SUMMARY: New Sun Ultra 5 graphic question: How do I ensure 24bit

From: Nicky Ayoub (nicky.ayoub@microchip.com)
Date: Thu Jan 28 1999 - 09:41:22 CST


Hello World!
Basically the answer was RTFM. The way to tell if the card is 24 bits is
to ensure it has 4M mappable memory.
Under Solaris 2.6 a patch must be installed (105362-17 according to
Caper Dik) to replace the m64config utility for one
that has an option for -depth. You can run m64config -help to get all
the optiosn available. The manual page on my 2.6
system is incomplete. (On 2.7 it seems to be fine.) (** I installed
105362-16 until I can get 105362-17 **)

Todd Herr told me the patch is on the Sun Ultra 5/10 Software
Supplement CD in the ShowMeHow CD package that shipped
with the system. Also look at page 1-15 in the Sun Ultra 5/10 Software
Note doc.

We used 'm64config -depth 24 -res 1152x900x76'

A note from Davin Milun stated :
> Also, note that when running in 24bit mode, it is 24bit ONLY - with no
8bit
> visual available. This might break some applications.

Once the m64 is set to 24 bits you have to setup the Xserver properly.
The following is a suggestion from
Russ Poffenberger :
>You do this by editing /usr/dt/config/Xservers and changing the single
>uncommented line to..
> :0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -dev
/dev/fb0 defdepth 24 -nobanner

Steve Williams provided an OWconfig entry. It also has the refresh rate
bumped up from 66 to 76. Our users like this too.
>package="SUNWm64cf"
>
>class="XSCREENCONFIG" name="SUNWm640"
> device="/dev/fbs/m640"
> res="1152x900x76"
> depth="24";

Casper Dik also pointed me to the FAQ #3.56
<http://www.wins.uva.nl/pub/solaris/solaris2/>

Thank you all for the clarification:
Todd Herr
Russ Poffenberger
Davin Milun
John Sullivan
Tim Carlson
Roger Fujii
Casper Dik
James Wendling
Matthew Glaves

On Wed, 27 Jan 1999, I wrote:
> Hello Every-one,
>
> It is my understanding that all new Ultra 5's are to be shipped with 24
> bit PCX cards. This is
> according to Sun's own web page. I had been ordering the systems with
> 24bit cards previously.
> My VAR told me that it was no longer necessary. However, the last three
> that I ordered seemed to
> come with m64, the 8bit system. The new systems come with 2.7
> pre-loaded. I hade to install
> 2.6 for various reasons. Once the systems were up we noticed colormap
> flashing between
> Frame and Netscape. I thought that this should go away at 24bit. So I
> started to look into it.
>
> dmesg shows :
>
> mSUNW,m64B0 is /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/SUNW,m64B@2
> m64#0: 1280x1024, 4M mappable, rev 4750.7c
>
> According to the manual page this is an 8bit device. So the colormap
> flash makes sense,
> except for the fact that I ordered 24bit systems.... So I did some more
> digging. eeprom shows
> a devalias :
>
> use-nvramrc?=false
> nvramrc=devalias pgx24 /pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/SUNW,m64B
>
> Since use-nvramrc is false I suppose that is why I didn't see pcx24 in
> dmesg or at the monitor or
> in /dev...
> So... what is the deal here? any ideas? am I totally off base thinking I
> was ripped off?
>
> Thanks
> Nicky

--
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 Nick Ayoub  : Microchip Technologies : TEL  602-917-4250
 CAD Systems : 2355 W. Chandler Blvd. : FAX  602-786-7578
             : Chandler AZ 85224-6199 : PAGE 602-484-1086
 Nicky.Ayoub@Microchip.Com
 Nicky.Ayoub.Pager@Microchip.Com



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