[Simh] 8-bit pseudocolor on modern Windows PC?

[Clem Cole]

I know you want to do this will Windows, but have you explored a different
OS such as Mac OSx, FreeBSD or Linux on an Intel platform.  I said this
because I think you may find more X support there.   The later is now the
"home" for the X team and are more likely to get help from the developers
if you are using one of their native systems.

That said, I know that the RPi is a Linux box, but its not the native
development place for the X guys.    I fear the X server on RPi is a subset
of the one for Intel, so it would not be surprising if support for things
like pseudo color are not longer in that implementation.

Anyway, I would at least try to see how far you can go with a UNIX style
implementation before I pushed too far at Windows.  There are enough rough
edges in the Window support that its not surprising to me that they baled
on support some of the older features  (i.e. its not how well the bear
dances).

Best wishes.

On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 9:48 AM, Paul Hardy 2 <paulhardy2 at btinternet.com>
wrote:

> As a hobbyist, I successfully run VMS on a Simh emulated VAX (actually on
> a Raspberry Pi, but that’s irrelevant). I’m doing some software archeology
> trying to preserve some historic software which produced maps and charts on
> VAXstations and AlphaStations. This used 8-bit pseudocolor graphics,
> manipulating bit planes and colormaps. Variants of the software exist for
> VWS and for DECwindows/Motif.
>
>
>
> A few years ago, I was successful in running the Motif version from a
> Windows PC running Cygwin/X, with a XDMCP session started using
> “-fullscreen -depth 8 -query myvax” to StartX.
>
>
>
> However, I’ve recently tried again, on a more modern PC with Intel
> graphics and running Windows 10., and the Cygwin/X Xserver refuses to start.
>
> [523428.531] winScreenInit - Using command line depth of 8 bpp
>
> [523431.593] winAllocateFBShadowDDNL - Could not set full screen display
> mode: 80004001
>
> [523434.671] winFinishScreenInitFB - Could not allocate framebuffer
>
> [523437.734] (EE) InitOutput - Couldn't add screen 0(EE)
>
>
>
> I also tried MobaXTerm with a similar result.
>
>
>
> Removing the depth 8 lets the Motif session start, but the VMS software
> then can’t handle the colour drawing of the map (no planes available).
>
>
>
> Reading around the intertubes, it seems that modern Windows graphics
> devices don’t support 8-bit pseudocolor, and although I can see mention of
> code being added to Cygwin to emulate pseudocolor under Truecolor, it
> doesn’t seem to be in the current version.
>
>
>
> Of course, it would be an alternative (a better one) if Simh supported
> 8-bit graphics devices itself – e.g. the VCB02/QDSS Dragon board of the
> VAXStation/GPX, or the SPX graphics board. However as far I can see it is
> only the monochrome VCB01/QVSS supported.
>
>
>
> So,
>
> a) Does anyone know of an Xserver implementation that runs under Windows
> on a modern PC and supports depth 8 pseudocolor visuals?
>
> b) Does anyone know of a SimH implementation of the VCB02/QDSS or SPX card?
>
> c) any other ideas?
>
>
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> --
>
> Paul  Hardy
>
> Email:   paul at the paulhardy.net domain, web: www.paulhardy.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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