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Solaris Handbook for Sun Frame Buffers

Chapter 3 SX Frame Buffer

This chapter describes how to change the display resolution on the SX Frame Buffer (cgfourteen). If you want to run OpenWindows on a SPARCstation 10SX system or a SPARCstation 20 system, you may need to perform additional configuration tasks after the initial installation.

You can use the /usr/platforms/sun4m/sbin/cg14config utility to:

Note -

cg14 is the UNIX device name for the SX Frame buffer.

For more information, see the cg14config man page.

SX-supported Monitors

Table 3-1 lists the monitors supported by the SX Frame Buffer and the alternate screen resolutions, if any, that each monitor supports.

Table 3-1 Monitors Supported by SX

Model 

Sun Part Number 

Type and Size 

Monitor ID Sense Code 

Supported Resolution and Refresh Rate 

GDM-20D10 

365-1167-01 

Color 20" 

4 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

1280 x 1024 at 67 Hz 

1280 x 1024 at 76 Hz 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

GDM-1955A15 

365-1081-01 

Color 19" 

3 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

GDM-1962 

365-1095-01 

Color 19" 

4 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

1280 x 1024 at 67 Hz 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

GDM-1962B 

365-1160-01 

Color 19" 

4 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

1280 x 1024 at 67 Hz 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

GDM-1604A15 

365-1079-01 

Color 16" 

3 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

GDM-1662B 

365-1159-01 

Color 16" 

6 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

1280 x 1024 at 67 Hz 

CPD-1790 

365-1151-01 

Color 16" 

3 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

1024 x 768 at 76 Hz 

GDM-20S5 

365-1168-01 

Grayscale 20" 

2 or 

4* 

1280 x 1024 at 67 Hz 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

17SMM4 A 

365-1100-01 

Grayscale 17" 

6 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

Non-Sun 

-- 

Unknown 

7 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

* Monitor ID sense code is user-selectable by switch on rear. 

Default Screen Resolutions

Table 3-2 lists the default screen resolutions by monitor ID sense code.

Table 3-2 SX Frame Buffer Monitor Sense Codes

Code 

Screen Resolution 

7 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

6 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

5 

1024 x 768 at 60 Hz 

4 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

3 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

2 

1280 x 1024 at 76 Hz* 

1 

1600 x 1280 at 76 Hz* 

0 

1024 x 768 at 60 Hz 

* The 4-Mbyte VSIMM drops to 8 bits per pixel at these resolutions. 

Changing the Screen Resolution

  1. To change the screen resolution, use the cg14config command as follows: 

    # /usr/platform/sun4m/sbin/
cg14config --d device --r resolution

where

Table 3-3 SX -supported Screen Resolutions

resolution 

Screen Resolution 

1600x1280@66 

1600 x 1280 at 66 Hz 

1280x1024@66 

1280 x 1024 at 66 Hz 

1152x900@66 

1152 x 900 at 66 Hz 

1152x900@76 

1152 x 900 at 76 Hz 

1024x800@84 

1024 x 800 at 84 Hz 

1024x768@70 

1024 x 768 at 70 Hz 

1024x768@66 

1024 x 768 at 66 Hz 

1024x768@60 

1024 x 768 at 60 Hz 

For example, to change the screen resolution to 1280 x 1024 at 66 Hz, enter: 

# /usr/platform/sun4m/sbin/
cg14config --d /dev/fb --r 1280x1024@66

Changing the Pixel Depth

After starting OpenWindows, the window server configures the SX Frame Buffer to support the maximum pixel depth for the screen resolution and frame buffer memory size that you selected. Typically, 32 bits are allocated to each display pixel. But, on the 4-megabyte SX frame buffer, you can increase the screen resolution by choosing a depth of 16 bits per pixel, with some loss of features.

Any frame buffer memory not visible on the monitor display is available to the window server for storing pixmaps. If you want to maximize the amount of off-screen pixmap storage available for your applications, you may need to add the following line to the cg14 frame buffer entry in the /usr/openwin/server/etc/OWconfig file: 

pixelmode="8"

This forces the window server to initialize the SX Frame Buffer at 16 bits per pixel, regardless of the frame buffer memory size. Table 3-4 summarizes the available features at the 16-bit and 32-bit pixel depths.

Table 3-4 SX Frame Buffer Visuals and Double-buffering

Underlay Visuals 

32-bit 

16-bit 

24-bit TrueColor 

Yes 

No 

8-bit PseudoColor 

Yes 

Yes 

8-bit StaticColor 

Yes 

Yes 

8-bit Greyscale 

Yes 

Yes 

8-bit StaticGrey 

Yes 

Yes 

8-bit TrueColor 

Yes 

Yes 

8-bit DirectColor 

Yes 

Yes 

Overlay Visuals 

 

 

8-bit PseudoColor 

Yes 

Yes 

Double Buffering 

 

 

24-bit pixmaps 

Software 

No 

8-bit pixmaps 

Hardware 

Software 

Note: Overlay visuals are limited to 230 colors.