Hi all,

Is there a way to set resolution/refresh rates for 2 monitors (each on
Creator3D fb) from NVRAM/OpenPROM?

I have 2 Creator cards as ffb@1d,0 and ffb@1e,0 of course.

I can control the "first" fb using the normal

devalias screen:r1280x1024x76
setenv output-device screen
reset

etc.

but the 2nd fb???

I'm using sync-compatible flat panels with 13w3 VGA adaptors on the
Creator3D cards. Does a Creator3D fb read "pin data" from such adaptors
to set itself? I ask because something has persuaded my 2nd fb to switch
from 1152x900 to 1280x1024 (which is what I want as it's the native res
of the TFT) but at 60, not 76. Horrid!

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

If it makes a difference, I'm running Debian Sarge and of course X just
takes the existing fb res/rates and ignores anything in XF86Config.

(And hence any sort of GUI adjustment under X makes no difference at all
either).

thanks in advance,
John

John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> writes:

>Is there a way to set resolution/refresh rates for 2 monitors (each on
>Creator3D fb) from NVRAM/OpenPROM?

No. The Creator3D fbs are controlled through the OS, not the
prom.

>I have 2 Creator cards as ffb@1d,0 and ffb@1e,0 of course.

>I can control the "first" fb using the normal

>devalias screen:r1280x1024x76
>setenv output-device screen
>reset

While this works, this is not the way this is normally done
with ffbs.

Try the fbconfig command (ffbconfig on older releases)

>etc.

>but the 2nd fb???

>I'm using sync-compatible flat panels with 13w3 VGA adaptors on the
>Creator3D cards. Does a Creator3D fb read "pin data" from such adaptors
>to set itself? I ask because something has persuaded my 2nd fb to switch
>from 1152x900 to 1280x1024 (which is what I want as it's the native res
>of the TFT) but at 60, not 76. Horrid!

The frequency really shouldn't matter on TFTs, so I think something
else must be wrong. (The flickering on CRT is caused by the decay
in the light emission when the electron beam passes; a TFT refreshed at
1Hz would still not flicker, [but obviously screen updates would be slow])

<16ms TFTs were even rare and only now seem to be getting more common.

>If it makes a difference, I'm running Debian Sarge and of course X just
>takes the existing fb res/rates and ignores anything in XF86Config.

Ah, yes, that makes a difference: ffb performance is poor on debian
and the ffbconfig command doesn't exist.

In the openbootprom, cd to the appropriate upa device; the edid data
should be non-0 and a proper h/bb/v_freq should be set.

{2} ok
{2} ok cd /
{2} ok ls
f008dd14 os-io
f006e4d0 SUNW,ffb@1e,0
f006d8a4 SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@2,0
f006d538 SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@0,0
f00611fc counter-timer@1f,1c00
f00605f0 pci@1f,2000
f005fd74 pci@1f,4000
f004d064 virtual-memory
f004ca84 memory@0,80000000
f002ce38 aliases
f002cdc8 options
f002cc90 openprom
f002cc24 chosen
f002cbb4 packages
{2} ok cd SUNW,ffb
{2} ok ls
{2} ok .properties
character-set ISO8859-1
address febc0000
ihandle ff fe 54 58
reg 000001fc 00000000 00000000 00000400
000001fc 00400000 00000000 00200000
000001fc 00600000 00000000 00200000
000001fc 01000000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 01400000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 01800000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 01c00000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 02000000 00000000 01000000
000001fc 03000000 00000000 01000000
000001fc 04000000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 04400000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 04800000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 04c00000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 05000000 00000000 01000000
000001fc 06000000 00000000 02000000
000001fc 09000000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 09800000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 0a000000 00000000 01000000
000001fc 0b000000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 0b800000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 0c000000 00000000 00400000
000001fc 0c800000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 0d000000 00000000 00800000
000001fc 0d800000 00000000 00800000
fbc_reg_id 32 41 90 6d
ramdac_rev 00 00 00 01
fcode_version @(#)ffb2p.fth 2.6 97/10/02
model SUNW,501-4788
board_type 00 00 00 33
upa-interrupt-slave
interrupts 00000005
upa-portid 0000001e
monitor_mode 00 00 00 00
v_freq 00 00 00 42
height 00 00 03 84
width 00 00 04 80
edid_data 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
no_edid_blks 00 00 00 00
device_type display
name SUNW,ffb

John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> writes:

> Hi all,
>
> Is there a way to set resolution/refresh rates for 2 monitors (each on
> Creator3D fb) from NVRAM/OpenPROM?
>
> I have 2 Creator cards as ffb@1d,0 and ffb@1e,0 of course.
>
> I can control the "first" fb using the normal
>
> devalias screen:r1280x1024x76
> setenv output-device screen
> reset
>
> etc.
>
> but the 2nd fb???
>
> I'm using sync-compatible flat panels with 13w3 VGA adaptors on the
> Creator3D cards. Does a Creator3D fb read "pin data" from such
> adaptors to set itself? I ask because something has persuaded my 2nd
> fb to switch from 1152x900 to 1280x1024 (which is what I want as it's
> the native res of the TFT) but at 60, not 76. Horrid!

