faq011: What is the board's performance?
The performance is dependent on many factors but the specifications
(on a Sparc Classic) are quoted as:
| |
8 bit |
24 bit |
| Rectangle fill |
165 Megapixels |
58 Megapixels/sec |
| BitBlt |
14.3 Megapixels |
4.8 Megapixels/sec |
| Frame Buffer Writes |
18.6 Megapixels |
4.6 Megapixels/sec |
| Text (6 x 13 pixel font) |
104 K Chars |
85.3 K Chars/sec |
faq012: What about support for VX Works and Trusted
Solaris?
I'm afraid that there is not. Until now VX Works (and other operating
systems away from Standard Solaris) have only been requested on a very
few occasions. Clearly such systems COULD be supported if there were
a good commercial sense in doing so but until now it has not been
possible to justify.
faq013: What about support for OpenGL?
OpenGL is the name of a standard rather than a particular product.
Rather than being a 2 dimensional standard like X Windows, it includes
a many higher level 3D primitives and was really written to support
specialist Graphics Systems such as Silicon Graphics. And OpenGL is
a standard at the C library level rather than the device communication
level - which means that for Frame Buffer manufacturers a different
solution might be required for EACH implementation of Open GL - some
may be supported and some not!
Sun's version 1.0 of Open GL does NOT use pure X windows and ONLY
operates on their Creator 3D Frame Buffer.
Sun's OpenGL 1.1 is stated to work only with their graphic frame buffers.
They have a list of those supported on their web site. It is based on
X Windows system, but it appears that ADDITIONS have been made beyond
the X Windows standard, so that the it ONLY works on a limited range
of boards they have chosen to support. On Rasterflex, firing up
an OpenGL application (in this case a test program) gives:
unix% /usr/openwin/demo/GL/ogl_install_check
X Error of failed request:
BadAlloc (insufficient resources for operation)
Major opcode of failed request: 141 (GLX)
Minor opcode of failed request: 3 (X_GLXCreateContext)
Serial number of failed request: 19
Current serial number in output stream: 23
Template Graphics Software have an OpenGL product, referenced from
Sunsite, which they state to be useable through a standard X Windows
interface. In that case, it should work just like any other X Windows
application.
Some things to remember if you choose to use such an OpenGL package:
- Unless you are using it to link your own applications, you will need
to ensure that the copy supplied by your software vendor DOES use this
particular library
- As it's a 3D library, the software emulation needed may mean that it
runs slowly on a board such as the RasterFlex which is designed for true
color and image handling rather than 3D graphics.
To my knowledge, there is no technical reason why drivers could not
be written to support the RasterFlex 32 and HR under Sun OpenGL 1.1,
but it would require considerable resource and a strong commercial
case would need to be made.
faq014: What about support for Sun Clones?
RasterFlex boards work fine in Sun clones.
With laptop or portable machines (e.g., RDI, Tadpole, Rugged
Portable), you DO need to be careful to ensure they have an
Sbus slot, and if the screen is hardwired into the existing frame
buffer you might only be able to use the RasterFlex board as a
second screen (i.e. it would NOT be possible to use the
RasterFlex board to drive the built in flat screen. You would
also need to check the internal screen resolution in such a
case - RasterFlex does NOT support 640x480, nor 600x800).
faq015: Where can I buy RasterFlex boards?
You can contact us at AP&D's world headquarters:
AP&D
ATTN: RasterFlex Sales
10052 Mesa Ridge Court
San Diego, California 92121
USA
Telephone: 858/527-6100 or 800/621-8474
Fax: 858/597-7094
faq016: Will RasterFlex boards work in Sbus
expansion boxes?
Rasterflex cards are "Master" cards and will not work in
slave-only expansion boxes such as the Aurora ... but they
WILL work in full expansion boxes. Customers have not
reported any problems with Sun's expansion box (which
I think is made by Artecon) or Artecon's expansion boxes.
The board takes up 16Mb of address space. Note also that
if the full address space is not PREsented to the board,
it won't work. Some expansion boxes map the memory
differently which could also cause the problem.
Note that the rasterFlex ASIC does act as a bus master,
but does not perform DVMA cycles.
faq017: Can I use a PC monitor onto a RasterFlex
board?
- The monitor specs are in Appendix (B) of the RasterFlex manual,
and many monitors should work. However - some of the resolutions
are NOT seen on PCs (e.g. 1152 x 900) and if that is the resolution
you use, you will need to choose especially carefully.
- Sun monitors signal back to the Sun (or Rasterflex) frame
buffers "sense" information which allows the correct video
resolution to be selected automatically by the frame buffer. A PC
monitor does NOT do this. You will need to change jumpers on the
board in order to force the board to work at an appropriate
resolution.
