News about "X terminals", the screen/keyboard/processor products that form the user-interface part of X Windows (and do the job of an "X Server") but provide no significant computational resources to the application.... There is some similarity between these devices and "Network Computers" and some broad similarity of concept with a SunRay. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.terminals Message-ID: <9otnsq$dgn$1@news.xmission.com> NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Sep 2001 23:20:58 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: shell2.xmission.com User-Agent: tin/1.4.4-20000803 ("Vet for the Insane") (SunOS/5.8 (sun4u)) Date: 26 Sep 2001 23:20:58 GMT From: usenet0926@solution-consulting.com Subject: NCDware pricing change 28 Sept 2001 If you have (or are planning to obtain) some used NCD Xterminals, you might consider getting a copy of NCDware (v 5.1) before Friday [2001-09-28]. It appears that NCD is dropping that software package in favor of their "NCBridge" software, which seems much more oriented to their newer all-dancing, all-singing NetworkComputers. But the price will not be dropping; apparently it will be going from $300 to $1000 (list, anyway) as of October 1, 2001. A very nice person at NCD told me that the software license for NCDware is non-transferable; I didn't ask specifically whether that applies to the boot-images such as Xncdxpl, or to whatever other goodies constitute "NCDware". I recall reading that the earlier Xterminals from NCD shipped _with_ the boot software (I'm not sure whether this meant the code in NVRAM or in the PCMCIA card found with some machines) included as part of the purchase price. As IANAL*, I have no idea what the legal implications are for someone who owns and wants to use an older NCD Xterminal, for which they possess the correct bootup software but did not obtain it directly from NCD's anointed salespersons. Seems to me they would have a better basis for using it than most orphanware users, as NCD apparently no longer sells/supports the older versions of their equipment/associated software. [ * "I am not a lawyer." ] For what it's worth, as I was inquiring about the approved possibilities, I was told twice that my only choice now is to purchase the $1000 NCBridge software (that's 2 quotes / n quotes, with n > 6). Most recently, a very helpful fellow at ProActive (Jade, 801-355-1099) evidently found a way to get the original $300 price, for orders by/before Friday 28 Sept 2001. Not that I'd want to reinforce him for that sort of behavior, you understand. Who knows? Perhaps NCBridge is actually much better for all purposes than NCDware, and will bring all its users unlimited delight. I suppose we'll find out as time passes... ObDisclaimer: I do not work for ProActive, nor do I have any financial stake in their operations, nor do I actually expect to be dealing with them again, as my approach is more "DIY with trailing-edge hardware, duct-tape and Linux" whenever possible. Other like-minded individuals should see http://tux.anu.edu.au/Projects/EPL403/ for alternatives; pointers welcomed for any Linux / other OSS project that produces binaries usable on NCD Xterminals (some use the PowerPC 403GA chip). - Richard (mail to non-munged address above, > /dev/null after 2001-11-26) ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ NCD X terminal mini HOWTO Ian Hodge, ihodge at nortel.ca v1.01, 9 August 1998 This document describes how to connect an NCD X terminal to a UNIX host ______________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. Copyright 2. Introduction 2.1 Summary of steps 3. Requirements 3.1 The X terminal 3.2 Physical Connection 3.3 NCD X server software 4. Configuring the UNIX Host 4.1 TFTP and BootP 5. Configuring the NCD X terminal Boot Process 5.1 Boot Monitor command syntax 5.2 Boot Monitor Setup Menu 5.3 X Terminal Configuration Files 5.4 Logging on to the host 6. Fonts and the X terminal 6.1 The font server 7. Miscellaneous 7.1 Reference 7.2 Equipment used in the preparation of this document 7.3 Acknowledgments 7.4 Outstanding Issues 7.5 Feedback ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Copyright The NCD X terminal mini HOWTO is copyright (C) 1998 by Ian Hodge. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. 2. Introduction This document describes how an X terminal manufactured by NCD (Network Computing Devices) can be connected to and booted from a UNIX host using BootP (boot protocol). Many terminals are also capable of booting with RARP, NFS or locally from a PCMCIA card or over a serial link (either directly or with a modem). Although the material in this document was prepared based on experience with a single model of X terminal, much of the information applies to other models and other X terminals generally. There is also an Linux X terminal mini HOWTO document (declared obsolete by HOWTO maintainers at the time of writing and therefore possibly not available in all Linux distributions) which overlaps material from this document. That document covers X terminal information more generally. 2.1. Summary of steps The process of connecting an X terminal to a UNIX network can be summarized in the following steps: * Physically connect the X terminal to the network. * Configure the UNIX host you are going to boot from. * Configure the X terminal boot procedure. * Boot the X terminal. * Log in to the network. 3. Requirements 3.1. The X terminal An X terminal is a device which communicates and displays over a network using a distributed network window system known as X. Typically, the terminal's X software, known as the X server, is retrieved from the network at boot time. Programs other then the X server software are not run locally on the X terminal (with some exceptions); instead, the X terminal displays programs running on other hosts on the network. The X terminal, therefore, is a type of network computer which uses the X protocol to access network resources. 3.2. Physical Connection The NCD X terminal (model Xncd19r was used in preparation of this document) has an RJ-45 (twisted pair) connector for use with 10baseT Ethernet. A hub is required to link more than two Ethernet devices using twisted pair. If the X terminal and its host are the only devices in the network, they may be connected with a 'null' cable which is described in the Linux Ethernet HOWTO document. 