The old Sun 18" TFT:s work best at 60 Hz. They will do 76 Hz, but the
image is better at 60. The TFT:s are all digital and the refresh rate
is irrelevant.

>
> Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
>
> If it makes a difference, I'm running Debian Sarge and of course X
> just takes the existing fb res/rates and ignores anything in
> XF86Config.
>
> (And hence any sort of GUI adjustment under X makes no difference at
> all either).
>
> thanks in advance,
> John

Thomas

Thanks Casper - this makes sense, I'll give it a try this evening!

When you say that Debian isn't good with ffbs can you recommend
alternative linux distros that are better? My choice of Debian was
pretty arbitrary - much more to do with familiarity than an
understanding of issues with sparc hardware!

One other thought... am I going about this the wrong way? Would 2 x
PGX32 PCI cards be a better idea?

John

Casper H.S. Dik wrote:
> John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> writes:
>
>
>>Is there a way to set resolution/refresh rates for 2 monitors (each on
>>Creator3D fb) from NVRAM/OpenPROM?
>
>
> No. The Creator3D fbs are controlled through the OS, not the
> prom.
>
>
>>I have 2 Creator cards as ffb@1d,0 and ffb@1e,0 of course.
>
>
>>I can control the "first" fb using the normal
>
>
>>devalias screen:r1280x1024x76
>>setenv output-device screen
>>reset
>
>
> While this works, this is not the way this is normally done
> with ffbs.
>
> Try the fbconfig command (ffbconfig on older releases)
>
>
>>etc.
>
>
>>but the 2nd fb???
>
>
>>I'm using sync-compatible flat panels with 13w3 VGA adaptors on the
>>Creator3D cards. Does a Creator3D fb read "pin data" from such adaptors
>>to set itself? I ask because something has persuaded my 2nd fb to switch
>
>>from 1152x900 to 1280x1024 (which is what I want as it's the native res
>
>>of the TFT) but at 60, not 76. Horrid!
>
>
> The frequency really shouldn't matter on TFTs, so I think something
> else must be wrong. (The flickering on CRT is caused by the decay
> in the light emission when the electron beam passes; a TFT refreshed at
> 1Hz would still not flicker, [but obviously screen updates would be slow])
>
> <16ms TFTs were even rare and only now seem to be getting more common.
>
>
>>If it makes a difference, I'm running Debian Sarge and of course X just
>>takes the existing fb res/rates and ignores anything in XF86Config.
>
>
> Ah, yes, that makes a difference: ffb performance is poor on debian
> and the ffbconfig command doesn't exist.
>
> In the openbootprom, cd to the appropriate upa device; the edid data
> should be non-0 and a proper h/bb/v_freq should be set.
>
> {2} ok
> {2} ok cd /
> {2} ok ls
> f008dd14 os-io
> f006e4d0 SUNW,ffb@1e,0
> f006d8a4 SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@2,0
> f006d538 SUNW,UltraSPARC-II@0,0
> f00611fc counter-timer@1f,1c00
> f00605f0 pci@1f,2000
> f005fd74 pci@1f,4000
> f004d064 virtual-memory
> f004ca84 memory@0,80000000
> f002ce38 aliases
> f002cdc8 options
> f002cc90 openprom
> f002cc24 chosen
> f002cbb4 packages
> {2} ok cd SUNW,ffb
> {2} ok ls
> {2} ok .properties
> character-set ISO8859-1
> address febc0000
> ihandle ff fe 54 58
> reg 000001fc 00000000 00000000 00000400
> 000001fc 00400000 00000000 00200000
> 000001fc 00600000 00000000 00200000
> 000001fc 01000000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 01400000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 01800000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 01c00000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 02000000 00000000 01000000
> 000001fc 03000000 00000000 01000000
> 000001fc 04000000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 04400000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 04800000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 04c00000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 05000000 00000000 01000000
> 000001fc 06000000 00000000 02000000
> 000001fc 09000000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 09800000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 0a000000 00000000 01000000
> 000001fc 0b000000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 0b800000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 0c000000 00000000 00400000
> 000001fc 0c800000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 0d000000 00000000 00800000
> 000001fc 0d800000 00000000 00800000
> fbc_reg_id 32 41 90 6d
> ramdac_rev 00 00 00 01
> fcode_version @(#)ffb2p.fth 2.6 97/10/02
> model SUNW,501-4788
> board_type 00 00 00 33
> upa-interrupt-slave
> interrupts 00000005
> upa-portid 0000001e
> monitor_mode 00 00 00 00
> v_freq 00 00 00 42
> height 00 00 03 84
> width 00 00 04 80
> edid_data 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
> no_edid_blks 00 00 00 00
> device_type display
> name SUNW,ffb
>
>

