Compaq DECwindows Motif
for OpenVMS
Release Notes


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3.2.2.2 Color Problem in DECwindows Login Screen

V1.2

A problem may occur on systems that have a customized DECW$LOGIN.DAT file. The Start Session dialog box is the color blue instead of tan. If this condition exists, look for a customized DECW$LOGIN.DAT file in the directory SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.USER] and move it to SYS$MANAGER. A DECW$LOGIN.DAT file in SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.USER] prevents the "*background:" resource from being defined; thus, it will default to the color blue.

Compaq provides a copy of the DECW$LOGIN.DAT file in the SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM] directory. Any customized versions of this file should reside only in SYS$MANAGER.

3.3 System and Environment Tuning Information

This section describes important considerations related to the tuning of DECwindows Motif system.

3.3.1 Changes and Enhancements

The following notes describe changes and enhancements made to the DECwindows Motif system tuning recommendations.

3.3.1.1 Displaying an Expanded Welcome Message (New Desktop Only)

V1.2--6

You can now enter a longer, customized welcome message to be displayed on the Login Screen. The size of the welcome message string (Dtlogin*greeting.labelString) in XRESOURCES.DAT has been expanded allowing you to enter more than 8 lines of text.

Note that the actual number of lines you can enter and display is limited by the size of the screen and the selected font. However, a minimum of 25 lines is allowed on most display devices.

3.3.1.2 Setting the File Manager Refresh Rate (New Desktop Only)

V1.2--6

You can now specify that the File Manager periodically update its view by adjusting the Dtfile.rereadTime setting in the DTFILE.DAT resource file. The value of this setting represents the seconds elapsed between checking for changes in the viewed directories. Note that this setting does not work when viewing search lists.

3.3.1.3 System Tuning for Non-VGA Devices

V1.2

The DECwindows server requires specific tuning for graphics-intensive and 3D applications because of greater demand for system resources. You need to make adjustments for server quotas on 3D accelerated systems. These are minimum values suggested for a system with as little as 64 MB of physical memory and for running complex clients.

Use the AUTHORIZE utility to set the following SYSTEM account quotas to the minimum values shown in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2 Recommended Quotas for System Tuning
Parameter Value
FILLM 400
ENQLM 1024
WSDEF 10240
WSQUO 16384
WSEXTENT 1 20480
PGFLQUO 2 3 270000


1This value cannot exceed WSMAX.
2PAGEFILE.SYS must be of the same or greater size.
3Use for 370000 for ZLX--E and ZLXp--E systems.

The server has its own quotas that are set in SYS$COMMON:[SYSMGR]DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM. If this file does not exist, copy the file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.TEMPLATE to SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM and edit the file to include the following values:
Quota Value
DECW$SERVER_FILE_LIMIT 400
DECW$SERVER_ENQUEUE_LIMIT 1024
DECW$SERVER_WSDEF 10240
DECW$SERVER_WSQUOTA 16384
DECW$SERVER_WSEXTENT 20480
DECW$SERVER_PAGE_FILE 1 270000


1Use for 370000 for ZLX--E and ZLXp--E systems.

If you use larger values, you must also modify the corresponding SYSTEM account quotas that you set with the AUTHORIZE utility.

Tuning for Animation Applications

If your application involves lengthy animation sequences of large models or assemblies, performance may be improved by setting the following working set quotas and values:
Parameter Value
WSDEF 10240
WSQUO 20480
WSEXTENT 32768

You need to set the corresponding server quotas as follows:
Quota Value
DECW$SERVER_WSDEF 10240
DECW$SERVER_WSQUOTA 20480
DECW$SERVER_WSEXTENT 32768

Note

The parameters should not be tuned upward unless you have at least 128 MB of physical memory.

Determining Tuning Needs

To determine whether you need to set larger parameters, monitor the server process during the heaviest display usage. If the working set use approaches the maximum WSEXTENT, then you need to adjust the values. However, do not set large values unless it is necessary. If you set these values too high, performance may be degraded. Optimal DECwindows server performance depends on application demands.

Use the SYSGEN utility to issue the SHOW VIRTUALPAGECNT command to determine the current virtual page count a process is allowed to have. If it is less than 525000, edit the SYS$SYSTEM:MODPARAMS.DAT file and add the following line:


   MIN_VIRTUALPAGECNT = 525000 

Note that the minimum value for VIRTUALPAGECNT for a working X server needs to be 525000 when a ZLX-E or a ZKXp-E graphics card is installed. MIN_VIRTUALPAGECNT could be set as high as the equivalent of your total available physical memory and page file space.

MIN_WSMAX must be at least as large as the largest WSEXTENT value set from among your accounts. Please refer to the OpenVMS System Manager's Manual for more information. Do not exceed what AUTOGEN gives for WSMAX. See the warning in the AUTOGEN report.

