Hi,
The current support state of the ZLXp-E2 is this:
1.) The card is supported by the base operating system 4.0D
only in 2D mode.
2.) The latest Open3D 4.7 release notes say this about this card:
The ZLXp-E devices are no longer supported by DIGITAL Open3D. There is
bug-fix support available for current versions of the DIGITAL UNIX
operating system. However, no software enhancements are available for
these devices. Device support for future versions of UNIX will be
shipped for a limited time.
So my conclusion is: I'll continue to try getting one :-)
BTW: Anyone out there who wants to sell one ??
My thanks goes to the following people for their replies:
Carlo Valpiani <Carlo.Valpiani_at_ccf.health.nsw.gov.au>
Barry Branch <barry_at_fiu.edu>
"Dr. Tom Blinn, 603-884-0646" <tpb_at_zk3.dec.com>
Erik Persson <erik_at_ikp.liu.se>
I'm appending their replies as well as my original posting.
Thanks again // Tom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Carlo Valpiani <Carlo.Valpiani_at_ccf.health.nsw.gov.au>
Hi Tom,
We had exactly the opposite problem. We upgraded an AlphaStation500/266
with a ZLXp-L1 card from 4.0B to 4.0D patch kit #1 to run AltaVista
Firewall 97. We had major problems with machine checks every day and the
system hanging on re-boot. Changed every board on the system.
Digital finally removed the ZLXp-L1 and replaced it with a ZLXp-E2 and the
problem went away. The ZLXp-E2 works fine in the AS500.
Hope this helps.
Carlo Valpiani
NSW Health Department
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Dr. Tom Blinn, 603-884-0646" <tpb_at_zk3.dec.com>
Tom,
I'm afraid we have an error in the V4.0D SPD if it lists the ZLXp-E series,
since the support for those options (except perhaps in 2D mode) was and is
part of Open3D. Open3D is a separate product produced by a separate group
from the DIGITAL UNIX engineering group. We rely on them to incorporate the
support for all of Digital's 3D capable graphics options operating in 2D
mode in our base product. On occasion, the decide to remove support from
their product, and they sometimes fail to keep the 2D support working in the
base product.
It sounds to me like they removed support from their product for 3D for the
ZLXp-E series. I don't personally have one of those options to test, so I
can not say for certain whether it still works in 2D mode in the base, but
it should. That's all the SPD is implying. If it doesn't work as a 2D mode
graphics card with base DIGITAL UNIX, then we have a problem we need to fix,
but if it works in 2D mode, that's all we're promising.
Hope this helps clarify things.
Tom
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Barry Branch <barry_at_fiu.edu>
> Now that AlphaStation 200 machines *with* a ZLXp-E2 (8 MByte, 24bpp card)
I think you mean 16Mb
> So, can anyone shed some light on this? Maybe support for the ZLXp-E2
> has moved from Open3D to the base operating system?
You've got it. I remember when I first installed DU on my AS 250 (I think
it was V4.0, but it might have been V3.2D) I had to install O3D in order
to get the 24 bit support. I've done several fresh installs since then
and have not had to install O3D.
>
> Is anyone running a ZLXp-E2 under Digital Unix 4.0D? If yes on what
> machine?
Yes, I am using the card with 4.0D on an AS 250, which is in the same
family as the AS 200.
Regards,
Barry Branch barry_at_fiu.edu
Florida International University
Tamiami Trail
Miami, Fl 33199
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Barry Branch <barry_at_fiu.edu>
On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Thomas Leitner wrote:
> > I think you mean 16Mb
>
> No, I mean 8MB. This www.onsale.com explicitly talks about 8MByte.
> I think these adapters can hold a variable amount of memory.
Hmm...
When my system boots it says:
Jun 16 15:15:16 barney vmunix: tga0 at pci0 slot 13
Jun 16 15:15:16 barney vmunix: tga0: depth 32, map size 16MB, 1280x1024
Jun 16 15:15:16 barney vmunix: tga0: ZLXp-E
Jun 16 15:15:17 barney vmunix: kernel console: tga0
I checked the owner's manual and it says the ZLXp-E2 has 8Mb.
I also dug up the packing slip for the system to make sure I didn't have a ZLXp-E3.
The order number is PBXGA-BA which I searched for at Digital's Business Link
page and received:
1 PBXGA-AA ZLXp-E1 8 PLANE ADAPTER
2 PBXGA-AN ZLXp-E1 8 PLANE - WINDOWS NT
3 PBXGA-BA ZLXp-E2 24 PLANE ADAPTER
4 PBXGA-BN ZLXp-E2 24 PLANE - WINDOWS NT
5 PBXGA-CA ZLXp-E3 24 W/24Z ADAPTER
6 PBXGA-CN ZLXp-E3 24 W/24Z - WINDOWS NT
7 PB2GA-JA TRIO64 S3 2MB DRAM PCI card
So I guess I'm not reading the kernel message right.