- Sun monitors usually have a 13W3 connect on them, whereas PC
monitors connect via a 15 pin, 3 line DIN type connector. You may
need an adaptor.
faq018: Can I drive several monitors with one card?
One RasterFlex board drives one Monitor. In dual screen configurations,
you might use two RasterFlex boards - OR you might wish to use another
frame buffer - such as one that was already in the workstation when
you bought it. Clearly, if you choose to do the latter you will only
get the "regular" facilities on the monitor attached to the original
frame buffer.
RasterFlex boards use the X Windows System and are inherently 2D
in their operation. 3D capabilities can be provided by third party
software, and that may include stereo vision packages. Do note that
even with one stereo pair of screens, you would still need two Frame
Buffer Boards.
faq019: Can I use the board for grey scale work?
The RasterFlex HR is a color card, capable of displaying up to 16.7
million different colors - each of the red, green and blue electrons
guns has 256 setting levels (0 to 255). In order to achieve a grey,
you would simply specify the same setting for each of red, green and
blue - so it can display a maximum of 256 grey scales.
Now - some people may have an image that is 12 bit grey scale (i.e.
monochrome, with 4096 levels), and may find all that detail
useful within a specialist piece of analysis software, the human
eye cannot normally tell the difference between a grey scale image
that uses 8 bits (256 levels) and one that uses more. That's
actually one of the reasons manufacturers such as ourselves do not
produce "deeper" frame buffers.
[Side note - on a screen which is deliberately shaded from black at
one corner to mid-grey at the diagonally opposite corner some people
can make out lines as the level changes by "1" - but this really has
to be 'set up' and is not a typical case!]
If the circumstances of the application allow, I would suggest that
for display purposes you use only the eight most significant bits of
your data, and simple do not display the other four. If you wanted
to display the other four (for example use color to get higher
resolution into the image - false color to see features that could
NOT normally be seen by the naked eye), the RasterFlex board would
be the ideal product for you to use!
faq020: How many RasterFlex boards can I install in
one system?
The Xsun server (the most common server used) will support up to
four framebuffers. It has been tested with 4 RasterFLEX-32
boards installed in a SPARC 10 and 4 RasterFLEX-HRs in a SPARC 20.
The Xrfx X server will support three framebuffers,
When running multiple head, the Xrfx and Xsun servers support all
the same options, -dd 24 -cc TrueColor for Xrfx and defdepth
24 for Xsun.
faq021: How reliable are your boards?
They are exceptionally reliable, with an MTBF (Mean Time Between
Failure) rating of 65,000 hours (RasterFlex HR).
Questions as you install the boards (and Later)
faq022: Which Release of RasterFlex Drivers do I
require?
Release 5.0 contains software for all versions of Solaris
from 1.1.1 (also known as SunOS 4.1.3) to 2.6.
Users of Solaris 2.6 MUST use at least release 4.7.
Users of Solaris 2.5.1 MUST use at least release 4.6 (or 4.7)
Users of Solaris 2.5 should also use release 4.6 (or 4.7)
Although release 4.5 does support Solaris 2.5, we suggest
that you run release 4.6 instead, as this release included
patches for workstations introduced after Solaris 2.5 was
released.
Users of Solaris 2.3 and 2.4 should use release 4.5 or later
Users of Solaris 1.x / SunOS 4.1.x should use release 4.5;
releases 4.6 and 4.7 are partial release that only support
Solaris 2.
faq023: Where do I get release xxxx of the
RasterFlex Drivers?
For Solaris 1 and 2 releases up to and including 2.4:
Releases 5.0 of the RasterFlex drivers is shipped on a CD
with newly purchased boards, and can also be purchased
through our normal sales channels (there are details
elsewhere in this FAQ).
For Solaris releases 2.5 and 2.5.1:
Release 4.6 can be downloaded from:
http://www.wellho.com/download
or ftp://ftp.vigra.com/pub/rasterflex
It comes in the form of a complete installable XSun driver,
and it is NOT necessary to have any prior release installed
on your system. There is also a "Readme" file which can
be downloaded from the same location. The total download
size is approx 430k.
For Solaris release 2.6:
Release 4.7 can also be downloaded from:
http://www.wellho.com/download or
ftp://ftp.vigra.com/pub/rasterflex
It comes in the form of a patch file to replace the existing
file ddxVITrfx.so.1 from either the 4.5 or 4.6 release
(this was the only file to change between those releases).
There is a "Readme" file of instructions also available for
download. The download size is 170k (if you gave the gzip
utility available) or 930k otherwise.
(Note that these the contents of these download areas as well
as the file locations are subject to change.)
faq024: What color models does the RasterFlex
board support?
