Work in progress. Updating for build 204-10
Table of Contents
General description
CHARON-AXP supports emulation of PBXGA graphics card by direct virtualization. CHARON provides a virtual console for displaying graphics. The console starts automatically upon starting CHARON. Its resolution is 800 x 600 by default .
Important notes
- PBXGA graphics console cannot be used as the system console. Use OPA0 for this purpose.
- If PBXGA graphics card is going to be used the resolution of CHARON host screen must be sufficient to provide ability to display the graphics console properly.
- If PBXGA graphics card is used CHARON cannot run as a service so not compatible with the Linux Toolkit. It can however work in detached mode.
- If the window of the PBXGA graphics card console is closed by user (or killed as a process) it will not re-appear automatically (CHARON will continue to work in this case). In this situation user has to restart the pbxga_tv program with the correct parameters, as defined in the configuration file, to restart the graphical display.
Virtual PBXGA PCI graphics card
Emulated cards
- PBXGA_AA - ZLXp-E1 (8bpp, PseudoColor)
- PBXGA_BA - ZLXp-E2 (24bpp, TrueColor)
Loading virtual PBXGA graphics card
Syntax for loading PBXGA graphics card:
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Syntax for loading PBXGA graphics card on AlphaServer 400:
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Example (see more further):
load PBXGA_BA GYA |
On Charon startup a window will appear on CHARON host monitor to display graphics.
Configuration parameters
size
| Parameter | size |
|---|---|
| Type | Text string |
| Value | Predefine the graphic screen size. Possible values: 640x480, 800x600 (default), 1024x768, 1152x900, 1280x1024, 1920x1080 Example:
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cpu_draw
| Parameter | cpu_draw |
|---|---|
| Type | boolean |
| Value | Offloading raster operations. The default value is "true" Example:
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application
| Parameter | application |
|---|---|
| Type | Text string |
| Value | Specifies the application to open for displaying the graphical console. The pbxga_tv executable file is provided for this. It is located in the same folder as the Charon emulator executable file. Syntax:
Example:
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When several graphic cards are loaded, the <device name(s)> have to be separated by a pipe character and the application has to be defined for the latest loaded PBXGA card. See examples Examples
Example 1: 8-bpp graphics on AlphaServer 400
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Example 2: 24-bpp graphics on AlphaServer DS20
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Example 3: dual head display, 2x 1280x1024
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Example 4: triple head display, 3x 1280x1024
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