Planar DOME Md4/PCX Installation Manual

Md4/PCX™ Display Controller

Installation Guide

DOME® imaging systems, inc.

®

Copyright © DOME

imaging systems, inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

This document contains proprietary information of DOME imaging
systems, inc. It is DOME’s exclusive property. It may not be reproduced
or transmitted, in whole or in part, without a written agreement from
DOME. No patent or other license is granted to this information.

The software, if any, described in this document is furnished under a
license agreement. The software may not be used or copied except as
provided in the license agreement.

DOME imaging systems, inc. provides this publication as is without
warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not
limited to the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose. DOME may revise this document from time to time
without notice. Some states or jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of
express or implied warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this
statement may not apply to you.

Information in this document about products not manufactured by
DOME is provided without warranty or representation of any kind, and
DOME will not be liable for any damages resulting from the use of such
information.

DOME imaging systems, inc.
400 Fifth Avenue
Waltham, MA 02451-8738
[phone] phone
[phone] fax
Internet address for product information:
Internet address for sales information:
Internet address for technical support:
World Wide Web site:

www.dome.com

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Part No. 40-MD4PCX-07
Product No. 55-MD4PCX2
November 2000

DOME and the DOME logo are registered trademarks, and Calibration
TQA, DIMPL, DimplX, Luminance Calibration System, Md4/PCX,
Md5/PCX, and Md5/DFP are trademarks of DOME imaging systems,
inc. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, DirectDraw,
Windows, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 are trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation. Number Nine and T2R are trademarks of
Number Nine Computer Corporation. OpenWindows, Solaris, Sun, and
Ultra are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. VGA is a trademark of
International Business Machines Corporation.

FCC Compliance Statement iii

FCC Compliance Statement

This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy
and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual,
may cause interference to radio communications. It has been tested and
found to comply with the limits of a Class A computing device pursuant
to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide rea­sonable protection against interference when operated in a commercial
environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely
to cause interference, in which case the user will be required at his or her
own expense to take whatever measures may be required to correct the
interference.

If the equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment on and off, one or
more of the following measures may reduce or eliminate the problem.

• Move the equipment and the receiver to different branches of your
AC electrical system.

• Move the equipment away from the receiver with which it is
interfering.

• Reposition the equipment or receiver. Reposition the receiver’s
antenna.

• Be sure that the equipment is plugged into a grounded outlet and that
the grounding has not been defeated with a cheater plug.

If none of the measures resolves your interference problems, write to the
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 20402, for the
booklet
Stock Number 004-000-000498-1.

This equipment is a Class A digital apparatus that complies with the
Radio Interference Regulations CRC C.1374.

In addition, this equipment has been tested and found to comply with
the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC
rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference in residential installations.

Interference to Home Electronic Entertainment Equipment Handbook

,

iv Md4/PCX Display Controller Installation Guide

EU Declaration of Conformity

The Md4/PCX board (model 55-MD4PCX2) meets the essential health
and safety requirements, is in conformity with, and the CE marking has
been applied according to the relevant EU Directives listed below using
the relevant section of the following EU standards and other normative
documents;

EU EMC Directive 89/336/EEC
EU Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive
EN 60601-1-2 1993 Medical Electrical Equipment

Part 1: General requirements for safety
Section 1.2 collateral standard electromagnetic
compatibility requirements

EN 55011 Class B

Limits and methods of measurements for Radio
interference characteristics of industrial, scientific, and
medical equipment

IEC 801-2 Electrostatic discharge requirements for industrial

process measurement and control equipment

IEC 801-3 Radiated electromagnetic field requirements for

industrial process measurement and control equipment

IEC 801-4 Electrically fast transients for industrial process

measurement and control equipment

IEC 801-5 Surge requirements

Contents v

Contents

About This Guide xi

Purpose xi
Audience xi
Documentation conventions xii
What’s in this guide xiii
Related documentation xiii

Chapter 1: Planning the Md4/PCX Board
Installation 1

About the Md4/PCX Board 2
Planning the Installation 4

Cross-platform requirements 4
Platform-specific requirements 4
Installation Order 5
To determine the board’s part number 6

