Photon® microGUI 1.14 Patch D for QNX® 4.25

Release Notes

Date of this edition: July 08, 2003

This file is divided into these sections:

We assume you've already downloaded the Patch D archive from the QSSL website. If not, go to the Software Updates section in the Support area on our website.

Once you've registered, go to the Download Product Updates area, then to the appropriate download directory.

Technical support

To obtain technical support for any QNX product, visit the Technical Support section in the Support area on our website (http://www.qnx.com/). You'll find a wide range of support options, including our free web-based QNX Developer's Network.

Important information

Backdrops

You'll find a comprehensive set of backdrops in /etc/backdrops.

Input and inputtrap

If you're not running Dev.ser and you have a PnP Mouse connected to your system, then you must create a /etc/config/trap/input.node config file, where node is the logical node number assigned to the computer. This file should contain the arguments that you want to pass to Input.

When an input.node file exists, inputtrap doesn't probe for input devices; it simply invokes Input with the arguments you specify in the file. If you don't include this file, your system may hang when inputtrap starts Input.

Creating an input.node file

To reduce the likelihood of typing errors, you can query inputtrap and redirect the output to an initial input.node file, which you can then edit:

touch /etc/config/trap/input.node
inputtrap query > /etc/config/trap/input.node

Although the input.node file doesn't have a line-oriented structure, you may find it convenient to list each protocol module (along with its options and arguments) on a separate line. Since the result resembles a simple script, you may think of each hardware module as an "executable." After you remove the protocol modules you won't need, the contents of your input.node file might look like this:

kbd
fd -d/dev/kbd
msoft
fd -d/dev/ser1

To determine which protocol modules to select for your hardware, type use Input for a description of the modules, options, and arguments.

ped

If ped encounters an invalid UTF character in a file, it truncates the file at that point.

Patch B release

chipsbios.trap
Detects 69030 properly.
crttrap.list
Traps new-style drivers.
Dev32.par (QNX 4.25 Patch E)
Improved timing and throughput efficiency.
Pg.banshee
Added support for Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5.
Pg.i810
Pg.rage128
Fixed a modeswitching bug that affected some ATI Rage 128 cards.
Pg.s3_savage
Pg.tnt
Pp.bmp
Pp.canon, Pp.escp2, Pp.pcl

Note: If you have a Canon printer, you must:
  1. Edit your lpsrvr configuration file, (usually etc/config/lpsrvr.node) and add the following:
    [canon.phs]
    #   Use the Canon Filter and Feed into Raw Queue
        ta=PAR1
        co=/usr/photon/bin/Pp.canon $(spfile) > $(device)
        
  2. Append the Canon configuration file (canon.printers) to the printers configuration file (usually usr/photon/print/printers):
    cat usr/photon/print/canon.printers >>usr/photon/print/printers
        

Pp.ps
You can specify a font map using the -f command-line option. Note that the use message hasn't been updated yet.
s3bios.trap
No longer detects S3 Savage 4 chipsets. The Pg.s3_savage driver now detects these chipsets.

Patch C release

Patch D release

crttrap.list
Contains the latest device IDs for new drivers (used by crttrap).
Cyrixbios.trap
Updated to support the latest National Semiconductor Geode.
matbios.trap
Updated to not detect the latest Matrox chipsets.
m64bios.trap
Updated to not detect Radeon chipsets.
Pg.Banshee
Pg.i810
Pg.matroxg
Pg.radeon
Pg.rage
Fix for bus starvation problem on fast machines.
Pg.rage128
Pg.s3_savage
Pg.tnt

Known Issues:

Pp.bmp
Enabled support for outputting to 8bpp.
Pp.canon, Pp.escp2, Pp.pcl
Fixed QNX CMYK dither.
Note: If you have a Canon printer, you must:
  1. Edit your lpsrvr configuration file, (usually etc/config/lpsrvr.node) and add the following:
    [canon.phs]
    #   Use the Canon Filter and Feed into Raw Queue
        ta=PAR1
        co=/usr/photon/bin/Pp.canon $(spfile) > $(device)
        
  2. Append the Canon configuration file (canon.printers) to the printers configuration file (usually usr/photon/print/printers):
    cat usr/photon/print/canon.printers >>usr/photon/print/printers
        

Pp.ps
You can specify a font map by using the -f command-line option.
printers.sample
Added Filename = /tmp/filename.bmp parameter to the [BMP Spool File] section. This is the default filename used by snapshot. It is required for snapshot to operate in non-interactive mode.
Note: If you use Pp.bmp, you should update the [BMP Spool File] section in your usr/photon/print/printers file to include the Filename = parameter.

