If your system is running IRIX version 6.5.21 or earlier, you should upgrade your operating system to at least IRIX version 6.5.22 with patch 5448, IRIX version 6.5.23 with patch 5448, or IRIX version 6.5.24.

If your system is running IRIX version 6.5.22 or IRIX version 6.5.23, you should also be running patch 5448.

To determine if you have patch 5448 installed, type the following at an IRIX command prompt:

[3%] 
versions patchSG0005448 

If the output of this command is simply the headings “Name,” “Date,” and “Description,” you do not have patch 5448 installed. This patch should be installed (or you should upgrade your system to IRIX version 6.5.24 or later) in order to get the best performance from your Onyx4 system.

If the output of this command includes items below the Name-Date-Description heading, you do have patch 5448 installed, and your system is suitable for use with Onyx4 graphics.

You may use this method to determine if you have other patches installed. Simply substitute the other patch number for 5448.

If your system is running IRIX version 6.5.24 or later, your operating system is suitable for use with the SGI Onyx4 system.

Two chkconfig variables control the automatic regeneration of the XF86Config-4. These are xf86config-autoconfig and xf86config-autoreplace. The settings of these variables on a particular system may be displayed by running the chkconfig command as follows:

[1%] /etc/
chkconfig 

The default value for xf86config-autoconfig is on. The default value for xf86config-autoreplace is off.

When the system boots (or the init level is changed in any other manner) the setting of the xf86config-autoconfig variable is consulted. If this variable is set to on, the /etc/X11/gen-XF86Config script is run.

If the gen-XF86Config script detects no hardware changes, it does nothing.

If any graphics hardware not listed in the existing XF86Config-4 file is detected, a new file named XF86Config-4.N is created, containing the new hardware. The existing XF86Config-4 file is left unchanged. The graphics system will still start this way (though some graphics pipes will not be active). The user can then choose to manually replace the old XF86Config-4 file with the new XF86Config-4.N file and reboot.

If some graphics hardware listed in the existing XF86Config-4 file is no longer detected, the existing XF86Config-4 is renamed XF86Config-4.O, and a new XF86Config-4 file is written in its place. This allows the graphics system to start, which it would not do if the XF86Config-4 file listed graphics hardware no longer present in the system.

After the gen-XF86Config script is completed, the setting of the xf86config-autoreplace variable is consulted. If this variable is set to on, the system looks for a XF86Config-4.N file. If this file is found, the XF86Config-4 is renamed XF86Config-4.O, and the XF86Config-4.N file is renamed to XF86Config-4.

To manually regenerate the XF86Config-4 file, follow these steps:

If there are no graphics hardware changes, this procedure will do nothing.

If any graphics hardware not listed in the existing XF86Config-4 file is detected, a new file named XF86Config-4.N is created, containing the new hardware. The existing XF86Config-4 file is left unchanged. The graphics system will still start this way (though some graphics pipes will not be active). The user can then choose to manually replace the old XF86Config-4 file with the new XF86Config-4.N file and reboot.

If some graphics hardware listed in the existing XF86Config-4 file is no longer detected, the existing XF86Config-4 is renamed XF86Config-4.O, and a new XF86Config-4 file is written in its place. This allows the graphics system to start, which it would not do if the XF86Config-4 file listed graphics hardware no longer present in the system.

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Note: The XF86Config-4 file generated by this procedure provides a good starting point. To take advantage of additional features, the file may be customized, as described in “Modifying Configuration Files”.

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Note: Systems with more than 10 graphics pipes require multiple X servers. For more information, see “Configuring an Onyx4 System for Multiple X servers”.

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Onyx4 systems may be configured for use with multiple X servers, where each X server has a keyboard, a mouse, and one or more displays. This configuration is done by creating a distinct XF86Config-4 file for each desired X server, as described in this section.

Each X server can support a maximum of 10 graphics pipes. Systems with more than 10 pipes must therefore be configured with multiple X server, though smaller configurations may be configured.

This section describes how to configure an Onyx4 system to display stereo images.

