On Fri, 24 Jan 2003, der Mouse wrote:

> > I don't believe there's any hope of getting an X server running on
> > the SPX hardware any time soon, simply for the lack of technical
> > documentation available on the SPX hardware.  There's probably some
> > hope of getting X running on the mono framebuffers which are built
> > into the VAXstation 3100s, but that's been pending for... well a
> > couple of years now.
>
> Well, I've got a moderately good track record at getting X ports
> working, and I have a MicroVAX 3100-80.  Does that have the same
> framebuffer as the VAXstation 3100 you refer to?

I wasn't aware that any of the MicroVAX 3100s had framebuffers,
but I suppose it's possible.  I don't have anything quite so new.

Let me see here... this is going from memory so take the following
information with a grain of salt.  The mono framebuffers in the
VAXstation 3100s (models M30, M40, M38, M48, and M76) are
programmatically equivalent to the Q-bus mono frame buffer QVSS option
(a.k.a. VCB01, Q-bus module number M7602) which was available for the
VAXstation-IIs.

There's some old code available in the X11 source for implementing an X
server that supports this card.  In the past (NetBSD/vax 1.4.1 release)
I'd been able to get this server to compile by tracking down various
missing bits of code that from the 4.4BSD-lite distribution.  Not only
did it compile, but it even ran on my VAXstation 3100--albeit somewhat
unreliably.  Apart from that Xserver being prone to crashing, it also
didn't support the mouse or keyboard on the VAXstation 3100s.  From
the serial console, I could launch applications and they'd display.
Of course I couldn't interact with them.

Since that time, I believe we've gotten wscons support for the mono
frame buffer (and the keyboard and mouse?).  Ideally, the Xserver should
be written to support these wscons devices--assuming I'm correctly about
them being implemented.  It's been a few years since I've been able to
play with my VS3100s.

> If so, what does it need as monitor?  Is it idiosyncratic, or is it
> something that can be cobbled up to work with a Sun or peecee monitor?

I recall discussions of being able to connect non-DEC mono monitors up
to the video output, but it required a bit of magic.  I had access to
one of the DEC monochrome monitors at the time, so I didn't pay much
attention to the hacks that were available for using more modern
multisync monitors.  A bit of googling or searching through the port-vax
archives should turn up the necessary details.

-brian.