Chapter 2: Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in
a PC 7

Installing the Board in a PC 8

To unpack the board 8
To prepare for board installation 9
To support VGA with another VGA board 9
To support VGA display with the Md4/PCX

board 10
To enable and disable VGA mode 11
To install the board 15
To install multiple Md4/PCX boards 17

Connecting the Monitors 18

To connect the monitors to the board 18

Installing the PCX Windows NT 4.0 Driver 20

To install the driver 20

vi Md4/PCX Display Controller Installation Guide

Configuring Display Settings 22

To set the display resolution and refresh rate 22
Using the DOME tab to change display properties 25
Setting palette options 29

Additional Options for Windows NT 33

Dynamic link library 33
DOME large fonts 33
To customize item and font size 36
DOME DlgFix software 37
DOME DPMS Screen Saver for Windows NT 39

Installing the PCX Windows 2000 Driver 44

To support multiple DOME screens 44
To install the driver 45
To finish the installation 47
To enable the sister display 48

Configuring Display Settings in Windows 2000 51

To determine screen assignments 51
Using the DOME tab to change display properties 52
Setting palette options 55
To set custom syncs 58

Uninstalling DOME Devices 62

To uninstall a single-headed DOME device 62
To uninstall a dual-headed DOME device 65

Dynamic Link Library 67

DIMPL library 67
DimplX control 67

Using Calibration TQA on Windows 2000 68
Troubleshooting Tips 69

To uninstall the sister device for a dual-headed DOME

display board 69
To uninstall a single-headed DOME display board 69
Unsigned driver cannot be loaded message 70
Impaired screen resolution 70

Contents vii

Chapter 3: Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in
a Sun PCI Workstation 71

Disabling Parity on a Sun Ultra System 72

To disable parity for a 33 MHz bus 72
To disable parity for a 66 MHz bus 73
To disable parity for an Ultra 450 system 73
To check parity status 74
To reenable parity 74

Installing the Board in a Sun PCI Workstation 75

To unpack the board 75
To install the board 76
To set switch S1 to disable VGA mode 79
Switch S2 79

Connecting the Monitors 82

To connect the monitors to the board 82
To install the stereo cable for stereo viewing 83

Installing the PCX Solaris Driver 84

To install the Md4/PCX driver for Solaris 84
Setting up display for stereo mode 86
Environment variables for panning/scrolling and

screen position 87
To set the environment variables 90

Configuring Display Settings 91
Using the Default Monitor Mode 92

To check the default mode 92
To program the default mode 93

Overriding the Default Monitor Mode 95

To modify the OWconfig file 96

Using Visual Classes 99

To emulate a PseudoColor visual class 99
To check the default visual 100

Configuring the Windowing Environment 103

To run OpenWindows 103

viii Md4/PCX Display Controller Installation Guide

To configure CDE 104
To use the DPMS Screen Saver with CDE 105

Changing the Console 108

Chapter 4: Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in
a Digital UNIX Workstation 109

Installing the PCX Digital UNIX Driver 110

To install the driver 110
Determining your kit name 111
To run the setld program 112
To add or remove display boards 115
Resolving booting problems with the new kernel 115
Uninstalling the kit 116

Installing the Board and Driver in a Digital UNIX
Workstation 117

To unpack the board 117
Supported configurations 118
To prepare for board installation 118
To install the board 119
To install multiple Md4/PCX boards 119
Supporting VGA with the Md4/PCX board 120
To support VGA with another VGA board 121
Enabling and disabling VGA mode 122

Connecting the Monitors 125

To connect a grayscale monitor 125
To connect a color monitor 126
To connect the monitors to the board 126

Configuring the Display Monitor 127

To set the monitor configuration 127

Issues with Digital Personal Workstations 129

Limitations of the Digital UNIX 64-bit PCI slots 129

Contents ix

Appendix: Md4/PCX Board Resolutions and Refresh
Rates 131

Resolutions and Refresh Rates for PCs 132

Customizing sync parameters for Windows NT 133

Resolutions and Refresh Rates for Sun PCI
Workstations 135

Resolutions and Refresh Rates for Digital UNIX
Workstations 137

Index

139

About This Guide xi

About This Guide

Read this guide carefully before you unpack the board.
It provides all necessary information about installing
the Md4/PCX board and software driver for your
operating system.

