolution.  The monitor displays out of range.  VESA driver did actually put a test pattern on the screen but hung up frozen completely, control Z just put you into garbage screen land.  The patch from advancemame-0.87.0 also appears to be incomplete for the Radeon card, it complains during the process about unexpected end of line or something like that.  Is there a  driver that someone out there has put together for this setup?  Or is there another way to  make AdvanceMAME work under linux other than framebuffer or SVGAlib?  Or is there something I am overlooking entirely.

[whammoed]

I'm no expert, but i am running gentoo linux with advmame with svgalib and a regular radeon7000 (you don't need an arcadevga with a d9200 and advmame)
check out the software section of my website
<----------------
and see if it gives you any clues.
another good resource:
http://easymamecab.mameworld.net/html/linux.htm

hope this helps
if it doesn't, what exactly happens when you try to run any of the advance programs like advcfg?

[Tony]

Yes:

I have read through your site before.  I found your tutorial on modelines an excellent source of information and I agree that you dont have to have a ArcadeVGA(Radeon 9200 chipset).  I purchased one so I have one and I would just like to get it done seeing as I already have this current hardware.  I am currently setting up a dos partition so I can at least get this cool cabinet going so my kids and I can get to our business.  However, I know that this should work.  I have read some information in the SVGAlib about building a driver from their skeleton file after running a dos vga test borland c program that is supplied in the distro.  I was hoping that somone may have already done this and got something going.

I really like you site and I will use the dos information you have as a reference to get  advance mame going with dos for now.   But if you know of anyone who has had success doing this, or anymore information please let me know,  Thanks again
 

[whammoed]

actually the easymamecab site is desmatic's not mine...he may be able to help you out.

good luck

[desmatic]

Yes:

I have read through your site before.  I found your tutorial on modelines an excellent source of information and I agree that you dont have to have a ArcadeVGA(Radeon 9200 chipset).  I purchased one so I have one and I would just like to get it done seeing as I already have this current hardware.  I am currently setting up a dos partition so I can at least get this cool cabinet going so my kids and I can get to our business.  However, I know that this should work.  I have read some information in the SVGAlib about building a driver from their skeleton file after running a dos vga test borland c program that is supplied in the distro.  I was hoping that somone may have already done this and got something going.

I really like you site and I will use the dos information you have as a reference to get  advance mame going with dos for now.   But if you know of anyone who has had success doing this, or anymore information please let me know,  Thanks again
 

As you've discovered the svgalib driver doesn't work correctly on arcadevga cards.  While the reason is not fully known,  I suspect that it is NOT due to a different bios, but some subtle difference in the make between a built by ATI card and a card built by one of their partners.  As you know the ArcadeVGA is built by a partner, not ATI.  I have tested many partner cards, including the original radeon VE and they never perform correctly.  I've even flashed a partner's card with a true built by ATI bios, though it's never had any positive affect, the card still wouldn't work consistantly.  

Small differences in the chipset do affect svgalib/fb performance dramatically, which is why I always recommend the following for svgalib or fb support:

Only buy cards built by ATI
Never buy wierdo ATI revisions or oem releases
Only buy Nvidia cards manufactured by PNY or Visiontek
Never buy wierdo non-reference Nvidia cards.

As a general rule, try and get the exact card that the driver was developed on, for example, the radeon driver was originally developed on an ATI 7500.  Hence it's a very safe bet.  I believe Andrea did some work on support for the radeon 7000, so I suspect this chipset is also a very safe bet.