3.3. NCD X server software The terminal's X server software file is available from the manufacturer and presumably is provided with the terminal upon initial purchase. This file will reside on the boot host where it can be accessed by the X terminal when it boots. This file is specific to the terminal type but independent of boot host. The terminal can boot from any host which supports the boot communication protocol (explained later). In addition to X server, the X software may also include applications, like a window manager, which can run locally on the X terminal itself. 4. Configuring the UNIX Host At boot time, the X terminal retrieves files (including its X server software) from a remote host on the network. After the terminal boots, the X server software will control input, display, local clients and X protocol communication. The X server software is executed on the X terminal and therefore does not have to be software compatible with the host on which it resides. 4.1. TFTP and BootP Together, tftp (trivial file transfer protocol) and BootP (boot protocol server) are used on the remote host to allow the X terminal to retrieve its X server software and configuration files over the network. Both services are typically started by inetd (Internet Daemon). After the X terminal is powered up, if it is configured to boot from the network, it will send out a broadcast message using BootP (TCP/IP bootstrap protocol). This boot message will contain the X terminal's hardware (Ethernet) address which is used by the boot host to respond to the boot request. When a boot request is received by the remote host, inetd (listening on a port designated in /etc/services) starts the BootP daemon specified in /etc/inetd.conf. In file inetd.conf, create or uncomment lines that refer to TFTP and BootP. The final argument of the tftpd entry in the example below is the path of the directory containing the files required by the X terminal. Although directory names are not mandatory, for security reasons they should always be present as tftp access will then be restricted to files in specified directories. >From a sample file /etc/inetd.conf: # tftp service is provided primarily for booting. Most sites # run this only on machines acting as "boot servers". tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.tftpd /usr/X11/lib/X11/ncd/ bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.bootpd Upon activation, the BootP server daemon on the host will then read its database file /etc/bootptab. An entry for the X terminal must be placed in this file. Each entry contains a set of tags separated with ':' characters. The host name must be the very first tag in an entry. Useful bootptab tags: ip Address of the X terminal (eg 10.0.0.1). sm Subnet mask (eg 255.0.0.0). To understand the use of the subnet mask and other IP networking principles, consult the Linux NET-3 (networking) HOWTO document. gw IP Address of gateway (eg 10.0.0.1). ht Hardware type - Ethernet in this example. ha Hardware address of X terminal (6 byte Ethernet address) According to the bootptab UNIX man page, the 'ha' tag must be preceded by the 'ht' tag. The X terminal's Ethernet address is displayed when the terminal is first powered on. The address appears as a series of 6 double digit hex numbers separated by colons (e.g. 00:00:A7:12:26:19). tc Table continuation or label of another entry in the BootP database. See the example below. ds IP address of domain name server (eg 10.0.0.3). Not required if DNS is not used for hostname resolution. bf Name of X terminal boot file (Usually the terminal model is used as the X server file name eg Xncd19r). The following is an example of the Boot protocol server database file, /etc/bootptab. The character '\' is used to escape the end-of-line character. # This is a general entry (here given the name default) # with information common to all BootP clients default:hd=/usr/X11/lib/X11/ncd/:\ ds=10.0.0.3:\ sm=255.0.0.0:\ gw=10.0.0.1:\ # X terminal entry with hostname myxterm # Notice the tc tag reference to the entry default myxterm:ht=ethernet:\ ha=0x0000a7122619:\ ip=10.0.0.2:\ tc=default:\ bf=Xncd19r: When a matching entry for the hardware address in the boot request is found in the bootptab file, a response is sent by bootpd with the corresponding IP address from the matching entry. File transfer can then take place over IP using TFTP. A hostname can be assigned to the X terminal by creating an entry on the boot host in the file /etc/hosts. This file is used to map hostnames to IP addresses. In the this example, the X terminal (address 10.0.0.2) has been assigned the hostname 'myxterm'. 10.0.0.1 linuxhost # The boot host 10.0.0.2 myxterm # X terminal 5. Configuring the NCD X terminal Boot Process After being powered up, the X terminal attempts to boot. This is the process where the X software is loaded into memory and executed. If the X terminal cannot boot, the Boot Monitor prompt '>' will appear. The Boot Monitor is firmware found in terminal PROMs (programmable read-only memory). With the basic Boot Monitor interface, it is possible to configure the terminal to boot and retrieve its X server software from the host. Use Configuration parameters set with the boot monitor are stored in NVRAM (Non-volatile Random-Access Memory) and are retained when the terminal is powered down. >From the boot monitor, the 'bt' command or a menu system can be used to boot the terminal. Functionality of the two methods largely overlaps but the menu provides control over more boot parameters. 5.1. Boot Monitor command syntax >bt file terminal_IP host_IP gateway_IP subnet_mask file The name of the file retrieved from the remote host containing the X server software used by the X terminal to boot (eg "Xncd19r"). Check that this file name is the same as the file name is found in the X terminal entry in the bootptab file on the host (explained in the previous section). terminal_IP The IP address assigned to the X terminal (eg 10.0.0.2). Again, this IP address should be the same as the address assigned in the X terminal entry of the bootptab file on the host. host_IP The IP address of the boot host (eg 10.0.0.1). gateway The IP address of the subnet gateway (eg 10.0.0.1) subnet_mask The subnet mask, specified as a decimal IP address or as a hexadecimal number (eg 255.0.0.0 or ff000000). 