Hi all,

Here's some FAQ-like material; there's a few things I'm 
not too sure of. No doubt others do know, so if you could 
have a read through this and make suggestions/corrections, 
please do. (Is there an elected port-pmax FAQ maintainer? 
Any plans for one?)

Please note that this information is taken from the 
mailing-list archives, I'm not claiming any credit for it. 
I'll add MsgID's of the relevant articles for some 
attribution if this stuff proves useful.

See the lines starting '*' for stuff I'm not sure on.

==

What monitors work with my DECstation?

TURBOchannel Card        DEC Monitors Known to Work
Model                    Model         Size/Cap      Resolution

PMAG-BA                  VR260         19'' mono     1024x864 @ 66 Hz
                         VR297-DA      17'' colour
  (second chip)          VRT19 lo-scan 19'' colour   1280x1024 @ 66


Base Units
DS2100,DS3100            VR299         19'' colour   1024x864 @ 54 Hz
DS5000/xx                VRC-16        16'' colour   1024x768
                                                     1280x1024
                                                     (multisyncs to 66/72 Hz)
                         VRM-17        17'' colour   1280x1024 @ 77 Hz
                                                     1024x768 @ 57 Hz

* Feel free to send additions to me (let's not bomb the list)
* The PMAGB-B? stuff can be tricky, because of the second clock chip;
* see `What's so special about the PMAGB-B? cards?' below.

More information about some DEC monitors can be found at

http://www.netbsd.org/Library/Hardware/Machines/DEC/vax/\
monitors.html#section:monitors 

, or use the online database at http://www.monitorworld.com/
which has information on lots more.



Information on TURBOchannel graphics cards.

The type of graphics devices in your machine can be listed from
the PROM prompt, by typing ``cnfg''. For further information
about the card, type ``cnfg n'', where n is the TURBOchannel slot
number of the installed card.


                        TURBOChannel Graphics Cards

Card Model   AKA??     Resolution HSync  Slots Supp Type          Probed As

PMAG-AA      MFB??     1280x1024  72 Hz  1     Y    mono          mfb*
PMAG-AG      MX        1280x1024  72 Hz  1     Y    mono          mfb*
PMAG-BA                1024*864   72 Hz  1     Y    colour        cfb*
PMAG-BB      CX        1024x864   60 Hz  1     Y    colour        cfb*
PMAG-CB      PX        1280x1024  66 Hz  ?     C    2D acc        px*
PMAG-DB/EB   PXG       1280x1024  66 Hz  2     N    3D acc lowend -
PMAG-FB/HB   PXG/TURBO 1280x1024  66 Hz  ?     N    3D acc hi-end -
PMAG-RO                1280x1024  72 Hz  ?     N    ?             -

PMAG-DV      Maxine fb 1024x864   66 Hz  -     Y    colour        xcfb*
   

PMAGB-BA/BB  HX        1280x1024  72 Hz  1     Y    smart col     sfb*
PMAGB-BC/CBY HX        1280x1024  72 Hz  1     Y    smart col     sfb*
PMAGB-BA/CY  HX        1280x1024  72 Hz  1     Y    smart col     sfb*

PMAG-JA/JB   TX        1280x1024  66 Hz        N    24/8-plane DirectColor unacc
PMAGB-JA/JB  TX        1280x1024  72 Hz        N    ?             ?

PMAGB-DA/DB  PXG+      1280x1024  72 Hz
PMAGB-EA/EB  PXG+      1280x1024  72 Hz        C    24-plane 3d midend
PMAGB-FA/FB  PXG TURBO+1280x1024  72 Hz             24-plane 3d acc

PMAGB-JA/JB  TX        1280x1024  66 Hz        N    ?             ?
PMAGB-DC/DD  PXG+      1280x1024  66 Hz        N    ?             ?
PMAGB-EC/ED  PXG+      1280x1024  66 Hz        N    ?             ?

PMAG-RO                "RasterOp OEM"; similar (identical?) to TX
PMAM-AA                1248x1794 (portrait mode, dual screen )

* Should change the "Supp" to indicate whether only console
* or both console and X is supported.


Machines with onboard graphics

                       Onboard Graphics

Machine           Resolution      HSync      Supp?  Probed As
DS2100 mono       1024x864        54 Hz      Y      pm*
DS2100            1024x864        54 Hz      Y      pm*
DS3100 mono       1024x864        54 Hz      Y      pm*
DS3100            1024x864        54 Hz      Y      pm*
5000/xx (PMAG-DV) 1024x768        73 Hz      Y      xcfb*


What's so special about the PMAGB-B? cards?

The PMAGB-Bx cards have a second socket available, which can be used
to add another oscillator; this effectively means that you can change the 
frequency/resolution of the card. Jumper OSC0 then selects which oscillator 
is used. 

The original oscillator must remain on the board; it is used to gauge the 
speed of the second oscillator.

The PMAGB-Bx series of cards differ by the presence (and frequency) of 
this second oscillator as detailed below.

        HX graphics options:
      
        OPTIONS         RESOLUTION              JUMPER          CLOCK
                                                                (osc chip)
        PMAGB-BA/BB     1280X1024   72Hz        off             130. mhz
                        1280X1024   66Hz        on              119.84 mhz

        PMAGB-BC/BD     1280X1024   72Hz        off             130. mhz
                        1024x864    60Hz        on              74.  mhz

        PMAGB-BE/BF     1280X1024   72Hz        off             130. mhz
                        1024x768    72Hz        on              130. mhz

        NOTE:  To determine the actual HX graphics option installed in a
        system, you must physically look at the clock chips on the option
        card. All modules will have a 54-21143-0x part number. The variant
        determines the type of option card. In all cases I have not
        found a variant on the boards.