Purpose

This guide explains how to install the Md4/PCX™ board
in these systems:

•PC

• Sun™ PCI workstation

• Digital
It also describes how to install and use the DOME

for these operating systems:

• Microsoft

• Sun Solaris™

• Digital UNIX

Audience

This guide is written for anyone who is installing the
Md4/PCX board and software in a computer. You should
be familiar with installing and configuring hardware and
software. You should also be familiar with the system in
which you are installing the board and driver.

®

UNIX™ workstation

®

Windows NT

®

and Windows

®

2000

®

drivers

xii Md4/PCX Display Controller Installation Guide

Documentation conventions

This guide uses these conventions.

This convention... Indicates...

Monospaced

type

Italic type

Bold type
File -> Open

<Key>

Computer code or directory; backslash (\) indicates
continuation of previous line of UNIX code.

New or technical term; book title; or variable, such as x .
Menu selection.

Select Open from the File Menu.
Key name, such as <Return>
Information you should know regarding a particular topic

or procedure.

Information that can prevent potential damage to
hardware or software.

Information that can prevent injury to a person, such as
electrical shock.

A helpful tip or an alternative method of performing a
procedure.

About This Guide xiii

What’s in this guide

This table describes the organization of this guide.

This chapter… Provides…

Chapter 1
Planning the Md4/PCX Board
Installation

Chapter 2
Installing the Md4/PCX Board
in a PC

Chapter 3
Installing the Md4/PCX Board
in a Sun PCI Workstation

Chapter 4
Installing the Md4/PCX Board
in a Digital UNIX Workstation

Appendix
Md4/PCX Board Resolutions
and Refresh Rates

Related documentation

Refer to these books for more information:

• PCX Products Developer’s Guide

• Stereo Library Installation and Developer’s Guide

An overview of the Md4/PCX board,
including features and installation
requirements

Instructions for installing and configuring the
Md4/PCX board and its Windows NT or
Windows 2000 driver in a PC

Instructions for installing and configuring the
Md4/PCX board and its Solaris driver in a
Sun PCI workstation

Instructions for installing and configuring the
Md4/PCX board and its Digital UNIX driver
in a Digital UNIX workstation

Resolutions and refresh rates supported by
the Md4/PCX board in PCs, Sun PCI
workstations, and Digital UNIX workstations

• DIMPL Library Reference

• Microsoft documentation

• Sun documentation

• Digital documentation

Planning the Md4/PCX Board Installation 1

Chapter 1

Planning the Md4/PCX Board
Installation

In This Chapter

• About the Md4/PCX Board 2

• Planning the Installation 4

2 Chapter 1

About the Md4/PCX Board

This table describes the features of the Md4/PCX board.

Md4/PCX Board Features

This feature… Provides this benefit…

10-bit, high-precision DAC • Support for over 1,000 unique output levels

• True gamma correction of the display for
grayscale fidelity

• Rapid rise and fall times

Flexible support for display
resolutions

Software-programmable resolutions up to
1728 x 2304 pixels in both landscape and
portrait modes

Multi-head support One board drives either one or two monitors,

in either color or grayscale modes
Hardware copy accelerator On-board copy speeds up to 300 MB/sec.
Optimized zero wait-state PCI

local bus
Calibration support through on-

board luminance calibration port

Rapid image transfer to the board from

system memory and other PCI cards

• Guaranteed image integrity over time and
between monitors

• Precise calibration and matching of display
monitors for accurate grayscale imaging

On-board VGA™ support Booting in MS-DOS™ and Windows
128-bit hardware GUI accelerator:

Number Nine

®

T2R™ chip

Support for complex drawing and copy
functions for outstanding GUI performance

®

Multi-boot ROM technology Full operating-system support for PCI-based

computers, including these operating
systems:

• MS-DOS™

• Microsoft

®

Windows

• Microsoft Windows

NT

®

2000

®

• Sun™ Solaris™

• Digital

®

UNIX™

Planning the Md4/PCX Board Installation 3

Md4/PCX Board Features (Cont.)

