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Summary of Contents for Tech Source GFX 400 series
- Page 1 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual Copyright © 2005 Tech Source, Inc. 442 S. North Lake Blvd. Altamonte Springs, FL 32701 (407) 262-7100 Publication #65-0263-01 Rev A March 14, 2005...
- Page 2 DATE NUMBER Initial Release 03-14-05 The Tech Source logo and Tech Source GFX are trademarks of Tech Source, Inc. X Window System is a trademark and product of X. org. All other products or services mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or service marks of their respective companies or organizations.
- Page 3 WARRANTY The GFX 400 Series graphics cards are warranted for one (1) year from date of shipment. During the warranty period, Tech Source, Inc. will, at its discretion, repair or replace a defective product at its expense.
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Page 5: Table Of Contents
HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2.1 Installation Instructions 2.2 Resolution Settings SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 3.1 Overview 3.2 Requirements 3.3 Installing GFX 400 Series Driver Software 3.3.1 CD-ROM Installation 3.4 Changing Resolution and Bit-Depth on GFX 400 Card 3.4.1 Interactive Configuration 3.4.2 Non-Interactive Configuration 3.4.2.1 Examples 3.5 Dual-Screen Mode (GFX 450 only) - Page 6 CARD SPECIFICATIONS B.1 GFX 420 Card and Specifications B.2 GFX 440 Card and Specifications B.3 GFX 450 Card and Specifications B.4 GFX 400 Series Cabling B.4.1 GFX 450 B.4.2 GFX 420 and GFX 440 B.4.2.1 Digital Monitors B.4.2.2 Analog Monitors B.5 Special Adapter for Some Sun Monitors...
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Page 7: Introduction
Sun Blades, Ultra Sun Fire and Enterprise servers, while providing multi-head capability (up to 4 heads). All products in the GFX 400 Series line are capable of supporting resolutions of up to 1920x1200 analog and up to 1280x1024 digital (DVI). -
Page 8: Conventions
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual From this point forward, all GFX 400 series products will collectively be referred to as GFX 400, except when describing individual models. Also, Tech Source, Inc. may be referred to as Tech Source or TSI. -
Page 9: Hardware Installation
Chapter 2 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2.1 Installation Instructions The GFX 400 graphics card installation is simple and consists of a few easy steps. These installation instructions presume that you are familiar with the Solaris operating system. NOTE: Remember which cables go to which connectors. You may want to label the cables and connectors before disconnecting them. - Page 10 A monitor must be connected to the console device before you proceed to Chapter 3 Software Installation. The GFX 400 card is now installed and ready for software installation. Refer to Chapter 3 for installing the GFX 400 Series Driver Software.
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Page 11: Resolution Settings
Chapter 2 – Hardware Installation 2.2 Resolution Settings For monitors that support the DDC2B/EDID (Display Data Channel) protocol, the GFX 400 card will automatically select a compatible resolution. To override this selection, o r to change the default resolution for monitors that do not provide DDC information, refer to Section 3.4 and Appendix A. - Page 12 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual This page intentionally left blank.
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Page 13: Software Installation
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 3.1 Overview This chapter describes the software installation method for the “GFX 400 Series Driver Software”. NOTE: Please note that this software must be installed on your system prior to running X Windows on these cards. The software is provided on CD-ROM or by FTP and is composed of the following packages: •... -
Page 14: Installing Gfx 400 Series Driver Software
• Enterprise 3000 NOTE: If your Sun PCI system is not listed here, please contact Tech Source, Inc. The following are prerequisites for installing the “GFX 400 Series Driver Software”: • The system is running Solaris 2.5.1 or higher. •... - Page 15 At the "ok" prompt, type "boot –r" followed by the <Enter> key. After the system has booted, log in as root. Insert the CD-ROM labeled "GFX 400 Series Driver Software-Solaris Edition" into the CD-ROM drive. If /cdrom/cdrom0 exists, type: prompt# cd /cdrom/cdrom0 Skip to step 6.
