Sun

I managed to get a New in Box SparcStation 20 with keyboard and mouse. These were N.O.S. but I did not order a monitor as I thought an LCD would be simple enough.

I've tried both a 13W3 to HD15 adapter as well as a 13W3 cable from one of my SGI machines but I cannot get the Sparc 20 to output anything to the LCD.

Can anyone shed some light on what needs to be done to make an LCD work on a Sparc 20.. Surely it cannot be this difficult.

Or am I forced to break down and purchase a SUN CRT to go along with it?

Any input is appreciated.

We need more info to help diagnose the problem with your setup:

1. Which graphics option is your SS20 using? Built-in SX? Turbo-GX SBus card? Something else?
2. What 13W3 to HD15 adapter are you using?
3. What brand/model of LCD are you trying?
4. Is your SS20 configured to output only to the serial console?
5. With no display, can you tell if the SS20 is doing anything at all? Maybe it's a more serious problem than just the display.

FWIW, my SS20 (with Turbo-GX graphics) has no problem displaying on my trusty old Samsung SyncMaster 760V LCD with one of these adapters .

I have a TGX+ card installed. It also has 512MB of RAM so I took the VSIMM out.

I hooked up a NULL modem cable to my PC and have been interacting with the SS20 using the serial console.

I went into OpenBoot PROM and did a printenv and verified that output was SCREEN. I even tried to change to : screen:r1024x768x60

It will not activate the LCD at all using the internal or external Frame buffer.

I've tried 24" dell LCD, Viewsonic VP2130b and NEC LCD1700M.

Maybe the XServer config is pointing to the internal FB instead of Aux one? Any thoughts on how to change the XConfig to make it use the external FB?

I am using the same type of adapter in your picture. I have it on my SGI machine and it works fine.

I was even trying to get the console output to go to the LCD but it wont. I was hoping to see even the boot process on the LCD screen but it will not print there.

In order for the serial console to work, I have to remove the keyboard plug otherwise I see no serial activity.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Well, you've certainly been thorough!

The only things I can think of are that it might be a dead TGX card or the OpenBoot PROM is configured to use the on-board SX instead. (But I'm not an expert on Sun PROM settings so I'm not sure if that's even possible.) I'm rather busy with work at the moment, but if nobody else helps you get yours working by the weekend, remind me and we can compare PROM settings.

You certainly should be able to see the boot-up messages and console on the TGX. I do.

As to your question about changing the XConfig to use the TGX...what version of SunOS/Solaris are you running on it?

Wait...I just noticed that you said you took out a VSIMM. Did you do a 'boot -r' (from the OpenBoot prompt) at any point to reconfigure the system?

I've done a "boot -r " to reconfigure at each step. Each time I power up the SS20 the LCD remains black and says no signal. I cannot see any output at all. The machine came preloaded with SunOS 5.9 (which I assume is Solaris 9).

I could understand if CDE screen didnt appear on the LCD but I cant even get the text console output to appear.

I also tried to remove the TGX+, put the VSIMM back in, reconfigure and see if it worked with the built-in card but that doesnt work either.

That's liable to be another fly in the ointment; Sun and SGI versions of 13W3 don't use the same pin out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB13W3

Oh lord... Is this why I have been growing grey hair this past week?? I bought the adapter on eBay and the description said compatible with "SGI & SUN".

I just ordered one from the link that jpstewart provided. It will arrive in a few days and hopefully that was the issue.

Appreciate this input!

Just wanted to post a follow-up to my issues and say that my SS20 is finally working with my LCD screen!!

And,

I wanted to say THANK YOU Recondas and JpStewart for your input! I purchased the 13W3 Adapter that JPStewart posted the link to and it works!

For anyone else that is plagued with this issue; be aware that not all 13W3 adapters and cables are the same! SGI & SUN are not compatible with eachother and I learned that the hard way.

Glad to hear you got it working!

I was planning to fire up my SS20 tonight to check NVRAM settings on it for comparison. Now I guess I need to find a different excuse to play with it!

Also you should note that Sun used two versions of 13W3 - one for older machines like your SS20 (which is not compatible with SGI), and newer 13W3 which IS compatible with SGI pinout.

Any idea roughly when that change occurred? Which models or types of graphics cards, etc?

Thanks, good to know!
--S.

My ZX and CG6 cards are definitly not compatible with the SGI cable I have. Don't have any other 13w3 cards to test.

Hi,

I've a TGX card spare, if you want it. I don't know if it's compatible (but maybe somebody else does?) It's yours for the price of postage, if it helps.

If it's just a different pinout though, can't you wire an adapter?