Sun-Spots Digest, v6n85
William LeFebvre
Sun-Spots-Request at RICE.EDU
Sun May 15 11:32:18 AEST 1988
SUN-SPOTS DIGEST Friday, 13 May 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 85
Today's Topics:
Re: X11 & suntools on a Sun 3/60C (multiple screens)
Re: Sun 100U Video Problem
Impressions of the LaserWriter II NTX
printing tex dvi files on a sun laserwriter
Enhancements to suntools
bug in f2p and f2ps
identifying suntools -- I lied
Looking for Sun APL
Recommendations for dot matrix printers?
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 15:12:03 PDT
From: Gumby <salzman at bytor.rdl.com>
Subject: Re: X11 & suntools on a Sun 3/60C (multiple screens)
OK, got the answer!! Thanks to those who replied. Basically what I've
found out is that the documentation is WRONG! I negelected to mention in
the posting that I had tried what the man pages said, and it didn't work!
Many people replied telling me to read the man pages....
And I quote the man page from suntools (SunOS 3.5):
1. Invoke suntools in the color plane group by running
``suntools -8bit_color_only -toggle_enable''. This
starts suntools on the default frame buffer named
/dev/fb but limits access to the color plane group.
[this is ok]
2. In a shelltool, run ``suntools -d /dev/bwtwo0
-toggle_enable -n &''. This starts suntools in the
overlay plane that is accessed by /dev/bwtwo0.
[WRONG, not on a 3/60C, maybe on a 3/110!. You need to use
/dev/bwtwo1 not /dev/bwtwo0].
3. In a shelltool run ``adjacentscreens -c /dev/fb -l
/dev/bwtwo0''. ...
[again /dev/bwtwo1].
What I've found out about frame buffers is this (and maybe I should've
been paying more attention to this stuff in earlier discussions):
/dev/bwtwo0 - b/w frame buffer. this doesn't work unless you go
ahead and get a second monitor and (possibly) pop
some chips into the board
/dev/bwtwo1 - overlay plane frame buffer. this is the one to use
for doing the dual screen stuff.
/dev/cgfour0 - 8-bit color
/dev/fb - defailt fb (virtual frame buffer, both overlay and
color from what I gather).
Now as far as using this with X11:
You can use this with X11, but not directly. Lets say you've started
suntools with
% suntools -8bit_color_only -toggle_enable
You can't just run
% xinit -- Xsun -dev /dev/bwtwo1
Xsun is buggy and that comes back with an error (can't find display or
something). The way to do it is to start another suntools desktop:
% suntools -d /dev/bwtwo1 -toggle_enable -n &
from shelltool in your first desktop and then
% adjacentscreens -c /dev/fb -l /dev/bwtwo1
and from a shelltool in the OTHER desktop
% setenv XDEVICE /dev/bwtwo1
% overview -w xinit -- Xsun [other options] >& x.out
To make it even easier, use a shell script to start X and call it from
a file like ".suntools.x11" and start the second suntools with
% suntools -d /dev/bwtwo1 -toggle_enable -s ~/.suntools.x11
I've got all this stuff set up from my suntools rootmenu so I can start X,
NeWS or another suntools with adjacentscreens with the click of a mouse
button! Fun stuff!!
* Isaac Salzman - Sr. Systems Analyst
* Research & Development Labs (RDL)
* 5721 W. Slauson Ave., Culver City, CA. 90230-6509
* AT&T: +1 213 410 1244, x118
* ARPA: salzman at rdlvax.RDL.COM
* UUCP: ...!{psivax,csun,sdcrdcf,ttidca}!rdlvax!salzman
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 23:31:02 EDT
From: Skip Montanaro <steinmetz!montnaro at uunet.uu.net>
Subject: Re: Sun 100U Video Problem
Reference: v6n76
>From: cvbnet!cvedc!exc!markh at sun.com (Mark A. Holm)
>
>I have recently acquired a Sun 100U and it has a video problem. Its
>horizontal retrace does not quite reach the top. This results in losing
>the top 10-15 raster lines + the part of the screen it scribles across.