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Page 16: Changing Resolution And Bit-Depth On Gfx 400 Card
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual NOTE: Upon reboot, new device names will be created in the /dev/fbs directory, one for each head. The GFX 400 device names have a prefix mko#, where # represents the instance number assigned by the operating system. -
Page 17: Interactive Configuration
Chapter 3 – Software Installation Please see the man page on mkoconfig for a detailed description. The next two sections describe two methods of using mkoconfig to configure the GFX 400 card. 3.4.1 Interactive Configuration mkoconfig has an interactive menu-style interface (See Figure 3.1). -
Page 18: Non-Interactive Configuration
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual puts a test pattern on the entire ‘t’ display (hit any key to return to the main screen) saves current settings and exits ‘s’ help ‘h’ exits the program without saving ‘q’ any changes... - Page 19 Chapter 3 – Software Installation mkoconfig uses the same conventions as Sun’s m64config or ffbconfig utilities. All of the parameters, which are set using the interactive version, can be set by specifying the option followed by a desired value. The parameters are: selects the devi ce to -dev <device>...
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Page 20: Examples
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual -cachedpixmap TRUE|FALSE Turn off the off-screen cached pixmap feature. Default is TRUE. displays current settings -propt displays hardware -prconf information shows complete usage -help listing NOTE: By default, the bit depth will be set to 8+24 for all resolutions. -
Page 21: Dual-Screen Mode (Gfx 450 Only)
Chapter 3 – Software Installation To set the resolution to 1024x768x60 with a single TrueColor visual (no 8-bit PseudoColor visual): prompt# mkoconfig -res 1024x768x60 \ -24only TRUE To display the current settings for /dev/fbs/mko0: prompt# mkoconfig -dev /dev/fbs/mko0 -propt 3.5 Dual-Screen Mode (GFX 450 only) The GFX 450 has the ability to support two displays - either two analog displays or one analog and the other DVI (digital). - Page 22 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual DDC From DDC From Output Resolution Monitor 0 Monitor 1 (DVI Port) (VGA Port) Present Present Monitor 0 DDC from Monitor 0 Present Absent Monitor 0 DDC from Monitor 0 Absent Present Monitor 1...
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Page 23: Openwindows (Dual Screen Mode) Configuration
Chapter 3 – Software Installation For example, to set the default head to Monitor 1 on non-console devices, add the following to the mko.conf file: tsi-default-head=1; When X Server is started in single-screen mode on a non- console device, the default head will be used for output. NOTE: The tsi-default-head setting in the nvramrc will only affect the console device and the tsi-default-head setting in mko.conf will affect only non-console GFX 450... -
Page 24: Setting Gfx 400 Card As The Console (Optional)
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual 3200x1200@60. In this dual-head mode, only the 24-bit TrueColor visual is supported. In single-head configurations, the resolution is limited to 1920x1200@76, and supports 8-bit, 24-bit, and 8+24-bit modes. NOTE: These limits apply to analog output only. Digital output is restricted to 1280x1024@60. -
Page 25: Sun Blade 1000, 1500, 2000, Ultra 30, Ultra 60 And Ultra
Chapter 3 – Software Installation 3.6.1.2 Sun Blade 1000, 1500, 2000, Ultra 30, Ultra 60, Ultra 80 and other systems without any built-in frame buffers If no other framebuffers are present in a Sun Blade 1000 or another supported system, then the GFX 400 will be the console by default, provided that the board is in a valid, probed PCI slot. -
Page 26: Gfx 400 Card With A Secondary Framebuffer
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual Enter Selection, q to quit: /pci@1f,0/SUNW,m64B@13 has been selected Type ^Y ( Control-Y ) to insert it in the command line. e.g. ok nvalias mydev ^Y Set the selected device as the console device by typing: ok setenv output-device <Control-Y>... -
Page 27: Other Pci Framebuffers
Chapter 3 – Software Installation Use this entry as the console device for your desired GFX 400 card. For example, if the path to the device "TSI,mko@#" is "/pci@1f,4000", then type the following command: NOTE: Replace ‘#’ with whatever your GFX 400 device requires. - Page 28 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual For example, if the GFX 400 device is located in slot 3, and the secondary framebuffer is located in slot 1, then update the pcia-probe-list so that slot 3 is probed BEFORE slot 1.