PseudoColor, StaticColor, StaticGray and GrayScale (all in 8 bit)
DirectColor and TrueColor (both in 24 bit)
Default operation is Pseudocolor. For individual applications,
this can be overwridden using the vset utility supplied with the
drivers. To override for all windows (i.e. to change the
default), modify the line which starts the server.
Examples:
... -dev /dev/rfx0 defdepth 24 defclass DirectColor
... -dev /dev/rfx0 defclass StaticGray
For more information on Vset, refer to the User manual supplied with
the RasterFlex board. For more information on the color models,
refer to a standard X Windows text (ther are brief notes in the
User Manual)
faq025: Is my RasterFlex board installed correctly?
Firstly - did you remember (On Solaris 2) to reboot using the
-r option when you installed the board, and before you ran the
installation software? If so ... the RasterFlex board(s) should
be visible as the system boots up (you can run the dmesg
command to replay the messages) and it should report on each
RasterFlex board found.
If you want to CHECK the dmesg output, and that all the device
files are correct, the Perl script at the end of this answer
will provide the confirmation.
Second - even if the system can see the screen correctly, it
might be that the X Windows system is NOT looking at the
board .... See faq026 "SunOS detects the board, but Open
Windows doesn't".
#!/usr/local/bin/perl
#
# Identify screens and print a count ....
#
# Written by Graham Ellis as a demonstration, August 1997
# No resposibility for any errors taken. No warranty. Demo only.
#
@screen_lines = <DATA>;
chomp @screen_lines;
@dmesg = `dmesg`;
foreach $screen (@screen_lines)
{
@scr_hits = grep (/$screen/,@dmesg);
foreach $scr_found (@scr_hits)
{
$screen_table{$scr_found} ++;
}
}
# collect ALL the devices!
open (DEVS,"ls -lR /dev|");
while (<DEVS>) {
@line = split (/\s+/);
if ($#line == 0)
{ $nowdir = substr ($line[0],0,length($line[0])-1)}
else{
push @dv,"$nowdir/".$line[$#line-2]." $line[$#line]\n";
}
}
foreach $screen(sort keys %screen_table)
{
# list found screen sbus (etc) addresses
print "\nscreen found: $screen";
@scdets = split(/\s+/,$screen);
# find the matching name in /devices
$second_line = "$scdets[0]\\s+is";
@device = grep (/$second_line/,@dmesg);
@d_els = split (/\s+/,$device[0]);
$dfile = "/devices$d_els[$#d_els]";
print "That is $dfile\n";
# hunt for links to it
print "it is known as ";
@found = grep (/$dfile/,@dv);
foreach $name (@found) {
@fls = split(/ /,$name);
print " ",$fls[0];
}
print ("\n");
$nscreen++;
}
print "\nsystem appears to have $nscreen screen(s)\n\n";
__END__
^VITec.*sbus.*slot
^bwtwo.*sbus.*slot
^cgthree.*sbus.*slot
^cgsix.*sbus.*slot
^SUNW,ffb.*UPA
faq026: SunOS sees the boards, but OpenWindows
doesn't!
The X Windows system is very configurable, so we can give no easy
one-liner as an answer. But here's a scheme for checking under
OpenWindows on a dual-headed system ...
- Create a clean new user account WITHOUT ANY .cshrc or .login files.
- Log in to the new account and run
/usr/openwin/bin/openwin -dev /dev/rfx0 -dev /dev/cgsix0
(or whatever your frame buffer devices are called)
[Open Windows started. Both screens cleared. Default windows appeared
on the first screen ... Console, File Manager and Help Viewer]
- When open windows has started, use the pulldown menus to start a
command tool or shell tool (by default, that's in the "programs"
menu.
- Click into the command-or-shell tool and type:
xterm -display :0.1
[A window should appear on the second screen; you can drag the
cursor over to it, click in it, use it ...... ]
SHOULD THINGS NOT WORK IN THIS WAY FOR YOU, then chances are that
system wide configuration files have been changed. Files thay I
would look at it that case include (in /usr/openwin/lib):
openwin-init
openwin-menu
openwin-menu-programs
Xdefaults
Xinitrc
and the app-defaults directory.
Xinitrc is a "good" one as it refers on to lots more files as well!!
ONCE YOU HAVE GOT THE BASIC WINDOWS WORKING, then you'll want to
tailor your pull-down menus to be able to select applications to
start on either screen. Use files such as ".openwin-menu" in your
home directory if you want that done on a user by user basis, or
files such as "/usr/openwin/lib/openwin-menu" if you want the
changes to apply to ANYONE who logs in and does not have a personal
"dot" file.
