Tech Source GFX 400 series Installation And Reference Manual

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

Addendum Information

Date Released: March 14, 2005
Changes made to:

REVISION

CHANGES

DATE

NUMBER

A

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. Tech Source, Inc. disclaims any
responsibility for any references to those trademarks herein.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in
any form or by any means without prior written permission of the
copyright owner.

RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure
by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions of FAR 52.227­14(g)(2)(6/87) and FAR 52.227-19 (6/87); or DFAR 252.227­7015(b)(6/95) and DFAR 227.7202 -3(a).

The product described in this manual may be protected by one
or more U.S. patents, foreign patents, and/or pending
applications.

PREFACE
This publication documents the Tech Source, Inc. GFX

installation and reference. This manual is intended for users
who incorporate the Tech Source GFX graphics cards into their
PCI workstations. All systems vary to a degree. Knowledge of
the features of your system and an understanding of UNIX shell
scripts are helpful during the installation process.

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. Freight charges associated with the
repair or replacement of products under warranty are to be
shared by Tech Source, Inc. and the customer. All customers,
domestic and international, shall bear the freight charges for the
product return. Tech Source, Inc. shall bear the outbound freight
charges up to $13.00 (USD) per returned product, whether
domestic or international. Any additional freight charge shall be
the responsibility of the customer. We suggest that you contact
your dealer first with any questions you may have about the
product. Unlimited technical support (via telephone, facsimile, or
email) is provided for one (1) year from date of shipment. The
installation of any Tech Source, Inc. hardware/software product
is the sole responsibility of the customer.

Customers will be charged an hourly rate plus materials
($300.00 USD minimum) for repairs and/or maintenance
performed by Tech Source, Inc. that are not covered by a Tech
Source, Inc. warranty or maintenance contract.

DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ALL
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS
AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED,
EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE
HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1-1

1.1 Overview 1-1

1.2 Conventions 1-2

HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2-1

2.1 Install ation Instructions 2-1

2.2 Resolution Settings 2-3

SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 3-1

3.1 Overview 3-1

3.2 Requirements 3-1

3.3 Installing GFX 400 Series Driver Software 3-2

3.3.1 CD-ROM Installation 3-2

3.4 Changing Resolution and Bit-Depth on GFX 400 Card 3-4

3.4.1 Interactive Configuration 3-5

3.4.2 Non-Interactive Configuration 3-6

3.4.2.1 Examples 3-8

3.5 Dual-Screen Mode (GFX 450 only) 3-9

3.5.1 GFX 450 Console Display Configuration 3-9

3.5.2 OpenWindows (Dual Screen Mode) Configuration 3-11

3.6 Setting GFX 400 Card as the Console (Optional) 3-12

3.6.1 GFX 400 Card as the Only Framebuffer 3-12

3.6.1.1 Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 3-12

3.6.1.2 Sun Blade 1000, 1500, 2000, Ultra 30,
Ultra 60 and Ultra 80 3-13

3.6.1.3 Sun Blade 100 3-13

3.6.2 GFX 400 Card with a Secondary Framebuffer 3-14

3.6.2.1 Other PCI Framebuffers 3-15

OPENWINDOWS 4-1

4.1 Overview 4-1

4.1.1 GFX 400 Card as the Console 4-1

4.1.2 GFX 400 Card as the Secondary Framebuffer 4-1

4.1.3 Supporting Multiple GFX 400 Heads 4-2

4.2 Common Desk Environment (CDE) 4-2

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont’d)

ADVANCED FEATURES 5-1

5.1 Overview 5-1

5.2 8+24 Simultaneous Visuals 5-1

5.3 Cached Pixmaps 5-1

5.4 OpenGL Support 5-2

REMOVING GFX 400 DRIVER SOFTWARE 6-1

6.1 Overview 6-1

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 7-1

7.1 Who To Call For Help 7-1

7.2 Email Address 7-1

7.3 Website 7-2

CHANGING THE CONSOLE RESOLUTION A-1

A.1 Overview A-1
A.1.1 Reason for Changing the Console Resolution A-1
A.1.2 Guidelines for Changing the Console Resolution A-2
A.1.3 EDID Auto-Detect Feature A-2
A.2 Output -Device Method A-3
A.3 Video-Mode Method A-3
A.4 Video-Timing Method A-5
A.5 Troubleshooting A-7

CARD SPECIFICATIONS B-1

B.1 GFX 420 Card and Specifi cations B-1
B.2 GFX 440 Card and Specifications B-2
B.3 GFX 450 Card and Specifications B-3
B.4 GFX 400 Series Cabling B-4

B.4.1 GFX 450 B-4
B.4.2 GFX 420 and GFX 440 B-4
B.4.2.1 Digital Monitors B-4

B.4.2.2 Analog Monitors B-5
B.5 Special Adapter for Some Sun Monitors B-8

USING NVEDIT TO MODIFY NVRAM C-1
C.1 NVRAM Edit Commands C-1

ii

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview

Thank you for purchasing a Tech Source GFX 400 Series
product(s). The products in this series include:

• GFX 420

• GFX 440

• GFX 450

These cards are single slot PCI cards designed to enhance the
graphics capabilities of your Sun Microsystems desktops and
servers such as the 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). The cards can also simultaneously support 8 and
24-bit visuals.