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Page 29: Openwindows
Chapter 4 OPENWINDOWS 4.1 Overview This section describes how to start up OpenWindows on a GFX 400 card. The GFX 400 device name will be mko#, where ‘#’ represents the device instance number. GFX 420 and GFX 440 cards can have multiple device names – one for each head. A GFX 450 card however, will have a single device name corresponding to both heads. -
Page 30: Supporting Multiple Gfx 400 Heads
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual 4.1.3 Supporting Multiple GFX 400 Heads GFX 420 and GFX 440 support multiple heads per card, OpenWindows can be started on each head in a multi-screen configuration. For example, a GFX 440 with four devices... - Page 31 Chapter 4 – Openwindows If the GFX 400 card is the console device, then there is no need to modify the Xservers file. The sample Xservers.mko file which is provided, assumes that the GFX 400 card is the only framebuffer on which to start CDE: :0 Local local_uid@console root \ /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 –dev \...
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Page 33: Advanced Features
TrueColor. PseudoColor is the default visual. 5.3 Cached Pixmaps All GFX 400 Series cards support off-screen pixmap caching. Cached pixmaps are those that are stored in the off-screen memory. These off-screen pixmaps allow faster transfer rates to and from on-screen windows. -
Page 34: Opengl Support
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual If it is running at 1024x768 resolution with a depth of 8-bits, 768K is used for on-screen memory. That leaves 31.2MB available for pixmaps. In 24-bit and 8+24-bit modes, the on-screen memory that is used is 4 times larger than what is used in the 8-bit mode. -
Page 35: Removing Gfx 400 Driver Software
Chapter 6 REMOVING GFX 400 SERIES DRIVER SOFTWARE 6.1 Overview To find out if any “GFX 400 Series Software” exists on your system, type: prompt# pkginfo | grep TSImko If you see any response to the command, then you currently have some “GFX 400 Series Driver Software”... - Page 36 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual This page intentionally left blank.
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Page 37: Technical Assistance
Chapter 7 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Who to Call for Help If you need help, please call our Technical Support Team at (800) 330-8301, or directly at (407) 262-7100 between the hours of 9:30am - 5:30pm EST Monday through Friday. Please have the software part number, version, and serial number for your GFX card(s) available when contacting Tech Source in order to expedite support. -
Page 38: Website
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual Website Detailed product information and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are available on our website located at: http://www.techsource.com... -
Page 39: Changing The Console Resolution
Appendix A CHANGING THE CONSOLE RESOLUTION A.1 Overview The GFX 400 card can be configured to be the console in a typical SPARC desktop/server. Every GFX 400 card type has its own default console resolution and default depth as shown in the following table: Board Resolution... -
Page 40: Guidelines For Changing The Console Resolution
GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual • If the monitor does not "sync up" at the default console resolution, it may be necessary to choose a different console resolution. A.1.2 Guidelines for Changing the Console Resolution There are some general guidelines to follow when changing the default console resolutions. -
Page 41: Output-Device Method
Appendix A – Changing the Console Resolution If the Auto-Detect feature fails the card will default to 1152x900@66Hz. Other methods described in this appendix will override any information obtained via EDID. A.2 Output-Device Method To specify the console resolution of a GFX 400 card via the environment variable, format... - Page 42 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual NOTE: The default console of all video modes is 8 bits. 640x480@72 640x480@75 640x480@85 800x600@60 800x600@72 800x600@75 800x600@85 1024x768@60 1024x768@70 1024x768@75 1024x768@77 * 1024x768@85 1024x800@85 * 1152x900@60 1152x900@66 * 1152x900@70 1152x900@75 1152x900@76 *...