Also do remember that you need to have a monitor plugged into the
active frame buffer ... it's all too easy to install a new board,
switch the screen across but not switch the software. What LOOKS
like a dead machine is not ...
faq027: How do I get the RasterFlex to work with CDE?
After completing the installation procedure, you need to edit the
file /etc/dt/config/Xservers or /usr/dt/config/Xservers to reflect
the frame buffers that you will be supporting ...
The last active line of the file should be changed. Examples:
:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun -nobanner
-dev /dev/rfx0 defdepth 24 -dev /dev/fb0
(All on one line.)
This sample line sets up the RasterFlex as the main frame buffer
( hostname:0.0 ) and the other frame buffer in the system as the
second ( hostname:0.1 )
:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun -nobanner -dev
/dev/rfx1
(This sample sets up the SECOND RasterFlex board as the main frame
buffer
and makes no use of any other Frame Buffers fitted to the system!)
faq028: How do I set the screen resolution?
The board itself selects the resolution it is to use; it is NOT a
software configuration.
RasterFlex HR hnd 32 have three jumpers on the board. In the factory
set condition, the board senses (from a Sun monitor) the maximum
resolution of the screen, and operates up to that resolution. Thus -
plug in a Sun 1280x1024 monitor to a RasterFlex HR, switch on, and
you get that resolution!
If your monitors are not standard Sun ones that provide the information
on their resolution, different jumper settings control the operational
resolution (you may also need to do this for Sun monitors manufactured
prior to Summer 1994)
For the following section, hold the board with the Screen
(video) connector at the top. You will see 3 jumpers
(J2, J3 and J4) at the top left of the board. Setting
options are as follows:
|
The following apply to RasterFlex 32 and RasterFlex HR:
|
| Automatic configure (As shipped) |
J2 - RIGHT |
| |
J3 - RIGHT |
| |
J4 - RIGHT |
| 1024 x 768, 76 Hz (SVGA) |
J2 - LEFT |
| |
J3 - LEFT |
| |
J4 - LEFT |
| 1152 x 900, 66 Hz |
J2 - LEFT |
| |
J3 - jumper REMOVED |
| |
J4 - jumper REMOVED |
|
The following is for the RasterFlex 32 ONLY:
|
| 1152 x 900, 76 Hz |
J2 - jumper REMOVED |
| |
J3 - LEFT |
| |
J4 - LEFT |
|
The following apply to RasterFlex HR ONLY:
|
| 1152 x 900, 76 Hz |
J2 - LEFT |
| |
J3 - LEFT |
| |
J4 - jumper REMOVED |
| 1280 x 1024, 60Hz |
J2 - jumper REMOVED |
| |
J3 - LEFT |
| |
J4 - jumper REMOVED |
| 1280 x 1024, 67 Hz |
J2 - Jumper REMOVED |
| |
J3 - LEFT |
| |
J4 - LEFT |
| 1280 x 1024, 76Hz |
J2 - LEFT |
| |
J3 - jumper REMOVED |
| |
J4 - LEFT |
|
Other screen resolutions are NOT possible.
|
faq029: Why are there several X Servers? Which are
supported?
The part of the X Windows system which sits between the Applications
(be they your purchased-in software or things like command tools)
and the physical device is called the "X Server". The applications
talk to it in a standard X protocol and that's where the "Standard"
comes in ... in theory, anyone can write a server, anyone can write
applications, and provided they adhere to the standard they should
inter-operate.
AP&D supply three different servers, or components for them:
- xnews-rfx. For Solaris 1. An X Server which supports AP&D
and Sun Frame buffers, and ALSO supports "NeWS" protocol - which was a
big "thing" with Sun at the time. (Mainly because it was their
proprietary answer to X11, which was to be an open standard. For
trivial fans, NeWS stands for "Network Extensible Windowing System."
- Xrfx. For Solaris 1 and Solaris 2. A Port of the "X11R5" Standard
X Server (supplied with X itself), once again supporting AP&D and
common Sun frame buffers
- XSun. For Solaris 2. Sun supplies Xsun itself. It is a general X
Server into which "ddx" modules can be plugged to support whatever
frame buffers you like, using the "ddl" interface. AP&D
supplies a ddx driver; you clearly have that, and have it installed
correctly, or you would NOT be able to get windows on the screen
which the RasterFlex card is driving.
XSun / ddx has a huge advantage in its modularity and has (to all
intents and purposes) replaced the other two servers under Solaris 2.
faq030: Where do I get technical support on my
RasterFlex Boards?
- This FAQ
- The User Manual contains the answer to most of the questions you'll
be asking
- Technical support is also available from directly from AP&D.