Keyboard-definition files
Added the Euro sign.
Photon
Fixed a crash in the Photon server.
pfm
Updated to display long directory names.
phditto
phfontpfr
Fix to correct extension behavior.
phfontphf
phlib_s11
phrelay
prpropsi
Fix for outputting to 8bpp in noninteractive mode.
pterm
Added a new command-line option (-K) to set the default foreground and background color.
snapshot

Upgrading

From Photon 1.12

After installing the upgrade, you'll need to remove the /usr/photon/appbuilder path for the Photon Application Builder in the Command field in the PDM Configuration dialog. The command should simply be appbuilder (i.e. no path).

From Photon 1.10 or Photon 1.11

From Photon 1.00

Most of the files shipped with Photon 1.14 are shipped under the directory /qnx4/photon/. All of the files shipped with Photon 1.00 will be moved to /usr/photon1.00/... when the setup script runs.

For example, /usr/photon/bin will be moved to /usr/photon1.00/bin.

Once you're satisfied with your new install, you can remove /usr/photon1.00.

Ghosting

To dim a widget in Photon 1.0, you had to either change the color and/or image. In Photon 1.14, you can get a "disabled" look on any widget by setting the Pt_GHOST flag. As of the time of release, the following widgets support the ghosting flag:

Changes to the PgColor_t structure

Since Photon 1.1x, the PgColor_t structure has been modified to reverse the red and blue components. This makes the structure in sync with most graphic card manufacturers and ensures that there won't be any performance penalty in the future when high-color and true-color drivers are more commonly used.

As a result of this change, all applications built before Photon 1.1x will need to be recompiled. If your application was built with PhAB, you'll need to reload, generate, and re-make it. If you manually manipulate color palettes or have hard-coded RGB values, you'll need to reverse the red and blue components.

int10

The graphics drivers in Photon 1.00 required the int10 server to be running. The drivers since Photon 1.1x no longer require int10.

Pointer

Input has replaced Pointer, which will be removed from /bin during the installation.

videotrap

In Photon 1.0, videotrap was used to determine the appropriate video driver. Since Photon 1.1x, crttrap now handles this.

Refresh utilities

In Photon 1.00, refresh_m64 and refresh_s3 were used to set the refresh rate on Mach 64 and S3 video cards. These utilities are no longer needed, because Photon 1.1x ships with a new graphics mode utility called phgrafx. These utilities will be left on your system (because they may still be useful, e.g. to set up your video card for QNX Windows.)

New shared library for backward compatibility

To maintain backward compatibility, Photon 1.1x ships with the Photon 1.0 shared library. This allows applications written for Photon 1.0 to work with Photon 1.14. If you'd like your application to use the new shared library, you must recompile all the modules and relink the application. If you're using PhAB, this is done automatically when you rebuild the application.

Before the Photon 1.0 shared library is removed, all the shared library applications must be rebuilt.

.photon configuration files

After installing Photon 1.14, you should move all users' config files to $HOME/.photon.old. The users will then need to reconfigure Photon with their personal preferences. When you're satisfied with the Photon 1.14 install, you can remove all of the .photon.old configuration directories.

QNX Product Suite CD installer

On the Photon 1.14 desktop you'll now find an icon for the QNX Product Suite CD installer. If you didn't install from CD originally, but you want to install a product from the CD now:

  1. Insert the QNX Product Suite CD in the CD-ROM drive.
  2. Start the CD-ROM filesystem manager:
    Iso9660fsys &
      
  3. Enter the following command:
    prefix -A /cd=/cdX
      

    where X is the name that Iso9660fsys assigned to the drive (e.g. 0).

  4. Click on the icon to launch the QNX Product Suite CD installer.

Note: A new version of Dev.par now allows better support for bidirectional filtering.