Hi.

On Sat, 19 Jul 1997, Armen Babikyan wrote:

> hello
> I was picking up some old nubus equipment from a consultor who no longer
> need the equipment, so I thought I'd find out what the parts were.
> The consultor gave me what he thought was a thicknet ethernet card, which
> is apparently junk (old) - nothing more than I expected.  It's free
> equipment, anyway.
> Well, that card turned out to be a video card, and this is how netbsd
> looked at it during startup:
> --cut here--
> macvid0 at nubus0: Sigma Designs L-View
> macvid0: 832 x 600, monochrome
> --cut here--
> Well, apparently the NetBSD system seems to recognize it, and that can't
> really be a bad thing. One of the two problems I currently see is that the
> nubus card has a 9-pin video connector - two rows in trapezoidal shape, one
> with 5 pins and one with 4. I never have seen such a video connector (not
> surprising - I don't have any experience with this). I called up some local
> computer stores and they never heard of them either. What kind of connector
> is this?
> I have a monitor in my basement, which has the same 9-pin video connector,
> but it looks like a tty terminal (24x80 maybe) monitor. Seeing the
> resolution mentioned in the video card's entry during boot, I figured I'd
> break either the monitor or the card if I attempted to hook them up. Then
> again, the monitor might not be a 24x80 monitor at all. I don't know. Think
> I should attempt to hook them up?
> Also, I saw the 832 x 600 video resolution. Isn't that a bit wierd? I
> thought it should have been either 832 x 624, or 800 x 600. A combination?
> What kind of monitor would accept that resolution?
> I don't know if this is because I do not have a monitor attached to the
> card or not, but another screen isn't showing up in the MacOS Monitor
> control panel. Is it supposed to?
> thanks a lot for any help,
>   - a

The machine I run NetBSD on (a IIsi) has a similer 2nd video card that was
used in is's former incarnation for a 1024 by 768 (?) 2-page b/w moniter.

NetBSD recognises it, as does MacOS (my cursor disapeares off to the
right). The card works. The moniter used to work. Anyway, the manual says
it's some sort of TTL interface. It's made by a 'Mirror Technologies'. I
think it's a local (St. Paul, MN) company and I think it, too, no longer
exists. If I look, I could find a pinout.

Peter Corbett
corbett@mtn.org