____________________________________________________ Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B for OpenVMS Alpha Systems Release Notes June 2001 This document contains release notes and should be read before installing the Compaq Open3D (formerly DIGITAL Open3D) for OpenVMS Alpha Systems product. Revision/Update Information: This is a new document Operating System and Version: OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1, 7.1-1H1, 7.1-1H2, 7.1-2, 7.2, 7.2-1, 7.2-1H1, 7.3 Software Version: Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B Compaq Computer Corporation Houston, Texas ________________________________________________________________ © 2001 Compaq Computer Corporation Compaq and the Compaq logo Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. AlphaStation, AlphaServer, Bookreader, DECnet, DECwindows, Compaq Open3D, and OpenVMS, are trademarks of Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. in the United States and other countries. Motif and OSF/Motif are trademarks of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. PostScript and Display PostScript are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Confidential computer software. Valid license from Compaq required for possession, use, or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license. Compaq shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind and is subject to change without notice. The warranties for Compaq products are set forth in the express limited warranty statements accompanying such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. This document was prepared using DECdocument, Version 3.3- 1b. _________________________________________________________________ Contents Preface................................................... v 1 Product Installation Overview 1.1 Required License.............................. 1-2 1.2 Prerequisite Software......................... 1-2 1.3 Problem Reporting............................. 1-3 1.4 Installing Compaq Open3D on OpenVMS Alpha Systems....................................... 1-3 1.4.1 First-Time Installation................... 1-3 1.4.2 Installation.............................. 1-3 1.4.3 Default Visual Class for PowerStorm 3D30...................................... 1-4 1.4.4 System Tuning............................. 1-4 1.5 Alternate Console............................. 1-6 2 New with This Release 2.1 New Hardware.................................. 2-1 2.1.1 New Graphics Options...................... 2-2 2.1.2 New Multihead Options..................... 2-2 2.1.3 New Workstations Supported................ 2-2 2.2 Software Highlights........................... 2-2 2.3 Problems Fixed in Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B.......................................... 2-3 2.3.1 Terminating Session....................... 2-3 2.3.2 Cursor Display............................ 2-4 2.3.3 Stale Cursor.............................. 2-4 2.3.4 Restart Following Halt or Crash........... 2-4 2.3.5 DMA Disabling............................. 2-5 2.3.6 Boot Crash................................ 2-5 2.3.7 Keyboard Autorepeat Rate.................. 2-5 2.3.8 4D20 Private Colormaps.................... 2-5 iii 2.3.9 Window Corruption......................... 2-7 2.3.10 Print Screen.............................. 2-7 2.4 Problems Fixed in DIGITAL Open3D Version 4.9A.......................................... 2-7 2.4.1 Autorepeat Rate........................... 2-7 2.4.2 Switching Problems........................ 2-8 2.4.3 4D20 Private Colormaps.................... 2-8 2.4.4 Window Corruption......................... 2-9 2.4.5 DMA....................................... 2-9 2.4.6 Print Screen.............................. 2-10 2.5 Known Problems................................ 2-10 2.5.1 Display PostScript and Four PowerStorm 3D30s..................................... 2-10 2.5.2 No Overlay Window Manager for CDE......... 2-11 2.5.3 VGA Jumper on ZLXp-L Series and on PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20.................. 2-11 2.5.4 Console Display on Multihead Systems...... 2-11 2.5.5 Front versus Back Orientation of Polygon Faces..................................... 2-12 2.5.6 Monitor Resolution and Frequency.......... 2-12 2.5.7 Slow Window Dragging on ZLXp-L Options.... 2-12 3 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3.1 3D Graphics Acceleration on PowerStorm 3D30... 3-1 3.2 RGB Color Interpolation and Dithering on PowerStorm 3D30............................... 3-2 3.2.1 Access Through OpenGL..................... 3-3 3.2.2 Access Through PEX........................ 3-3 3.3 3D Graphics Acceleration on PowerStorm 4D20... 3-4 3.4 Selecting Default Visual Types................ 3-5 3.5 Overlay Support............................... 3-5 3.5.1 Technical Background...................... 3-5 3.5.2 Window Manager for Overlays............... 3-6 3.6 Multiple Colormaps............................ 3-7 3.7 DECStereo Extension........................... 3-9 3.7.1 Query and Load the DECStereo Extension.... 3-9 3.7.2 Query the DECStereo Extension Version..... 3-10 3.7.3 Set the Stereo Mode....................... 3-10 3.7.4 Query the Stereo Mode..................... 3-10 iv 4 Known Restrictions and Problems 4.1 Operating System Restrictions................. 4-1 4.1.1 Removing Old Open3D Files................. 4-1 4.2 Overlay Window Manager Restrictions........... 4-1 4.3 X Restrictions................................ 4-2 4.3.1 Backing Store Support..................... 4-2 4.3.2 Save Under Support........................ 4-3 4.3.3 Multihead Support......................... 4-3 4.4 PEX Restrictions.............................. 4-3 4.5 OpenGL Restrictions........................... 4-4 4.5.1 Antialiased Operations.................... 4-4 Tables 3-1 Maximum Window Sizes for Hardware Acceleration at 1280 x 1024 Resolution.... 