5.2. Boot Monitor Setup Menu The setup menus are accessed by pressing the 'Setup' key or typing 'se' from the boot monitor '>' prompt. Get IP Addresses From The IP address of the X terminal should be obtained from boot monitor configuration stored in NVRAM. Only select IP address from the remote host. Terminal IP Address The IP address assigned to the X terminal (eg 10.0.0.2). This is the same as 'terminal_IP' parameter above. First Boot Host IP Address The IP address of the boot host (eg 10.0.0.1). This is the same as 'host_IP' parameter above. Gateway IP Address The IP address of the subnet gateway. This is the same as 'gateway' parameter above. Subnet Mask The subnet mask, specified as a decimal IP address. This is the same as the 'subnet_mask' parameter above. Broadcast IP Address The IP address used to broadcast to the subnet. (eg 10.255.255.255) Boot File The name of the file retrieved from the remote host containing the X server software used by the X terminal to boot (eg "Xncd19r"). This is the same as 'file' parameter described above. TFTP Boot Directory The name of the directory on the host which contains the boot file (eg "/usr/X11/lib/X11/ncd/" or "/tftpboot/"). Config file The name of the X terminal configuration file on the remote host (See below). UNIX Config Directory Name of the directory containing X terminal configuration files (eg "/usr/X11/lib/X11/ncd/"). TFTP Order, NFS Order, Local Order Assign '1' to the preferred method for booting. Assign '1' to TFTP when booting from a host using BootP. 5.3. X Terminal Configuration Files During the boot process, the X terminal will attempt to transfer and load files from the boot host. These files are not required for the X terminal to boot successfully. If a file is not found, the terminal will use default settings. Configuration Files transferred to the X terminal at boot time: * X terminal configuration file (eg ncd.conf) used to retain terminal settings. * Color file (eg rgb.txt). * X key symbol database (eg XKeysymDB). * Font directory files (eg font.dir, font.alias). After a successful boot, the X terminal console window with a menu bar should appear. The terminal setup key toggles display of this console window. From the console window 'setup' pull-down menu, terminal characteristics can be viewed, altered and saved on the boot host in the configuration file which can be used in future sessions. If TFTP is being used to transfer files from the boot host, then file permission must be world readable. Similarly, to save a configuration file to the boot host, the file must already exist and with world write permission enabled. If secure TFTP is used (this is recommended for security reasons), then file access is possible only through specified directories. 5.4. Logging on to the host >From the X terminal console window menu bar, select the 'terminals' pull-down menu and choose 'New Telnet...'. When the telnet window appears, insert the address of a network host in the service entry and click including a window manager, can be started from the telnet window. 6. Fonts and the X terminal The X terminal comes with a small set of fonts. In the X terminal setup menus and configuration files, these fonts are referred to as fonts are desirable. Fonts can be added by specifying font paths in X terminal console setup menus, configuration files or by using the xset command. Once the X server software is running on the X terminal, the font path can modified or queried with the command xset. To query the X server: xset -q To add a font entry: xset +fp To remove a font entry: xset -fp 6.1. The font server The font server (xfs) runs on a network host and retrieves fonts for the X terminal and other network clients. The font server improves font retrieval time and provides its clients access to more fonts then would otherwise be possible with tftp. Font server software is part of many Linux distributions and has also been incorporated into X consortium software available from ftp.x.org . To indicate the use of a font server, a tcp service entry is used instead of a font path in the X terminal's host resident configuration file or console setup menu. Format of tcp service entry: tcp/: Example: tcp/10.0.0.1:7100 An example of an entry in the X terminal configuration file found on the boot host: xserver-default-font-path = { { "tcp/10.0.0.1:7100" } { "built-ins" } } The xset command with the tcp service entry can used to add the font server to the path: xset +fp tcp/10.0.0.1:7100 WARNING: Certain versions of NCDware require the font server entry to be listed first before X terminal 'built-in' fonts. This is contrary to the NCD documentation "System Administrator's Guide for UNIX Systems". Experiment with the order of the font path and verify it with the On the font server host, the server is started at boot time from the rc.local startup script. The font server (xfs) is started with the following command: xfs -config -port The standard font server port is 7100. Example: xfs -config /usr/X11/lib/X11/fs/config -port 7100 Example font server configuration file: # font server configuration file # $XConsortium: config.cpp,v 1.7 91/08/22 11:39:59 rws Exp $ clone-self = on use-syslog = on catalog = /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/,/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/ error-file = /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fs/fs-errors # in decipoints default-point-size = 120 default-resolutions = 75,75,100,100 7. Miscellaneous 7.1. Reference Unix man pages: bootpd(8), tftpd(8), bootptab(5), xdm(1x), xfs(1), fsinfo(1), xset(1), inetd(8) Linux Ethernet HOWTO document, Linux Net-3 (Networking) HOWTO document NCD Techtips Archive NCD Techtips Archive Mirror at CERN NCDware System Administrator's Guide for UNIX Systems 7.2. Equipment used in the preparation of this document X terminal: NCD model NCD19r with 19 monochrome monitor 1280x1024 8M RAM X server software: NCDware V3.2.CV 19r_s Remote Host: IBM Cyrix 686 P150+ running Slackware (Linux kernel version 2.0.31) Remote Host: IBM Cyrix M2 200 MMX running Red Hat 5.0 (Linux kernel version 2.0.32) Network Card: 10 base T Ethernet card (ne 2000 clone) and 8 port hub Font server version 2 release number 6300 7.3. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Michael de Lind van Wijngaarden, Jamal Hadi- Salim and Dwight Hodge for assistance in the preparation of this document. 