The features and product differentiation between individual
models are summarized in the table below:

GFX 420 GFX 440 GFX 450

Number of

Heads (Max)

Video Output 2 analog or 2

Framebuffer

Size

These products support Sun's Solaris operating system (version

2.5.1 and higher). All systems vary to a degree, therefore
knowledge of the features of your system and an understanding
of UNIX shell scripts are helpful during the installation process.

2 4 2

4 analog or 4

DVI

64MB

(32MB/head)

1-1

DVI

128MB

(32MB/head)

1 analog + 1

DVI or 2

analog

32MB

(shared)

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.

GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual

1.2 Conventions

This manual will follow certain conventions throughout.
Whenever a variable name, command name, directory, or

filename is used in a paragraph, they will appear in a mono-
spaced font.

At times the reader will be instructed to enter commands at a
prompt. In this case a transcript of a sample session will be
provided where a prompt will be followed by the commands the
reader is to enter. The entire transcript will be in a mono-

spaced font with the prompt in a normal weight and the user's
entries in bold.

The prompt used in a transcript varies depending on the
circumstances. The following are some common prompts and
when they are used:

prompt# used when the user is required to have root

privileges

prompt% used when the user is not required to have root

privileges

ok prompt displayed when the user is in Boot PROM

mode

1-2

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.

Step 1: Turn your computer OFF, remove the

computer’s cover, find an available PCI Local
Bus slot, and remove the bracket and screw.
Ground yourself by touching the metal part on
the case.

Step 2: Install the GFX 400 card firmly into the PCI

Local Bus slot. Take care to press it evenly and
snugly into the slot. Once you are certain that
the card is installed properly into the slot, secure

Step 3: Secure the computer’s cover, attach any

it with the bracket screw.

previously removed cables, and connect the
video cable to your monitor.

The GFX 400 card supports analog or digital
displays. See Section B.4 for a description of
the parts and adapters that are available.

2-1

GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual

Each port on the GFX 420 and GFX 440 cards
supports two displays with a custom splitter
cable attached to the port. (Please refer to
Appendix B for more information on the cables.)
These cards support both analog and digital
displays. It is a matter of choosing the right dual
monitor adapter (splitter cable). Two versions of
this splitter cable are available. One provides
two standard analog VGA (DB-15) ports; this
cable is bundled with the card. For digital
displays, a cable with dual DVI ports is available.
This cable can be purchased directly from Tech
Source, Inc.

The GFX 450 has one DVI-I and one HD-15
connector. The DVI-I connector supports both
analog and DVI output. Therefore, connect the
appropriate cable depending on your monitor
type. The HD-15 supports analog video only.
Either head can be configured as console see
section 3.5.1.

Please note that some Sun monitors may
require a DB-15 to 13W3 adapter (Refer to
Appendix B, Section B.5).

Step 4: Turn ON the monitor before turning ON the

computer so that the GFX 400 card can auto­detect the proper resolution for your monitor.

NOTE: If the system is currently using a secondary graphics
device, read section 3.6 on configuring the console device. The
console device is the screen on which the boot up messages
appear. 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 Cha pter 3 for installing the GFX 400 Series
Driver Software.

2-2

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, or to change
the default resolution for monitors that do not provide DDC
information, refer to Section 3.4 and Appendix A.

The default resolution for the GFX 400 card is listed in the table
below.

Board Resolution Refresh Bits/Pixels Sync

GFX 420 Auto Detect
GFX 440 Auto Detect
GFX 450 Auto Detect

- 8

- 8

- 8

If the monitor does not support the DDC2B/EDID protocol (auto­detect), and the console resolution is not set using methods
described in Appendix A, the resolution will default to
1152x900@66Hz.

separate/composite
separate/composite
separate/composite

2-3

GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual

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2-4

Chapter 3

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:

• TSImko 32-bit System Software/Device
Driver

• TSImkox 64-bit System Software/Device

Driver (Solaris 7 & above only)

• TSImkow OpenWindows System Support

Software

• TSImkomn Manual pages

3.2 Requirements

The software currently supports the following Sun PCI based
systems:

• Sun Blade 100

• Sun Blade 150

• Sun Blade 1000

• Sun Blade 1500

• Sun Blade 2000

• Sun Blade 2500

• Sun Fire v220

• Sun Fire v240

• Ultra 5

3-1

GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual

• Ultra 10

• Ultra 30

• Ultra 60

• Ultra 80

• Ultra AX

• Ultra Axi

• Enterprise 250

• Enterprise 450

• Enterprise 2500

• 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.