Here is the contact information:
Address: AP&D, 10052 Mesa Ridge Court, San Diego CA 92121
Time Zone: US-Pacific (GMT-8 most of the year)
Phone Numbers: (USA 1+) 858 457 2111
AP&D Corporate 800 621 8474
FAX 858 597 7094
Email: rasterflex_support@visicom.com
faq031: How do I set up and run multiple
screens?
For the Common Desktop Environment, edit the last line of the file
/usr/dt/config/Xservers (or /etc/dt/config/Xservers) to read
something like:
:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun -dev /dev/rfx0
-dev /dev/fbs/ffb0
(All on one line)
this example means only root can start the Xserver Xsun on the local
display, and Xsun will manage two devices /dev/rfx0 and /dev/fbs/ffb0.
As
long as we know that these two device nodes are valid, which can verify
by
doing a " ls -l " and seeing if the links point to the right place or by
running openwindows:
% openwin -dev /dev/rfx0 -dev /dev/fbs/ffb0
For open windows, simply use the last line of the example above (or
one varied to reflect differing frame buffer device names). You may
like to place an alias for openwin in your .cshrc or .login file, or
in a file that calls, so that the options are selected automatically.
Under both CDE and Open Windows, further parameters may be given to
set the relationship of one screen to the other ... how the mouse
moves off one screen to appear on the second. For further details
of this and of other facilities provided by the X Window system to
dual headed workstation users, please refer to a standard X
Windows text.
faq033: How do I choose which of my two screens is
the console?
You can change this by changing the sbus-probe-list in the eeprom.
The sbus-probe-list determines which device is the console boot device.
The boot prom will go through the list sequentialy until it finds a
hardware device installed in that Sbus slot.
[This answer is for a system with a built in GX board ... it DOES vary
from model to model ....]
0 is always first.
0312 will cause the system to display console text on the builtin GX
at boot.
0123 will cause the system to display console text on what ever is
installed in slots 1 or 2 at boot time.
Use 0123 if you're running single head, if you're running dual head
you can use 0123 or 0312.
Remember this has nothing to do with the way X windows comes up.
faq034: How do I add the RasterFlex Drivers
manually?
Note: Some of the locations of these ftp files are "in flux"...
contact AP&D Customer Support for assistance if necessary.)
(Applies from Solaris 2.3 up)
1) Install the RasterFLEX framebuffer and connect the monitor.
2) Power on the CPU
ok boot -r
3) Download the version 4.6 driver and Readme from:
http://www.wellho.com/download
This archive has three files, the driver "rfx", the DDX module
"ddxVITrfx.so.1", and a readme. Move the files to /tmp
4) As root:
cp /etc/driver_aliases /etc/driver_aliases.old
If add_drv fails it wipes out driver_aliases and the system
won't boot!
5) cp /tmp/ddxVITrfx.so.1 /usr/openwin/server/modules/ddxVITrfx.so.1
chmod 644 /usr/openwin/server/modules/ddxVITrfx.so.1
chown root /usr/openwin/server/modules/ddxVITrfx.so.1
6) cp /tmp/rfx /kernel/drv/rfx
chmod 644 /kernel/drv/rfx
chown root /kernel/drv/rfx
7) Choose either RF-32 or RF-HR
8) /usr/sbin/add_drv -m '* 0666 root sys' -i "VITec,RasterFLEX-32" rfx
"VITec,RasterFLEX-HR(67Hz)" rfx
9) echo "type=ddi_display;minor=rfx rfx\N0" >> /etc/devlink.tab
^
|
tab
this will create the device node
10) if RF-HR add "" to /etc/driver_aliases
rfx "VITec,RasterFLEX-HR(67Hz)"
11) /usr/sbin/devlinks, this what a boot -r does
check for ls -l /dev/rfx0
try bringing up X windows
% openwin -dev /dev/rfx0 defdepth 24
12) List of files modified in /etc
% grep rfx /etc/*
devlink.tab:type=ddi_display;minor=rfx rfx\N0
driver_aliases:rfx VITec,RasterFLEX-32
driver_aliases:rfx "VITec,RasterFLEX-HR(67Hz)"
minor_perm:rfx:* 0666 root sys
name_to_major:rfx 56
path_to_inst:"/iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/VITec, RasterFLEX-32@1,0" 0 "rfx"
13) IF YOU ARE RUNNING SOLARIS 2.6 ONLY
You need to patch the release by replacing the file ddxVITrfx.so.1
with a the release 4.7 version. This driver is also available from
the address given in step 2 of these instructions.
faq035: What's a good way to test my installation / boards?
The Rasterflex boards run standard X Windows applications, and the best
tests are to run such standard applications. The examples in the
manual are tiny demonstrations to show you how to program certain
extra features of the board and are only relevant to a small number of
customers.
To test the board in 24 bit mode, I would use an application such as
"xv" which is freely available on the net, and use it to view a 24
bit image of (say) a face with all the gradual color changes involved.