>Does anybody have schematics or can tell me what the fix for this problem
>is? In Sun-spots volume 4 issue 13 there is a follow up by Mark Murray
>(MKM at WASHINGTON.ARPA) on some video fixes that he posted. Unfortunately
>that is my oldest issue and I cannot seem to reach Mark at the above
>address. If somebody could send me a copy of the original article or tell
>me how to get in touch with Mark, it would be greatly appreciated (I know,
>I know, I'm the only idiot with a hard copy archive that old.;^)
>
>Mark Holm ..tektronix!ogcvax!cvedc!exc!markh
>Exceptions ..sun!cvbnet!cvedc!exc!markh
>126 NE Grant Phone (503)648-8307
>Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 Messages only until after 6:00 PM
Mark, From v4n4:
Date: Mon 27 Jan 86 17:57:25-PST
From: Mark Murray <MKM at WASHINGTON.ARPA>
Subject: Sun 100 video problem fixed
We have a number of Sun Microsystems workstations with the model
M17P114H/2101 Philips monitor, better known as the old Model 100U, and
several of these units have been exibiting the following symptoms of
video circuitry malfunctions.
Within the top inch of the display, horizontal lines extending the
width of the raster wipe out video information to the extent that the
unit is extremely difficult to use.
Several weeks ago I replaced the following components on the video
deflection board of one of our units, and the problem has not
reappeared, although a minor side effect has been a very slight warp
in the shape of the raster.
1. C413 2.2uF, 100V, AL Electrolytic
2. CR406 BY208/600. Replaced with ECG 558.
3. R541 31 ohm, 1/2 W resistor
4. Q403 MJE 182 NPN transistor
5. Q404 MJE 172 PNP "
On item 1, if you can find these at a 105 degree C rating, as opposed
to the 85 degree C rating (the original design), you should get
them. I was only able to locate the latter.
On item 2, I was told that this diode is no longer in production by
its original mfr, Amperex, so I crossed it with the Sylvania ECG 558.
It may be possible to find other sources.
Keep in mind that a) some of these parts are hard to find, and
b) you may run into minimum order requirements.
We are also considering installing a small fan to draw heat away from the
video board.
Hope it helps.
Skip Montanaro (montanaro at sprite.steinmetz.ge.com, montanaro at ge-crd.arpa)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 12:15:46 EDT
From: Chuck Musciano <chuck at trantor.harris-atd.com>
Subject: Impressions of the LaserWriter II NTX
Recently I posted a request for information concerning the new LaserWriter
II NTX printer from Apple. Several people were kind enough to reply, and
here is a summary of their impressions.
NOTE: hereafter, "NTX" is the LaserWriter II NTX, and "LW" is the original
LaserWriter/LaserWriter Plus.
o The NTX uses a 16 MHz 68020, with 2 Mbytes of RAM (expandable to
12 Mbytes) and 1 Mbyte of ROM. Interfaces include serial ports,
AppleTalk, and the Apple Desktop Bus. A SCSI port allows up to
7 hard disks for font caching. There is a rumor that parallel
i/o is possible through the SCSI port.
o The NTX is definitely faster than the LaserWriter or LaserWriter
Plus. Although based upon the new Canon engine which is still 8
pages per minute, it has a better version of PostScript, allowing it
to more closely approach 8 ppm for complex print jobs.
o The paper tray is much larger (about 200 sheets). There is also
support for 8.5x14 (legal size) sheets. The printer automatically
reconfigures itself to support the current paper size. There is
an envelope feeder, and manual feed is still provided.
o The NTX allows sheets to emerge on the top, face down, or out the
side, face up. The top paper tray is the default, and the side
route is used if a little paper tray is folded out. Several users
were completely unaware of this side tray (let's read those manuals
out there!) and offered various flames about the reversal of pages
caused by the top paper route.
o The NTX is significantly quieter than the LW, and one person used
it as a deskside printer.
o The print quality was better, with darker blacks.
o The toner cartridge is different from the LW, so you can't use your
old ones. The new cartridge is supposed to be good for 1000 sheets
more than the old one. We get about 4000 sheets on an old one, so
I would put the new ones at 5000 sheets each.
o One user ordered the printer with 8 Mbytes of RAM, but only got 2
Mbytes due to the "phony memory shortage".
o Most everyone seemed to feel the NTX was a big improvement over the
LW, in terms of speed.