This feature… Provides this benefit…

Support for the DOME

®

Image­Processing Library (DIMPL™)
and its ActiveX™ interface, the
DimplX™ control

Image handling and processing, including
16-bit windowing/lev eling, fractional zooming,
image rotation, and mirroring

4 Chapter 1

Planning the Installation

Before you install the Md4/PCX board in your system,
review these installation requirements to make sure you
have all of the necessary items.

Cross-platform requirements

You can install the Md4/PCX board in a PC, Sun PCI work­station, or Digital UNIX workstation. All platforms require
these items:

• Md4/PCX board

• Compatible monitor that can support your desired
display resolution

Multiple monitors for PCs must have the same resolution.

Platform-specific requirements

This table lists the platform-specific requirements for
system specifications, operating system, and DOME driver.

Installation Requirements

Platform System Specs Operating System DOME Driver

PC • PCI slot for each board

• 2 MB hard disk space

• 32 MB of RAM

• Disk drive for 3.5-inch
diskettes

Sun PCI
workstation

• PCI slot for each board

• 500 KB hard disk space
for driver and DDX
installation

• CD-ROM drive

Windows NT 4.0
or Windows 2000

Solaris 2.5.1 or
later

Windows NT 4.0 or
Windows 2000
driver for Md4/PCX

Solaris driver for
Md4/PCX

Planning the Md4/PCX Board Installation 5

Installation Requirements (Cont.)

Platform System Specs Operating System DOME Driver

Digital UNIX
workstation

• PCI slot for each board

• Disk drive for 3.5-inch
diskettes

Digital UNIX 4.0D
or later

Digital UNIX driver
for Md4/PCX

Installation Order

Use this table to find the installation instructions for the
Md4/PCX board in your operating system.

Installation Order

For this operating
system… First install the… Then install the…

Windows NT 4.0 Board as described in

“Installing the Board in a
PC” on page 8

Windows 2000 Board as described in

“Installing the Board in a
PC” on page 8

Solaris 2.5.1 or
later

Board as described in
“Installing the Board in a
Sun PCI Workstation” on
page 75

Driver as described in
“Installing the PCX
Windows NT 4.0 Driver”
on page 20

Driver as described in
“Installing the PCX
Windows 2000 Driver” on
page 44

Driver as described in
“Installing the PCX Solaris
Driver” on page 84

Digital UNIX 4.0D
or later

Driver as described in
“Installing the PCX Digital
UNIX Driver” on page 110

Board as described in
“Installing the Board and
Driver in a Digital UNIX
Workstation” on page 117

6 Chapter 1

To determine the board’s part number

Check the sticker with the CE mark. This sticker is on the
connector. The part number has this format:

55-MD4PCX2- xx
where xx is the revision number.
For example, if your board’s sticker reads 55-MD4PCX2-32,

you are using a revision -32 board.

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in a PC 7

Chapter 2

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and
Driver in a PC

In This Chapter

• Installing the Board in a PC 8

• Connecting the Monitors 18

• Installing the PCX Windows NT 4.0 Driver 20

• Configuring Display Settings 22

• Additional Options for Windows NT 33

• Installing the PCX Windows 2000 Driver 44

• Configuring Display Settings in Windows 2000 51

• Uninstalling DOME Devices 62

• Dynamic Link Library 66

• Using Calibration TQA on Windows 2000 67

• Troubleshooting Tips 68

8 Chapter 2

Installing the Board in a PC

This section describes how to install the board in a PC.

To unpack the board

Remove the Md4/PCX board slowly from its package and
protective sleeve slowly to protect against static discharge
to the board.

Static electricity can damage the board. Wear an anti-static
wrist strap or touch one hand to a bare metal surface on
the power supply to discharge static electricity.

• While performing any part of the installation that
involves touching the board or parts of the motherboard,
keep one hand touching the metal surface to provide
grounding.

• If you can’t perform a step with one hand, use both and
return one hand occasionally to the bare metal surface.

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in a PC 9

To prepare for board installation

1. Turn off the power to your computer.

Leave the computer plugged into a grounded power
outlet. This allows the power cord to serve as a ground
for the computer.

If you leave the computer turned on, you could get an
electrical shock and cause damage to your computer’s
components and the Md4/PCX board.

2. Remove the cover from the computer according to the

manufacturer’s instructions.