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Note: Stereo sync is supported only on systems running IRIX version 6.5.21 with patch 5208, or running IRIX version 6.5.22 or later. However SGI recommends that in order to get the best performance from your Onyx4 system you upgrade to at least IRIX version 6.5.22 with patch 5448. To determine the IRIX version running on your system, see “IRIX Operating System Version Requirements”.

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Note: Simultaneously running stereo and full scene anti-aliasing can require more graphics-card memory than is available, and thus may not work correctly.

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This section describes how to configure an Onyx4 system for global or per-window full scene anti-aliasing.

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Note: Simultaneously running stereo and full scene anti-aliasing can require more graphics-card memory than is available, and thus may not work correctly.

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To configure an Onyx4 system for dual-channel operation, follow the steps in this section.

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Note: If any pipes managed by an X server have their second channel enabled, then every pipe managed by that X server must have its second channel enabled.

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Note: Both channels on a pipe must have the same display resolution.

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To configure an Onyx4 system for SwapReady, it must first be enabled in all pipe connected to a particular ImageSync board, as described in these steps:

External genlock and framelock may be used with ImageSync2 cards, but not with ImageSync1 cards. To determine the version of an ImageSync card, see “Determining ImageSync Card Version”.

To configure an Onyx4 system to receive an external genlock or framelock signal you must run the setmon command with the appropriate options.

Before running setmon, use printenv DISPLAY to ensure that the DISPLAY environment variable is set to the local system (for example, :0.0). If it is not, use setenv DISPLAY :0.0 to change it (substituting other numbers for :0.0 if appropriate).

To set the system for genlock, execute the following command:

# setmon -ppipenumber -g graphicsformat 

where pipenumber is the pipe to which this setting should be applied, and
graphicsformat is one of the timings (modes) listed in the “Monitor” section of the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file.

To set the system for framelock, execute the following command:

# setmon -ppipenumber -Lvideoformat  graphicsformat 

where pipenumber is the pipe to which this setting should be applied,
videoformat is the input video format to be used as a framelock source, and
graphicsformat is one of the framelock-certified timings (modes) listed in the “Monitor” section of the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file that is compatible with the chosen input video format (Table 3-1 provides a list of compatible formats).

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Note: The default behavior of setmon is to load the new format for the current session only and to prompt for input to determine if the format should be saved as the default. To save the new format as the default you must be logged in as root.

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For more information about the setmon command, see the setmon manual page (man setmon).

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Note: Framelock-certified timings will include an “f” appended to their name (i.e., “1280x1024_5994f” is certified for NTSC (525 line) video timing).

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Note: Some of the ImageSync2 features documented in this guide require at least IRIX version 6.5.24 and patch 5585. To determine the IRIX version and patch level running on your system, see “IRIX Operating System Version Requirements”.

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When an X-Server is managing multiple monitors, it needs to know their relative positions in order to properly handle cursor cross-over locations.

The monitor positions are specified in the “ServerLayout” section of the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file as follows:

Each screen is listed, followed by a list of the four screens above, below, to the left, and to the right of it (in that order). Figure 3-1 and Example 3-8 show an example of four monitors arranged in a line. Figure 3-2 and Example 3-9 show an example of four monitors arranged in a square.

Figure 3-1. Four Monitors in a Line

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Four-in-a-Line"
    Screen "Screen SG-0"        ""      ""      ""      "Screen SG-1"
    Screen "Screen SG-1"        ""      ""      "Screen SG-0"   "Screen SG-2"
    Screen "Screen SG-2"        ""      ""      "Screen SG-1"   "Screen SG-3"
    Screen "Screen SG-3"        ""      ""      "Screen SG-2"   ""
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Figure 3-2. Four Monitors in a Square

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Four-in-a-Square"
    Screen "Screen SG-0"        ""      "Screen SG-2"      ""      "Screen SG-1"
    Screen "Screen SG-1"        ""      "Screen SG-3"      "Screen SG-0"   ""
    Screen "Screen SG-2"        "Screen SG-0"      ""      ""   "Screen SG-3"
    Screen "Screen SG-3"        "Screen SG-1"      ""      "Screen SG-2"   ""
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Onyx4 systems support both analog and digital monitors. The type of monitor connected to each graphics card is specified in the “Device” sections of the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file.