Drag the window around, resize it, pull up multiple windows, run other
apps at the same time .... that will be a much more thorough test of
the board.
faq036: What's all this about 8 and 24 bit modes?
What is color Flashing?
A Brief Tutorial...
Computer Graphics is (are?) displayed as a large number of colored
dots or pixels - on the RasterFlex HR there is a grid of up to
1280 x 1024 of them.
In order for the Frame Buffer to remember which color to display at
which point, it has a large block of computer memory fitted which holds
the information and plays it out very fast (at up to 76 times a second
for the whole screen). Naturally, being such fast memory this is also
expensive memory.
Most frame buffers have 8 bits of memory per pixel - giving up to 2 to
the power 8 (i.e. 256) possible different colors for display. As
different customers require different sets of colors, though, each
dot is put through a color look up table (or CLT) to work out what
the actual display color is to be (for example) for "color No. 17".
For imaging applications, 256 colors is NOT enough, and so the
RasterFlex Frame buffers provide not 8 bits but 24 bits per pixel,
giving 2 to the power 24 (i.e. 16777216) different colors. Of course,
there is then no need for a color lookup table (indeed it would be
impractical to have one that's so large).
The X Windows system supports two "color models" that use 24 bit
color - TrueColor and DirectColor - and the RasterFlex boards can
support BOTH.
It turns out though that the CLT models have certain advantages -
by changing a single entry in the CLT, for example, an application
can make the screen blink or can highlight a color coded feature.
Furthermore, it's much quicker for an application to write 8 bits
rather than 24. So the RasterFlex boards ALSO support the four
X Windows 8 bit color models - PseudoColor, StaticColor,
StaticGray and GrayScale.
Different color Models may be used in different windows - you select
the default mode you want for the window manager and other windows
that do not choose explicitly, then the default can be overwridden
either directly by an application or by the AP&D supplied "vset"
utility. The X Server keeps track of the color model in use for
each pixel by using some extra bits (there are actually 32 bits per
pixel on the RasterFlex 32 and RasterFlex HR cards).
You might like to note that the RasterFlex 24 board (which is NOT a
AP&D-supported product) does NOT have the extra bits and so
has to work only in a single color Model. This also applies to
the RasterFlex 32 and RasterFlex HR boards if they are configured to
run in "8 bit overlay mode".
color FLASHING is something users of X Windows systems experience
from time to time .... as the cursor is moved from one window to
another some (or all) of the colors change. Why?
The X Windows models are based on one color Lookup Table per window
- so that each application can use up to 256 colors. Hardware
vendors, however, have provided just one color lookup table per
frame buffer. This means that the X Windows system has to struggle
for colors, and most Window Managers will (when necessary) maintain
separate color tables for each window and switch the tables as the
"focus" changes from one window to another. Of course, color 19 on
one window is likely to be very different to color 19 on another
window.
Some piecemeal corrections are possible - modern window managers
attempt to allocate color as requested and to share CLTs between
windows. Sometimes that results in fewer colors than you would wish
being available, perhaps to the extent that something will be drawn
in totally the wrong color (if the window manager says "look - I
have no yellow - have orange instead" for example!)
With the features of the RasterFlex 32 and RasterFlex HR, color
flashing is much lessened.
- The boards (uniquely in my knowledge) have two CLTs each rather
than one. The User manual describes how they are allocated.
- CLTs are not used in 24 bit modes, so if you have any windows
which are drawn in those modes they will NOT use up precious CLT
entries.
One of the most common uses of RasterFlex is to eliminate color
flashing; customers use 24 bit mode for windows that soak up a
lot of colors, but which don't require the fastest of display,
and then use 8 bit modes for the appliactions which are dynamic.
Examples of applications which hog color table entries are the various
browsers, Applix, and image handling software.
faq051: Crash while attempting to install on a
Solaris 2.5 system
This might be due to a Solaris bug in the ckitem function which
is used in the installation scripts. To determine this, see the
material below. If it is indeed the problem, it is fixed in patch
106255-01.
This script will determine whether the bug exists:
% cat gjetes
ABC=`ckitem -n -p " select what you want: " " one two " " three four "`
echo Status: $?
echo Result: $ABC
^D
This script returned a status code of 139 (the manual describes
codes of 0 through 4 only) when a correct entry was made. ckitem was
handling incorrect entries correctly.
It also core dumped, producing the message:
1070 Segmentation fault (Core Dumped)
(also saw 1039 in place of 1070 ...)
Later Questions and Troubleshooting
faq037: "Out of date" library error messages when
starting the X Server
Sometimes these messages are just informative and the windowing
system will start up OK. However sometimes the server will time
out and not start up.
