7 - C H A P T E R -

C H A P T E R 7

PGX64 Graphics Accelerator

The Sun PGX64 graphics accelerator is a 24-bit high-resolution PCI-based graphics frame buffer. The Sun PGX64 gra2phics accelerator runs on all Sun PCI-based system platforms.

This chapter provides PGX64 graphics accelerator screen resolutions and software installation and patch information for the various supported releases of Solaris.

The device name for PGX64 is m64. The m64 device man page is bundled in SUNWman. The man page for the m64 device on systems with Solaris 2.5.1 operating environment only is SUNWm64mn.

Man Pages

The Sun PGX64 graphics accelerator man pages describe how you can query and set frame buffer attributes such as screen resolutions and visual configurations. The man pages are included in the Solaris SUNWman packages bundled with the Solaris operating environment.

Use the m64config(1M) man page for configuring Sun graphics accelerators.

Sun PGX64 Default Console Display

To set the Sun PGX64 graphics card as the default monitor console display:

1. At the ok prompt, type:

ok show-displays

The following shows how to set the console device:

a) /pci@1f,0/pci@5/TSI,gfxp@2

b) /pci@1f,0/pci@5/SUNW,m64B@1

c) /pci@1f,0/pci@5/SUNW,Expert3D-Lite@0

q) NO SELECTION

2. Select the graphics card you want to be the default console display.

In this example, you would select b for the Sun PGX64 card.

Enter Selection, q to quit: b

/pci@1f,0/pci@5/SUNW,m64B@1 has been selected.

Type ^Y ( Control-Y ) to insert it in the command line.

e.g. ok nvalias mydev ^Y

	 for creating devalias mydev for /pci@1f,0/pci@5/SUNW,m64B@1

3. Create an alias name for the Sun PGX64 device.

This example shows mydev as the alias device name.

ok nvalias mydev <Control-Y> <ENTER>

4. Set the device you selected to be the console device.

ok setenv output-device mydev

5. Store the alias name that you have created.

ok setenv use-nvramrc? true

6. Reset the output-device environment:

ok reset

7. Connect your monitor cable to the Sun PGX64 card on your system back panel.

Sun PGX64 Screen Resolutions

TABLE 7-1 lists the monitor screen resolutions and video formats supported by the Sun PGX64 graphics board:


Display Resolution	Vertical Refresh Rate	Sync Standard	Aspect Ratio Format	Color Depth
1920 x 1200	70 Hz	Sun	16:10	8-bit
1920 x 1080	72 Hz	Sun	16:9	8-bit
1600 x 1280	76 Hz	Sun	5:4	8-bit
1600 x 1200	75 Hz	VESA	4:3	24-bit
1600 x 1000	66, 76 Hz	Sun	16:10	24-bit
1440 x 900	76 Hz	Sun	16:10	24-bit
1280 x 1024	60, 75, 85 Hz	VESA	5:4	24-bit
1280 x 1024	67, 76 Hz	Sun	5:4	24-bit
1280 x 800	76 Hz	Sun	16:10	24-bit
1152 x 900	66, 76 Hz	Sun	5:4	24-bit
1152 x 864	75 Hz	VESA	4:3	24-bit
1024 x 768	60, 70, 75, 85 Hz	VESA	4:3	24-bit
800 x 600	56, 60, 72, 75, 85 Hz	VESA	4:3	24-bit
720 x 400	85 Hz	VESA	9:5	24-bit
640 x 480	60, 72, 75, 85 Hz	VESA	4:3	24-bit

Note - For assistance and information not found in this document concerning the Sun PGX64 card, see SunService^SM at http://www.sun.com/service/online/.

Sun PGX64 Software Patches

TABLE 7-2 lists the Sun PGX64 software patches required for Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7 and Solaris 8 operating environments.


Solaris Operating Environment	Patch	Directory Location
Solaris 2.5.1	103792-29	`/cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_2.5.1/Patches`
Solaris 2.6	105362-31	`/cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_2.6/Patches`
Solaris 7	106146-17	`/cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_7/Patches`
Solaris 8	108606-08	`/cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_8/Patches`

Patching Network Installation Image

Note - The following instructions are intended for experienced system administrators only. For more details, contact SunService at http://www.sun.com/service/online/

These instructions describe how to apply PGX64 patches to network images for Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, and Solaris 8 operating environments.

1. After installing the Sun PGX64 card into your system, boot your system at the ok prompt:

ok boot -r

2. Log in as superuser.

3. Insert the PGX64 CD-ROM into the drive.

4. Choose the correct Solaris operating environment where you will apply the patch to network install image.

5. To apply the PGX64 software patches for the network install image, go to the PGX64 Tools directory location and set the path to the network image directory:

# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/Tools

# ./pgx64_patch_netimage -r x.x -d path to net image directory

where x.x is the Solaris operating environment on your system by revision number only (for example, type "2.6" and not "Solaris 2.6"), and path to net image directory is the directory to the network image directory.

6. Continue to perform the standard network installation procedure.