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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.edu.au!cs.mu.OZ.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!uunet!in1.uu.net!165.87.194.248!newsm.ibm.net!ibm.net!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!news.Stanford.EDU!nntp.Stanford.EDU!Cup.DSG.Stanford.EDU!jonathan From: jonathan@DSG.Stanford.EDU (Jonathan Stone) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.ultrix Subject: Re: decstation 5000/133: linux/MIPS, OpenBSD/pmax or NetBSD/pmax Date: 3 Jul 1997 16:46:33 GMT Organization: Stanford Distributed Systems Group Lines: 40 Sender: jonathan@Cup.DSG.Stanford.EDU (Jonathan Stone) Message-ID: <5pgl19$c5l$1@nntp.Stanford.EDU> References: <867662387.22833@dejanews.com> <5pfj7l$f73$1@news.latrobe.edu.au> Reply-To: jonathan@DSG.Stanford.EDU NNTP-Posting-Host: cup.dsg.stanford.edu Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:104517 comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:6214 comp.unix.bsd.misc:3648 comp.unix.ultrix:29066 In article <5pfj7l$f73$1@news.latrobe.edu.au>, cchd@lucifer.its.latrobe.edu.au (Huw Davies) writes: > kristoff.bonne@is.belgacom.be wrote: > > : I've been looking at the web, and found the following options: > : - Linux/MIPS > : - OpenBSD/pmax > : - NetBSD/pmax. > > : I did found some info on them, but most of it was completely out-of-date. > > Do any of these three support X11 on a PMAGD-AA? No, they don't. (Okay, I haven't looked at Linux, but if it's barely booting, the chances of it having PMAG-D support are nonexistent). The PMAG-D has an i860 for doing 3D rendering and (IIRC) an onboard custom blitter chip. There's some horrid message-passing protocol by which the DECstation CPU talks to the i860 and starts it. Or maybe that's for the blitter chip; I forget. There's some weird address mapping that goes on in the cards which you have to get right for software to even acknowledge interrupts (e.g., vertical-retrace). AFAIK, none of this is documented anymore, anywhere, with the exception of the Ultrix driver source. Which, AFAIK, aren't supported in Ultrix 4.5, so even that option may be gone ;). And Digital isn't really supporting these little monsters anymore, let alone anything crazy like selling them. I don't see any proprietary gain. If Maddog could get the PXG drivers released the same way the QVSS and QDSS drivers were released to CSRG, he'd be doing everyone a favour. That said, I have a PMAG-D sitting right in front of me. Maybe in NetbSD 1.4. Hm. If I acquire two extra BrookTree Bt459 VDACS and two extra memory banks for aand plug them into the empty sockets of a PMAG-D, will that give me truecolour video? BTW, a microvax-II in a vertical BA23 has a better space heater emulation mode than the mips boxes :)