In Solaris 1, if you do NOT have SunView installed, you should start
OpenWindows using the -nosunview argument to the script
/usr/openwin/bin/openwin
(A quick way to determine if SunView is loaded is to see if there
is a file /usr/lib/.sunview. If there is, then you probably do have
SunView loaded)
The other thing to do is to verify your LD_LIBRARY_PATH. If you
have a directory such as /opt/VITrflex/lib, it should be at the
BEGINNING of the path, e.b.
setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /optVITrflex/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
The rfxconfig.sh script will take care of this for you.
faq038: I am about to upgrade to Solaris 2.5.1.
What should I know?
The RasterFlex 32 and HR boards work fine on Solaris 2.5.1,
but you must have (at least) software release 4.6.
See "Where do I get release xxxx of the RasterFlex Drivers?"
within this FAQ document.
faq039: I am about to upgrade to Solaris 2.6. What
should I know?
The RasterFlex-32 and -HR boards work fine on Solaris 2.6, but you must
have (at least) software release 4.7. (This is part of the 5.0 release.)
See "Where do I get release xxxx of the RasterFlex Drivers?" within this
FAQ document.
faq052: I am about to upgrade to Solaris {2.}7. What
should I know?
Officially, the last supported version of Solaris we support RasterFlex
on is 2.6. However, the latest (5.0) version of the software is known
to support an -HR on a SPARCstation 5 running Solaris 7 and CDE 1.3.
RasterFlex-32 does NOT appear to work, nor do we have any information
about compatibility with SBus Ultra machines.
See "Where do I get release xxxx of the RasterFlex Drivers?" within this
FAQ document.
faq049: When attempting to start OpenWindows I just
get a listing of all the options to xinit and the message "server
error". What's wrong??
If you used the rfxconfig.sh script, that may be the reason.
rfxconfig.sh was intended to create some shell commands that
would simplify operation of OpenWindows. Unfortunately there
are some incompatibilities.
If you used rfxconfig to create a .cshrc.flex file and added the line
source .cshrc.flex
It creates startup files for various shells but unfortunately
they don't all work properly.
The simple explanation is this: depending on the options you
give to rfxconfig.sh, a line of the form
alias xinit "xinit -- /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun defdepth 24 defclass TrueColor"
In some versions of Solaris this is legal, and the device will
default to /dev/fb, the primary frame buffer. However, in later
versions of Solaris it is ILLEGAL, and an EXPLICIT frame buffer
needs to be specified:
alias xinit "xinit --
/usr/openwin/bin/Xsun -dev /dev/rfx0 defdepth 24 defclass
TrueColor"
(This will be remedied in the next release of the RasterFlex software.)
If you need assistance in creating the commands, options, xdm or
CDE files for your system, call or email AP&D technical support
apd.boardsupport@titan.com for assistance.
faq032: I cannot get the RasterFlex to be console
on a system with a Creator card
Background: If you open a new ULTRA 2 that has a Creator 3D installed,
then install a RasterFlex, then power up, you get no video. The problem
is that the software thinks the RasterFlex is the default screen, but
the Creator 3D interferes.
Solution: The solution that we have found is to follow these steps:
- Remove the Rasterflex. Install all software (O/S, RasterFlex
Drivers etc.) using the Creator 3D as the frame buffer,
- Reinstall the RasterFlex hardware, reboot using the -r option.
This resolves the conflict.
faq040: Which RasterFlex board do I have?
You might actually get confused between the RasterFlex-24 (a product
withdrawn from sale a number of years ago) as well as the RasterFlex
32 and HR.
If the board is TWO SBus slots with it is a very old (1994 vintage)
RasterFLEX. It will probably work, but this model is no longer
supported.
Under Solaris 2, to check the version of an installed board, you
can use the command
prtconf
which will report the connected hardware. The version of the
RasterFlex will also be shown.
Under Solaris 1 (SunOS 4), if your machine is UP and RUNNING with
the board installed, then the dmesg command will report on
hardware found at the most recent boot up ... and that will
clearly say " 24 ", " 32 " or " hr ".
Examples:
VITec,RasterFLEX-323 at sbus0: SBus slot 3 0x0 SBus level 5 sparc ipl 9
VITec,RasterFLEX-HR1 at sbus0: SBus slot 2 0x0 SBus level 5 sparc ipl 9
If your machine is NOT running, look at the board (video connector
uppermost). There will be 2 large chips on the left, and either
1 or 2 columns or smaller chips to the right.
If there is 1 row of chips, it's a RasterFLEX 24 or 32
If there are 2 rows of chips, it's a RasterFLEX HR
The RasterFlex 24 and 32 boards look remarkably similar. The RasterFlex
24 is a cut down version of the 32. If there are a number of empty
chip positions, it's a 24.
faq041: Does my RasterFlex board need a Firmware
upgrade?