• OpenWindows Version 3.5 or higher has already been

installed on the system.

• At least 2MB of disk space is available in "/usr" and “/.”

• One or more GFX 400 cards are presently installed in the

desktop/server.

NOTE: All device drivers are loadable. No kernel changes are
required.

3.3 Installing GFX 400 Series Driver
Software

This section describes software installation from a CD -ROM.

3.3.1 CD-ROM Installation

The following are step -by-step instructions for installing the “GFX
400 Series Driver Software” from a CD -ROM.

1. Install a GFX 400 card in the computer as described in

Chapter 2.

3-2

Chapter 3 – Software Installation

2. Boot the computer with the "-r" (reconfiguration) option.

To do this on a typical SPARC desktop/server, per form
the following steps:

• Power ON the computer.

• Wait until you see boot messages displaying on the

screen, then press and hold the Stop (L1) key, and
then press the "A" key.

• At the "ok" prompt, type "boot –r" followed by the
<Enter> key .

3. After the system has booted, log in as root.

4. Insert the CD-ROM labeled "GFX 400 Series Driver
Software-Solaris Edition" into the CD-ROM drive.

5. If /cdrom/cdrom0 exists, type:
prompt# cd /cdrom/cdrom0

Skip to step 6. Otherwise, mount the CD-ROM by typing

the following:

prompt# mount -F hsfs -O -o ro \
/dev/dsk/c0t6d0s0 /cdrom

prompt# cd /cdrom

6. The CD-ROM contains an install_all script. To
install the software, type:

prompt# ./install_all

This script will ask you a number of yes -or-no questions
(generated by Sun's pkgadd install script). Answer
these questions appropriately.

7. Reboot the system to complete the installation.

3-3

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. For the GFX 450 product, a single device name is
created. For instance, it may be called mko0. The GFX 420
presents itself has two separate devices to the operating system.
Therefore, two device names will be created for the GFX 420, for
example, mko0 and mko1. With the Quad -head GFX 440, four
device names will be created, one for each of the four heads
(displays).

NOTE: During boot-up, all GFX 400 cards may present
themselves as instances of GFX 450. That is by design.

3.4 Changing Resolution and Bit-Depth on

GFX 400 Card

The default resolution and bit-depth is either dictated by EDID
information from the connected monitor or by the console
resolution that is set (as described in Appendix A). In the
absence of either of the above, the default resolution is
1152x900@66Hz and the default bit-depth is 8-bit.

However, if you should decide to have a different resolution and
bit-depth configuration under X Windows, follow the instructions
in this section to set your resolution and bit -depth appropriately.

The mkoconfig utility can be used any time after installation to
change these parameters and to turn on dual screen mode.

NOTE: Dual Screen Mode is available only on the GFX 450
card and is described in Section 3.5 of this manual. In this
mode, the GFX 450 can only be configured to a bit depth of 24­bits.

3-4

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). To use this program to configure your GFX 400 card, type:

prompt# mkoconfig -i

NOTE: If X Windows is running on the GFX 400 card(s) to be
configured, please exit out of it before running mkoconfig.
Failure to do so could result in a corrupted screen for the
remainder of the X Window session.

The GFX 400 device(s) will be listed in the left column of the
configuration screen displayed by mkoconfig. (See Figure

3.1).

A description of the commands is as follows:
Up/Down Arrow selects the desired graphics

device to modify

Left/Right Arrow selects the parameter to modify

(e.g. resolution, bit-depth, or
sync)

Space Bar modifies the parameter for the

selected graphics device (will
bring up a menu when
applicable)

3-5

GFX 400 Series Installation and Reference Manual

‘t’ puts a test pattern on the entire

display (hit any key to return to
the main screen)

‘s’ saves current settings and exits
‘h’ help
‘q’ exits the program without saving

any changes

NOTE: To enable the dual screen feature (GFX 450 only),
select the “sync” menu and enter “w”. Please see Section

3.5 for a description of this feature.

3.4.2 Non-Interactive Configuration

Sometimes it is convenient to configure the GFX 400 card non­interactively. This method is especially useful when configuring
many systems identically or when the appropriate configuration
for the system is already known.

Figure 3.1 - GFX 400 Configuration Utility

3-6