Sorry.
Regards,
Barry Branch barry_at_fiu.edu
Florida International University
Tamiami Trail
Miami, Fl 33199
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Barry Branch <barry_at_fiu.edu>
On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Thomas Leitner wrote:
> As an aside: How are you satisfied with the card? How is the
> speed and video quality when compared to others ? Do you utilize
> it's 3D capabilities? The Open3D software still provides a better
> server for this card which can have multiple colormaps installed
> so color switching is not necessary when apps. need many colors...
Well, the card is slower than the E1 because of the extra memory it has to move, and
it doesn't have a Z buffer. It's most noticeable when I maximize an xterm window that's
scrolling. I think it was DEC's first 24 plane PCI card and dates from 1994. They've
since come out with the Powerstorm 3D30 and now the the 4D20 which have faster chips
and a Z buffer.
The video quality is excellent, but make sure you have a high quality video cable. A
user here damaged his original cable and replaced it with a bargain brand one and
started to get a slight "prism" effect. The DEC BNC cable has 2 big damper magnets on
each end.
I don't run any 3D applications, but it sure is nice to be able to run Netscape
without a local color map.
Regards,
Barry Branch barry_at_fiu.edu
Florida International University
Tamiami Trail
Miami, Fl 33199
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Erik Persson <erik_at_ikp.liu.se>
Thomas Leitner <tom_at_finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at> writes:
> So, can anyone shed some light on this? Maybe support for the ZLXp-E2
> has moved from Open3D to the base operating system?
I suspect that is the same thing as with the Turbochannel ZLX-E*
series. The device is not listed in the Open3D 4.7 (which i am using
with with 4.0D), but support is included in the following subset:
O3DDWSZLXE470 DWS Open3D PowerStorm 3D30 and PowerStorm 4D20 V4.7
/erik
--
Erik Persson, System Manager e-mail: erik_at_ikp.liu.se
Dept. of Mech. Engineering Voice: +46 13 28 2464
University of Linköping, Sweden Fax: +46 13 21 2717
---------------------------- original posting ----------------------------
On Fri, 19 Jun 1998, Thomas Leitner wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Now that AlphaStation 200 machines *with* a ZLXp-E2 (8 MByte, 24bpp card)
> are sold at www.onsale.com for US $350, I thought it is a good idea to
> hunt for such a cheap ZLXp-E2 card for my PC164LX under Digital Unix
> 4.0D, as there many people who want to run the AlphaStation 200 from
> Onsale under Linux and thus can't use the ZLXp-E2, as it is not supported
> in XFree. So it should be possible to find someone willing to sell it
> cheaply.
>
> Now: To my big disappointment, I found that the support for the ZLXp-E2
> was apparently silently dropped from Open3D.
>
> Open3D V4.4 for DU, SPD on http://www.digital.com/info/QA0049/QA0049HM.HTM
> explicitly talks about the ZLXp-E family including the ZLXp-E2.
>
> Whereas the latest Open3D V4.7 for DU, SPD on
> http://www.digital.com/info/QA0091/QA0091HM.HTM doesn't contain a single
> ZLXp-E reference anymore!! So it was apparently dropped.
>
> However, the 4.0D SPD (http://www.digital.com/info/SP4161/) explicitly
> lists the PBXGA (ZLXp-E) family, which supposedly includes the ZLXp-E2, as
> supported even for the PC164LX board which makes me quite confident again!
>
> So, can anyone shed some light on this? Maybe support for the ZLXp-E2
> has moved from Open3D to the base operating system?
>
> Is anyone running a ZLXp-E2 under Digital Unix 4.0D? If yes on what
> machine?
>
> Is anyone running a ZLXp-E2 under Digital Unix 4.0D on a PC164LX ?
>
> Thanks a lot // Tom
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
T o m L e i t n e r Dept. of Communications
Graz University of Technology,
e-mail : tom_at_finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at Inffeldgasse 12
Phone : +43-316-873-7455 A-8010 Graz / Austria / Europe
Fax : +43-316-463-697
Home page : http://wiis.tu-graz.ac.at/people/tom.html
PGP public key on : ftp://wiis.tu-graz.ac.at/pgp-keys/tom.asc or send
mail with subject "get Thomas Leitner" to pgp-public-keys_at_keys.pgp.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before we have the paperless office, we have the paperless toilet!
Received on Fri Jun 19 1998 - 17:26:05 NZST