Hello,
I am trying to use a SUN GDM 1962 monitor with
a MATROX G200 AGP video card and, obviously Mandrake 6.0.
The monitor has a 13W3 connector, but I have a 13W3 to VGA
adapter from SUN, so the problems are that:
(solved) Fixed frequency means only one possible modeline,
which I already found on the net.
(real) Sync signal are not standard, i.e. they could be
any of negative/positive/sync_on_green/composite..
Online datasheets say different things about this,
and printed manuals or feedback from SUN seem harder
to get than 100% uptime in Windows NT :-))
(real) Fixed frequency means no text mode, which makes
init level 5 mandatory (right) but also makes
setup tricky.
Right now I am:
1) editing XFREE86config in text mode on small VGA monitor
2) type startx --whatever_options_you_may_suggest_here
3) disconnect VGA, connect SUN monitor
4) press ENTER
5) (so far..) No image, back to square 1)
What I'd like to know is:
1) HARDWARE: I know I can blow the monitor doing this,
but what about the video card and other PC
parts? Is there any possibility that I
permanently damage anything INTO the PC case
while playing with this?
2) SYNC SIGNALS: Whatever they are, it's just a matter of
adding the corresponding flags (+-vsync/etc)
to the modeline, or am I missing something?
(like other options in Xfree86config, command-
line switches to startx, board jumpers, etc..)
3) SYNC SIGNALS AGAIN: does anybody by any chance have access to
a GDM 1962B manual, and tell me what they are?
NOTE: The reason why I have a custom modeline but not this info
is that the guy who published it also built its own adapter,
combining polarities at will. If anybody is interested, I
the URL is:
http://cvs.anu.edu.au:80/monitorconversion/sun.html
Unlike him, I have a custom adapter, but no clue as to what it
does inside.
4) TEXT MODE: I'm almost sure this is not possible, but let's
ask: Is there any way to have mandrake also run
without X windows, text mode only, on such a
combination of video card and monitor
(maybe like having the 640x480 mode or whatever it is
appear only on one fraction of the screen?)
Thank you in advance,
Marco Fioretti
P.S: thank you to all folks who give very useful advice on my UDMA
timeout
question: I cannot test all the suggestions right now, but I'll let you
know what the outcome is.
