SMP review update Posted Saturday, July 31 15:54 by armin
Mentioned it a couple days ago that I'm toying with building an SMP machine. I am now waiting only for the ABit BP6 board that I plan to review anymore, the rest is in place. Got myself two 366 MHz PPGA Celerons with the default coolers (to be replaced with TennMax coolers later on) and 128 MB PC100 RAM.
The box is a pretty lame midi-tower which may need some help with the breathing once I go into overclocking, for mass storage I have an IDE 36X CD ROM and an old SCSI setup I ripped out of my former 486 box, three harddisks of 1.8 GB total, a 240 as swap drive, a 540 that will house a NT system for comparision testing and a 1080, all three hooked up to an ancient ISA Adaptec 1522.
So don't expect any great disk benchmarks from that rig but it is good enough to keep the machine networked with one of the two big guys I'll have here sometime next week, my trusted K6-III/400 and an Athlon 600 that you'll also get to see some Linux scores from once the NDA expires, each running more than 14 GB in disk space.
XFree86 Benchmarking site Posted Saturday, July 31 1:43 by dropn
In my insomnia tonight I stopped over at linuxgames.com and saw a link to this xfree86 benchmarking site. Somewhat interesting, although the differences in systems used may make the benchmarks slightly inaccurate., What I would really like to see is a program we can use as a standard opengl/3d speed tester, quake2 or quake3 possibly, at this point drivers may prevent this from being too relevant. If anyone has some ideas, let me know I have a few systems I can play with and get some info up.
Myth II for linux demo Posted Friday, July 30 18:38 by dropn
Saw over at lokigames.com that they now have a Myth II demo available. There are intel and PowerPC versions available just in time to waste away the weekend gaming ;) . Get it from the Myth II demo page.
Linux 2.4, what to expect Posted Friday, July 30 1:10 by dropn
Nice piece over at linuxtoday.com that discusses the expected changes,improvements and new features to be in the upcoming 2.4 kernel series. Worth a read or at least a quick browse if your anxious or wondering whats coming up =)
Kingpin 1.15 Posted Friday, July 30 1:07 by dropn
While checkin out sites tonight, I noticed over at linuxgames.com that yet another version of Kingpin has been released for linux, v1.15., Mainly a bugfix release. Grab the rpm'ed or tar'ed binaries from impact.frag.com...
Why SETI@Home wastes your money and time Posted Wednesday, July 28 21:33 by armin
I just wrote an editorial on the issue of SETI@Home stalling efforts to introduce a faster client software, read about it here.
Kingpin v1.14 beta Posted Wednesday, July 28 8:36 by dropn
Saw over at linuxgames.com that a new version of Kingpin, v1.14, has been released for linux. Check out the Kingpin beta page for binaries and testing information. Great to see suupport for a new game like this being so nice in linux...
Lokigames new look and new software Posted Wednesday, July 28 8:31 by dropn
If you've stopped by Loki Entertainment Software's website in the past couple days you've probably noticed they've been hyping up the release of something, well Its here =). Their website has a new look, and also they are now accepting orders for myth II, and have released a new version of their open source mpeg player, SMPEG. Stop by their site and check it out.
Slackware Linux 4.0: A First Look Posted Tuesday, July 27 21:02 by kornel
Bill from CPUReview sent word that he has posted his review of Slackware Linux 4.0 entitled "Slackware Linux 4.0: A First Look".
Here is a snippet for you:
"Slackware 4.0 is a good, solid Linux implementation, and I like it, but it is in sore need of some further upgrades in order to make it more appealing to new users."
Why did he say that? Read the review and find out...
Linux SMP Posted Tuesday, July 27 11:56 by armin
I am in the process of setting up an Abit BP6 based Celeron SMP system which of course will run under Linux. As I plan to review the motherboard I'd appreciate suggestions for SMP/single CPU benchmarks other than SETI@Home and RC5-64, which I certainly will run.
