Work in progress. Updating for build 204-10
Table of Contents
General description
Charon-AXP supports emulation of PBXGA graphics card(s) by direct virtualization and provides a virtual console for displaying graphics.
The console starts automatically upon starting the emulator. Its resolution is 800 x 600 by default.
Emulated cards
- PBXGA_AA - ZLXp-E1 (8bpp, PseudoColor)
- PBXGA_BA - ZLXp-E2 (24bpp, TrueColor)
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 it is not compatible with the Linux Toolkit). It can however work in detached mode (
# <emulator exe> -d <configuration file>) - If the window of the PBXGA graphics card console is closed by user or killed as a process, it will not re-appear automatically (
the Charon emulator will continue to work). In this situation the user has to restart the pbxga_tv program with the correct parameters, as defined in the configuration file, to restart the graphical display (see application chapter further)
Virtual PBXGA PCI graphics card settings
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 (more examples below):
load PBXGA_BA GYA |
On Charon startup a window will appear on CHARON host monitor to display graphics.
All the parameters described in the "Placement of peripheral devices on PCI bus" chapter, such as "bus", "device", "function", "irq", "irq_bus" are applicable for PBXGA graphics card.
Configuration parameters
size
| Parameter | size |
|---|---|
| Type | Text string |
| Value | Predefine the screen size. Possible values: 640x480, 800x600 (default), 1024x768, 1152x900, 1280x1024, 1920x1080 Example:
|
cpu_draw
| Parameter | cpu_draw |
|---|---|
| Type | boolean |
| Value | Offloading raster operations. The default value is "true" Example:
|
.
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 graphics 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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