Subject: Re: LX with "GX" chip?
To: None <port-sparc@netbsd.org>
From: der Mouse <mouse@Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>
List: port-sparc
Date: 08/24/2002 13:57:23
>> No, source of the confusion is that you think the GX chip is a PGA
>> socket.

> <grin>  No, source of confusion is far more fundamental than that --
> have two such machiines here.  *Tested* machine 1, *examined* machine
> 2!  (Of course, machine 2 is the one missing the chip).   <:-(

!!  I didn't think the GX in a LX was socketed!  Indeed, in the one I
have at hand, I'm pretty sure it's not (I even took the board out to
get a better look).

> So, my question still stands -- can I steal the GX out of a cg6 SBUS
> card or am I better off installing the card *in* the LX chassis?

Depends on your risk tolerance. :-)  The latter is much more nearly
certain to work and much less likely to fry anything.

However, never having tried it, my guess would be a definite "maybe". :)
I have at hand now an LX and a cg6 that have SunGX chips that appear
basically identical.  The only difference I can see is that a little
printing is different.  On the LX, the three rows of fine printing at
the bottom read

	1134A2
	 9414
	7414117

whereas on the cg6, they read

	1134A2
	 9242
	7495155

However, I own multiple cg6s (of which only one is near me now), and
they don't all use chips this similar; indeed, one of them is a
dual-slot SBus card and is utterly different from the others.  I have
no idea whether the various "big chips" are pin-compatible.

> I.e. is there any difference between the "onboard cg6" and an "SBUS
> cg6" (besides the fact that the SBUS card "costs" me a slot and some
> extra power...)?

I have found at least one difference in the case of the LX and SBus
card I have at hand: the surrounding video electronics are different.
With a particular adapter cable and either of two different peecee
monitors, the SBus card works and the onboard framebuffer doesn't drive
anything the monitor recognizes as sync.  (It's not that the onboard
framebuffer is fried; they work equally well with a Sun monitor.)

Granted, that difference isn't very relevant to your main question.

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