Xterminal PSD
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1.  What is an Xterminal?
2.  What are Sun's Xterminals?
3.  What is XDMCP and how do Xterminals use it?
4.  What are the different methods for xdm to display onto Xterminals?
5.  What is the Xterminal software?
6.  What's the difference between the XTerminal boot host and the Xterminal
    session server?
7.  If an Xterminal is going to use xdm does it need the xterminal software?
8.  How do you setup fonts for Xterminals?
9.  Do Xterminals have Xservers?
10. Do Xterminals work across subnets?
11. How do I capture error messages from Xterminals?
12. Troubleshooting tips for Xterminals?
13. Why does quitting one session from one XTerminal cause all XTerminals to
    reset? 
14. How do I bring up CDE on an Xterminal?
15. CDE: The window manager periodically dies on X Terminals
16. How do I change the resolution of the Xterminal?
17. How do I get my Xterminals to pick up fonts from another system besides
    the boot host?
18. Xterminals don't work (hang) with CDE 1.2 if NOT using NIS

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1. What is an Xterminal?

An Xterminal is a cost effective , SPARC-based display station.
It displays applications that are running on other computers, called remote
hosts, as if the applications were running on the terminal itself. These are
called client applications. The Xterminal passes its keyboard and mouse input
to these client applications, which display their output in windows on the
Xterminal's screen. The Xterminal fulfills its role as a graphical display
station for a remote host by using the X Window System Software.

2. What are Sun's Xterminals?

	The Xterminal 1 and the Xterminal Classic

       EX. Xterminal Classic hardware:

           Is a stripped down SPARC classic
           single ethernet port
           initial config will have cg3; although cg6 model offered later
           no serial, audio, or external SCSI capability
           4MB of memory; although an 8MB config will be offered
           upgradable to diskless workstation
           type-5 keyboard and mouse
           16" color monitor

         Xterminal Classic Software:

           boots via tftp
           no Xserver such as Xsun or NeWS, uses a generic Xserver
           no audio
           no DPS
           no serial line connect or Xremote capability

         X SERVER
         
           X11R5 based
           special modifications for low memory management
           in low memory situations:
           - releases active backing store
           - selective memory allocation
           - connection refusal
           fontpath extension for remote system NFS fontpaths
           i.e. special syntax for specifying remote font locations
                does not access R5 style font servers
                recognizes local Window Manager process

           Font Support:
             X11R5 MIT supplied formats:
             .bdf, .pcf, scaled: speedo and Adobe Type 1
             Sun scalable
             .f3b (folio format fonts)

           Does not support:
             postscript fonts


3. What is XDMCP and how do Xterminals use it?

    XDMCP stands for X Display Manager Control Protocol which is a
    standard protocol established by the X Consortium in 1989.

    From the end user's point of view, it maintains the connection
    between the XTerminal and its server in regardless of the state
    of the XTerminal, namely ON or OFF.

    When a XDMCP-compatible XTerminal is powered on, it would
    broadcast a request for establishing a connection to a remote 
    host.  A remote host has xdm running would reply and send a login
    prompt to the XTerminal.

    "xdm" Release 4 supports XDMCP.  Therefore, if XDMCP is implemented
    both on the XTerminal and xdm on the remote host, an entry for
    the XTerminal is not required in the Xservers file.

    However, if neither the XTerminal nor xdm on the remote host
    supports XDMCP, an entry for the XTerminal should be put into
    the Xservers file to force a direct connection between the
    remote host and the XTerminal. Please read the Xservers file 
    for more details.


4. What are the different methods for xdm or dtlogin to display onto
Xterminals?

See INFODOC ID: 11666

Xterminals generally supply three different ways of running XDMCP:

Direct          Establish an XDM connection to the specified host.  This
                requires that the name or IP address of the host running
                xdm be supplied.

Indirect        Send an indirect request for XDM connection to the specified
                host, which then forwards the request to another host.  This
                requires that the name or IP address of the host running
                xdm be supplied.  For a host running X11R4, an "Indirect" query
              	is treated the same as a "Direct" one.  For a host running
                X11R5, it can be configured to respond to an "Indirect" query
                by forwarding the request to another host or by offering a
                list of hosts for the user to choose from.

Broadcast       Broadcast the request for an XDM connection to all hosts on
                the subnet.  This does not require a hostname or address.
                For most Xterminals, the first host that responds is the one
                that is used.  For some smarter Xterminals, the X server
                gathers responses from all hosts on the local network and
                allows the user to choose one to start up on.

