SPARCstation 4's have a built-in TCX framebuffer with 
1Mb VRAM onboard, upgradable to 2Mb VRAM. Adding VRAM 
allows you to do 1280x1024. No matter what you do, the 
TCX (in this incarnation) is limited to 8 bit. 
Furthermore, NetBSD's driver for the TCX only emulates 
CG3, which means not only is it 8-bit, it's also 
unaccelerated. 

Sun workstations don't really have a "text mode" and 
a "graphics mode." The console IS graphics, with the 
resolution and frequency set by the openBOOT PROM.

There is *no* 24 bit framebuffer that will operate in a 
SPARCstation 4, under any operating system. It only has 
one SBus slot. 

About the only decision you can make is resolution and 
refresh rate. 

For more information, check out sunhelp.org, 
particularly the Sun FrameBuffer FAQ. That will tell 
you how you can set the resolution and refresh rate in 
the PROM. 

FWIW, MemoryX.com typically has the 1Mb VSIMMs for 
SS4's; they're in the $20-$30 range, as well as 
soundcards for SS4's, which should be about the same 
price.

Hope this helps!

Dan

Quoting Julian Coleman <J.D.Coleman@newcastle.ac.uk>:

> > Up until now I've been a strictly PC only guy.  I'm 
trying to get XFree86
> > working on my SparcStation4 right now.  It runs 
fine, I get WindowMaker
> > all nice and good, but the display is 8bit only.  
I've changed the
> symlink
> > of /usr/X11R6/bin/X to point 
to /usr/X11R6/bin/Xsun24 and it still runs
> in
> > 8 bit color.  Anyone know how to make it run in 24 
bit, or even if a
> > SparcStation 4 can?  I noticed that there's no 
xf86config program with
> the
> > sparc packages.  There's also no /etc/XF86Config 
file.  Any clues?
>
> The Sun X servers are somewhat differently organised 
to the PC ones.
> Basically, most Sun graphics cards (up until the 
recent PCI Ultra's) are
> fixed frequency, colour depth and resolution.  Some 
have a two (maybe
> three) settings for frequency and resolution.  The 
Sun standard is 1152x900
> resolution and 8bit colour depth.  Some older 1bit 
cards also did 1600x1200
> and some newer 8bit cards do 1024x768.
>
> So, your VME-based or sbus-based Sun will have a 1, 8 
or 24bit card of
> fixed resolution and colour depth.  The Sun (badged 
possibly) monitor is
> matched to the graphics card.  The mouse is also 
standard.  That's most
> (all?)
> of the settings in your XF86Config file dealt with.  
The X server only
> needs
> to test for a few (known) settings to determine the 
card parameters, thus,
> no need for a config file.
>
> If you want 24bit colour on your SparcStation 4, 
you'll need to get a 24bit
> graphics card.  I'm not sure of the status of support 
for these.  Someone
> else does, hopefully?  (While I'm here, what are my 
choices for 24bit in a
> 20?).
>
> J
>
> PS. 1152x900, 8bit is the maximum you can get out of 
1Mb of video memory.
>
> --
>                     My other computer also runs NetBSD
>                           http://www.netbsd.org/
>