Make Screen Real-Estate Fast!!!1!

It's simple, easy, and fun! Just follow these simple directions and you too
can have a second monitor on your workstation.

1) Install at least the X11R5 binary package available at
<ftp:ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/binaries/NetBSD-1.0/m68k4k/>

2) (this is the hard part) Acquire a second graphics card and monitor.  The
graphics card must have enough DIP switches to set the select code above
132 (i.e. won't work on the mono topcat, which doesn't have enough DIP
switches).

Initially, your graphics card will probably be set to select code 1.  Dave
Carrel <mailto:carrel@cisco.com> suggests using scode 193 (switches 1, 7,
and 8 on) for the second card (leaving the first at scode 1).  I'm using
two catseye cards (98550A), and it works fine.

3) In /dev, `MAKEDEV grf1`.  If you're running an older version of NetBSD
(i.e. before 1.2, which is the only one I've tried it on), you may need to
configure your kernal for it.  This would involve adding a new line to the
config file for "grf1 at scode?".

4) Shutdown and install the second graphics card and plug in the monitor.
You should get two additional lines at boot-time saying something like:

Oct 10 15:04:26 fatmac /netbsd: grf1 at scode193: 1280 x 1024 256 color
hi-res c
atseye display
Oct 10 15:04:26 fatmac /netbsd: ite1 at grf1: attached

5) Create a file called /usr/X11/lib/X11/X0screens with the following two
lines:

/dev/grf0
/dev/grf1

6) Install a working multi-headed X11R5 server (since the X11R6 server
isn't out yet for our esteemed platform).  The clients and libraries don't
need fixing, only the server.

Dave figured out how to get it to work and had posted the patch here about
a year ago, but this *isn't* in the binary package available at
ftp.netbsd.org.  You can get the source and apply it, then recompile.  The
patch is available in the last message of
<ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/mailing-lists/port-hp300/port-hp300.0014>.

Alternatively, you can download a working binary that Dave sent me.  It's
available on my 370 (with his permission) at:
<http://fatmac.ee.cornell.edu/XhpBSD-multi-headed.gz>

7) Copy the binary to /usr/X11/bin/.  Link "X" to your new binary: `rm -f
X` and then `ln -s XhpBSD-multi-headed X`

8) Enjoy (and possibly mail Dave a little thank-you note for doing the hard
part of figuring out how to patch the X server).  Your new display will be
called "`hostname`:0.1".

Something to beware of (i.e. it's a known bug) is that you'll get little
"mouse turds" when you move the cursor from one display to the other.  They
dissapear when the mouse is returned to that screen (but leaves one on the
old screen).  Also a warning is written to your xdm-errors log file.

Other than that, it's great!  Thanks Dave (especially for the really quick
response)!


In case anyone was wondering as to my previous questions from two weeks
ago, I solved both HP-IB problems:

My tape drive worked beautifully once I moved it to the slow HP-IB bus (I
previously had everything on the fast bus).  Thanks to Louis Watta
<mailto:Watta.Louis@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com> for the suggestions leading to
that.

My booting from a non rd0 device works.  I hadn't fixed my /etc/fstab to
reflect the change (i.e. "/" was still being mounted from rd0a instead of
rd1a).  Thanks to Jim Reid <mailto:jim.reid@eurocontrol.be> for helping me
to figure out that one.

Good luck to anyone else that tries to add more real-estate!

  -- MW