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Note: See “Using Both DVI Channels on a Card” for important limitations on the use of digital monitors.

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Table 3-2 lists the allowable options for the MonitorLayout line. If the line is not present, both channels default to AUTO.

The format is:

Option      "MonitorLayout" "channel1type, channel2type"

where channel1type is the type (AUTO, TMDS, CRT or NONE) of monitor attached to channel 1 (the left DVI-I connector) for this pipe, and
channel2type is the type (AUTO, TMDS, CRT or NONE) of monitor attached to channel 2 (the right DVI-I connector) for this pipe.

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "SGI SG-0"
    Driver      "fglrx"
    BusId       "PCI:2:0:0"
    Option      "MonitorLayout" "CRT, CRT"
EndSection

During an interactive session with the Window Manager, you can use the DISPLAY environment variable to control where a newly-started graphics programs will run. When the DISPLAY variable is set to :0.0, programs you start will run on the first Xserver (server 0) and the first pipe (pipe 0) on that server; when it is set to :0.1, programs you start will run on the first Xserver (server 0) and the second pipe (pipe 1) on that server.

For convenience, the default startup files (.login, .profile) for root and guest shells set the DISPLAY variable to a reasonable initial value if it is not already set. Each screen has a toolchest that can be used to invoke graphics programs. Each toolchest has the DISPLAY variable in its environment set to the correct value for the screen on which it appears, so any application you invoke from a toolchest inherits this DISPLAY value, and thus appears on the same screen as the toolchest from which it was invoked.

Similarly, programs started by clicking on an icon appear on the screen from which you invoked them.

Once a program has been launched, it is not possible to move it from one screen to another.

The ioconfig(1m)  command establishes logical device numbers for each keyboard and mouse in an Onyx4 system. When the system first initializes the USB hardware, it scans each USB bus looking for devices. Initially, these devices are assigned a device ID of -1. Later in the boot process, the ioconfig(1m) command assigns device IDs based on the contents of the file

/etc/ioconfig.conf. 

If the device is already represented in ioconfig.conf, the associated device ID is assigned. If the device is new (not already in ioconfig.conf), a new device ID is allocated and assigned, and a corresponding entry is appended to the ioconfig.conf file.

Each line in the ioconfig.conf file is a two-column entry. The left column is the numeric logical device ID (0 in our example), and the right column is the hardware path pointing to the device. For example:

  0 /hw/module/001c13/Ibrick/xtalk/15/pci/5/usb/1/1/keyboard 
  0 /hw/module/001c13/Ibrick/xtalk/15/pci/5/usb/1/2/mouse 

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Note: The device IDs are unique only among devices of a given type. Different device types may use overlapping device IDs.

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For USB devices, the hardware path is divided into two parts: the USB controller prefix and the USB relative path. The controller prefix is the portion of the path up to and including the component “usb.” For example:

/hw/module/001c13/Ibrick/xtalk/15/pci/5/usb

The controller prefix encodes the hardware components leading to the USB controller. In the previous example, the controller path indicates that there is a USB controller at PCI slot 5 of the compute module that is located at 001c13.

The USB relative path is the portion of the path after the “usb” component. This path indicates the path leading from the controller to the actual device. The path is a series of numeric components terminated with a device type. The numeric components represent USB hub port numbers. You can think of the '/' separator as representing a hub and the numeric component as representing a port on that hub.

Multiple numeric components represent multiple layers of USB hubs, with the leftmost component representing the root hub, or the hub built into the USB controller.

The following example indicates a keyboard device attached to port 1 of a hub, which is attached to port 1 of the root hub:

.../usb/1/1/keyboard

The following example shows a mouse attached to port 2 of the same hub:

.../usb/1/2/mouse

You can use the hinv command to display the ID of a device. See the hinv(1) man page for additional information.