7.4. Outstanding Issues * Is it possible or wise to start the font server using inetd? * If the remote host running the font server is powered down but later comes up again, with the font server active, the X terminal may fail to retrieve its fonts. The font path entry has to be re- entered with the console menu or xset. Why? * The date of the error file designated in the font server config file is changed when xfs is in use but the file is always empty. * Are there host based diagnostics for the font server? * Are the procedures for other models of X terminals roughly similar? * What about XDM? * What is the procedure to boot the X terminal using NFS (Network File System) or RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol)? * The following messages appear in the X terminal Console. I am suspicious that they come from xfree86 extensions to X which are not part of the X terminal server. Can someone confirm or deny this? %XSERVER-I-NEWCLIENT, host "localhost" connected with blank authorization %XSERVER-W-NOEXTENSION, client attempted to use non-existent extension "BIG-REQUESTS" %XSERVER-W-NOEXTENSION, client attempted to use non-existent extension "XKEYBOARD" %XSERVER-W-NOEXTENSION, client attempted to use non-existent extension "XFree86-Misc" 7.5. Feedback Please write to ihodge at nortel.ca with any comments, suggestions or contributions. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Setup information and files for Hewlett-Packard "Envizex" P-Series X-terminals may be found at: http://www.ductape.net/~brianm/xterm/ thanks to Brian McElroy of Tek Systems. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x Message-ID: References: <37A04463.7221A23A@titan.byu.edu> <7nq6tq$k7u$5@newsfeeds.rpi.edu> <37A08500.36F4238F@titan.byu.edu> <37A086AB.D95A7D86@titan.byu.edu> <7nsq4e$evg$4@newsfeeds.rpi.edu> <37BD95C9.9C278458@sensenet.com> Organization: University of Queensland Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 23:44:15 +1000 From: Joel Hatton To: Maxwell MacLeod Subject: Re: denied by the xhost command On Fri, 20 Aug 1999, Maxwell MacLeod wrote: > > > > > > ok, got the environment variable right. But when, as su on the machine > > > I want to > > > display on (this is the client I believe), I type xhost +, I from this original question it sounds like you were typing the xhost command on the correct machine (providing you were typing the hostname of the machine you were telneting to!) and this was the reason I advised to upgrade your server - xfree has a known bug with this recently. However, the explanation you've been given was comprehensive and worthwhile for sure. > *** So, in the telnet window to the remote machine R, I tell it to > display windows on my local machine by using the export DISPLAY command > above, correct? > > I assume that the remote X server is therefore communicating with my > local X server, which in turn is displaying the client windows and so > on. Have I got it OK? pretty well. just get over the idea of a remote 'X server' - the remote machine is functioning merely as an application server; the applications are then displayed on your *local* "X server". These applications are clients to your X server. Confusion sets in when we look at the bigger picture of your _machine_ being a client to the remote one... Play it safe and don't think about it that way! joel -- HelpDesk, ITS, Uni of Qld, Australia - phone [+61] [07] 33654400| |opinions expressed herein are mine alone and may not be forwarded!| |plaintext/ascii messages only, all unsolicited attachments deleted| |to send me a file/document see http://www.uq.edu.au/~uqjhatto/#ftp| ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// HINT for UNIX: > anybody got a one-line command line script that will set your > display for remote usage without having to go through the > who | grep uid and setenv commands? # for C shell setenv DISPLAY `who am i | cut -d '(' -f 2 | cut -d ')' -f 1`:0.0 # for Korn shell (but not for historic Bourne shell) export DISPLAY=`who am i | cut -d '(' -f 2 | cut -d ')' -f 1`:0.0 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x Message-ID: References: <37C34072.75B7FAA5@surfsouth.com> Reply-To: cbbrowne@hex.net Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 03:06:13 GMT From: Christopher Browne Subject: Re: Is there any make-a-pc-into-an-X-terminal software? On 24 Aug 1999 23:09:00 -0700, Chris Mahmood wrote: >Richard James Panturis Giuly writes: >> >> I'd like to make an i486 into an x terminal. Is there any free software >> to do this? > >uh, Linux and XFree maybe? If memory serves, DLX http://olymp.wu-wien.ac.at/usr/h93/h9301726/dlx.html is a floppy-based distribution that includes X. [alternate site: ftp://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/linux/dlx/ ] There's one problem with turning a 486 box into an X terminal, and that is that it is not likely to be really satisfactory without at least 16MB of RAM, and preferably a bit more. XFree86 can benefit lots from more memory and from the fast video chipsets that have come since the 486 days. The outgrowth of PCI over the last four years has resulted in: 1- The fast PCI bus, 2- Incredibly faster, cheap video cards, 3- Fast, cheap RAM. Expanding a 486 box past 16MB is liable to prove challenging; VLB motherboards are commonly limited to 4 slots, and finding 32 pin SIMMs bigger than 4MB is not a trivial task. -- "KDE isn't a window manager. It *includes* one, but kwm is only one of *many* components of KDE. And kwm is an *optional* component. GNOME is the same, except that it doesn't include a wm..." -- cbbrowne@hex.net cbbrowne@ntlug.org- ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// There is also this success story on setting up old PCs as X Terminals to connect to Linux: http://www.menet.umn.edu/~kaszeta/unix/xterminal/index.html ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x Message-ID: <37C6FFD7.4820759C@wfw.wtb.tue.nl> References: <37C34072.75B7FAA5@surfsouth.com> Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 23:15:03 +0200 From: Leo Wouters Subject: Re: Is there any make-a-pc-into-an-X-terminal software? We have been using 486 (and even 386) systems as X-terminals for over 5 years and none of them had more than 8 Mb RAM. But then, they were real X-terminals, running a bare Linux 1.0 kernel and the X-server (no shells, gettty's , NFS mounted file system, diskless, etc) connecting trough xdm to other systems. Only requirement was 1MB of video memory, only problem (on 4 MB systems) were applications that used a lot of different fonts ! Leo ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x Message-ID: References: <37C34072.75B7FAA5@surfsouth.com> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 00:30:58 GMT From: bsingh@flash.net Subject: Re: Is there any make-a-pc-into-an-X-terminal software? If you want to run your X on PC with Microsoft windows ... Here is small but effect X-server.. download MI/X from MicroImages' is http://www.microimages.com/ in the "Free Downloads" section. [Intel-processor versions are no longer free, although Mac OS 9 versions are.] [Mac OS X can use Apple's X server.] ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.dec.micro Message-ID: <6c6n3f$ona$1@paperboy.ids.net> References: <34E60633.EC0E51BE@ix.netcom.com> X-Trace: paperboy.ids.net 887545775 25322 (None) 155.212.90.187 Organization: The Retro-Computing Society of RI Reply-To: mike@kronos.egr-ri.ids.net Date: 15 Feb 1998 00:00:00 GMT From: mike@kronos.egr-ri.ids.net (Mike Umbricht) Subject: Re: VT1200 infor/questions In article <34E60633.EC0E51BE@ix.netcom.com>, Tony Robinson writes: > > Hello I have a VT1200 box here that I would like to tinker with, any > infor on keyboard/mouse and vid output/cables/etc... The keyboard is LK401 or LK201. It uses a standard DEC 'puck' part # VSXXX-AA (or VSXXX-GA) for the mouse. It is a monochrome monitor, and the rotary switch chooses the model. Mine is Terminal Manager V2.2 and has the following choices: 1) VR150 15" 1024 x 864 60 Hz. 2) VR319 19" 1280 x 1024 72 Hz. 3) VR262 19" 1024 x 864 60 Hz. 4) undefined 5) VR315 ? 6) undefined I built a TNC to BNC cable for use w/ my VR319 monitor. -mike ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec Date: 16 Sep 1999 19:42:02 GMT Organization: Compaq Computer Corporation Message-ID: <7rrh6a$nbe$1@mailint03.im.hou.compaq.com> From: Hoff Hoffman Subject: Re: Digital VT model# VX10A-AA ????? In article <7rp9s2$bfb$2@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "Headley Sappleton" writes: :I just picked up this piece of computer hardware. It is a pizza box type of :thing, that has the marking: "Digital" obviously a refference to Digital :computers. Also written on it id VT 1200 and model# VX10A-AA... An X Terminal. Please see the VXT directory on the OpenVMS Freeware for related documentation... (Pointers to the Freeware are in the OpenVMS FAQ...) --------------------------- pure personal opinion --------------------------- Hoff (Stephen) Hoffman OpenVMS Engineering hoffman#xdelta.zko.dec.com ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: redhat.networking.general,comp.terminals Organization: A Customer of Tele2 X-Sender: s-61053@d212-151-146-241.swipnet.se Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 10:58:53 GMT Message-ID: From: Patric Sandberg Subject: Xterminal and Redhat linux, mini How-To Hello All, I have found out that to get a Xterminal (NCD 17c booted with Xncd17c) to work with RedHat Linux 6.2 you have to; a) switch from Gnome The reason being that Gnome is not very advanced technically, they have cut many corners in the development and also use some XFree86 proprietary extension to X not available on the NCD terminal. b) use either xdm or kdm as the display manager Change /etc/sysconfig/desktop to contain KDE instead of GNOME And/or change /etc/X11/prefdm to point out 'xdm' as the manager instead of 'kdm' (I use kdm because it looks better). c) Change /etc/X11/xdm/Xaccess to have a '*' entry (there is one, just remove the hash mark) d) Change /etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config in commenting out the DisplayManager.requestport line Now this was kind of trivial right? All this is down to both the security settings of RedHat (good) and the technical knowhow of the Gnome team (bad). I myself have now switched to KDE, all my favourite tools exist in other incarnations as KDE apps. I find Gnome sort of like an Apple, all colour and no content? Cheers, Patrick ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: redhat.networking.general, comp.terminals Message-ID: References: Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 01:47:15 GMT From: Kenneth Seefried Subject: Re: Xterminal and Redhat linux, mini How-To On Sun, 28 May 2000 10:58:53 GMT, patric.sandberg@swipnet.se (Patric Sandberg) wrote: > a) switch from Gnome True. The Gnome people have definately not learned the lessons the rest of us did years ago about supporting remote clients (well...servers in X parlance). The assumption that the server is running on a particular OS or Server version is generally bad in X. > b) use either xdm or kdm as the display manager I think XDM is lighter weight than KDM, and might be preferable on small memory xterminals. >Now this was kind of trivial right? Sorta, but such things should always be documented for the next guy down the pipe. >I myself have now switched to KDE, Me too...I think it looks and behaves much better than Gnome. However, if you've got a small memory xterminal (<= 8M), you might find using one of the older, smaller window managers such as TWM will help performance quite a bit. Most people don't really need all that cutsy window dressing that KDE (and Gnome) provide. Of course, once I bumped my MGX to 72MB, all I had to worry about was network speed. :-) - Ken Seefried CTO, DigitalMoJo Information Security Consulting, Training & Management ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 09:48:04 -0500 Organization: Avalon Networks Inc. Newsgroups: comp.terminals Message-ID: <396DD6A3.FA016759@iercomputer.com> From: Paul Tucker Subject: NCD Xterminals Hello, I have the following for sale. If anybody is interested, please email me for more information. NCD HMX-Pro NCD HMX NCD monitors, various models--please inquire. IER Computer specializes in NCD xterminals. If you are in the market to buy or sell, please give us a call. hank you for your time, -- Paul Tucker IER Computer Iowa Electronic Recovery (319)351-3058 paul@iercomputer ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.vms Message-ID: <9gl6r2$mcn$1@rdel.co.uk> References: <3B2C3139.33F44B47@ui.urban.org> NNTP-Posting-Host: 175.100.12.103 Organization: Thales Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 16:29:22 +0100 From: "Gordon Pimblott" Subject: Re: modern day x-terminals "Jim Becker" wrote in message news:3B2C3139.33F44B47@ui.urban.org... > Wayne Sewell wrote: > > > > Does anybody know of a currently supported x-terminal? Basically something > > like the vxt 2000+, but with current hardware and software. I have a xvt, > > but I don't really use it. It's slow and doesn't have that much memory. > > Also, most of my network is 100 megabit, but of course the ancient vxt is > > only 10. > > I used to use and like NCD's X terminals (http://www.ncd.com/). They > were good products, and included support for the VMS environment. I'm > not familiar with NCD's current Explora line. I don't know whether NCD > is still friendly to VMS. > > > Before anybody mentions emulation on PCs, I do *not* want to use a PC > > for this. > > I tend to agree. In my experience, the PC-based X emulators don't > behave as well as either an X terminal or an X workstation/console. > You don't drag windows across the PC display, you smear them across. > Display updates take longer. However, since I currently have no X > terminals at my disposal, I must settle for a PC-based X emulator. > > -- > Jim Becker > The Urban Institute (http://www.urban.org/) > Encompass (http://www.encompassus.org/) > ESILUG (http://encompasserve.org/lugs/esilug/) We currently use the NC900 range from NCD which sems to be the current replacement for their "classic" X terminal. It does alot more if you want it (i.e. JAVA console), but can be configured to be just an X terminal. They still appear to be reasonably VMS friendly. Gordon Pimblott ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.vms Path: mark.usec.sun.com!uunet!dca.uu.net!newsfeed.frii.net !news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!feed.cgocable.net !cyclone2.usenetserver.com!e420r-sjo4.usenetserver.com !newsfeed.usenetserver.com!e420r-sjo2.usenetserver.