		If an Terminal doesn't connect to any host running xdm
                under a Broadcast query, but can connect to hosts via a
                Direct or Indirect query, then there is probably something
                wrong with the Broadcast address that you have configured
                the Xterminal to use.  See your vendor's documentation for
                information on how to set the Broadcast address.


5. What is the Xterminal software?

Sun provided three versions of Xterminal software, versions 1.0, 2.0 and 2.1.
Sun does not sell any Xterminal software anymore because the product has
been End of Lifed.
	
Xterminal Software is installed on the server that will be acting as the boot
host for a given Xterminal. This software allows the server to provide 
an ip address for the Xterminal as well as configuration files.
	
The reason why the Xterminal software is installed on a server instead of 
the Xterminal itself is because the Xterminal is a dumb terminal which only
contains enough memory for boot prom information. The Xterminal's Xserver
is then downloaded from the boot host via the Xterminal software so that 
client  applications can display onto the Xterminal.
	

6. What's the difference between the XTerminal boot host and the Xterminal
   session server?

The Sun Xterminal boot host and the Xterminal session server can be the same
system. The boot host needs to have the Xterminal software installed so it
can provide the Xterminal's rarp request with an ip address at boot time. 
   
The Xterminal Session Server is there to provide the X Windows Environment
for an Xterminal. This can be a separate system than the boot host depending
on how the Xterminal is configured by the Xterminal Software.

7. If an Xterminal is going to use xdm does it need the xterminal software?

If the Xterminal is a Sun Xterminal then the answer is YES. If the Xterminal
is actually a Sun workstation that's being used as an Xterminal then the
answer is NO. The reason is that a Sun workstation already knows it's IP
address and therefore just needs to get the display from the server.

8. How do you setup fonts for Sun Xterminals?

Under the Xterminal software there is a GUI application 
called xtmgr. xtmgr has a properties window which allows
you to set the path for the fonts the Xterminal should use.
   
9. Do Xterminals have an Xserver?

All Xterminals have an Xserver which is downloaded from the Xterminal
software on the boot host. The Xserver is a fully compliant X Window System X11

Revision 5 (X11R5) server. 


10. Do Xterminals work across subnets?

Broadcast queries are restricted to the local network or subnet. Unlike
Direct and Indirect queries, you cannot use a Broadcast query to access
a host through a gateway.

11. How do I capture error messages from Xterminals?

Go onto the boot host and bring up the xtmgr GUI. Select properties and
environment you'll see a syslog option. Once you find it click on Yes to
enable it and then you should start seeing error messages in /var/adm/messages.

12. Troubleshooting tips for Xterminals?

    1. Always find out the exact environment setup. 
       
          - What is the boot host? 
          - Is it the Xterminal server as well? 
          - What version of Xterminal software is running? 
          - How many Xterminals?
          - Are the Xterminal on the Same subnet? 
	  - What type of connection is being used? telnet or xdm?
          - Do either telnet or xdm connection work?
	  - What type of Xterminals?
	  - Patches??? showrev -p
          - Any errors under /var/adm/messages?
          - At what point is the Xterminal failing? Get Description of the
            state of the Xterminals.
     2. Enable syslog if it's not already enabled.
     3. What is the command used to boot the Xterminal?  
     4. You can run a snoop to see what the Xterminal and the servers are
doing.
         snoop -rarp

13. Why does quitting one session from one XTerminal cause all XTerminals
    to reset ?

    The most likely reason for the resource:

		DisplayManager*reset

    in the $OPENWINHOME/lib/xdm/xdm-config file is being set to:

		$OPENWINHOME/lib/xdm/Xreset

    If the entry does exist in the xdm-config file:

	DisplayManager*reset:           $OPENWINHOME/lib/xdm/Xreset

    it should be changed to:

	DisplayManager._0.reset:        $OPENWINHOME/lib/xdm/Xreset

    The xdm process should be restarted.


14. How to start CDE on Xterminals 

CDE works nicely with Sun's Xterminal line. The InstallGuide has a 
Using Xterminals section, around page 25 (depending on the doc's revision).  
You can find an online copy of this guide in the CDE Application Mgr's
Information Folder (on CDE system's installed with Developer's cluster).  
This guide is also in the CDE answerbook.

