Linux kernel 7.3 introduces an update for the 25-year-old 3dfx Voodoo 3 graphics card. Developer Daniel Palmer submitted patches to the tdfxfb framebuffer driver, enabling the hardware to initialize without relying on system firmware or a legacy VGABIOS.
The update allows the Voodoo 3 to function as a display adapter on modern x86-64 systems and Amiga 4000 setups. While it provides a /dev/fb0 device, it lacks modern OpenGL or Wayland support. Voodoo 4 and 5 support was excluded due to BIOS differences.
Beyond the kernel, Palmer is developing a /dev/tdfx3d interface and the smoltdfx library. Using a small OpenGL 1.x implementation called smolminigl, the project has successfully run Quake on physical hardware and a custom QEMU emulator built with AI aid.