3. Determine which board you want to support VGA dis-

play: the Md4/PCX board (see page 10) or another
VGA board (see below).

To support VGA with another VGA board

Disable VGA mode on the Md4/PCX board. For
instructions, see “To disable VGA mode” on page 13

When you install the Md4/PCX board in a computer that
has an existing VGA board, only one of the boards can
support the Windows operating system. You can run
Windows on either board, but you cannot run Windows
on both boards simultaneously.

10 Chapter 2

To support VGA display with the Md4/PCX board

1. Remove the existing VGA board from your computer.

2. Enable VGA mode on the Md4/PCX board; follow the

instructions under “To enable VGA mode” on page 12.

3. Attach the VGA ribbon cable to the Md4/PCX board.

(The connector is keyed to ensure it is plugged in
correctly.)

4. Install the Md4/PCX board in your PC by following the

Attaching a VGA ribbon cable

instructions on page 15.

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in a PC 11

To enable and disable VGA mode

You must set switch S1 on the Md4/PCX board, as
described in the following sections.

DIP switches on the

Md4/PCX board

The Md4/PCX board has two switches:

• Switch S1 controls VGA display; see “Setting switch S1”
on page 12.

• Switch S2 is reserved for software use; its default settings
are all OFF.

12 Chapter 2

Setting switch S1

This table shows the options for setting switch S1 on the
Md4/PCX board. Change these settings to enable or dis­able VGA mode, as described in the following sections.

DIP Switch Settings on Switch S1

DIP Switch On Off

1 VGA disabled VGA enabled*
2 BIOS enabled* BIOS disabled
3 Standard Md4/PCX* VGA boot messages appear

on high-resolution monitor

4 Select low BIOS* Select high BIOS

* Indicates factory setting

To enable VGA mode

Slide the DIP switches into the positions shown in this
table.

DIP Switch Settings

on Switch S1 to

Enable VGA Mode

DIP Switch Position

1 OFF
2ON
3ON
4ON

Enable VGA mode on the Md4/PCX board if you are
using the Md4/PCX board to support VGA.

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in a PC 13

To disable VGA mode

Slide the DIP switches on switch S1 into the positions
shown in this table.

DIP Switch Settings

on Switch S1 to

Disable VGA Mode

DIP Switch Position

1ON
2 OFF
3 OFF
4ON

Disable VGA mode on the Md4/PCX board if you are
using it with an existing VGA board. In addition, disable
VGA on additional Md4/PCX boards if you are installing
more than one.

14 Chapter 2

To enable VGA boot messages on a
high-resolution monitor

Use this table to set switch S1 to direct VGA boot messages
to a high-resolution monitor.

Enabling VGA Mode Boot Messages

DIP Switch Position Note

1 OFF If OFF, the Md4/PCX board acts as

the V GA de vice. The output, ho we ver ,
is directed to the high-resolution
screen instead of the VGA connector.

ON If ON, the Md4/PCX board copies the

text from the VGA device to the high-

resolution monitor.
2 ON Must be ON.
3 OFF Must be OFF. Lets you direct VGA

boot messages to the high-resolution

monitor.
4 ON Must be ON.

The setting of DIP switch 3 on switch S1 determines
whether the Md4/PCX board can display boot messages
to a high-resolution monitor. The setting of DIP switch 2
on switch S1 determines whether VGA is enabled or
disabled.

Installing the Md4/PCX Board and Driver in a PC 15

To install the board

1. Remove the blank bracket from the back of any
available PCI slot.

Removing a

blank bracket

Installing an

Md4/PCX board

2. Insert the Md4/PCX board firmly into the slot.

16 Chapter 2

3. Make sure the board connector pins are aligned with
the slot.

Md4/PCX board

Installed

4. Secure the mounting bracket with the bracket screw.

If you are not supporting VGA with the Md4/PCX
board, go to step 8.

5. Remove a blank bracket from the back of the slot you
choose for the VGA output.

6. Insert the VGA bracket and secure the mounting
bracket with the bracket screw.

7. Attach the VGA monitor to the 15-pin connector.

Repeat steps 1–4 for each Md4/PCX board you want
to install.

8. Replace the system unit cover.