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Page 43: Video-Timing Method
Appendix A – Changing the Console Resolution 1920X1080X60 1920X1080X72* 1920X1080X80 1920X1200@60 1920X1200@70 1920X1200@76 NOTE: The resolution followed by a * uses composite sync. NOTE: Please refer to Appendix C for a description of nvedit commands. ok nvedit 0: 8 value video-mode 1: <ctrl-c>... - Page 44 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual For example, to set the console resolution to 1280x1024@76Hz, type the following: ok nvedit 0: : video-timing " 1280, 384, 32, 64, 1024, 43, 3, 8, 135000000, 0" ; <ctrl-c> ok nvstore ok setenv use-nvramrc? true...
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Page 45: Troubleshooting
Appendix A – Changing the Console Resolution The sync values can be added together to select more than one of the above. NOTE: To obtain the timing parameters required to use the video-timing method, please contact Tech Source with your monitor's requirements. A.5 Troubleshooting Problem Solution... - Page 46 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual This page intentionally left blank.
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Page 47: Card Specifications
Appendix B CARD SPECIFICATIONS B.1 GFX 420 Card and Specifications Frame Buffer: 64 Megabytes (32MB/head) Hardware Cursor: 3 color, 64 x 64 bitmap Color Lookup Table(s): 256 entries PCI Interface: 33 MHz, 32-bit, Ver 2.1 Video Interface Analog, (50 ohm) TMDS (DVI) Temperature to 55... -
Page 48: Gfx 440 Card And Specifications
GFX 400 Series Installation & Reference Manual B.2 GFX 440 Card and Specifications Frame Buffer: 128 Megabytes (32MB/head) Hardware Cursor: 3 color, 64 x 64 bitmap Color Lookup Table(s): 256 entries PCI Interface: 33 MHz, 32-bit, Ver 2.1 Video Interface... -
Page 49: Gfx 450 Card And Specifications
Appendix B – Card Specifications B.3 GFX 450 Card and Specifications Frame Buffer: 32 Megabytes Hardware Cursor: 3 color, 64 x 64 bitmap Color Lookup Table(s): 256 entries PCI Interface: 33 MHz, 32-bit, Ver 2.1 Video Interface Analog, (50 ohm) TMDS (DVI) Temperature to 55... -
Page 50: Gfx 400 Series Cabling
Attach the GFX 400 Series dual-monitor adapters (splitter cables) to the connectors on the bracket of your GFX 400 Series card. Make sure the connectors are firmly in place. The other end of each adapter has DV I connectors to plug into each of the two displays. -
Page 51: Analog Monitors
Appendix B – Card Specifications Make sure the other end of each monitor cable is properly connected to its monitor. See your monitor manuals for more information. Figure B.1 B.4.2.2 Analog Monitors For analog monitors use the DVI to VGA adapter in conjunction with the dual-monitor adapter. - Page 52 GFX 400 Series Installation & Reference Manual Make sure all connectors are firmly in place. Figure B.2 NOTE: Monitors are numbered consecutively based on which connector each is attached to (Refer to Figure B.3). Numbering starts with the primary display – the one that first displays information when you restart your computer.
- Page 53 NOTE: Your dual-monitor adapter can only be used with DVI based displays. DVI to VGA adapters are included for use with analog displays. GFX 400 Series adapters that support digital monitors use DVI-D connectors – these adapters don’t use P&D or MDR-20 connectors.
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Page 54: Special Adapter For Some Sun Monitors
B.5 Special Adapter for Some Sun Monitors The GFX 400 Series have a DVI to VGA adapter for use with analog monitors. Some Sun monitors and cables require a 13W3 to VGA adapter such as the 1396 adapter shown below. This... -
Page 55: Using Nvedit To Modify Nvram
Appendix C USING NVEDIT TO MODIFY NVRAM C.1 NVRAM Edit Commands This section discusses the use of NVRAM. The NVRAM is used to set the resolution in the Video-Mode and Video-Timing methods. To edit the NVRAM, begin nvedit at the ok prompt. There are several commands that you must use to edit the variables in NVRAM: <Backspace>... - Page 56 GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual This page intentionally left blank.
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