Send them to me here.
Kingpin for Linux v1.10 Posted Sunday, July 25 16:53 by dropn
Saw over at linuxgames.com that there is now a Kingpin v1.10 for linux also. Nice to see they are keeping their ports up to date. Download the server or, RPM'ed or tar'ed client. Also just noticed linuxgames.com has a Kingpin Forum for discussing Kingpin under linux. Been busy rebuilding my system or I would have caught this stuff sooner =)
SGI increasing support of Linux Posted Friday, July 23 16:51 by dropn
Interesting article at news.com that quotes the chief execute from SGI saying(among other good things)
"We think it's the operating system of the Internet. The opportunity is to make Linux more powerful, which we intend to do."
worth a read....saw this link at slashdot.org
Heretic II dedicated linux server Posted Thursday, July 22 17:02 by dropn
Saw over at 3dnews.net that there is now a dedicated Heretic II server available for linux. No client YET, but there is good news in Jake Simpson's .plan.
"There is a client version of H2 coming some time, its being done by a company called Loki, and they have the rights to release it themselves. However, will be a retail thing, so you will have to pay for it."
Stop over at Loki Games' website and support them in every way possible =).
Download your tar'ed+gzip'ed or zipped binaries from planetquake.com.
Payback Time for Linux Posted Wednesday, July 21 21:59 by kornel
Not really 3D news but I share it with you anyway.
Red Hat software offers open source contributors first dibs on the company's initial public offering. It could be very lucrative for the ones chosen.
Find out the rest of the story here!
New Forums Posted Wednesday, July 21 21:16 by kornel
Ok folks, just to let you know that we are running pretty cool forums on our 3DNow! site. Check it out here!
MandrakeSoft announces DiskDrake Posted Wednesday, July 21 20:04 by kornel
Got word from Gaël Duval at MandrakeSoft - publisher of the popular "Linux-Mandrake" distribution - that they have announced DiskDrake, a complete hard-drive partioner available for Linux now (beta version) and for Windows(tm) soon. DiskDrake is published under the terms of the General Public License (GNU).
You can head over to the download page right here.
q3test v1.07/Linux Posted Tuesday, July 20 22:51 by dropn
Saw over at linuxgames.com that Q3test v1.07 for Linux has been released. You know you want this one =), check the linux page at quake3arena.com for the mirror nearest you.
NVidia releases Programming Info Posted Tuesday, July 20 18:49 by dropn
NVidia has now released programming info and tools for their NV based graphics cards(riva128,tnt,etc.), for use under Windows OR Linux. Also thanks to the guys at theRiva Enlightenment Project for doing a great job.
3DNow! workshop Posted Tuesday, July 20 13:05 by armin
Get 3DNow! is running a programmer workshop for 3DNow! Their first project is the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) that is the core of the SETI@Home project, they discuss the approach to improve the speed for that software for which they expect a factor of 2-3 when it is completed.
xfree 4.0 snapshot available Posted Tuesday, July 20 11:30 by dropn
Saw this great news at linuxgames.com. The first snapshot(PRE-release) of xfree 4.0(dubbed v3.9.15) is out. Read the RELNOTES for a little more info. If you didnt know, this potentially means alot for gaming in linux, and the open source environment. It should greatly improve GLX applications with the aide of Precision Insight's DRI. Xfree's FTP site will be busy most likely so go ahead and check the mirrors here. Not all have a /snapshot dir, but this is what you want to look for =)
Powertweak-Linux v0.11 Released Posted Monday, July 19 15:55 by dropn
A new version(0.1.1) of the Open Source, Linux version of the popular windows utility Powertweak has been released. Mainly a bugfix release according to the news page, but this program is worth checkin out if you want a little more speed out of your box. Download page is here.
