Historical Interest Only

Compaq Powerstorm 350 Stereo (9911xx)

Compaq now have a full release of their drivers for the 350 at

http://www.digital.com/alphaserver/workstations/graphics/ps350_stereo.html

Just in case, there is a problem with the abovc link, the following was provided in November 1999

The following information has been provided by Richard Readings of Compaq

1. Check configuration
2. Install appropriate graphics driver
3. Configure X server for optimal stereo performance

Check system configuration

1. To check that you have a PowerStorm 350 graphics card installed in your workstation use "sizer -gt"
   
   PBXGD-AE indicates that you have a PowerStorm 350
   PBXGD-AD would indicate that you have a PowerStorm 300, which is not stereo capable, but uses the same driver
   
   
2. To check which version of Tru64 UNIX you have installed use "uname -a"
   
   

   output from uname -a	Tru64 UNIX version
   V4.0 878	V4.0D
   V4.0 1091	V4.0E
   V4.0 1229	V4.0F
   V5.0 910	V5.0

Install appropriate graphics driver

You will need V1.4 of the PowerStorm 300/350 graphics driver

Download the driver from http://www.service.digital.com/open3d/betatest.html and install as follows:

1. Unpack the driver into a temporary directory, e.g. cd <temporary directory>; tar xvf <driver kit>
2. Install the PowerStorm 300/350 driver (as root) thus: setld -l <temporary directory>

Configure X server for optimal stereo performance

To optimise stereo rendering performance at maximum resolution

1. Edit /usr/var/X11/Xserver.conf to read as follows:

   args <

   ! PowerStorm 300/350 Server args start

   -pn -su -bs -nice -2 -screen 1280x992 -vsync 100

   ! PowerStorm 300/350 Server args end

   ! -pn

   >

   (server args are fully documented in the release notes)
   

2. Restart the X server (e.g. with /usr/sbin/xsetup)

To confirm that you are using the optimal screen resolution for stereo use "/usr/sbin/sizer -gr" which should return 1280x992

Recommended Video Modes for Stereo Rendering

You need to be running O version 7 to optimize using this board in mono.Set the environment variable STEREO to MONO before running O, e.g. setenv STEREO MONO. This will prevent O selecting a stereo visual and thus having to draw everything twice (for left and right eyes).

Stereo rendering is available at 1280x1024 (omit -screen 1280x992 in Xserver.conf) but performance will be noticeably impaired.

DEC Powerstorm 4Dx0T Stereo (970721) and Sun dials (990401)

The following was provided by Richard Readings of DEC for stereo installation

You must have Open3D 4.3 or later installed.

If you have a PowerStorm 4D40T or 4D50T edit /usr/var/X11/Xserver.conf to read as follows:

args <

! Cateye Server args start

-pn -nice -2 -bs -su -screen 800x600

! Cateye Server args end

-pn

>

If you have a PowerStorm 4D60T edit /usr/var/X11/Xserver.conf to read as follows:

args <

! Cateye Server args start

-pn -nice -2 -bs -su -I -e3bpp 102

! Cateye Server args end

-pn

>

Then restart the X server (e.g. with /usr/sbin/xsetup).

Use xglinfo to check for stereo capable visuals, for example:

TrueColor visual: ID = 0x25 (hex) 37 (decimal) screen = 0

SINGLE buffered STEREO RGB visual with (Z Stencil Accum)

GL Sizes: RGBA=(8,8,8,0), Z=24, Stencil=6, Accum=(16,16,16,0)

Core X: depth=24, colormapSize=256 RGB: masks=(0xff,0xff00,0xff0000)

bits=8

Further information on Compaq workstation stereo is available on the following URL

http://www.partner.digital.com/www-swdev/pages/Home/TECH/faqs/dunix/Ostereo.html

Installing SUN dials on DEC Unix workstations (990401)

Carry out the following

0. get tar_lib_dec_xi_dls from o ftp on alpha2

1. install lib_dec_xi_dls.so in /usr/shlib/X11

2. connect dials to tty port ( you can check response with cat /dev/tty00 or cat /dev/tty01
and turn a dial this works in comandline login from console.