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B2F6ADB.1EBB7433@srv.net> References: <9gl5bp$g6p@gap.cco.caltech.edu> Organization: WebUseNet Corp. - ReInventing The UseNet X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.74 [en] (Win98; U) Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 09:08:11 -0600 From: Kevin Handy Subject: Re: modern day x-terminals David Mathog wrote: > > In article , wayne@tachysoft.xxx.563109.killspam.015d (Wayne Sewell) writes: > > > > Does anybody know of a currently supported x-terminal? Basically something > > like the vxt 2000+, but with current hardware and software. I have a xvt, > > but I don't really use it. It's slow and doesn't have that much memory. > > Also, most of my network is 100 megabit, but of course the ancient vxt is > > only 10 Mbps. > > > > > > Before anybody mentions emulation on PCs, I do *not* want to use a PC for > > this. I would prefer a dedicated x-terminal, if such are still being > > manufactured. > > Well, even though you said not to mention it... > > 1. Take a PC > 2. Install Linux or BSD on it. > 3. Configure it to run nothing but X11, and to do that at start up. > > and you have a machine that's for all intents and purposes a dedicated > X-terminal. I think you could even save this configuration onto a CDROM, > and boot from that. So that nobody could monkey with the settings. Something like these http://www.thinknic.com/about/index.html They use a CDROM for the OS loading, flash ROM for saving settings, and have no floppy/hard disk to load virus into. Boots up in Linux, and I've heard (but not done myself) that it boots up ready to act as an X terminal. $320 with monitor, $200 without. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.terminals References: <3c01a040.436224625@news.stcl1.mi.home.com> <90efcedd.0111271809.504dd91a@posting.google.com> <3c045b8f.9020593@news.stcl1.mi.home.com> <3c0d88f6.0@oracle.zianet.com> <3c0fcfdd.356253812@news.stcl1.mi.home.com> Message-ID: <3c141a91.0@oracle.zianet.com> Organization: NMIX Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 19:14:54 -0700 From: Ralph McElmurry Subject: Re: Neoware/HDS @Workstation Info "Michael Dombrowski" wrote in message news:3c0fcfdd.356253812@news.stcl1.mi.home.com... > > I got them, but wading through and seeing what you need is confusing > as hell and time consuming as all getout. Plus, I'm not sure if that > is causing my problem, I'd rather not spend 5 hours making a config > file that might be bad and then not getting it to work. If I had a > config that was known good I could debug my problems easier. > > Mike > > >There may be manuals for the different NetOs versions on the Neoware web > >site. > > > >"Michael Dombrowski" wrote in message > >news:3c045b8f.9020593@news.stcl1.mi.home.com... > >> On 27 Nov 2001 18:10:00 -0800, bolke@xs4all.nl (Bolke de Bruin) wrote: > >> > >> >legodude@hammycorp.com (Michael Dombrowski) wrote in message > >> >news:<3c01a040.436224625@news.stcl1.mi.home.com>... > >> >> > >> >> I have acquired software for my @Workstation but I lack any kind of > >> >> documentation for it. More specificially, I have it loading its boot > >> >> file via NFS and after the file loads the screen blanks and stays that > >> >> way. I assume it is the result of not having any sort of configuration > >> >> files. If anyone could help me out I'd much appreciate it then put the > >> >> info up for others to see. > >> >> > >> >> Mike > >> > > >> >I dont think it is missing out on some config files, > >> >as the station will tell you that. When the screen blanks > >> >it is supposed to be booting the netOS software. > >> > > >> >btw what version of the software have you got? > >> > > >> >Bolke > >> > >> I haven't a clue what version, and that's only part of my problem. A > >> kind soul pointed me to a site with a tarball of the software and saod > >> it should work but it comes without any docs or config files. I'm not > >> even sure if it's the right software for my terminal, it boots > >> V20-D.hds which seems right to me but I may be wrong. If you could > >> provide me with some pointers as to what I need to do I would be very > >> happy. At this point it is either wrong software or user error and I'm > >> leaning heavily towards user error. > >> > >> Thanks > >> Mike I have a relatively recent @workstation and the software but I don't have it hooked up now. It was working on my UnixWare server before but later developed a problem with two window managers running. I have an older one prior to the @workstation models but could not find a copy of the opsys for it on the Neoware site and they did not return any mail about it. If I find the config file still on the server on Monday, I'll mail it to you Ralph .............................................................................. what is in ftp://ftp.neoware.com/outgoing/ ? ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.terminals Path: utkcs2!darwin.sura.net!mips!