• MXGA install package now available [OS/2 2.11 - 3.0 -and- 4.0]

    From Louis Ohland@ohland@charter.net to comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware on Mon Apr 6 10:40:43 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

    http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohland/XGA/MXGA.html

    My suspicion is that MXGA is built on DMQS. Also, AIX 1.3 PTF0024 also
    has multiple XGA support as well.

    Quoting me [my favorite source]

    " Perhaps we can compare MXGA [built on DMQS] to a "sordid" AI. The 8514
    AI "hid" the 8514 registers and you operated the adapter via high level commands. -BUT- DMQS informs the operating system about the adapter's capabilities, leaving it up to the operating system to operate the adapter.

    DMQS depends on the existence of XGA-NI in order to seamlessly
    provide adapter capabilities. My SWAG is that information can be
    provided to XGA via drivers or setup files. Problem is that we don't
    know WHAT DMQS could provide to XGA."
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Louis Ohland@ohland@charter.net to comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware on Mon Apr 6 11:51:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware

    Not sure the Multi-Head includes the XGA-NI.

    https://ardent-tool.com/AIX_1-3/AIX_PTF0024_U436295.html

    SMALL PROGRAMMING ENHANCEMENTS (U436295):

    IX44820 X11R5 multi-head support and S3 SVGA 1024x768x256 color support.

    Multi-Head Support For X-Server

    The new AIX PS/2 X Windows and Motif supports multiple display
    adapters (multi-head) with seamless movement of mouse across displays. Currently the X-server can support up to 8 display adapters, though
    more than one instance of the same adapter is possible for XGA only (by hardware design). All other adapters (VGA, 8514/A, Image Adapter) can
    only have one instance in the system. It is possible to have up to 8 instances of XGA in the system.

    The multi-head support is only supported on the PS/2 (MC bus) only,
    and is not available on the ISA bus. This is because of the lack of
    multiple video card support on the ISA bus.

    The following options were added to the X-server for multi-head support

    -all Runs the Xserver on all available displays.
    (This does not include the planar VGA, if available.)

    e.g xinit -all

    -allp Runs the Xserver on all available displays,
    and the planar VGA port on systems like model 80.

    e.g xinit -allp

    -P<r><c> <display no> {/vga} | <display name> {/vga}
    (where words enclosed by {} are optional)

    This option is used for specific placement of displays. The
    utility (see defect 531) lsdisp, displays the displays cards attached to
    the system with a display number and the name of the display. The
    numbers <r> and <c> denotes the element in the placement matrix where
    the display will be placed for the sake of cursor movement. for example
    a matrix of 4 displays can be specified with the following row and
    column numbers.

    ----------------
    | | |
    | 11 | 12 |
    | | |
    ---------------
    | | |
    | 21 | 22 |
    | | |
    ----------------

    This means the cursor can have a seamless movement from

    11 to 12, 11 to 21,
    12 to 11, 12 to 22,
    21 to 11, 21 to 22,
    22 to 12, 22 to 21 .

    Of course, the movement can be four-directional without any bound using

    -wrap option,

    or vertically/horizontally without any bound using

    -wrapy / -wrapx options.

    When using the /vga option with the display number
    or the display name, the display can be run in 640x480 16-color VGA mode.

    e.g

    For instance, if there are two display cards
    installed, an XGA and a 8514/A, with XGA as display number 1 and the
    8514 as display number 2, X can be run as follows:

    xinit -P11 1 -P12 2
    or
    xinit -P11 xga -P12 8514
    or
    xinit -P11 xga -P12 8514/vga
    This will run the 8514 in VGA mode and the XGA in XGA mode.

    Note: only one instance of VGA can be specified.

    Note: To get multiple XGA adapters to work, the last XGA adapter on the
    system should have its 1 MB VRAM aperture disabled. This can be done
    using the reference diskette. If the 1 MB VRAM aperture is disabled to
    run X in XGA mode, the system will try to use the 4 MB VRAM aperture.
    Using the 4 MB VRAM aperture is only possible when the adapter is
    plugged into the 32 bit slot. There are only 3 such slots on the model
    80. Therefore, it is possible to have a VGA and up to 3 XGA or XGA-2
    adapters on a model 80. (The last card is determined by the adapter slot number and the adapter order shown when the configuration is viewed with
    the reference diskette.)
    --- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2