3-2 v _________________________________________________________________ Preface This document provides important information on Open3D Version 4.9B: o Product installation o Information related to this release for hardware software and previously reported problems o An update on the core server functionality changes for graphics accelerators o Known restrictions You should also read the Read Before Installing or Using Compaq Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha Systems cover letter for a summary of the significant changes to the installation procedure. v 1 _________________________________________________________________ Product Installation Overview Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B for OpenVMS Alpha supports the following devices: o ZLXp-L Series: ZLXp-L1, ZLXp-L2 o PowerStorm Series: PowerStorm 3D30, PowerStorm 4D20 ________________________ Note ________________________ Compaq Open3D Version 4.4 was the last version of Compaq Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha that supported the following graphics devices: o ZLX-E Series: ZLX-E1, ZLX-E2, ZLX-E3 o ZLX-L Series: ZLX-L1, ZLX-L2 o ZLX-M Series: ZLX-M1, ZLX-M2 o ZLXp-E Series: ZLXp-E1, ZLXp-E2, ZLXp-E3 The ZLX-E, ZLX-M, ZLX-L, and ZLXp-E series devices are no longer supported by Compaq Open3D. There is bug- fix support available for current versions of OpenVMS Alpha. However, no software enhancements are available for these devices. Device support for future versions of OpenVMS Alpha will be shipped for a limited time. New workstations and/or operating system versions will not be supported. ______________________________________________________ This release contains optional support for the following: o OpenGL o X Multibuffering Extension o DECStereo X Extension Product Installation Overview 1-1 o Overlay Support via Extended Visuals ________________________ Note ________________________ Open3D Version 4.7 was the last version of Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha that contained support for any PEX library and for any PEX server extensions. Beyond that version of Compaq Open3D, PEX, Compaq's PEXlib, and the MIT PEXlib are no longer supported. In addition, the Input Device Library (IDL) to interface the VSX10/20/30 peripherals is also no longer supported. The software may continue to be shipped for one or more future releases. After that time, the libraries and supporting software will only be available from older media, and run with older releases of Open3D software. ______________________________________________________ Please see the Software Product Description (SPD) 45.08.XX for exact options supported. 1.1 Required License Compaq Open3D software requires a Compaq Open3D Product Authorization Key (PAK) for 3D server operation. This PAK is shipped with your software and should be registered before you install Compaq Open3D. If you do not register the PAK before starting the software, the server will run in 2D mode only (no PEX or OpenGL server support). 1.2 Prerequisite Software Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B provides graphics device support only on systems that are running OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.1, 7.1-1H1, 7.1-1H2, 7.1-2, 7.2, 7.2-1, 7.2-1H1, or 7.3 and DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS Alpha Version 1.2-4, 1.2-5, or 1.2-6. 1-2 Product Installation Overview 1.3 Problem Reporting Problems should be reported using the standard SPR mechanism. 1.4 Installing Compaq Open3D on OpenVMS Alpha Systems 1.4.1 First-Time Installation If this is the first time you have installed a graphics device on this system, enter the following command: $ MC SYSMAN IO SHOW PREFIX The system should display the following message: %SYSMAN-I-IOPREFIX, the current prefix list is: DECW$GRAPHICS_,SYS$ If this is not the current prefix, you can set it using the following command: $ MC SYSMAN IO SET PREFIX=(DECW$GRAPHICS_,SYS$) 1.4.2 Installation You can now use the console as a terminal to log in to the system and install software by using the command procedure SYS$UPDATE:VMSINSTAL.COM. Product Installation Overview 1-3 1.4.3 Default Visual Class for PowerStorm 3D30 The default visual class for PowerStorm 3D30 is PseudoColor. However, if the system contains a DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM, please ensure that the logical DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS is set to "3" in that file, as shown below: $! $ DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS == "3" $! The default for a specific device type is dependent on the hardware and is typically PseudoColor for an 8-plane color board, with a corresponding number of "3". 1.4.4 System Tuning The X server for 3D applications is very demanding on system resources and requires some specific tuning. For specifics on system tuning for 3D devices, please refer to the Compaq Open3D Installation Guide for OpenVMS Alpha Systems. There are some changes to the system tuning required for the initial installation of software for the supported devices. The following are suggested initial values for the MODPARAMS.DAT file and the DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM file. !SYS$SYSDEVICE:[SYS0.SYSEXE]MODPARAMS.DAT !Added for graphics options ! ! MIN_WSMAX = 55000 MIN_GBLPAGFIL = 30000 MIN_GBLPAGES = 378980 MIN_GBLSECTIONS = 3190 MIN_NPAGEDYN = 2500000 MIN_PAGEDYN = 1920000 1-4 Product Installation Overview $!SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM. $! Add any device configuration setup parameters here. $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_file_limit 400 $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_enqueue_limit 2000 $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_wsdef 8192 $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_wsquota 16384 $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_wsextent 32768 $ define/nolog/proc decw$server_page_file 350000 !this can be larger if $! you have a larger PAGEFILE.SYS The values in DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM should also be in the SYSTEM account in SYSUAF.DAT file. Product Installation Overview 1-5 1.5 Alternate Console Instead of using the graphics display as the system console, it is possible to attach an external ASCII terminal to serial port 1 and have console interactions take place on that device. This is done at the boot prompt >>>. To use an external terminal, the commands are: >>> set console serial >>> init To return to the graphics display as console, the commands are: >>> set console graphics >>> init 1-6 Product Installation Overview 2 _________________________________________________________________ New with This Release This section describes the significant differences between this release and the previous release (Compaq Open3D Version 4.9A). ________________________ Note ________________________ Beginning with Version 4.8 of Open3D, PEX, the Compaq PEXlib and the MIT PEXlib are no longer supported. In addition, the Input Device Library (IDL) to interface the VSX10/20/30 peripherals is also no longer supported. The software may continue to be shipped for one or more future releases. After that time, the libraries and supporting software will only be available from older media, and run with older releases of Open3D software. ______________________________________________________ 2.1 New Hardware This is a maintenance release of Compaq Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha. There is no new functionality and no added support for new hardware. This release is provided to fix problems with previously supported hardware and previously supported system platforms. New with This Release 2-1 2.1.1 New Graphics Options There is no new graphics hardware supported in this release. Support for newly introduced graphics hardware is now included with OpenVMS Alpha. Please refer to the OpenVMS Alpha Operating System Software Product Description (SPD 41.87.XX) for information on new 2D and 3D graphics hardware. 2.1.2 New Multihead Options A matrix describing multihead support by Open3D devices is available in the Open3D Software Product Description (SPD), part number 45.08.XX. Refer to this matrix for questions about what graphics cards can be combined on what workstations. Refer to the OpenVMS Alpha Software Product Description (SPD 41.87.XX) for multihead support information on new graphics hardware. 2.1.3 New Workstations Supported There are no new workstations supported by this release of Open3D. See the OpenVMS Alpha Software Product Description (SPD) and the Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha SPD for the graphics options supported on each workstation. 2.2 Software Highlights ________________________ Note ________________________ Compaq Open3D Version 4.7 was the last version of Compaq Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha that contained support for any PEX library and for any PEX server extensions. Beyond that version of Compaq Open3D, PEX is no longer supported. ______________________________________________________ 2-2 New with This Release ________________________ Note ________________________ Compaq Open3D Version 4.4 was the last version of Compaq Open3D for OpenVMS Alpha that supported the following graphics devices: o ZLX-E Series: ZLX-E1, ZLX-E2, ZLX-E3 o ZLX-L Series: ZLX-L1, ZLX-L2 o ZLX-M Series: ZLX-M1, ZLX-M2 o ZLXp-E Series: ZLXp-E1, ZLXp-E2, ZLXp-E3 The ZLX-E, ZLX-M, ZLX-L, and ZLXp-E Series devices are no longer supported by Compaq Open3D. There is bug- fix support available for current versions of OpenVMS Alpha. However, no software enhancements are available for these devices. Device support for future versions of OpenVMS Alpha will be shipped for a limited time. New workstations and/or operating system versions will not be supported. ______________________________________________________ 2.3 Problems Fixed in Compaq Open3D Version 4.9B The following problems have been fixed in this version release of Open3D. 2.3.1 Terminating Session An "End Session" problem with graphics option ZLX-M1, ZLX- M2, ZLX-L1, ZLX-L2, ZLXp-L1 or ZLXp-L2, has been fixed in this release. When a user logs in on the primary graphics head and then terminates the session, the login screen does not reappear if the previous user was a member of a different UIC group. An Xserver restart is necessary. The DECW$PVRM_0 process terminates with "NOSUCHSEC" error. The PVRMERROR.LOG file contains messages such as: rmDriverInit: can't get common globalSection named RMSHAREDID Status = 0x978 New with This Release 2-3 Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GV.EXE - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GU.EXE - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GUB.EXE - SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$SERVER_PVRM.EXE - SYS$SYSTEM:DECW$SERVER_GUBRM.EXE 2.3.2 Cursor Display With the PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 graphics adapters, the cursor would occasionally not display on any head beyond the second screen when using 24-planes and moving the cursor between screens. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2.3.3 Stale Cursor With the PowerStorm 3D30/4D20, when switching screens, a stale cursor was occasionally left behind on the last screen. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2.3.4 Restart Following Halt or Crash With PowerStorm 3D30/4D20, a warm restart following a halt or crash would bugcheck in GYCDRIVER. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2-4 New with This Release 2.3.5 DMA Disabling With PowerStorm 3D30/4D20, DMA was not disabled for systems with greater than one gigabyte (GB) of memory or when the graphics adapter was located behind a PCI bridge. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GY.EXE - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_WMB_GY.EXE 2.3.6 Boot Crash With PowerStorm 3D30/4D20, the system crashed during boot if the keyboard or mouse was not present on an AlphaServer 8200, AlphaServer 8400, AlphaServer GS60, AlphaServer GS60e, or AlphaServer GS140. The graphics device is now set unavailable if no mouse or keyboard is present. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2.3.7 Keyboard Autorepeat Rate With PowerStorm 3D30/4D20, under heavy load, especially 3D on the PowerStorm 4D20, the keyboard autorepeat rate can spontaneously increase by two times. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2.3.8 4D20 Private Colormaps The PowerStorm 4D20 does not correctly install private colormaps in its 8-plane default mode. A bug exists in the server such that when installing a new 8-bit colormap into a window after the window had been using a different colormap, the code that allows 2 simultaneous 8-bit colormaps on the 4D20 does not correctly show the new colormap. New with This Release 2-5 Colormap information on this card is carried on a per-pixel basis, and allows the selection of a number of simultaneous pixel formats, including two 8-plane color palettes. When forcing the default visual to 8-plane PseudoColor, thus creating a window using the default colormap and then installing a new private colormap, the logic that repaints the window ID bits in the pixels is not working correctly. A workaround has been provided for EV4 platforms (Open3D Version 4.9A provided the same workaround for EV5 and EV6 platforms). A logical name can be defined to force the use of only a single 8-plane colormap. This will make the card work exactly as a "standard" 8-plane card would for private 8-plane colormaps. Note that you can still create 24/16/12/4-plane private colormaps simultaneously. Also note that this fix is only available when the default visual is set to PseudoColor (which forces 8-planes as the default). This problem could also be corrected in the application code when using this card in the default 24-plane mode, by finding the 8-plane PseudoColor Visual and creating a colormap, instead of relying on the default colormap being an 8-plane visual. To enable this workaround, you must edit the file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM. If this file does not exist, you will need to create it by either renaming or copying the DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE. Locate "DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS" and force the class to 3 (PseudoColor): $ DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS == "3" Add the line: $ DEFINE/NOLOG/SYS/EXEC DECW$SERVER_FFB_FIXMAP 1 Restart the server or reboot. You can confirm that the fix is enabled by examining: SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG 2-6 New with This Release It will indicate that the user has forced a single 8-plane colormap. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GY.EXE 2.3.9 Window Corruption DMA on the PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 on small memory systems (less than one gigabyte) causes window corruption on EV4 platforms. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GY.EXE 2.3.10 Print Screen An ACCVIO occurs during a Print Screen when using ZLXp-E or PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 graphics cards on EV4 platforms. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_GY.EXE 2.4 Problems Fixed in DIGITAL Open3D Version 4.9A 2.4.1 Autorepeat Rate Autorepeat rate is too high when using the PowerStorm 3D30 or 4D20 on a Digital Personal Workstation. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE New with This Release 2-7 2.4.2 Switching Problems Console and Ctrl/F2 mode switching problems when using the PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20. Images affected: - SYS$LOADABLE_IMAGES:SYS$GYCDRIVER.EXE 2.4.3 4D20 Private Colormaps The PowerStorm 4D20 does not correctly install private colormaps in its 8-plane default mode. A bug exists in the server such that when installing a new 8-bit colormap into a window after the window had been using a different colormap, the code that allows two simultaneous 8-bit colormaps on the 4D20 does not correctly show the new colormap. Colormap information on this card is carried on a per-pixel basis, and allows the selection of a number of simultaneous pixel formats, including two 8-plane color palettes. When forcing the default visual to 8-plane PseudoColor, thus creating a window using the default colormap and then installing a new private colormap, the logic that repaints the window ID bits in the pixels is not working correctly. A workaround has been provided on EV5 and EV6 platforms. A logical name can be defined to force the use of only a single 8-plane colormap. This will make the card work exactly as a "standard" 8-plane card would for private 8- plane colormaps. Note that you can still create 24/16/12/4- plane private colormaps simultaneously. Also note that this fix is only available when the default visual is set to PseudoColor (which forces 8-planes as the default). This problem could also be corrected in the application code when using this card in the default 24-plane mode, by finding the 8-plane PseudoColor Visual and creating a colormap, instead of relying on the default colormap being an 8-plane visual. To enable this workaround, you must edit the file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM. If this file does not exist, you will need to create it by either renaming or copying DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE. 2-8 New with This Release Locate "DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS" and force the class to 3 (PseudoColor): $ DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS == "3" Add the line: $ DEFINE/NOLOG/SYS/EXEC DECW$SERVER_FFB_FIXMAP 1 Restart the server or reboot. You can confirm that the fix is enabled by examining: SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG It will indicate that the user has forced a single 8-plane colormap. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_WMB_GY.EXE 2.4.4 Window Corruption DMA on the PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 on small memory systems (less than one gigabyte) causes window corruption on EV5 and EV6 platforms. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_WMB_GY.EXE 2.4.5 DMA DMA on the PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 does not work correctly on all platforms. The wrong DDX was sometimes loaded. The PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 device configuration file provided by VMS and provided by Open3D have both been modified to correctly determine the type of platform and to determine if Open3D has been installed and consequently load the correct DDX. New with This Release 2-9 Files(s) Affected: - SYS$MANAGER:DECW$DEVICE_CONFIG_GY.COM 2.4.6 Print Screen An ACCVIO occurs during a Print Screen when using ZLXp- E or PowerStorm 3D30/4D20 graphics cards on EV5 or EV6 platforms. Images affected: - SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$SERVER_DDX_WMB_GY.EXE 2.5 Known Problems 2.5.1 Display PostScript and Four PowerStorm 3D30s Display PostScript (DPS) is incompatible with workstations running four (4) or more PowerStorm 3D30s. In such systems, the Display PostScript extension must not be enabled. This extension is currently enabled by default; to fix this problem requires editing a start-up file. This is a permanent restriction on the use of Display PostScript. The procedure to make the edit is as follows: 1. Copy SYS$COMMON:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE to SYS$COMMON:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM. 2. Edit sys$common:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM to add these lines to the file: $ if DECW$device_count .gt .3 $ then $ DECW$server_extensions == "Xie,DEC-XTRAP,Multi-buffering" $ endif 3. Reboot the system. ________________________ Note ________________________ OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 no longer provides support for Display PostScript (DPS). The Display PostScript 2-10 New with This Release extension is no longer enabled by default. Therefore, this edit will not be required if you are running OpenVMS Version 7.3. ______________________________________________________ 2.5.2 No Overlay Window Manager for CDE The new overlay software will work correctly with either the DECwindows desktop or the new Common Desktop Environment. However, only the DECwindows desktop has a window manager (mwm) that is "overlay aware;" CDE's window manager (dtwm) is not. If the application expects an overlay window manager, the DECwindows environment must be used. 2.5.3 VGA Jumper on ZLXp-L Series and on PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20 For PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20 multihead systems and for ZLXp-L multihead systems, only one of the graphics boards should have the VGA jumper set to the VGA position. 2.5.4 Console Display on Multihead Systems In general, the console display output in multihead systems will appear on the monitor attached to the graphics card installed in the lowest-numbered slot in the workstation. (Refer to the manuals that came with the workstation to determine the slot-numbering order.) For PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20 multihead systems, console display will appear on the graphics board with the VGA jumper set regardless of the option slot it is in. However, once the boot process is complete, the login box will appear on "head 0" (the graphics board in the lowest numbered slot). Compaq recommends installing the graphics card with the VGA jumper set in the lowest numbered option slot on the workstation. New with This Release 2-11 2.5.5 Front versus Back Orientation of Polygon Faces Under certain conditions, the computation to determine whether an OpenGL polygon is front-facing or back-facing may be incorrect. This usually happens with objects created by a "reflection operation." This will be fixed in a later release. 2.5.6 Monitor Resolution and Frequency The ZLXp-L series displays data at only one resolution and frequency: 1280x1024 at 72Hz. Attempting to use a monitor that is not capable of supporting this resolution and frequency will not work. The ZLXp-L boards are capable of supporting other resolutions and frequencies, but the software necessary to effect the change is not available in Compaq Open3D. This is a permanent restriction for this device. 2.5.7 Slow Window Dragging on ZLXp-L Options Clicking and dragging an entire window will cause the window to lag behind the cursor movement. The workaround for this problem is to drag windows in outline mode. 2-12 New with This Release 3 _________________________________________________________________ Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators This section describes the functionality available with the ZLXp-L series and with the 3D30 and 4D20 PowerStorm devices. 3.1 3D Graphics Acceleration on PowerStorm 3D30 The PowerStorm 3D30 option contains a 2 MB frame buffer, of which up to 1280 x 1024 x 8-bit pixels are on-screen memory. These options contain support for z-buffering and color interpolation (with or without dithering). However, this hardware acceleration is only available when corresponding color/z-buffers are resident in off-screen memory. Due to the limited amount of off-screen memory (no more than 0.75 megabytes-about 880x880 pixels), the availability of this hardware acceleration depends largely on window size. When the buffers cannot be allocated in off-screen memory, the corresponding operation will be performed in software, which may have an effect on the performance. The following table lists the approximate maximum window sizes which permit the various levels of hardware acceleration. Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-1 Table 3-1 Maximum Window Sizes for Hardware Acceleration at __________1280_x_1024_Resolution___________________________ Maximum Window Size_____________Double_Buffer____Z-Buffer_________________ 440 x 440 Accelerated Accelerated pixels 880 x 880 Accelerated Software pixels >880 x 880 Software Software pixels_____________________________________________________ For the single-buffered case, windows larger than approximately 440x440 will not be able to take advantage of accelerated z-buffering. 3.2 RGB Color Interpolation and Dithering on PowerStorm 3D30 The PowerStorm 3D30 option contains hardware support for PEX and OpenGL RGB color interpolation and dithering, whereby 24-bit RGB colors are interpolated, dithered and mapped into the following 8-bit RGB format: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | RED | GREEN | BLUE | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ Note that the PowerStorm 3D30 does not support simultaneous multiple colormaps. Therefore, taking advantage of hardware-accelerated RGB color interpolation and dithering may lead to color map contention and possible "technicolor" situations. In addition, windows larger than approximately 880x880 pixels cannot take advantage of this hardware assist because the back buffer will not fit in off-screen memory. The following sections describe how to gain access to these hardware features via the OpenGL and PEX interfaces. 3-2 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3.2.1 Access Through OpenGL Hardware-accelerated RGB color interpolation is available to 8-bit RGB visuals. By calling Enable() with the symbolic constant "DITHER", hardware-accelerated dithering can also be requested. 3.2.2 Access Through PEX Hardware-accelerated RGB color interpolation and dithering are possible via PEX when a Color Approximation Lookup Table entry with the following characteristics is selected: approxType == ColorSpace approxModel == RGB max1 <= 7 max2 <= 7 max3 <= 3 dither == 1 (if desired, 0 otherwise) mult1 == 32 mult2 == 4 mult3 == 1 basepixel == N*32 (6 <= N <= 0) Note that these color approximation parameters can be used with either 3-channel visuals (TrueColor, DirectColor) or 1-channel visuals (PseudoColor, etc.). For TrueColor or DirectColor visuals, the following values should be used to take advantage of all 256 color cells: max1 == 7 max2 == 7 max3 == 3 basepixel == 0 Note that use of these visual types will cause other windows to "go technicolor" when the focus is received. To avoid this situation, it may be possible to use the default colormap or create a new color map which will allow hardware-accelerated color interpolation and dithering, yet still retain the essential (read-only) color cells used by the system (e.g., window manager). This may not always be Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-3 possible, depending on how the window manager and/or other clients have allocated colors. However, for the case of the Motif window manager and one PEX client, it should be possible to use fast dithering while avoiding technicolor problems. The key to permitting hardware color interpolation and dithering on PseudoColor visuals is finding a basepixel value which is a multiple of 32 and greater than the largest previously allocated color cell (or read-only color cell, if a new color map is being created). This basepixel value must be be used to lower the maximum red value (max1) such that the red channel cannot overflow. Finding an appropriate basepixel value requires the application to interrogate the colormap and find the first available color cell whose index is a multiple of 32 and that has no cells allocated after it. 3.3 3D Graphics Acceleration on PowerStorm 4D20 The PowerStorm 4D20 option contains a 16 MB frame buffer arranged in 32-bit pixels. On-screen video memory holds 1280 x 1024 pixels, with 2.75M pixels available off-screen. Within the 32-bit pixels, 4-, 8-, 12-, and 24-bit deep visuals are supported. (The PowerStorm 4D20 can optionally be configured to have up to 1600 x 1200 pixels on-screen, with correspondingly less off-screen memory available.) Maximum performance of a double-buffered application on this option is obtained with a 12/12 visual format. This allows both front- and back-buffers to be stored in the same 32-bit pixel value, saving a copy operation with each swap action. This is effective for window sizes up to 1280x1024 pixels, when applications use 12/12 double- buffering and z-buffering simultaneously. Due to the increased frame buffer size, this option permits full hardware acceleration of color interpolation and z- buffering of 1280 x 1024 (or smaller) windows. 3-4 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3.4 Selecting Default Visual Types Different visual class can be set by editing the DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM to set the visual class switch settings, as shown below. $! PseudoColor $! $ DECW$SERVER_DEFAULT_VISUAL_CLASS == "3" $! To get 12 bit visuals, the following line needs to be added in the above file. $! DEFINE DEPTH TO BE 12 BITS $! $ DEFINE/SYS DECW$FFBFORCEDEPTH 12 $! 3.5 Overlay Support The following discussion of overlay support applies to the PowerStorm 4D20 and ZLXp-L graphics options only. Overlays are not supported on the PowerStorm 3D30. 3.5.1 Technical Background The overlay window is a 4-plane PseudoColor visual. A colormap created with that visual would have 15 entries available to the user. Pixel 0 is always the transparent pixel. To get the visualID of the overlay visual, you need to get the SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS property from the root window. To retrieve the property and interpret the data associated with it, consider the following example: property_name: SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS property_type: SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS format: 32 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-5 The contents of the property is a LIST of the following data structure: SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS { overlay_visual: VISUALID transparent_type: {None, TransparentPixel, TransparentMask} value: CARD32 layer: CARD32 } For the devices with overlay planes, the server returns a list that contains one element. The element consists of four longwords, as described above. You would typically receive the following information: 0x00000027 /* VisualID */ 0x00000001 /* Indicates that the transparent_type is TransparentPixel */ 0x00000000 /* The transparent pixel's value is 0 */ 0x00000001 /* The layer is 1 */ Once you have the VisualID, you can retrieve the rest of the information about the overlay visual and colormap by calling the routine XGetVisualInfo. Overlay windows and regular windows are in different layers, so drawing in an overlay window will not disturb the pixels of the regular window, and vice versa. If you draw an invisible pixel into an overlay window, the pixel of the nonoverlay window beneath that window will show through. 3.5.2 Window Manager for Overlays Version 4.9B supplies an optional window manager called DECW$MWM_OVERLAY.EXE in SYS$SYSTEM:. This window manager will take advantage of the extra planes of memory available on many of the graphics accelerators. To make this window manager the default for a specific user: 1. Log in to your workstation. 2. Select the Options Menu from the Session Manager. 3. Click on the Automatic Startup Item. 3-6 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 4. In the Session Manager: Automatic Startup Dialog box, select the Window Manager item from the righthand list. 5. Remove the Window Manager Item by clicking on the button with the left pointing arrow. This button is in the center of the dialog box. 6. Add the new window manager to the automatic startup list. This is done by scrolling down the list until you find the item marked "Window MGR with Overlays" and clicking on that item. You should now see the new item appear in the righthand list. 7. To save these changes, click on the "OK" button. Then select "Save Session Manager" from the Options Menu. 8. These changes will take effect the next time you log into your workstation. The new window manager will put all the window borders and banners in the overlay planes. If you currently have an application that was written to use overlays without this window manager, you will need to modify the application to avoid colormap problems. The best way to do this is to share the overlay colormap with the window manager. This can be done by querying the server property name SERVER_ OVERLAY_COLORMAPS. This property will return the 32-bit value that is the overlay colormap ID. It is strongly suggested that you share colormaps with the window manager, as the hardware supports only one colormap for the overlay planes. If you create and install your own colormap, then you will have colormaps flashing on the screen and will change the colors of the window manager's borders and banners. 3.6 Multiple Colormaps The following discussion of simultaneous multiple colormap support applies to the PowerStorm 4D20 and ZLXp-L graphics options only. Simultaneous multiple colormaps are not supported on the PowerStorm 3D30. Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-7 Applications should not install or deinstall colormaps themselves. The window manager should perform these actions. However, the application is responsible for providing the window manager with hints as to which colormaps to install or deinstall. You provide this information using the Xlib function XSetWMColormapWindows(). This function sets the WM_ COLORMAP_WINDOWS property for a given window. For information on how to use this function and how the window manager interprets the property, see The X Window System by Scheifler and Gettys, 3rd Edition (Section 14.1.11, Setting and Reading the WM_COLORMAP_WINDOWS Property, pages 425-426, and Section 4.1.8, Colormaps, page 649-651). Applications written and debugged on systems with only one colormap may appear incorrect on a system with multiple colormaps. There are several application errors that can cause this, but the most prevalent is not having the correct colormap associated with all the windows that require it. To correct this problem, use XChangeWindowAttributes to set the colormap for all windows in the application that require the colormap. 3-8 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3.7 DECStereo Extension The ZLXp-L devices, as well as the PowerStorm 3D30 and 4D20, have stereo capabilities. To enable this functionality, Compaq Open3D includes the DECStereo X Extension. This extension consists of a set of library routines that perform the following actions: o Query and load the extension (XDECStereoQueryExtension) o Query the extension version (XDECStereoQueryVersion) o Set the stereo mode (XDECStereoSetMode) o Query the current stereo mode (XDECStereoQueryMode) The constant, structure, and function prototype definitions are defined in the following files: o DECW$INCLUDE:DECStereo.h o DECW$INCLUDE:DECStereostr.h The shareable image version of this library is in SYS$LIBRARY:DECW$STERIOLIBSHR.EXE. 3.7.1 Query and Load the DECStereo Extension To query the X server and load the DECStereo extension, call the following routine: Bool XDECStereoQueryExtension(display, event_base, error_base) Display *display; int *event_base; int *error_base; This routine returns False if it cannot load the extension. If successful, the routine returns True and the event_base and error_base codes. Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-9 3.7.2 Query the DECStereo Extension Version To query the version number of the DECStereo extension, call the following routine: Status XDECStereoQueryVersion(display, major_version, minor_version) Display *display; int *major_version; int *minor_version; If the routine fails, it returns the value 0. If successful, the routine returns the value 1, and the major and minor version number of the DECStereo protocol. 3.7.3 Set the Stereo Mode To set the stereo mode of the server and the stereo-capable hardware, call the following routine: void XDECStereoSetMode(display, drawable, mode) Display *display; Drawable drawable; int mode; In this routine, mode can be either StereoOn or StereoOff. 3.7.4 Query the Stereo Mode To query the stereo mode of the server and stereo-capable hardware, call the following routine: Status XDECStereoQueryMode(display, drawable, mode, stereoCapable) Display *display; Drawable drawable; int *mode; int *stereoCapable; 3-10 Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators If the query fails, the routine returns the value 0. If successful, the routine returns the value 1 and the mode (StereoOn or StereoOff). The routine also sets the stereoCapable flag to the value 1, whether the screen for this drawable is capable of stereo or not. Core Server Functionality for Graphics Accelerators 3-11 4 _________________________________________________________________ Known Restrictions and Problems This section describes the known restrictions with the 4.x versions of Compaq Open3D. 4.1 Operating System Restrictions This section describes restrictions related to the operating system software. 4.1.1 Removing Old Open3D Files If all 3D hardware devices have been removed from a TURBOchannel-based workstation, and it now contains only an HX device, then the Open3D files installed with the kit are no longer needed. There is no utility provided to remove the files; in general, there is no interference caused by installed Open3D files and the base OpenVMS files. However, if an application uses the multibuffering extension, there have been problems reported with the file DECW$SVEXT_MULTI_BUFFERING.EXE in SYS$LIBRARY. This file should be replaced with the original file on the OpenVMS kit. (If no application needs the file, it can simply be deleted.) 4.2 Overlay Window Manager Restrictions You should be aware of the following overlay window manager restrictions: o The window manager currently supports only single- screen systems; it does not work correctly with multiple graphics devices (multihead). Known Restrictions and Problems 4-1 o If you select a Matte Size option other than "None" from the window manager options list, the matte color will be incorrect. o If you select "Show Feedback when moving or resizing windows," the window with the feedback information will cause expose events. o When you move windows around by just showing the outline of the window, the outline will appear to go below the window borders and banners. o If you restart the window manager using the "Restart" or the "Apply Options" item from the window manager's Workspace menu, the window manager without overlay support will be restarted. 4.3 X Restrictions This section describes restrictions related to the X Window System. 4.3.1 Backing Store Support Backing store, which is enabled by default, requires significant amounts of off-screen memory. If a small piece of a window is occluded, the off-screen memory requirements for the window depend on the size of the window, not on the occluded fragment. (This is the design of backing store as supplied by the X Consortium.) This memory requirement can cause problems when you use ZLXp and PowerStorm devices, which have a limited amount of off-screen memory. When this memory is used up, the performance is degraded. For example, if you see unacceptable pauses in the windowing system when pulling down menus or changing window focus, these are probably caused by backing store. Therefore, Compaq recommends that you use backing store sparingly, and try to have only one window on the screen that requests backing store. This allows extra room in off-screen memory for pixmaps. If you continue to have problems that you suspect are caused by backing store, 4-2 Known Restrictions and Problems you can disable this option and try the operation again. To disable backing store, edit the DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_ SETUP.COM, and set the logical DECW$SERVER_DISABLE_BACKING_ STORE to TRUE as shown below: $! $ DECW$SERVER_DISABLE_BACKING_STORE == "TRUE" $! 4.3.2 Save Under Support Save unders are enabled by default. The X Consortium implementation of save unders turns on backing store for occluded windows, however, which potentially uses large amounts of off-screen memory and causes performance to degrade. For example, when save unders are enabled, you may see pauses in menu and windowing operations as backing store is enabled and disabled on windows that are under menus. 4.3.3 Multihead Support The specification for multihead support for many graphics options is contained in the Software Product Description (SPD) for Compaq Open3D. However, newer graphics devices are supported by OpenVMS Alpha and do not require Open3D. Information on multihead support for these newer devices is provided in the SPD for OpenVMS Alpha. 4.4 PEX Restrictions ________________________ Note ________________________ Beginning with version 4.8 of Open3D, PEX, the DEC PEXlib, and the MIT PEXlib are no longer supported. In addition, the Input Device Library (IDL) to interface the VSX10/20/30 peripherals is also no longer supported. The software may continue to be shipped for one or more future releases. After that time, the libraries and supporting software will Known Restrictions and Problems 4-3 only be available from older media and run with older releases of Open3D software. ______________________________________________________ 4.5 OpenGL Restrictions This section describes restrictions on using OpenGL software. 4.5.1 Antialiased Operations The following restrictions apply to antialiased operations: o Antialiased polygons for OpenGL are not supported. The primitives are rendered, but not antialiased. o OpenGL antialiased lines may not be rendered completely within the OpenGL specifications. 4-4 Known Restrictions and Problems