Here at Harris, we obtained an evaluation unit from Apple, and beat on it
for about a week. Here are some jobs we ran, along with print times on
the NTX and our LW Plus. All jobs were printed at 9600 baud. Jobs are
described in more detail below. The "wire time" is the time required to
push the bytes down the serial line at 9600 baud, and is the lower bound
on the print time.
Job Size Wire Time LW II NTX LW Plus Speedup
screen 262564 4:33 4:52 4:53 1.0
150dpi.ps 258419 4:29 4:43 4:45 1.0
150dpi.r.ps 258419 4:29 4:54 41:48 8.5
graphics.ps 54277 0:57 1:34 4:28 2.9
paper.ps 135348 2:21 4:32 11:48 2.6
pic.ps 348248 6:03 6:18 10:40 1.7
text.long 42148 0:44 2:11 2:43 1.2
viewgraph.ps 46924 0:49 1:17 3:29 2.7
The jobs were:
screen typical Sun screendump, using screendump and pssun
150dpi.ps A 1152x900 image, scaled to 150 dpi by Frame Maker
(WYSIWYG doc-gen package)
150dpi.r.ps The same image, rotated 90 degrees
graphics A collection of line drawings, included rotated
text, many filled circles, and a variety of lines
paper.ps A 14 page, two column technical report, with 9 figures,
set in Bookman, which forced font scaling on the fly
pic.ps A 3D view of a surface composed of 7400 filled
triangles with hidden surfaces removed
text.long 1000 lines (16 pages) of straight ASCII text
viewgraph.ps More graphics and such, including various boilerplate
to make viewgraphs look good
The speedup of 150dpi.r.ps is amazing, but I suspect that the transform
code in the NTX recognizes 90 degree transforms and special cases them. A
37 degree rotation took more than 8 minutes on he NTX, and about the same
time on the LW. The improved font scaling, and extra memory for font
caching helped the paper.ps job, and raw compute power made the difference
in most other jobs. In the case of text.long, the print engine is the
limiting factor, since 16 pages should take about 2:08 to print. Some
jobs were i/o bound on the wire, and I cranked the NTX up to 19200 to see
the difference. The screendump printed in just 2:30 on the NTX at 19200,
but improved to only 3:20 on the LW.
Overall, this is a nice printer and a definite improvement over the LW.
Chuck Musciano
Advanced Technology Department
Harris Corporation
(407) 727-6131
ARPA: chuck at trantor.harris-atd.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 15:39:22 EDT
From: bdrc!jwc at mcnc.org (Joan Curry)
Subject: printing tex dvi files on a sun laserwriter
Reference: v6n74
The filter we use, which works fine, came with the Unix TeX distribution
tape. It is called dvipsf, and its files are in the subdirectory
tex82/TeXdevices/mitdrivers/dvi2ps of the main tex directory.
I did have to make one change in the source to make it work: in the file
applef.c, in the function resync, buf is a pointer to a struct stat but
it's never set to point to anything before the call to fstat so a
segmentation violation results. The fix is trivial once you see the
problem.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 14:18:33 EDT
From: libes at cme-durer.arpa (Don Libes)
Subject: Enhancements to suntools
Recent messages from sunspots indicate people are making modifications to
the suntools program itself. In particular, Juergen Wagner
(gandalf at csli.stanford.edu) said that he modified suntools so that ^Q^R in
the background would refresh the screen (v6n68). Steve Beaty
(<cinelli!ciocc!beaty at relay.cs.net>) provided a patch to allow dynamically
changeable backgrounds (v6n72) (although as posted, it was buggy since the
function root_set_background was not designed to be called more than once
- after a dozen or so calls, suntools will run out of memory and die).
