Hi.

> Unfortunately I didn't check the label on the framebuffer
> until after it told me it was switching to the serial console (and
> consequently screwed up the screen display to be unreadable).  The
> machine here has *two* PMAG-C boards (but only one monitor, alas), and
> our primary purpose for it is to be an X11 capable workstation.

There is a code segment in NetBSD source tree designed for PMAG-CA at
src/sys/dev/tc/px.c, which was created by Jonathan Stone.  He added the
codes to source repository at Nov. 1997.  The code seems derivated from
Mach/alpha (much like rest of NetBSD/pmax codes).  Unfortunately the
PMAG-CA driver is not a complete raster device driver.  It does
initialize the video curcuit and squash interrupts generated by it, but
not provide any graphic capability for NetBSD/pmax users (at least for now).

Given the fact all of the 2D/3D graphics option cards had a common RAMDAC
(Bt459) and we know the way to initialize the ASICs on them, it might be
possible to utilize the cards as conventional dumb framebuffers.  It's
unlikely we can gain the 3D acceleration functionalities, though.

Current NetBSD/pmax X11 server supports three different TURBOchannel
graphics cards.  They can be obtained as "pull-offs" from adandoned
DECstation5000s, or DEC 3000s.

Tohru Nishimura
Nara Institute of Science and Technology