3. Modify /usr/lib/X11/Xserver.conf

! Enable X Input Devices
input <
! Dial and Button Box on port /dev/tty01
!< _dec_xi_pcm lib_dec_xi_pcm.so XiPcmInit /dev/tty01 >
< _dec_xi_pcm lib_dec_xi_dls.so XiPcmInit /dev/tty00 >
!
! Serial Mouse. Use the following format for the last parameter:
!

.
.
.
! CalComp Tablet entry
! < _dec_xi_db3 lib_dec_xi_db3.so XiDb3Init
/dev/tty00:1:12:12:16:1:8:1000:1:1 >
>
4. restart X server

SG Irix related (000004)

Patches to SGI machines to run O on Irix 6.x (010919)

SG patch updates have gone beyond my ability to keep up. I am very gratefull to Horst Vollhard at SG Basel for creating and maintaining a web page for O users that explains the present patch situation. UNfortunately, his web site is being closed down, but he has sent me the last version.

Getting the SG Dials up and running

The dial box may look as if it is not working with O under new versions of Irix OS. This is because the default is not to include them in the OS anymore.

So you need to add a subset of the operating system called eoe.sw.optinput & eoe.man.optinput. This is the Optional Input Devices software from one of the CDs.

Stereo and O (000104)

O supports 2 ways of working with stereo images. Side-by-side stereo works on all systems and and is activated with the F4 key. As the name suggests it shows two images that are adjacent to one another. It is upo to the user to fuse them into a 3D image. Some will use a negative stereo angular separation, whilke oithers will use a positive one. Both angular and spatial separations can be set with the Stereo command.

Full screen stereo is a hardware dependent system and is activated with the F1 key. Here are some machine dependent pieces of information

Stereo on Silicon Graphics Unix Workstations

O uses the stereo system developed by SG's Basel offices. They keep a special site (maintained by Horst Vollhard of SG) to describe the state of support on all currently shipping systems. If your stereo does not work, check this site.

Stereo on DEC Alpha based systems

Older alpha based systems support various quality stereo, from stero in a window on the Powerstorm 60T, to split screen on the 40T/50T etc

Stereo on Compaq XP1000/Powerstorm 350

The new generation Alpha chips are now sold under the Compaq label. The drivers have recently been improved so that the Powerstorm 350 is now an excellent choice for users that want high resolution stereo. If users want the ultimate mono performance, they need to set up the following environment variable before starting the program

% setenv STEREO MONO

Stereo will not be available, but mono will be extra quick.

Stereo on NT based systems

I have access to a limited number of machines. The systems I've seen running O in stereo are

The Silicin Graphics 320. It should work at 1024x768 or 800x600 but I've only managed to get it running at the lower resolution. Other O users report success at the higher resolution too!

Compaq 500/Oxygen GVX1 at 1280x960@100Hz. At present, the window test is not visible in one eye, for one of the three possible line types controlled by the F3 key.

Other users report stereo running on various Evans & Sutherland based cards :

From: "Oliver Einsle" <einsle@biochem.mpg.de>
* Evans & Sutherland AccelGalaxy 52; Stereo in 1280x1024, 100 Hz
* Evans & Sutherland Tornado 3000; Stereo in 1280x1024, 100 Hz,
presumably also 120 Hz, but I have no monitor to test that ...
* ELSA Gloria XXL, Stereo in 800, 1024 or 1280 resolutions with
various frequencies.
* ELSA Erazor III; No stereo, but VERY cheap and fast enough to look
at structures at home ...

Windows NT/98 Specific (000104)

O requires 2 extra libraries to be loaded onto the system: OpenGL and Glut.
The OpenGL library is bundled with Windows NT 4.0. and is included in the Windows 95 OSR 2 release.
If the library is missing, get it from
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/opengl95.exe

GLUT libs are required, get from from
http:/reality.sgi.com/opengl/glut3/glutdlls.zip
Install the glut32.dll lib
install see win32README
Also see http:/www.opengl.org/Downloads/Downloads.html