Kingpin review Posted Monday, July 19 13:17 by armin
Since Kingpin is appearing for Linux as client and server as well (yippee!), it is only fair that you get a look at a review of the game, over here at Full On 3D
Interview with Fire and Darkness linux coder Posted Sunday, July 18 18:35 by dropn
GA Source has done a nice interview with Singularity Software coder Adam Stubblefield, he is the one who wrote/is writing the linux port of the upcoming game Fire and Darkness. Quite a few interesting questions and thoughts about linux from a game coders standpoint.. Saw this link over at good ol' linuxgames.com
Kingpin Linux client Posted Friday, July 16 12:21 by dropn
Saw this over at linuxgames.com, we now have a port of kingpin for linux. You need a glibc system and a 3d accelerator for it to work. Download rpm or tar'ed binaries. Check out Ridah's plan for some more info, and a few kind works about linux =).
Linux DVD Project releases CSS unlocking code Posted Thursday, July 15 15:06 by dropn
Noticed at freshmeat.net that the folks over at the Linux Video and DVD Project have released the source(GPL) to unlock and read DVD discs. Check the website and help these people out in any way you can, they are definately helping out hardware support in linux in a major way.
eXtace v1.15 released Posted Thursday, July 15 15:01 by dropn
Noticed the new release of eXtace ,a 3d audio visualizer for the Gnome Desktop Environment over at freshmeat.net. Ive seen some VERY nice opengl plugins for winamp along these lines, hopefully this is a step in the right direction. Quick blurb from the homepage.
eXtace is a Audio Visualization plugin for the Gnome Desktop Environment. It connects to ESD (Enlightened Sound
Daemon) and displays the audio data as either a 3D textured landscape, 3d pointed landscape, 16-128 channel graphic EQ,
or a colored Oscilloscope.
Alienware dual video card setup Posted Thursday, July 15 14:54 by dropn
While browsing random websites today I saw a link to this VERY odd(unique at least) device made by AlienWare. Basically it lets you use a little switch box, to switch between video cards. Maybe a toy worth buying if you got the extra money to spend =P . Saw the link over at Hardware Extreme.
Comphardware.com and Linux Hardware Database merge Posted Thursday, July 15 14:41 by dropn
CompHardware.com and the Linux Hardware Database have now merged. Heres a little piece of the press release that probably sums it up better than me
"The new agreement allows LhD to focus on the component database, user reports and driver information and allows CompHardware.com to focus on its core reviews, editorials and other hardware related content."
Thanks to slashdot.org for being such a great site and providing the link.
SBLIVE! linux drivers + snes9x ?? Posted Thursday, July 15 14:32 by dropn
After playing with the latest sblive drivers, I have still had NO success running snes9x with sound on. Seems very odd that most every other app/game has near perfect sound, but this one wont even load with sound on. I had the same results with xmame last time I tried, havent tried with these, but im sure the results are the same. Any thoughts/comments, please mail me.
Info on upcoming q3test Posted Thursday, July 15 14:25 by dropn
Apparently they have a pre-release copy of the upcoming q3test over at shugashack. Check out his preview if your curious about whats going to be new in the next version as far as weapons/maps/gameplay goes. I was hoping to see something good about SMP or linux, but no matter what its a worthwhile read. Saw this link over at tweak3d.net...
SBLIVE! Linux drivers v0.3b Posted Wednesday, July 14 12:29 by dropn
Creative Labs has released a new version 0.3 of their sb live linux drivers(module binaries only). Download them here Not exactly 3d, but very important for gaming in linux, we need ALL hardware companies to show their support for gaming. I had problems with the older drivers in programs like snes9x, havent had a chance to try these yet, I will probably post saying if I have positive or negative results when I have the chance.
NOTE : at time of post, I cant access this file, if you have troubles I have it on my webspace here.
mg^2 v0.1.12 released Posted Monday, July 12 20:16 by dropn
Noticed the release of mg^2(formerly Mod the 3d Modeler) over at freshmeat.net. It is a 3d modeler, obviously, meant to look and feel like Calgari's Truespace. Download the new version here.
