S24 Application Compatibility

The default visual of OpenWindows(TM) running on a system with an S24 Frame Buffer is 24-bit TrueColor Visual. Some older 8-bit windows applications that were written without consideration for portability may not work with the default 24-bit visual of the S24 Frame Buffer.

Use the following workaround for these applications when starting OpenWindows. As superuser, enter:

# openwin -dev /dev/fbs/tcx0 defdepth 8

tcx is the UNIX device name for the S24 Frame Buffer.

This workaround sets the default visual to 8 bits. All applications can now be executed in 8-bit mode unless 24 bits or the best available visual are specifically requested.

The following 24-bit visuals are exported in the Solaris(TM) software environment:

• 24-bit TrueColor visual

• 24-bit TrueColor Linear visual

• 24-bit DirectColor visual

The nonlinear visual is displayed before the linear visual on the screen visual list. Nonlinear visual is the default 24-bit TrueColor visual. If you prefer gamma-corrected 24-bit TrueColor as your default value, you can modify the order of the visual list by using the tcxconfig command, which is provided in the SUNWtcxow package. Refer to the tcxconfig man page for more information.

Run tcxconfig at the console prompt before starting OpenWindows. . Start OpenWindows after tcxconfig has set the linearity you want.

1. To display the current default setting, enter tcxconfig without options.

   ---

   # /usr/sbin/tcxconfiglinear

   ---

   • linear means that the linear visual is the default 24-bit TrueColor visual, which means that color is gamma corrected.

   • nonlinear means that the nonlinear visual is the default 24-bit TrueColor visual.

1. To change the setting, enter the tcxconfig command with one of the above options:

   ---

   # /usr/sbin/tcxconfig nonlinear

   ---