The ONLY case this is necessary is when transferring an older RasterFlex
HR board into an Ultra2 - an upgraded boot Prom is needed. The chip at
position U2 on the board needs to be labelled #30PD0584-2; if it is
NOT, contact AP&D for their current returns / upgrade policy.
faq042: How do I remove the RasterFlex drivers from
a machine?
Our software is loaded using Sun's " pkg " system, and to remove all of
the
Conectware / RasterFlex drivers you should (as root) use pkgrm to remove
all the packages with names starting VIT.
For example:
pkgrm VITrdrvr VITrfddx VITrxfont VITrxman VITrxserv VITrxsupt
As part of the install process, you might also have modified your .cshrc
or .profile files, and in order to revert you would also need to back
out any such changes you made.
faq043: Are the RasterFlex drivers year 2000
compliant?
Yes. There is no time dependent code within our RasterFlex drivers.
faq044: I'm having trouble with Netscape 4.03 under
Solaris 2.6
Netscape 4.03 Beta when running under Solaris 2.6 shows some
coloration errors - in particular some web sites display with text
foreground and background in the same color. THIS PROBLEM ALSO
OCCURS ON STANDARD SUN FRAME BUFFERS, and so is an error in
Netscape and / or X Windows. One of our engineers has in fact
followed this further, and seen the X Windows system passing incorrect
"glyphs" to the drivers. Should you see this problem, we would
suggest that you confirm it on a non-RasterFlex frame buffer, then
report the fault through Sun or Netscape.
faq045: What if I re-slot my RasterFlex
card?
If running Solaris 2, you will need to reboot your workstation '-r'
so that it knows about the new location of the board.
You will need to REMOVE and RE-INSTALL your driver software. (Under
Solaris 2, use pkgrm to remove the old release - and use pkginfo to
find out the names of the packages loaded).
faq050: How do I add another RasterFlex to my
Solaris system?
For the purposes of this discussion, I'm assuming you have successfully
installed a single RasterFlex board sometime in the past, and are just
now adding another one. In order to do this you need to add new device
entries. This can be done manually and is explained elsewhere in the
FAQ, but here's an easier way.
A brief overview on how to do this is as follows.
- Boot up with the -r option on the boot command.
- Log in as the root user.
- REMOVE the RasterFlex driver by using the postremove script in
the Solaris2 package VITrdrvr
...Solaris2/FLEX/VITrdrvr/install/postremove
- ADD all RasterFlex drivers by running postinstall in the same
directory. This will create additional /dev entries such as rfx1,
rfx2, etc. that you can start OpenWindows or X11 sessions on.
If you would have had both RasterFlex boards installed at the time
you installed the VITrdrvr package, this step would not have been
necessary.
faq046: AP&D / Connectware / Vitec?
The RasterFlex-32 and RasterFlex-HR products are totally owned and
supported by AP&D, to whom all queries should be addressed.
The products were acquired from Connectware, who had in turn acquired
them from Vitec (of Plano, Texas) when they bought that company. You
may see references within the documentation still to these other
companies, but all support and sales enquiries should now be made
of AP&D.
As well as acquiring the products, AP&D has taken over the goodwill
of the existing customer base and whether you purchased your board
from us, or from Connectware, or from Vitec, we will be delighted to
offer you ongoing support.
faq047: RasterVideo, RasterMedia, RasterFlex-24,
RasterOps, RasterFlex-TV?
There are a number of products around with similar sounding names,
some of which were historically linked with the RasterFlex 32 and
RasterFlex HR. NONE of the products listed above is (or has ever
been) supplied or supported by AP&D. To the best of our knowledge,
the current company that looks after most of these products is ATM
Systems, a subsidiary of AMP.
(Please note that even though you may be able to run a RasterFlex-24
on a Solaris 2.5 system, it will definitely fail if you attempt to
run it under 2.6 or 2.7, even with the newer RasterFlex software.)
A 24-bit-only graphics card (the "SPARC TC") was acquired by Connectware
from RasterOps and briefly marketed by Connectware. This has been long
discontinued. It had the option of having a video card piggyback on it
("PIP" option).
faq048: What version of the FAQ is this?
This is version 3.0 of the AP&D / RasterFlex Frequently Asked
Questions document, current as of 10 Dec 1999. It is subject to change
without notice (hopefully to include newer and better information). We welcome any suggestions for improvement or reports
of error.
(Obligatory Legal Disclaimer:) Whilst every effort has been made
to ensure the accuracy of this document, neither the author, nor
AP&D can be held responsible for any errors contained herein
nor for the consequences of any such errors.
