[MPlayer-DOCS] some xml docs cleanup please

[Sebastian Krämer]

Hello folks,

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.

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..


ports.xml:

> <para>
> Christian Marillat has been making unofficial Debian packages of
> <application>MPlayer</application>, <application>MEncoder</application> and
> our bitmap fonts for a while, you can (apt-)get them from
> <ulink url="http://hpisi.nerim.net/">his homepage</ulink>.
> </para>

Especially since we have a new release now, what's the status with
Marillat's packages? I'm remembering a flame-ish thread some while ago
but I don't know the outcome (if there was any).

> <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 Version 7 sounds a bit outdated to me..

> <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.

> <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?

> <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.

> <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..

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?

So, that's it from me now. These parts I pointed out are hopefully valid
and I hope some of you can comment on parts you are familiar with. :)

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

Sebastian