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!torn!utzoo!censor !comspec!scocan!zackx Organization: SCO Canada, Inc. Message-ID: <1992Jun30.024205.29491@sco.COM> Sender: news@sco.COM (News administration) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 02:42:05 GMT From: zackx@sco.COM (Zack Xu) Subject: Re: Buying X-Terminal for Home Use I recently asked for information about getting an X-terminal for home use. My sincere thanks to many helpful netters for their advice. But my impression is that getting an X-terminal for home use is not very affordable, with that kind of money, I can get a 486 or even a low-end workstation from Sun or HP. Here are the responses I received. Once again, thanks alot! Zack > From me > > Hi. I need some advice on buying an X-terminal for home use. I haven't > decided on buying one yet, but I'd like to get some information first. > > The X-terminal will connect to either a workstation (DEC3100, or one of > HP9000 series, or IBM RT, or SUN4...) in a university, OR a 486 running > SCO UNIX in a company. The kind of work I do is all very UNIX, like vi, > emacs, cc, C debugger, rn, bitmap, etc. under either X-Window or Motif, > preferably tvtwm, :-) (the kind of thing you normally do on a UNIX work- > station). > > The X-terminal will be at my home connecting to the machines (listed above) > in the same city via telephone line. > > Since I don't know much about X-terminals, modems, etc., I wish to know > if it's feasible/possible to run the things I wished on this X-terminal > at home (like how I do them on the workstation in office)? > Do I need to buy a fast (9600) modem to run X through phone line? Even > then how is the speed?? I don't want to wait for 60 seconds to bring up > an xterm or a calculator. > > How much does a X-terminal cost these days? (not too shabby, but not too > expenseive) What are the brands available on the market? The kind of things > I need to know before making a decision? (e.g. warranties, screen size, etc.?) > > I really like to hear your advice!! Also please suggest any relevant > books on purchasing an X-terminals. > > Is there another newsgroup more appropriate for me to post this message? > > From: Raymond Chui > > > I think you are very rich. The price for X-Terminal range > between $2500.00(black-white,low resolution, 15") to > $5000.00(color, resolution 1280x1024, 19"). > Price for 9600 Baud modem about $350.00 to $900.00 > Your X-Terminal in your office connected on Ethernet > (I assume) is 10 Mbps, your modem only 9600 Baud. > 8 bits per byte. 8x9600=76800 bits per second(bps). > 76800 << 10 Mbps( much much less than). > Well, you can establish a T1 link(1.445 Mbps) between > your office and your home. > about $45k to $60k for installation. > about $35K flat annual rate. > about $2000.00 high speed serial link device. > > Or your establish a T3 link(45 Mbps). I don't want to > know that price. > > Or establish Frame Relay link. I don't know the price for > installation and equipment. > Frame Relay don't charge flat annual rate, instead charge > the date packet(8 bits) through output/input. This will much > lower price if your use too much. > -- > Raymond H. Chui > NSWC U33 > 10901 New Hampshire Ave. > Silver Spring, MD 20903-5000 > Voice:(301)394-5192 Fax:(301)394-5835 > E-Mail:rchui@corona.nswc.navy.mil > _ __ _ , __ > ' ) ) / ' ) / / ) / > /--' __. , , ____ ______ __/ /--/ / /_ . . o > / \_(_(_(_/_/) ) )_(_) /) )_(_(_ / ( o (__/ / /_(_/_(_ > / > ' > Received: by gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca id <18459>; Thu, 25 Jun 1992 16:19:13 -0400 > From: John Dorn > > > I work for a company that sells GraphOn and Visual X terminals. > Give me a call, and I can tell you all about remote X and give you a good > pric on a demo terminal. > regards > > John Dorn > 338-7329 > Nord graph > Oakville > > > From: Vance Shipley > > In article <1992Jun24.190601.6773@sco.COM> you write: > > > >Hi. I need some advice on buying an X-terminal for home use. I haven't > >decided on buying one yet, but I'd like to get some information first. > > > > You will undoubtably get a number of messages telling you this will not work. > Don't let them discourage you too much. Yes it is true that X over a modem > can be very slow. I ran PC-Xsight, from SCO/Locus on a notebook from home. > I used FTP to run slip over the internal 2400 baud modem to my Opendesktop > system at work. It was an experiment, and as such it was a success. It took > about five minutes to draw the screen in graphics. It was basically unusable. > > There are several ways to improve the performance. A 9600 baud modem would > quadruple the performance I observed. Another way is to subscribe to centrex > data from Bell Canada. For about $70/month you can have dialup 56K at home. > The other end will also be $70 though. There is also an equipment cost, about > $1000 an end or you can rent. > > There is an improved protocol for running X over low bit rate streams called > XRemote. It was developed by NCD, the X terminal people. I understand that > MIT is incorporating XRemote into a future release of X11. XRemote removes > or compresses a lot of overhead in the X protocol. > > I recently saw an ad for an X terminal for under a grand. It was Black and > White though. Good luck. > > -- > Vance Shipley > vances@xenitec.on.ca vances@ltg.uucp ..uunet.ca!xenitec!vances > > > Date: Mon, 29 Jun 92 10:31:11 EDT > From: Ira Ekhaus > > zack, > > There is this magazine "workstation News" that has lots of > ads for xterminals ( i've seen some advertised for < $1000 in mono) . > Also look in X type journals. > > After you've bought your terminal, > you can go to misc.forsale.computer and get a used v32.2 modem for ~$300. > > Instead of a modem, maybe you could inquire about an ISDN > connection in your area. > > Also, could post a summary? > > Ira > ekhaus@draper.com > Phone: 617 258 1109 > Draper Laboratories m.s. 7c > 555 Technology Square > Cambridge, MA -- ======================================================================== Zack Xu SCO Canada Inc. zackx@sco.com 130 Bloor Street West, 10th Floor 416-922-1937 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1N5 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2002 19:22:27 GMT Organization: AT&T Broadband Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris Message-ID: <3DC96BF1.1060206@not_airmail.net> References: From: Chris Cox Subject: Re: Solaris 8 and X Terminals François Albernhe wrote: > I have a Solaris 9 box and I need to use it from X terminal > mainly NCD. Up to now it is impossible to have it correctly working > : very slow connection, freeze of the terminal.... > My questions are : > - Is it possible to have Xterms working with Solaris8 ( they work > perfectelly with Solaris 2.5.1). I would say yes (haven't worked with an NCD for several years though). > - If yes how to make it ? I used to use an NCD 17c... the biggest problem was the 8MB (after I upgraded it from 4MB!)