Borland developer survey Posted Sunday, July 11 8:00 by armin
Borland is holding a developer survey regarding Linux, this includes 3D graphics development. If you develop on and/or for Linux and 3D graphics you may want to head over there and make your needs known.
XRacer v0.52 Release Posted Saturday, July 10 22:40 by dropn
Noticed a new release of this game over at freshmeat.net. Its a clone of the popular game Wipeout XL, havent had a chance to try it yet myself, but it may be worth checking out. According to the homepage its still in beta stages and should be improving rapidly.
Matrox G400 delays Posted Friday, July 9 13:21 by dropn
It seems the Matrox G400 isnt going to make its early July release date as expected(in full at least). Seems like it will be a
very nice card, and actually had specs open sourced before the card was released. You can read more at the Matrox Users
Resource Center news page. Saw this link on bxboards.com.
Tribes 2 client petition Posted Friday, July 9 12:56 by dropn
Saw this at linuxgames.com. Its a petition for a Tribes 2 client port in linux obviously, intiated by Datumplane. Even if you dont care about Tribes, please sign the petition, the more ports the better. I believe we are being held back majorly however when it comes to 3d rendering until we see the release of xfree 4 w/ its new direct rendering(nvidia seems to think so also, and probably game authors too). If you have any thoughts on this please mail me.
Unreal Tournament linux server beta soon! Posted Friday, July 9 12:50 by dropn
It seems the first working build of Epic Games' Unreal Tournament is complete and working. A quote from their news
"This means that a solid UT linux server will most likely be available when UT ships (if not sooner). I'll
probably see what needs to be done to get everything moved over to the Unreal source safe and cook up
an Unreal linux server for our beta testers tonight. "
Pleasing to see ports coming out BEFORE games are released, unfortunately no word on a client =/
objective reality screenshots Posted Thursday, July 8 13:40 by dropn
While browsing random websites today, I noticed over at Objective Reality's website they have a few new screenshots posted. If you didnt know already Synapse is their project to create a fully 3d opengl GUI for Linux/BeOS(unfortunately not open-source). Interesting if nothing else...
Kingpin dedicated server Posted Wednesday, July 7 12:41 by dropn
The dedicated server for the infamously vulgar =) game Kingpin has been released, it can be found here. Still no client as many of us would probably like to see, but please mail me if you have tried this game in wine(successfully or unsuccessfully).
For more in depth info, check out Ryan Feltrin's .plan.
Linux Today on Linux Games Posted Tuesday, July 6 19:09 by armin
Linux Today runs an article on why they think that there are so few games available on Linux. Read about it here.
Gigabyte GA-660 Posted Tuesday, July 6 17:19 by armin
Looking for an inexpensive high performance 3D accelerator that will run XWindows under Linux and OpenGL under X 4.0? Check out my review of the Gigabyte GA-660 TNT-2 at Full On 3D
Cyrix and SMP? Posted Monday, July 5 21:49 by armin
Read about the information Full On 3D received from a source within Cyrix.
Mandrake Linux 6.0: A First Look Posted Monday, July 5 0:10 by kornel
Bill from CPUReviews posted his review "Mandrake Linux 6.0: A First Look" and as he tells me, the largest review of Mandrake 6.0 published to date...
You can hunt down the beast over here.
Here is a snippet for you:
"The installation guide presents an excellent (27 step) step-by-step
walkthrough of the installation process. I was particularly impressed that they even tried to document how to use fdisk to create the partitions; however the Disk Druid section is probably more understandable to someone new to Linux."
Yet another site update Posted Sunday, July 4 23:21 by kornel
Ok, just to let you know that I finished with the installation and configuration of the script for the drivers database. It is now integrated into the hardware section's layout.
I still need to do some minor tweaks like the bottom page search forms are not yet outputing results. However the search from the menu is working just fine. Some text output needs to be formated with the Lucida font, however I am working on a nice css file.
