john@uw-nsr.UUCP (John Sambrook) (07/12/87)
I would appreciate hearing from anyone with either experience or interest in the Raster Technologies Model 1 Display Controller and the X window system. While our vendor supplies the X window system on their line of minicomputer systems they don't support this particular device (which they sold use about two years ago -- talk about your planned obsolescence!) Thanks, -- John Sambrook Dial: (206) 545-7433 University of Washington WD-12 Inet: john@nsr.acs.washington.edu Seattle, Washington 98195 UUCP: uw-nsr!john
radzy@unet.UUCP (Tim Radzykewycz) (07/15/87)
>I would appreciate hearing from anyone with either experience or interest >in the Raster Technologies Model 1 Display Controller and the X window >system. I used to work with a group that was evaluating different window systems with respect to both hardware and software. This group wrote a small window package, which they ported to use the Raster Tech one/80, as well as some other hardware. (I should be explicit here -- I wasn't working on this project.) Their conclusion was that this particular hardware architecture is not very well suited to interactive window systems. The problem is that the bandwidth of the serial link between the one/80 and the computer is too slow to be able to handle the amount of traffic it needs, in order to do the clipping and re-drawing necessary to support a window package. The end result of their work was a window package which was very slow. Now, as to how this relates to the question: 1. The window package was not X, so the results may not relate at all to the question in hand. 2. I'm not certain that the RT one/80 is the same box as you're talking about. 3. (Not to belittle their accomplishment, but) The people working on the project were porting a window package that they had designed on an IBM-PC. I do not know how efficient the algorithms they were using were, with respect to usage of the serial link. The window system was certainly not designed to be run over a serial link. 4. I wasn't working too closely with the group. I might not even remember the work correctly. In any case, the bandwidth of the link between the computer and the RT model 1 is a concern which should be considered before much work goes into writing a driver. -- radzy