The next time you run AUTOGEN and reboot, the new values will take effect. VIRTUALPAGECNT should not be less than the sum of your WSEXTENT and PGFLQUO, or the server cannot make full use of the quotas. In addition, you need to increase the size of the page file to accommodate the pagefile quotas of both the server and your clients. Note that pagefile quota for the server is derived from system page files.

If, after initial tuning and considerable use, the server is failing or is unnecessarily unresponsive, the server may have run out of memory or memory may have become fragmented. A particularly demanding application may require that you give the server even larger PGFLQUO and VIRTUALPAGECNT values.

If the server error log SYS$MANAGER:DECW$SERVER_0_ERROR.LOG contains the statement xxx: Out of memory, increase the pagefile quota for the server. Set this by modifying both system quota PGFLQUO and DECW$PRIVATE_SERVER_SETUP.COM and virtual page count via MODPARAMS.DAT and AUTOGEN.

Note that, in multiheaded configurations (for example, ZLX--E1 and ZLX--E2), the PGFLQUO and the DECW$SERVER_PAGE_FILE parameters should be increased to meet your system requirements.

3.3.1.4 Define DECW$UTILS Global Symbol When Moving DECW$EXAMPLES Global Symbol

V1.2

DECwindows Motif Version 1.2 for OpenVMS introduced a new symbol, DECW$UTILS. Normally, this symbol points to a subdirectory of DECW$EXAMPLES. If you define a DECW$EXAMPLES global symbol in the DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM command procedure to change the directory for DECwindows example programs, you must also define DECW$UTILS to change the directory for utilities.

For example, to redefine both DECW$EXAMPLES and DECW$UTILS, add the following lines to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM procedure:


$ DECW$EXAMPLES == "SYS$SYSROOT:[DECWEXAMPLES] 
$ DECW$UTILS == "SYS$SYSROOT:[DECWEXAMPLES.UTILS] 

Note

If the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM file does not exist, create it from the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE file.

Then, restart DECwindows Motif with the following command:


$@SYS$MANAGER:DECW$STARTUP RESTART 

3.3.1.5 Customizing the Login Screen

V1.2

To customize the login screen, create a file named DECW$LOGIN.DAT in the SYS$MANAGER directory that contains your resource definitions. The custom resource definitions from SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT are merged with the resource definitions supplied by Compaq in SYS$COMMON:[DECW$DEFAULTS.SYSTEM]DECW$LOGIN.DAT to form the new login screen.

Keep customized versions of the DECW$LOGIN.DAT resource file in the SYS$MANAGER directory, and not in DECW$SYSTEM_DEFAULTS, to prevent your customized file from being overwritten when upgraded to a newer version of Compaq DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS software. In addition, storing the file in the SYS$MANAGER directory prevents the custom file from superseding the file that is supplied by Compaq.

3.3.1.5.1 Customizing the Compaq Logo and Login Screen Colors

You can define the resources in Table 3-3 to control the position and colors of the Compaq logo and the color of the screen background in the Start Session screen.

Table 3-3 Moving the Compaq Logo and Changing Login Screen Colors
Resource Description
rootColor Color of the screen background.
logoColor Color of the Compaq logo (default is burgundy).
logoX x position of the Compaq logo (default is 0).
logoY y position of the Compaq logo (default is 75).
centerLogoX Boolean; if true (default), the Compaq logo is centered horizontally on the screen.

For example, to position the Compaq logo at x=100, y=600, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:


decw$login.logoX: 100 
decw$login.logoY: 600 
decw$login.centerLogoX: false 

3.3.1.5.2 Changing Positions of the Start Session and Set Password Dialog Boxes

You can define the resources in Table 3-4 to control the position of the Start Session and Set Password dialog boxes.

Table 3-4 Changing Position of the Start Session and Set Password Dialog Boxes
Resource Description
centerStartSessionX Boolean; if true (default), the Start Session dialog box is centered horizontally.
centerStartSessionY Boolean; if true (default), the Start Session dialog box is centered vertically.
centerSetPasswordX Boolean; if true (default), the Set Password dialog box for expired passwords is centered horizontally.
centerSetPasswordY Boolean; if true (default), the Set Password dialog box is centered vertically.

For example, to position the Start Session dialog box at x=100, y=600, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:


decw$login.centerStartSessionX: false 
decw$login.centerStartSessionY: false 
decw$login.HiddenShell.x: 100 
decw$login.HiddenShell.y: 600 

To position the Set Password dialog box at x=30, y=100, add the following resource definitions to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:


decw$login.centerSetPasswordX: false 
decw$login.centerSetPasswordY: false 
decw$login.SetPasswordShell.x: 30 
decw$login.SetPasswordShell.y: 100 

3.3.1.5.3 Disabling a Node Name Display in the Start Session Dialog Box

To prevent a node name from being displayed in the Start Session dialog box, add the following resource definition to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$LOGIN.DAT file:


decw$login.displayNodeName: false 

3.3.1.6 Displaying Customized Login Logos

V1.1

By default, if there is no DECwindows Motif license registered for the SYSTEM account, DECwindows does not display customized login logos. This is a problem on systems with DECwindows Motif personal-use licenses that do not include SYSTEM on the list of authorized DECwindows users.

To display a customized logo without a DECwindows Motif license for SYSTEM, add the following definition to the SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM file:


$ DECW$LOGINLOGOSUB == "TRUE" 

Note

If the file does not exist, copy it from the file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.TEMPLATE.

After editing the setup file, restart DECwindows Motif using the following command:


$ @SYS$MANAGER:DECW$STARTUP RESTART

DECwindows Motif login starts the logo process as a subprocess instead of as a detached process. The license check sees that the logo process is a child of the login process and that the X connection is opened.

3.3.2 Problems and Restrictions

The following notes describe the known problems and restrictions that currently exist with tuning and customizing the DECwindows Motif environment.

3.3.2.1 System Hangs With Some Graphics Cards

V1.2--5

On systems with Powerstorm 4d20 or ZLXp-E2 graphics cards, the operating system may hang or become extremely sluggish if you have a large number of open application windows or if certain CDA documents are opened. To verify that a system hang is caused by this problem, use the Watch Errors utility in the Desktop Tools drawer of the Application Manager. If the system hang is due to this problem, you will see the following:


-> RCV'D (pid nnnnnnnn): RCV'D (pid nnnnnnnn
%SYSTEM-F-EXBUFOBJLM, exceeded systemwide buffer object page limit (MAXBOBMEM) 
-> RCV'D (pid nnnnnnnn): RCV'D (pid nnnnnnnn
SYSTEM logged out at dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm:ss

At the present time, there is no workaround for this problem other than using fewer windows (increasing the MAXBOBMEM value doesn't fix the problem). If you experience this problem, you may want to keep a DECterm window free so that you can perform a graceful system reboot. Otherwise, you will need to perform a hard reboot.

3.3.2.2 Performance Problem with Certain Keymaps

V1.2--5

There is a performance problem when using the Austrian-German keymap (AUSTRIAN_GERMAN_LK401AG_TW). The problem can also occur with other keyboard and/or language changes, when the user selects a sequence of keyboard maps/languages which force the Mode_switch modifier into the mod4 or mod5 entry in the keyboard modifier map. This happens in response to the user selecting a keyboard map in the "Keyboard Options" popup that uses the Mode_switch modifier.

To verify the position of the Mode_switch modifier in the keyboard modifier map, use the following commands:


$ XMODMAP :== $DECW$UTILS:XMODMAP.EXE 
$ XMODMAP 
xmodmap:  up to 3 keys per modifier, (keycodes in parentheses): 
 
shift       Shift_R (0xab),  Shift_L (0xae) 
lock        Caps_Lock (0xb0) 
control     Control_L (0xaf) 
mod1        Alt_L (0xac),  Alt_R (0xb2) 
mod2        Mode_switch (0xb1) 
mod3        Multi_key (0xad) 
mod4        Mode_switch (0x7a) 
mod5        Help (0x7c) 

As a workaround, change the modifier mapping after selecting the keyboard map by using the DECW$UTILS:XMODMAP.EXE utility.

  1. Create a file, which when passed to XMODMAP, clears the keyboard modifier map and remaps the Mode_switch to a lower entry in the keyboard modifier map:


    clear shift 
    clear lock 
    clear control 
    clear mod1 
    clear mod2 
    clear mod3 
    clear mod4 
    clear mod5 
    add shift = Shift_R Shift_L 
    add lock = Caps_Lock 
    add control = Control_L 
    add mod1 = Alt_R Alt_L 
    add mod2 = Multi_key 
    add mod3 = Mode_switch 
    add mod5 = Help 
    

  2. Pass the file to XMODMAP using the following commands:


    $ XMODMAP :== $DECW$UTILS:XMODMAP.EXE 
    $ XMODMAP XMODMAPRC.DAT 
    

3.4 Console Window

This section contains information about the Console Window application.

3.4.1 Changes and Enhancements

The following notes describe changes and enhancements made to the Console Window application.

3.4.1.1 Displaying Console Messages

V1.2--3

DECwindows Motif Version 1.2--3 for OpenVMS introduced the feature of displaying console messages in the Console Window application. Previous versions of DECwindows Motif displayed the console window by default.

Note

The new default for displaying console messages starting with the DECwindows Motif Version 1.2--3 for OpenVMS release is DISABLE. The default in previous versions of DECwindows Motif was ENABLE. These values are discussed in greater detail later in this section. If the user selects the Alternate Console port for console communications, the DECwindows Console Window is disabled and the console broadcasts are enabled. Refer to the owner's guide for your workstation for information about selecting the Alternate Console port.

Specify how to display messages by defining the global symbol DECW$CONSOLE_SELECTION in the customized startup file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM. Enter one of the following values: WINDOW, DISABLE, or ENABLE.

Refer to Managing DECwindows Motif for OpenVMS Systems for information about defining global symbols in the file SYS$MANAGER:DECW$PRIVATE_APPS_SETUP.COM.


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