Thanks Thomas, I'm going to try and match up the refresh rates anyway
(see Casper's post above) but I do see your point.

John

Thomas Tornblom wrote:
> John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> writes:
>
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Is there a way to set resolution/refresh rates for 2 monitors (each on
>>Creator3D fb) from NVRAM/OpenPROM?
>>
>>I have 2 Creator cards as ffb@1d,0 and ffb@1e,0 of course.
>>
>>I can control the "first" fb using the normal
>>
>>devalias screen:r1280x1024x76
>>setenv output-device screen
>>reset
>>
>>etc.
>>
>>but the 2nd fb???
>>
>>I'm using sync-compatible flat panels with 13w3 VGA adaptors on the
>>Creator3D cards. Does a Creator3D fb read "pin data" from such
>>adaptors to set itself? I ask because something has persuaded my 2nd
>>fb to switch from 1152x900 to 1280x1024 (which is what I want as it's
>>the native res of the TFT) but at 60, not 76. Horrid!
>
>
> The old Sun 18" TFT:s work best at 60 Hz. They will do 76 Hz, but the
> image is better at 60. The TFT:s are all digital and the refresh rate
> is irrelevant.
>
>
>>Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
>>
>>If it makes a difference, I'm running Debian Sarge and of course X
>>just takes the existing fb res/rates and ignores anything in
>>XF86Config.
>>
>>(And hence any sort of GUI adjustment under X makes no difference at
>>all either).
>>
>>thanks in advance,
>>John
>
>
> Thomas

John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> writes:

>When you say that Debian isn't good with ffbs can you recommend
>alternative linux distros that are better? My choice of Debian was
>pretty arbitrary - much more to do with familiarity than an
>understanding of issues with sparc hardware!

Obviously I'd suggest Solaris :-) I think it doesn't matter
which Linux distribution you use as there are no accelerated
drivers for any of Sun's framebuffers.

>One other thought... am I going about this the wrong way? Would 2 x
>PGX32 PCI cards be a better idea?

Those are ATI cards?

Possibly. I'd also check that the refresh rate of the second card is
really the issue.

Casper

On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 16:54:38 +0000
John Reddie <john@REMOVETHISalconbury.net> wrote:

> When you say that Debian isn't good with ffbs can you recommend
> alternative linux distros that are better? My choice of Debian was
> pretty arbitrary - much more to do with familiarity than an
> understanding of issues with sparc hardware!

Must it be Linux? Solaris 10 runs quite well on a U60, and is the more
interesting OS (SMF, ZFS etc.). I'm using Solaris (since '91) and Linux
(since '93)*, and Solaris 10 is the nicest OS by a stretch.

> One other thought... am I going about this the wrong way? Would 2 x
> PGX32 PCI cards be a better idea?

From the hardware performance viewpoint, most definitely not. The
Creators are far superior to the PGX32s, and UPA is way faster than
PCI.

* and I am using or have used Interactive Unix, SCO, IRIX, Tru64, HP-UX
and even most variants of Windows.

--
Stefaan
--
As complexity rises, precise statements lose meaning,
and meaningful statements lose precision. -- Lotfi Zadeh

Casper H.S. Dik <Casper.Dik@Sun.COM> writes in comp.sys.sun.hardware:
|>One other thought... am I going about this the wrong way? Would 2 x
|>PGX32 PCI cards be a better idea?
|
|Those are ATI cards?

PGX32 are the TechSource cards - all the other PGX cards (PGX, PGX24,
PGX64) are ATI Rage 128 or ATI Rage XL.

--
Alan Coopersmith * alanc@alum.calberkeley.org * Alan.Coopersmith@Sun.COM
http://blogs.sun.com/alanc/ * http://people.freedesktop.org/~alanc/
http://del.icio.us/alanc/ * http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~alanc/
Working for, but definitely not speaking for, Sun Microsystems, Inc.