The device ID of a keyboard or mouse determines under which /dev/input directory the keyboard or mouse is placed. A keyboard or mouse with device ID 0 will be placed under /dev/input (for historical reasons), while a device with an ID greater than 0 will be placed under /dev/inputX (where X is the numeric device ID).

When an X Window System server starts, the -devdir option controls which directory is searched for input devices. By default, /dev/input is used.

If it becomes necessary to reconfigure the keyboard or mouse layout, manual configuration is necessary. Reasons for reconfiguration may include:

Follow these steps to reconfigure the keyboard and mouse setup:

Steps 4 and 5 are the keys to binding the devices in your new configuration to the correct IDs. Because a keyboard and mouse with the same ID are put in the same /dev/inputX directory, you must ensure that both the keyboard and mouse used by a given X server have the same ID. Because ioconfig does not know what device IDs to assign automatically for new devices, the correct IDs might not be assigned in step 3. You can change the device IDs manually by editing /etc/ioconfig.conf and then re–running ioconfig. The /dev/input/keyboard and /dev/input/mouse entries are always created, even if a keyboard and/or mouse with device ID 0 are not present. This allows the default X server to run without a keyboard or mouse physically attached for manufacturing checkout purposes.

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Note: If you boot the system in this mode (that is, without a keyboard, without a mouse, or without both) and connect a keyboard or a mouse after the system is running, you must restart the graphics system to use the newly-connected devices.

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Onyx4 systems can contain two different versions of graphics card, with different capabilities. The two versions are distinguishable by the presence or absence of a sticker on the rear panel of the graphics card.

If a graphics card has a sticker on the back indicating part number 030-2003-xxx, as shown in Figure 3-3, it is an SG2.1 card, and both DVI ports on the card may be connected to either a digital monitor or an analog monitor.

If a graphics card does not have a sticker on the back, it is an SG2 card, and only the first DVI-I port (channel 1, on the left) may be connected to either a digital monitor or an analog monitor. The second DVI-I port (channel 2, on the right) may only be connected to an analog monitor.

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Note: Some versions of IRIX report both cards as SG2 in hinv. Therefore the only reliable method to determine the revision of a graphics card is to look for the sticker on the rear panel.

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Note: It is possible for an Onyx4 system to simultaneously contain both SG2 and SG2.1 graphics cards.

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Figure 3-3. Location of Graphics Card Sticker

Figure 3-4 shows the four monitor connectors on G2-bricks and G2N-bricks.

Figure 3-4. Monitor Connections on G2-bricks and G2N-bricks

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Note: The IRIX® OS console will appear on the monitor connected to the pipe 0, channel 1 connector on your Onyx4 system.

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Figure 3-5 shows the connection of four monitors to an SGI Onyx4 system G2-brick or G2N-brick with SG2 graphics cards.

Figure 3-5. Connecting Monitors to a G2-brick or G2N-brick (SG2 Graphics Cards)

Figure 3-6 shows the connection of four monitors to an SGI Onyx4 system G2-brick or G2N-brick with SG2.1 graphics cards.

Figure 3-6. Connecting Monitors to a G2-brick or G2N-brick (SG2.1 Graphics Cards)

In an Onyx4 system containing only one G2-brick or G2N-brick, that brick will contain pipe 0.

In an Onyx4 system containing more than one G2-brick or G2N-brick, pipe 0 will typically be in the graphics brick located closest to the bottom of the rack. For more information on rack locations and cabling, see “Selecting Rack Locations” in Chapter 2.

Once you have located the correct brick, pipe 0, channel 1 will be the lower left DVI-I port on that brick, as shown in Figure 3-4.

The best way to determine the location of pipe 0, however, is to use the IRIX gfxtopology command, as follows:

Each keyboard and mouse pair must be connected to either the odd-numbered USB ports (ports 1 and 3, as shown in Figure 3-7) or the even-numbered ports (ports 2 and 4). The USB port closest to the side of the chassis is port 1.

