Has anybody been able to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to
work with Solaris 2.5.1?  The card comes with drivers for Sun Solaris
2.6, 7, and 8.  I have a server that is running 2.5.1 and cannot be
upgraded as of now and the only graphics card I have is the Expert
3D-Lite card.  Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Mark

On 14 Jul 2003, mark wrote:

> Has anybody been able to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to
> work with Solaris 2.5.1?  The card comes with drivers for Sun Solaris
> 2.6, 7, and 8.  I have a server that is running 2.5.1 and cannot be
> upgraded as of now and the only graphics card I have is the Expert
> 3D-Lite card.  Any help would be great.

If its a server, why bother?  Use a serial console as Andy*
intended, preferably via a console server so that you don't
have to work in a cold and noisy machine room.

* Andy Bechtolsheim

-- 
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
URL: http://www.rite-online.net

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 19:13:05 GMT, Rich Teer <rich.teer@rite-group.com>
wrote:

>On 14 Jul 2003, mark wrote:
>
>> Has anybody been able to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to
>> work with Solaris 2.5.1?  The card comes with drivers for Sun Solaris
>> 2.6, 7, and 8.  I have a server that is running 2.5.1 and cannot be
>> upgraded as of now and the only graphics card I have is the Expert
>> 3D-Lite card.  Any help would be great.
>
>If its a server, why bother?  Use a serial console as Andy*
>intended, preferably via a console server so that you don't
>have to work in a cold and noisy machine room.

Not only do I wholeheartedly agree with this post, but having serial
console servers means I get the neat 21" monitors for my desktop. :)

(I finally told them to stop ordering monitors with the servers when I
had more monitors than space on my desk.)

-- 
gburnore at DataBasix dot Com 
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The reason I'm not just using a serial console is that it is not JUST
a server.  The server itself needs to run graphical software that a
dummy terminal would not take, the server needs to load certain
software that will can only be loaded visually.  Whether or not it's a
server I still need to get the graphics card to work with 2.5.1.  Has
anyone ever tried this card with 2.5.1?

Mark

Rich Teer <rich.teer@rite-group.com> wrote in message news:<Pine.GSO.4.44.0307141209470.10674-100000@zaphod.rite-group.com>...
> On 14 Jul 2003, mark wrote:
> 
> > Has anybody been able to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to
> > work with Solaris 2.5.1?  The card comes with drivers for Sun Solaris
> > 2.6, 7, and 8.  I have a server that is running 2.5.1 and cannot be
> > upgraded as of now and the only graphics card I have is the Expert
> > 3D-Lite card.  Any help would be great.
> 
> If its a server, why bother?  Use a serial console as Andy*
> intended, preferably via a console server so that you don't
> have to work in a cold and noisy machine room.
> 
> * Andy Bechtolsheim

mark wrote:
> 
> The reason I'm not just using a serial console is that it is not JUST
> a server.  The server itself needs to run graphical software that a
> dummy terminal would not take, the server needs to load certain
> software that will can only be loaded visually.  Whether or not it's a
> server I still need to get the graphics card to work with 2.5.1.  Has
> anyone ever tried this card with 2.5.1?

	You can't display remotely?

-am	� 2003

On 15 Jul 2003, mark wrote:

Please don't top post.

> The reason I'm not just using a serial console is that it is not JUST
> a server.  The server itself needs to run graphical software that a
> dummy terminal would not take, the server needs to load certain
> software that will can only be loaded visually.  Whether or not it's a

This is UNIX, not Windoze.  Simply display the graphical
apps on a remote workstation.

-- 
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
URL: http://www.rite-online.net

On 15 Jul 2003 19:35:26 -0700, mshayda@vt.edu wrote:
>The reason I'm not just using a serial console is that it is not JUST
>a server.  The server itself needs to run graphical software that a
>dummy terminal would not take, the server needs to load certain
>software that will can only be loaded visually.

Do you really mean, "We have this java program we need to run on the
 server, and our java runtime wont start without a graphics card" ?

If so, there are well known ways around this.



-- 
  http://www.blastwave.org/ for solaris pre-packaged binaries with pkg-get
    Organized by the author of pkg-get
[Trim the no-bots from my address to reply to me by email!]
         S.1618 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:SN01618:@@@D
                            http://www.spamlaws.com/state/ca1.html

mark wrote:
> Again, it's not JUST a server it needs to be able to run as a client
> when no clients are able to be attached.  Your still not answering my
> question.  Whether this is a client/server/stand-alone doesn't matter,
> what matters is I need to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite graphics card
> working for Solaris 2.5.1.
Support for that graphics card was only in later versions of Solaris 8 
(from memory, something like 10-2002).  You might try adding these packages:

$ pkginfo | grep "ifb"
system      SUNWifb                          Sun Expert3D (IFB) Graphics 
System Software/Device Driver
application SUNWifbcf                        Sun Expert3D (IFB) Graphics 
Configuration Software
system      SUNWifbr                         Sun Expert3D (IFB) Graphics 
System Software (Root)
application SUNWifbw                         Sun Expert3D (IFB) Graphics 
Window System Support
system      SUNWifbx                         Sun Expert3D (IFB) Graphics 
System Software/Device Driver (64-bit)

This is from my Solaris 9 install on a Blade 100.

Also, for 3D to work you need OpenGL installed.