Thw abbreviated answer is, on the Xterminal's property setup, select:
      
        Use XDM
        XDM connection : indirect to <name of wkstn running CDE>
        Local Winodw Mgr : None

On the Xterminal's Fonts setup dialog:
 
        Add Font path of /usr/dt/config/xfonts/C (for C local)
        to a workstation exporting the installed CDE area.

        (Note that this font path is installed from the package SUWdtft,
        which is available in Solaris 2.4 and 2.5.X.  It is not available
        after Solaris 2.5.1.  For Solaris 2.6, you may be able to use the
        font path of /usr/openwin/lib/X11/fonts/F3bitmaps, although this
        has not been tested.)
 
Restart the Xterminal and CDE's chooser screen will appear.
Then double-click on the name of the workstation that you wish to log in to.


15.  CDE: The window manager periodically dies on X Terminals

CDE consistently dies on all Xterminals connected to a specific
server after running for a time period - usually in the
range of 10 to 15 minutes.   

In addition, these messages appear in ~/.dt/startlog:

...
 --- /usr/dt/bin/Xsession starting...
 fbconsole: open /dev/console: Permission denied
 --- Xsession started by dtlogin
...


and these messages appear in ~/.dt/errorlog:

...
Workspace Manager: I/O error on display:: ...

The Xterminal's server does not have a graphics monitor on it.  Rather,
it has serial console connected or no monitor at all.

SOLUTION SUMMARY:

The problem is that the server console doesn't have an associated
framebuffer.  CDE is attempting to start up the X Server on a server
that has no framebuffer, and failing.  When that happens the 
CDE processes die, bringing down all the CDE Xterminal connections
to the server.

To avoid this problem, modify Xservers as follows:

1. cp /usr/dt/config/Xservers /etc/dt/config
2. Comment out the following line in /etc/dt/config:

      :0   Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner

   to:

    # :0   Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner


16. How do I change the resolution of the Xterminal?

How do I change the resolution on an X-Terminal running 2.1,
for example from 75x75dpi to 90x90dpi.

Edit the sunxt_config file either in /tftpboot or in
the sub-directory /tfptboot/HOSTID_CFG and add the
following line:

   screen_resolution 90dpi

17. How do I get my Xterminals to pick up fonts from another system besides
    the boot host?

Problem: A customer has an Xterminal 1, NFS server(boot host), and a PC. 
The customer wants to have the fonts and rgb from the PC instead of the 
boot host.

Solution: 

The correct way to do this is to bring up xtmgr on the boot host,
then modify the Xterminal properties. Go under fonts and enter the PC hostname 
and the path to the fonts found on the PC. Do the same for the rgb, go to the
environment properties. Change the Color Server to the PC hostname, specify
the path name to the rgb file of the PC, then hit apply and add. 

NOTE: All these modifications should be done on the boot host.

   The NFS server should not be turned off at all if the xterminal will be
used.
   The Solution given above will not work if the boot host isn't up and
running.
   The Xterminal is dependent on the boot host during boot up.


18. Xterminals don't work (hang) with CDE 1.2 if NOT using NIS

Xterminals like hamlet, Xterminal1, NCD, and Tektronix don't come up
with CDE 1.2. if NOT running NIS.  After booting, the terminal hangs. 
Dtlogin does not show up. This happens at sites where no NIS is running 
as well as at sites where the NIS domainname equals the DNS domainname.
The assumption being made in CDE is that there is always NIS running and 
that the NIS domainname has an additional prefix over the dns domainname. 
This is certainly the case at most sites, but this is not guaranteed. 

The interesting lines are in /usr/dt/config/Xstartup:

      # Append Font Server to tail of path.  
      # Will server any "-dt-" fonts not found on the remote machine.
      # 
      if [ -x /usr/openwin/bin/fs ]; then
        $XDIR/xset fp+ tcp/`/usr/bin/hostname`.`/usr/bin/domainname |
        /usr/bin/cut -d. -f2-`:7100
      fi

and /usr/dt/bin/Xsession.

      # Append Font Server to tail of path.  
      # Will server any "-dt-" fonts not found on the remote machine.
      # 
      if [ -x /usr/openwin/bin/fs ]; then
        $XDIR/xset fp+ tcp/`/usr/bin/hostname`.`/usr/bin/domainname |
        /usr/bin/cut -d. -f2-`:7100
      fi

Comment out the mentioned lines.