No Graphics Output in pSeries, AIX 5.3

UNIX AIX
1

Hi All --

I have an old 7028-6C1 which I'm using to learn AIX. The system didn't include a graphics card, so I connected via the serial port and performed a fresh install of AIX 5L V5.3.

Later, I purchased a GXT135P (2849) graphics card, and added it to the system. When I ran diag, I was able to see the test patterns on the monitor, so I'm sure the card works. However, I've been unable to get normal console output to display on the monitor. I reset the console to LFT, to no effect. Thinking that I was perhaps missing some drivers or libraries, I just blew everything away and did a new install, with the card in place.

After re-installing, I see my graphics card in the device list, as lai0, and its status is "Available." However, I still can't figure out how to get the monitor (or mouse and keyboard) fuctioning as the console. Is there something I need to change in SMS? I feel like I'm probably missing something very basic.

I doubt if it matters, but for what it's worth, my system firmware level is CLT02219, and the Service Processor level is ct020822.

Thanks,
Bruce

2

When you are in the boot prom there should be an option to select whether you use the serial port or keyboard/screen as console.

If the prom thinks the screen and keyboard are the console the OS may follow suit.

3

Thanks very much for the tip. My problem turned out to be something even more basic: my el cheapo hand-me-down KVM was apparently preventing the monitor from synching. Because I was using a funky space-saving keyboard, I had connected a standard IBM PS2 keyboard and mouse directly to the machine, to avoid any issues with unusual input devices. However, I left the monitor attached via the KVM.

I still don't understand why, during the diagnostics, it *was* displaying images correctly. I can only guess that the diagnostic driver runs through different refresh rates, and at some odd point it happened to hit some frequency that the crappy KVM could work with.

If anyone thinks it would be worthwhile, I'll post a few of the things I learned in the process of playing around with the system hardware and software. Coming from the Windows world, working with AIX and the pSeries/RS6000 has been highly educational. ("Educational" means I have been muttering, "What the f---???" every few minutes.)

Regards,
Bruce