$ pkginfo | grep "OpenGL"
application SUNWgldp                         Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Device Pipeline Support
application SUNWgldpx                        Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
64-bit Device Pipeline Support
application SUNWglh                          Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Header Files
application SUNWglrt                         Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Runtime Libraries
application SUNWglrtu                        Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Platform Specific Runtime Libs
application SUNWglrtx                        Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
64-bit Runtime Libraries
application SUNWglsr                         Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Runtime Generic Software
application SUNWglsrx                        Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
64-bit Optimized SW Rasterizer
application SUNWglsrz                        Sun OpenGL for Solaris 
Optimized SW Rasterizer

The latest is available at :

http://www.sun.com/software/graphics/OpenGL

Paul

No that's not what I mean.  I mean that I have a server from another
project, and instead of him bringing over his server to my lab, I have
a copy of his hard drives.  I have the same hardware as his server
except for the fact that I have different video cards, and he cannot
give up his cards, because he uses them.  The operating system that is
running is out of my hands and his for upgrading as it is deemed by a
higher authority.  There are certain aspects of the server that
require you to login to the server and therefore need to have the
graphics card working.

On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 12:25:25 -0700, mark wrote:

> No that's not what I mean.  I mean that I have a server from another
> project, and instead of him bringing over his server to my lab, I have
> a copy of his hard drives.  I have the same hardware as his server
> except for the fact that I have different video cards, and he cannot
> give up his cards, because he uses them.  The operating system that is
> running is out of my hands and his for upgrading as it is deemed by a
> higher authority.  There are certain aspects of the server that
> require you to login to the server and therefore need to have the
> graphics card working.

That just is not true.  Give me the IP address of that server and a login
name/passwd and I will display your graphical application on this Ultra 1.

If the machine is a 'server', it by definition is connected to a network. 
Your Windoze machines may not stay up long enough to "be available" but
UNIX workstations most certainly will.  There is no requirement for
installing an incompatible or unsupported framebuffer in a server.

> No that's not what I mean.  I mean that I have a server from another
> project, and instead of him bringing over his server to my lab, I have
> a copy of his hard drives.  I have the same hardware as his server
> except for the fact that I have different video cards, and he cannot
> give up his cards, because he uses them.  The operating system that is
> running is out of my hands and his for upgrading as it is deemed by a
> higher authority.  There are certain aspects of the server that
> require you to login to the server and therefore need to have the
> graphics card working.

Shop ebay.com for a compatible video card.

On 17 Jul 2003, mark wrote:

> higher authority.  There are certain aspects of the server that
> require you to login to the server and therefore need to have the
> graphics card working.

We're talking about Sun servers, not PeeCees.  Therefore you
do not need to log in at the console in order to run graphics
applications.  GUI apps will quite happily display across the
network onto another machine, despite the fact that you're
running them on a headless server.

And even if you DO need a console (like to access to boot prom),
you STILL don't need a frame buffer.  A serial console does
the job perfectly well.

You're either not explaining yourself very clearly, or you're
not understanding the concepts we're trying to explain to you.

-- 
Rich Teer, SCNA, SCSA

President,
Rite Online Inc.

Voice: +1 (250) 979-1638
URL: http://www.rite-online.net

In article <a24543af.0307141036.2cf6416b@posting.google.com>,
mark <mshayda@vt.edu> wrote:
>Has anybody been able to get the Sun Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to
>work with Solaris 2.5.1?  The card comes with drivers for Sun Solaris
>2.6, 7, and 8.  I have a server that is running 2.5.1 and cannot be
>upgraded as of now and the only graphics card I have is the Expert
>3D-Lite card.  Any help would be great.

Try the 2.6 drivers and se if they work. Unfortunately X11 went from release
X11R5 to X11R6 going from 2.5.1 to 2.6. Which may bring incompabilities 
to light.

>Thanks,
>Mark

Good luck!
Fredrik

-- 
Fredrik Lundholm   
dol @ ce.chalmers.se
				 

Write your own driver... or upgrade OS...

Supported OS is from 2.6 and higher:



"mark" <mshayda@vt.edu> wrote in message
news:a24543af.0307230813.1ee4bf7c@posting.google.com...
> Ok, let me reword my question...
>
> I have a Sun machine running Solaris 2.5.1 and need to get the Sun
> Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to work with it.  Anyone know how?
>
>
> ...is that better?
>
> Mark

On 23 Jul 2003 09:13:40 -0700
mshayda@vt.edu (mark) wrote:

> Ok, let me reword my question...
> 
> I have a Sun machine running Solaris 2.5.1 and need to get the Sun
> Expert 3D-Lite Graphics card to work with it.  Anyone know how?
> 
> 
> ...is that better?

AFAIK, it can't be done easily as there are no drivers for that
card in 2.5.1, and 2.5.1 has been EOLed since quite a long time.

That being said, if it is important to get this specific card 
running, it would not be impossible to have a driver written.
Given the venerable age of the OS, it might be difficult to
find a developer with the right tools, but I'm sure that with
a decent budget it can be done. I recon you should count on
spending about $30,000, as it will probably be done on a time
and materials basis.

If this is too expensive, you could try experimenting with
the Solaris 2.6 drivers for the card.

Other alternatives are:
- find a supported card (not easy given the age of the OS)
- use the remote display capabilities of X. X doesn't need
  a local frame buffer, and all Sun X clients will display
  correctly on a remote Sun workstation. Hint: buy a Blade
  150 for your Expert3D-Lite. 

Take care,

-- 
Stefaan
-- 
"What is stated clearly conceives easily."  -- Inspired sales droid