[MPlayer-DOCS] some xml docs cleanup please

[Diego Biurrun]

On Fri, Jun 16, 2006 at 10:04:35PM +0200, Sebastian Krämer wrote:
> 
> when I did some review on the translated xml docs I came across some
> paragraphs/lines where I wondered if these need an update.
> 
> I know that Diego has plans to cleanup the docs anyway (which might
> include removing parts, not only "refreshing" them) so maybe what I
> found is a point where we can start.

Thanks for pointing all of this out, sorry it took me so long to get to
this...

> formats.xml:
> > <para>
> > ASF (Active Streaming Format) comes from Microsoft. They developed two
> > variants of ASF, v1.0 and v2.0. v1.0 is used by their media tools (<application>Windows
> > Media Player</application> and <application>Windows Media Encoder</application>)
> > and is very secret. v2.0 is published and patented :). Of course they differ,
> > there is no compatibility at all (it is just another legal game).
> > <application>MPlayer</application> supports only v1.0, as nobody has ever seen
> > v2.0 files :). Note that ASF files nowadays come with the extension
> > <filename>.WMA</filename> or <filename>.WMV</filename>.
> > </para>
> 
> I don't know much about asf playlists so I can't guess if v2.0 is more
> popular or if there is even a new format. All I know is that these lines
> are more than 3 years old now..

Hmmm, anybody?

> ports.xml:
> 
> > <para>Best results are achieved with the native DirectX video output driver
> >   (<option>-vo directx</option>). Alternatives are OpenGL and SDL, but OpenGL
> >   performance varies greatly between systems and SDL is known to
> >   distort video or crash on some systems. If the image is
> >   distorted, try turning off hardware acceleration with
> >   <option>-vo directx:noaccel</option>. Download
> >   <ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/releases/win32/contrib/dx7headers.tgz">DirectX 7 header files</ulink>
> >   to compile the DirectX video output driver. Furthermore you need to have
> >   DirectX 7 or later installed for the DirectX video output driver to work.
> >   </para>
> 
> (in the windows section of course..)
> Could anyone with some knowledge comment on DirectX versions we
> recommend? Version 7 sounds a bit outdated to me..

They are just the headers and just as good now as they were back then.

> > <sect3 id="neomagic">
> > <title>NeoMagic cards</title>
> > 
> > <para>
> > These cards can be found in many laptops. You must use XFree86 4.3.0 or
> > above, or else use Stefan Seyfried's
> > <ulink url="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/MPlayer/contrib/NeoMagic-driver/">Xv-capable drivers</ulink>.
> > Just choose the one that applies to your version of XFree86.
> > </para>
> 
> I imagine that noone uses XFree86 4.3.0 today. Are these patches used
> any more?! Maybe someone checks the server log and has a look when the
> last download von contrib was.. Other than that, do notebooks use
> NeoMagic cards? I imagine not.

Yes, that's awfully old, but I'll keep the info for the moment anyway.

> > <para>
> > This section is about the Matrox G200/G400/G450/G550 BES (Back-End Scaler)
> > support, the mga_vid kernel driver. It's actively developed by A'rpi, and
> > it has hardware VSYNC support with triple buffering. It works on both
> > framebuffer console and under X.
> > </para>
> 
> At least "actively developed by A'rpi" is outdated, isn't it?

Yes.

> > <para>
> > VIDIX is new technology and it's extremely possible that on your
> > system it won't work. In this case only solution for you
> > it's port it (mainly libdha). But there is hope that it will work on those
> > systems where X11 does.
> > </para>
> 
> Is vidix "new technology"? Maybe other information in that section is
> outdated too, I don't know.

No, it's not new anymore.

> > <sect3 id="vidix-nvidia">
> > <title>nVidia cards</title>
> > <para>
> > There's a relatively new nVidia driver out there, it's known to work on Riva
> > 128, TNT and GeForce2 chipsets, also others have been reported working.
> > </para>
> 
> I know this needs an update: The driver that is "new" today lacks
> support for exactly these cards now..

I looked at the section, it's probably all bogus now.  I've ripped it
out.

> skin.xml:
> > <title>GUI messages</title>
> > <para>
> > These are the messages that can be generated by buttons, potmeters and
> > menu entries.
> > </para>
> > <note><para>
> > Some of the messages might not work as expected (or not work at all).
> > As you know, the GUI is under development.
> > </para></note>
> 
> So what's the status on GUI development? AFAIK, development stopped and
> the code is unmaintained?

It's more or less unmaintained, but it sort of works..

> I volunteer to update docs myself once I know what has to be done.

I've merged some updates, feel free to add more...

Diego