Anyway, enjoy. Data will be be added during the coming week. If you know of accelerated drivers for a particular card, please send in info.
Site update Posted Sunday, July 4 0:00 by kornel
If you head over to the Hardware section then you will see that I have started building 3D Accelerator guide which will be a 3D Accelerators drivers database. The look is still simple, however as soon as I have some content inside I will integrate it into the site's layout.
If some of you would like to help me fill up the database then drop me an email.
Flight Gear Version 0.6.1 released Posted Saturday, July 3 20:54 by kornel
Flight Gear version 0.6.1 is now available.
USA Scenery version 0.3 is now available.
The Flight Gear Flight Simulator project is a free, open-source, multi-platform flight sim development project. Source code for the entire project is available and licensed under the GPL.
source: LinuxToday
Site update Posted Saturday, July 3 15:31 by kornel
Everything is quiet on the Eastern Front. No news yet. I am working on the site today.
Also, we need help. If you think that you can somehow contribute to the site, drop me an email. We are friendly. :)
Kornel
Site update Posted Saturday, July 3 2:49 by kornel
I installed version 3.03 of the news script which is a much better version than one I was using ( 2.1a )
3dfx interview Posted Saturday, July 3 2:46 by kornel
Dave from HotHardware notified us that they had a little chat with Brian Burke PR-SupaFly-Man of 3dfx. The interview is on their main page.
Interview with AMD's Drew Prairie Posted Saturday, July 3 2:44 by kornel
CPUReviews conducted an interview with AMD's Drew Prairie about AMD's Athlon and much more...
You can find the interview over here.
Thanks for Bill Henning at CPUReviews for the news.
New beta version of Crystal Space (0.13r012) Posted Saturday, July 3 2:40 by kornel
Jorrit Tyberghein from Crystal Space sent word that he has a new version of Crystal Space available for download. Crystal Space can be found at http://crystal.linuxgames.com and is an Open Source 3D engine for Linux, Windows, OS/2, BeOS, Macintosh, DOS, NextStep, FreeBSD, ... It uses Direct3D, OpenGL, Glide, or software rendering.
" This is a beta release with version number 0.13r012. We're developing on CVS right now so frequency of beta releases has dropped a bit.
A lot has changed since 0.13r011. There have been many bugs fixed and lots of improvements with OpenGL and Direct3D renderer. There are also some speed improvements. Check the URL for a complete list. "
SETI@Home 1.05 out Posted Saturday, July 3 2:37 by kornel
SETI@Home put out a new version of the ET scanner, 1.05, fixing a number of bugs. Grab it from the link and if you run a 3DNow! CPU, join the Team 3DNow! started by Get 3DNow!
Kingpin only server Posted Saturday, July 3 2:35 by kornel
Ronin from Qamex sent word that Kingpin will only appear as server for Linux while the game itself won't be ported.
After reading Ryan Feltrin's .plan update I mailed him and asked will the linux update have a linux client and server patch, like quake has, or what is it going to be? I know the demo played nicely under wine and he replied back:
The linux port is for the server portion only.
YAWC - Yet another wasted chance!
Boycott Yahoo! Posted Saturday, July 3 2:31 by kornel
You may have read about it already, Yahoo! has put a change into their Terms of Services for all Yahoo! owned sites (which includes GeoCities) which grants them copyrights to all content you may have on these services (i.e. that invention you made and discuss on a Yahoo! forum, your GeoCities website, the ideas you send through their email service etc). They may, under this Term of Services, use your stuff to their monetary gain, give it to other people as they see fit etc.
This of course if nothing any sane mind can tolerate. Hence some people called into life a Boycott Yahoo! Campaign.
As a creator of original content on the web I encourage you to participate in this and force Yahoo! to surrender that clause unconditionally and apologize for this brazen attempt of theft. Don't use their search engine anymore, stop using their Yahoo! email service and take your site from GeoCities to a different free provider - and make sure to wipe the account clean.