Re: Sun 220r Enterprises + Debian + Raptor GFX 8P

From: Paul Walz (paul.walz_at_gmail.com)
Date: 01/28/05 

Date: 28 Jan 2005 06:48:25 -0800

prg-

Thanks for the response.

I realize that the company does not support the setup I want, but it
seems like people have been able to make it work. I found this link for
example http://auroralinux.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Raptor_GFX-8P

[quote]
***the GFX 8P does not have a VGA BIOS
> which is required for a graphics card to be the boot device on an x86
> machine.***
[/quote]

The thing is, I am not trying to run it on an x86 machine, I am trying
to run it on a Sun UltraSparc.

-Paul Walz

prg wrote:
> Paul Walz wrote:
> > If this is not the correct place for this posting I appologize in
> > advance.
> >
> > First let me say, this is my first time installing (or using for
that
> > matter) Linux. I just installed Debian 3.0r4 on a Sun Microsystems
> 220r
> > Enterprise server that has a Raptor GFX 8P graphics card in it. The
> > linux install went fine in that I can boot into Linux and get to
the
> > BASH command line, log in, etc. My problem is that while text at
the
> > command prompt displays just fine I am having trouble getting any
> kind
> > of gui stuff to work. I have already contacted the vendor - they do
> not
> > have Linux drivers for this card.
> >
> > My questions:
> >
> > Has anyone here had experience trying to get Linux to run using the
> > Raptor GFX 8P graphics card? I am hoping to find someone you has
> > actually done this and hopefully can send me config files and any
> other
> > important information.
> >
> > Has anyone released better drivers for this graphics card or can I
> use
> > different drivers to make this work?
> >
> > Do I actually need to use XFree86 3.3.6 to use drivers for XFree86
> > 3.3.6? Put another way, can I use XFree86 3.3.6 drivers with
XFree86
> > 4.x? (I read online that while the 4.x drivers were not 100%
working,
> > the 3.3.6 ones worked fine/better for this graphics card)
> >
> > Does the monitor that you choose to use when trying to set up your
> > graphics card drivers have a big impact on how easy it is to get
> things
> > working? (ie should I be using an older/smaller monitor that is
very
> > likely to be well supported?)
> >
> > Are there any other gotcha's that I should know about while trying
to
> > get the 8P to work?
>
> YUK! Looks like you're SOL...
> http://www.techsource.com/gfx8pfaqs/gfx8pfaqs.html
> [quote]
> 10. Will the GFX 8P work in my PC running Windows or Linux?
>
> No, Tech Source has not developed drivers to support the GFX 8P on
> Linux or Windows. In addition, ***the GFX 8P does not have a VGA BIOS
> which is required for a graphics card to be the boot device on an x86
> machine.***
> emphasis added
> [end quote]
>
> Confirmed?
> http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/PCI.html
>
> Sounds like a dead duck. You may be lucky it even works in text mode
> command line. Nothing, nada, zip that I saw on google leads me to
> believe it can be made to work. :-(
>
> sorry,
> prg
> email above disabled

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