Will a PC VGA monitor work on a DECstation?

If the monitor supports both the resolution and the horizontal/vertical
frequencies that the DECstation generates, then a converter should be
all that's needed. 

Digital sell an adapter (part number 29-32549-01) that converts a BNC
cable to VGA.



Can DECstations be run as multi-head machines?

Yes, the TURBOchannel machines can use multiple screens.
However, X does not (yet) support it.

On the Personal DECstations (5000/xx), multiple TURBOchannel option 
cards need to be of the same type (eg, a mix of a PMAG-B and a PMAGB-B 
will not work). The onboard framebuffer can be used in addition to
any option cards.

This restriction doesn't apply to other TURBOchannel DECstations.


What keyboard/mouse sets does the Personal DECstation ( 5000/xx ) use?

These machines use SERIAL.bus, which requires a VSXXX-BB mouse, an LK-501
keyboard, and a connecting cable. There are two connectors underneath
the keyboard; connect both the mouse and unit to either of these (doesn't
matter which). This is all hot-swappable.

The Personal DECstation 5000 Hardware Maintainance Guide comprehensively 
covers most aspects of these machines, grab a copy from 

  http://decstation.unix-ag.org/docs/dec_docs/maxine.ps.gz



What keyboard/mouse sets does the DECstation 5000/xxx use?

These machines use ACCESS.bus; the connector on the back of the machine
is a HD15 connector. This cable terminates into a block, where a FIXME
keyboard and FIXME mouse can be plugged in.

* Can someone check out these part numbers?
* Is a mouse _required_?


Is there a ``Vulcan Nerve Pinch'' for my DECstation 5000/xx?

Yes, there is.  :-)
It causes a reset for the machine (drops it back into the PROM). 
Ctrl-Alt-BS is the sequence, but remember this is like yanking 
out the power cord..

* It works on mine running NetBSD, and did for some Ultrix boxes
* at another local uni.. comments?

If you're looking to make a proper reset button for your machine, 
there is an article somewhere under 
  http://decstation.unix-ag.org/ 
that details making one.


There's some weird-looking cards sitting in the last memory slots of 
my 5000/2xx.

These might be Prestoserve NVRAM modules. Not currently supported, but
leaving them in won't harm anything.
It should show up in ``cnfg'' as something like:

   0: PMTNV-AA DEC      V1.1     TCF0  (1 MB NVRAM )



My 5000/ machine doesn't seem to finish booting.

If the graphics card in the machine isn't supported, then the kernel 
will automatically use the serial port as the console. The kernel 
uses the PROM routines for output until it can configure the serial 
devices.

The last output you should see on the monitor should be something 
like the following:

  Using PROM serial output until serial drivers initialized.
  No supported console device in slot %d. Switching over to serial console!



Which serial port is used as the console on the 5000/xxx machines?

The serial port marked as number 3 (the one furthest from the power 
connectors). The settings are 9600,n,1 as usual.



My DECstation 2100 / 3100 doesn't see my SCSI tape drive.

The SCSI ID of the tape drive needs to be set to either 4 or 5 on
these machines. They should probe as ``tz'' devices with a suitable
kernel.

* This restriction doesn't hold for 5k machines, does it?


I'm not seeing any PROM output on the serial terminal.

The PROM has two environmental variables concerning the console settings:

  osconsole
  console

For serial consoles, ``console'' needs to be set to the value ``s'' (and
will be the default anyway, if no keyboard is connected).

  setenv console "s"

If a keyboard is connected and the console is still set to ``s'', the 
serial terminal will take preference.

The ``osconsole'' variable is set automatically by the system, and can't
be modified. 

  osconsole=x

indicates that the TTY driver from slot x serves as the console. 
This variable might have the form

  osconsole=y,z

which indicates that the CRT driver from slot y is used for console 
output, and the kbd driver from slot z is used for console input. 
(From the Maxine documentation).



How do I configure multiple framebuffers in a new kernel?

Modify your kernel configuration file to include the following:

  pseudo-device   fb               3      # up to 3 framebuffers

..or as many as required, and recompile. Having only one fb configured
is the reason for boot messages like:

xcfb0 at tc0 slot 2 offset 0x0fb: more frame buffers probed than configured!

This isn't anything to worry about.

**

And some questions for which I have no answers/am working on:

What other TURBOChannel Cards are supported by NetBSD?
  PMAD-AA TurboChannel Ethernet controller
  PMAZ-AA TurboChannel SCSI (53C94) controller
  LoFi cards?
  ..others?

What other TURBOChannel Cards/items are out there?
  TURBOchannel extenders 
  are there any TURBOchannel serial cards?
  FDDI cards
  ..others?

What speeds do the various model serial ports support?
  [23]100 - 9600 or thereabouts?
  5000/xx - 38400?
  5000/1xx - 
  5000/2xx -

What plugs are used on the different DECstation models?
  List the different serial, keyboards, ethernet, SCSI 
  connectors (yep Simon, I just twigged) with part numbers
  and pinouts/pics if available.


Oh, and did anybody manage to apply the audio patches for the 5k/xx
 that were posted recently? I'm kind of stuck - config(8) claims to
 know nothing of the `bba0' device, I'm still trying to figure it out..

regards
jeff
(d'oh, missed red dwarf)