[rescue] Raster flex SBus card anyone?

[Peter Stokes]

Hi Chase

Pretty sure Rasterflex did their own thing requiring their own drivers etc. I
am hoping to get some more info today.

Peter
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Peter Stokes
Ashlyn Computer Services
Mbl: 07977 532320
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On 30 Jun 2016, at 22:34, Chase Rayfield <cusbrar2 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I think it is very unlikely that it is a ZX clone. The chips on the ZX are
custom ASICs... which means any clones would have had to have been authorized
since the architecture isn't a common one (potentially reverse engineered but
that is unlikely), also I doubt Sun would have spent the money to shrink them
down any further so if the same ASICs were used it wouldn't have fit on a
single width double stacked board since the ZX is double width double stacked.
Alot of that is indeed the video memory but at least one side of the whole
accelerator is covered in ASICs. The main reasons older GX cards were so large
is the ram I belive which is already much less of an issue on the ZX than the
GX. In other words a shrunk ZX would have been a too orthogonal a move
especially with 64bit Sparc workstations and their graphics hardware around
the corner it would have been a major overhaul rather than a minor change to
the memory circuits.
>
>
> I suppose it could be a partial ZX with a less wide processor pipe the ZX
normally has 5. But I've never heard of any such card only the ZX and TZX
which is a ZX with additional cooling If I remember right it occupies the sbus
slots above it with fans.
>
>
> I'll post some high res picks of my ZX, RasterFlex HR and a couple CG6s for
the interested later this evening.
>
>
> It does make me wonder what the DB9 port is for... though perhaps it is to
interface with some projector or other custom equipment that would have
required additional control signals? It any case it will be very hard to tell
anything without photos of the other side of the board.
> _______________________________________________
> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue