All times are UTC-06:00




Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:34 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 4:31 pm
Posts: 36
I don't know how this might apply to MorphOS but I'd like to think there is some way it could boost the user experience with Linux -

What if, instead of swap partition virtual memory, a largish chunk of graphics card memory could be used for this purpose?

It would probably be necessary to balance OS access to the graphics card memory to prevent impacting video playback but wouldn't this still be faster than hard drive access? Would this come close to being a work-around for the Efikas fixed system memory size?


Top
   
PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:50 am 
Offline
Site Admin

Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 1:39 am
Posts: 1589
Location: Austin, TX
Quote:
I don't know how this might apply to MorphOS but I'd like to think there is some way it could boost the user experience with Linux -

What if, instead of swap partition virtual memory, a largish chunk of graphics card memory could be used for this purpose?

It would probably be necessary to balance OS access to the graphics card memory to prevent impacting video playback but wouldn't this still be faster than hard drive access? Would this come close to being a work-around for the Efikas fixed system memory size?
This has been discussed a lot on other parts of the forum. The basic problem is that you have to give up hardware acceleration of 2D and 3D, using high resolutions or storing graphics data in video RAM - or make changes to the kernel DRM and X.org driver modules at least to only use a certain amount of memory, and never to disable the card or lock it unless it's atomic.

Most of the more advanced accelerations just wouldn't work. The XGI DRM looks fairly simple, so it might, but we're going to ship 64MB cards here. 32MB of swap memory isn't much. Most 256MB+ cards will not work in an Efika.

In the end it's basically just not worth the time or the hassle. Just buy a hard disk..

_________________
Matt Sealey


Top
   
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic  Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 

All times are UTC-06:00


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
PowerDeveloper.org: Copyright © 2004-2012, Genesi USA, Inc. The Power Architecture and Power.org wordmarks and the Power and Power.org logos and related marks are trademarks and service marks licensed by Power.org.
All other names and trademarks used are property of their respective owners. Privacy Policy
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group