... memory is tight (very tight) on these boxes. The ethernet was 10Base-2, sluggish if you're pumping all window management across the wire. Go with simple wm's... as well as anything else to reduce the traffic and memory load to the NCD (8-bit display max). The chip on the NCD was a Motorola MC68000 (maybe a 68010)... not a great performer in today's terms... but reasonable back in the late 80's and early 90's. I think even "high end" X-terminals used the MIPS chip... still pretty sluggish in today's terms. > - If not did I have to jump back to Solaris 2.5 (it seems stupid) > or to jump to Linux. I will say that a small Linux box works perfectly as an X-terminal substitute... I have configured this often. This could be an alternative (?). Linux works well as a primary desktop and server... might suit your needs there as well (if you need Solaris though, this won't be a option). I have also used Solaris 8/Intel... lots of hardware compatability pitfalls, but if you're willing to configure specifically for that, you'll be fine using those as an X-terminal substitute as well. Shoot, at 8-bits, a SparcStation 5 is a reasonable X-terminal... though a bit sluggish with Solaris 8 loaded (you can probably pick these up from a company before they scrap them if you are fortunate). If you want to buy new from Sun... there's always the Sun Ray.... maybe some of these are in the used channels now as well. Could be a good deal for your situtation. Unless you simply love your old NCD's... I would move to something better (Sun Rays, Linux clients, old-SPARC clients, Solaris8/Intel clients... choice depends on what you have what you are willing to spend). ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2002 22:01:04 GMT Organization: University of Toronto, Computing and Networking Services Message-ID: References: From: Mike Peterson Subject: Re: Solaris 8 and X Terminals In article , =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Fran=E7ois_Albernhe?= wrote: > > I have a Solaris 9 box and I need to use it from X terminal > mainly NCD. Up to now it is impossible to have it correctly working > : very slow connection, freeze of the terminal.... > > My questions are : > - Is it possible to have Xterms working with Solaris8 ( they work > perfectly with Solaris 2.5.1). We are using several NCD Xterminals (mainly MCX 8-bit colour) running with our Solaris 8 server; as another poster says, make sure you have lots of memory (ours have 6 MB code, 20 MB data on average) if you're going to run things with lots of windows/widgets. We found GNOME is extremely slow for NCD's using a shared 10-BaseT network. It improved dramatically when we turned off "Fill window thumbnails with screen contents" in the Desk Guide Settings - that was downloading the window contents from each NCD several times a second, then sending it back for redisplay -- brutal! Also make sure your server has lots of memory if your running GNOME, especially if you're using Mozilla or Netscape 6 at the same time - I'd guess you'd want 100-150 MB per NCD user to reduce paging. I'd say 50-100 MB per user was OK with CDE and Netscape 4. Our 512 MB E250 system with a 100-BaseT connection to our LAN hub supports 5 users OK; don't know if I'd want to add many more (we have no display, only NCD Xterminals). Some of our people use a PC for web surfing, so they're not running Netscape/Mozilla heavily on our Solaris server. -- I don't jog. It makes the ice jump right out of my glass. Mike Peterson ONet Networking E-mail: mikep@onet.on.ca Tel: 416-978-5230 WWW: http://onet.on.ca/~mikep/ Fax: 416-978-6620 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Newsgroups: comp.os.vms NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.45.169.103 NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2003 20:12:30 -0600 References: <3fcdc252$0$2795$626a54ce@news.free.fr> Message-ID: Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2003 21:12:29 -0500 From: Richard B. Gilbert Subject: Re: X terminal MOP connected to a uVAX: replacement? Didier Morandi wrote: > > Hello happy tax payers, > > I have a request from a Customer who still uses Tektro XP338 terminals > to do X from MicroVAXen via MOP and thin Ethernet (yes.) > > What would be a good replacement solution for these old boxes which > blow out one after the other every two months or so? > > I'm thinking of suggesting to give up with MOP and do X from a PC via > Exceed or any other X Windows package. > > What does the honourable assembly think? > > Thanks, > D. I would not try it on a PC with Reflection-X. There doesn't seem to be any way to map the PC keyboard to the DEC keyboard unless you want to study X-windows keycodes, keysyms, etc. It seems to me to be something that should just work, right out of the box but it doesn't! The VTxxx emulations do an excelent job of keyboard mapping; it's just the X-windows stuff that's a problem. .............................................................................. Newsgroups: comp.os.vms NNTP-Posting-Host: slip32-106-24-247.ehn.de.prserv.net References: <3fcdc252$0$2795$626a54ce@news.free.fr> Message-ID: Date: 6 Dec 2003 07:26:27 GMT From: Dave Weatherall Subject: Re: X terminal MOP connected to a uVAX: replacement? On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 02:12:29 UTC, "Richard B. Gilbert" wrote: > I would not try it on a PC with Reflection-X. There doesn't seem to be > any way to map the PC keyboard to the DEC keyboard unless you want to > study X-windows keycodes, keysyms, etc. It seems to me to be something > that should just work, right out of the box but it doesn't! The VTxxx > emulations do an excelent job of keyboard mapping; it's just the > X-windows stuff that's a problem. What about a PC with a VT layout keyboard? I've just attached one to one of mine. It seems to work fine in normal PC mode but I haven't had a chance to try it using Reflection or similar yet. -- Cheers - Dave. .............................................................................. Newsgroups: comp.os.vms NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.45.169.103 NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 18:20:47 -0600 References: <3fcdc252$0$2795$626a54ce@news.free.fr> Message-ID: Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 19:20:46 -0500 From: Richard B. Gilbert Subject: Re: X terminal MOP connected to a uVAX: replacement? Dave Weatherall wrote: > > What about a PC with a VT layout keyboard? I've just attached one to > one of mine. It seems to work fine in normal PC mode but I haven't had > a chance to try it using Reflection or similar yet. The LK250 and LK450 keyboards are a little hard to find! Were you using, say, an LK461 for this trick? I've been a little reluctant to experiment; a mistake could get pretty expensive! PC keyboards are cheap and readily available. The DEC keyboards are expensive and generally not available at your nearest computer store. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////