SunoS 4.1.4 and Open Windows 3 on an IPX?

Mattis Lind mattislind at gmail.com
Mon Jan 16 06:53:02 CST 2017


Hello Jim!

2017-01-16 13:14 GMT+01:00 jim stephens <jwsmail at jwsss.com>:

>
>
> On 1/16/2017 3:58 AM, Mattis Lind wrote:
>
>> I have installed SunoS 4.1.4 on a an IPX and then tried to start Open
>> Windows 3  from the command line.
>>
>> I get a garbled screen that looks like this:
>>
>> http://i.imgur.com/jWcbqYO.jpg?1
>>
>> It looks like there is a mismatch between what resolution Open WIndows is
>> using and how the frame buffer is configured. My screen reports that the
>> framebuffer is outputting 1280x1024 at 76Hz.
>>
>> How can this be adjusted? I have read this manual:
>> http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/sun/openWin
>> dows/Open_Windows_Version_3_Installation_and_Start-Up_Guide_Sep91.pdf
>>
>> and various FAQs trying to modify EEPROM settings etc but it won't work.
>>
>> I understand that the 13W3 cable includes a number of sense lines so that
>> the framebuffer can adjust to the monitor used. I haven't checked how 13W3
>> to VGA cable is configured but I assume it tells the FB to use
>> 1280x1024 at 76Hz since it is what the screen reports.
>>
> I think you may need to force the display if you can to the 1000x1022
> resolution.  That doesn't sound too far off what I recall the resolutions
> were.
>
are you connecting into the thing thru serial so you can poke around?  I
> don't recall for sure if the default loaded system allows serial login, but
> you might be able to get on thru the serial port and adjust things as
> well.  I didn't read the guide above, this is from fighting with the
> systems long ago.
>

Sorry. I failed to mention that it works fine at the SunOS prompt. I have a
standard text terminal so I don't need to have a serial until I bring up
Open Windows. But how can I get it to use 1000x1022 anyhow. It seems that
when it start up it is at 1280x1024 at 76Hz probably because of the sense
lines.

If I am able to change the sense lines I could probably set it to 1152x900
according to this table: http://pinouts.ru/Video/SunVideo_pinout.shtml

But it would probably hard to do it without some kind of adapter or surgery
to the cable.

The 1000x1022 resolution is not on the list so I doubt that I can force it
into that easily, or? And 1000x1022 is a really strange setting anyway.
Where does that come from?


>
> I used a box that was made by Raritan or such to convert the video and
> keyboard to allow connection to VGA KVM and those boxes had some active
> circuitry in them to do things with the selects.  They weren't doing
> anything as far as sync adjustment, but may have pulled a different set of
> settings to both the Sun system and to the KVM and on to the display.  I
> did not have much trouble with that, so don't recall having to play with
> the frame buffer settings.
>

Do you happen to remember what resolution you were using?


>
> thanks
> Jim
>
> On the other hand, when SunOS boots it finds the cgsix0 and reports that
>> the resolution is 1000x1022!?
>>
>> Any idea on how to set different resolutions in Open Windows? What I am
>> not
>> understanding here? The word resolution is not even mentioned in the
>> Installation manual for Open Windows above...
>>
>> /Mattis
>>
>>
>>
> /Mattis


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