I hacked up suntools several years ago (SunOS 1) so it would provide some
nice things. For example, you can define menu entries which are activated
by typing things into the background (rather than with the mouse).
I have updated it so that the base is SunOS 3.5. I added some other stuff
plus Steve's hack (fixed), which I thought was cute.
Here is the README file that comes with it:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
1) Keys typed into background can select menu entries.
2) Tools may be run setuid(0) by holding shift key down while menus
are brought up (or keys are typed into background).
3) User may change background dynamically.
4) User may change background cursor dynamically.
5) User may specify primary menu title (non-walking menus).
The one incompatibility introduced is that the 9 numerical fields
in the .suntools files are now ignored. However, these are of
dubious value anyway since they are incomplete, contradictory with
the command line, and their effect is better achieved by using the
-W tool arguments.
[[ The remainder of the message contained a in-depth description of these
features, but was tool long for a digest. Interested individuals can
retrieve the entire text of this message from the archives. It is stored
as "sun-spots/enhanced-suntools" and is 10183 bytes in length. It can be
retrieved via anonymous FTP from the host "titan.rice.edu" or via the
archive server with the request "send sun-spots/enhanced-suntools". For
more information about the archive server, send a mail message containing
the word "help" to the address "archive-server at rice.edu". --wnl ]]
This package is available via ftp from cme-durer.arpa. The
file is called pub/suntools.shar.Z
Don Libes
Bldg 220, Rm A-127
National Bureau of Standards
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
(301) 975-3535
uunet!cme-durer!libes
libes at cme-durer.arpa
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 15:32:41 PDT
From: david at sun.com (David DiGiacomo)
Subject: bug in f2p and f2ps
[[ A copy if this message was sent to the programs' author. --wnl ]]
There is a minor bug in the f2p and f2ps utilities distributed with fig
1.4. In main, the variable "objects" is not initialized, which generally
causes a segmentation violation later. The fix is to insert the following
as the first executable statement in main() in f2p.c and f2ps.c:
bzero((char *) &objects, sizeof objects);
P.S. Fig is a bit smaller and faster if compiled with the appropriate
floating point flags, e.g. -fsingle -f68881 /usr/lib/f68881.il
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 16:33:13 PDT
From: jqj at hogg.cc.uoregon.edu
Subject: identifying suntools -- I lied
Oops. In a recent posting to sun-spots I included the wrong code for
identifying a csh running under suntools. The incantation I actually use
is:
if (! WINDOW_ME ) then
# suntools
endif
Code I gave was from my .login and used to decide whether to run suntools
in the first place! Egg on my face.
------------------------------
Date: 10 May 88 18:45:11 GMT
From: quirk at hubcap.clemson.edu (Chris Reynolds)
Subject: Looking for Sun APL
I'm looking for an version of APL (preferably public domain) that will run
on a Sun 3. Any help would be appreciated.
Chris Reynolds uucp: ... !gatech!hubcap!quirk
CS Dept, Clemson University inet: quirk at hubcap.clemson.edu
phone: (803)656-{2639,3444} ARPA: QUIRK at TECNET-CLEMSON.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 May 88 15:14:33 PDT
From: forward!jdgaye at sun.com (Dennis Gaye)
Subject: Recommendations for dot matrix printers?
Does anyone have some useful recommendations for Dot Matrix Printers that
work well on Sun-3's and/or 4's? I have heard the Okidata 193 plus may be
a viable canidate in terms of cost, standard drivers in SunOs, and
reliability. Please respond little r or to me directly and I will offer a
synapsis If someone else is interested.
------------------------------
End of SUN-Spots Digest
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