Figure 3-7 shows the USB PCI card in bus 2, slot 2 (the top PCI slot) of a host system chassis, which is the preferred location for this card. Some configurations, however, may have the USB card in a different PCI slot in the host system.

Figure 3-7. Connecting a USB Keyboard and Mouse to a Host System

If the number of USB devices connected to your host system will be greater than the number of USB ports on that system, you will need one or more USB hubs. Figure 3-8 shows how a USB hub is used for this purpose.

Figure 3-8. Using a USB Hub to Connect Multiple Keyboards and Mice to Host System (USB Hub May Differ From Illustration)

If one or more of your keyboard/mouse pairs will be further than 10 feet (3 meters) away from the USB ports on the host system, you will need to use one or more USB extenders. The use of an extender will allow keyboards and mice to be placed up to 328 feet (100 meters) from the host system (a 30-foot (9.1 meter) cable is supplied with the USB extender).

Figure 3-9 shows how a USB extender is connected.

Only keyboards and mice may be connected through USB extenders. Hubs, in particular, will not work through a USB extender. A USB extender, however, may be plugged into a hub.

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Note: The local extender (LEX) receives AC power from a standard AC outlet (typically the power distribution unit (PDU) in the rack). A 6-ft. (1.82-m) adapter cable connects the extender's power adapter to the PDU. The remote extender (REX) does not use an external power source.

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Figure 3-9. Using a USB Extender to Connect Keyboards and Mice

The SGI Onyx4 system has a stereo sync connector for each pipe (thus two on each G2 or G2N brick).

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Note: Stereo sync is supported only on systems running IRIX version 6.5.21 with patch 5208, or running IRIX version 6.5.22 or later. However SGI recommends that in order to get the best performance from your Onyx4 system you upgrade to at least IRIX version 6.5.22 with patch 5448. To determine the IRIX version running on your system, see “IRIX Operating System Version Requirements”.

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Stereo sync must have been configured as described in “Configuring an Onyx4 System for Stereo”.

Figure 3-10 shows the location of the two stereo sync ports on G2-bricks and G2N-bricks.

Figure 3-10. Stereo Sync Ports on G2-bricks and G2N-bricks

For details of the stereo sync connector, see “Stereo-Sync Connector Pinout” in Appendix B.

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Note: A stereo sync signal will not be present until you run a stereo application. One such application is ivview. To use ivview to test the stereo configuration, run: ivview /usr/share/data/models/X29.iv and right click to activate the stereo setting on the preferences pane.

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The SwapReady signal synchronizes the front and rear framebuffer swapping between multiple pipes.

Use a standard 75-ohm BNC cable between the SwapReady connector on the ImageSync card and the SwapReady input on the display device or compositor.

SwapReady must have been configured as described in “Configuring an Onyx4 System for External Genlock or Framelock”.

Figure 3-11 shows the connector locations on an ImageSync card.

Figure 3-11. ImageSync Card Connectors

For details of the SwapReady connector, see “SwapReady Connector Pinout” in Appendix B.

ImageSync1 and ImageSync2 cards look similar from the rear of the chassis. The easiest way to distinguish them is by using the hinv command as follows:

Genlock and framelock are only available on ImageSync2 (IS2) cards. To determine the version of your ImageSync card(s), see “Determining ImageSync Card Version”.

The Genlock connector allows the ImageSync2 card to receive a genlock or framelock signal from an external source. The ImageSync card then uses the external signal as the source for the sync signal it sends to each pipe it controls.

Use standard 75-ohm BNC cables between the genlock source and each device that receives the signal. Use a BNC L-connector at each device, and a 75-ohm BNC terminator at the last device in the chain.

Genlock or framelock must have been configured as described in “Configuring an Onyx4 System for External Genlock or Framelock”.

Figure 3-12 shows the connector locations on an ImageSync card.

Figure 3-12. ImageSync Card Connectors

For details of the genlock connector, see “Stereo-Sync Connector Pinout” in Appendix B.

Follow the instructions in your host system user's guide for the connection of audio devices.