From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 11 13:11:58 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B448A106566B; Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:11:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rink@rink.nu) Received: from mx1.rink.nu (gloom.rink.nu [213.34.49.2]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6F2CA8FC1F; Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:11:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rink@rink.nu) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mx1.rink.nu (Postfix) with ESMTP id CAC036D41A; Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:13:37 +0100 (CET) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at rink.nu Received: from mx1.rink.nu ([213.34.49.2]) by localhost (gloom.rink.nu [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id nBoiv1r8icU4; Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:13:31 +0100 (CET) Received: by mx1.rink.nu (Postfix, from userid 1000) id 723E56D439; Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:13:31 +0100 (CET) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:13:31 +0100 From: Rink Springer To: Oliver Fromme Message-ID: <20090211131331.GA78543@rink.nu> References: <4992B049.30903@FreeBSD.org> <200902111200.n1BC0wni006842@lurza.secnetix.de> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200902111200.n1BC0wni006842@lurza.secnetix.de> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) Cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org, freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org, Alex Dupre Subject: Re: CFT: Graphics support for /boot/loader X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:11:58 -0000 On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 01:00:58PM +0100, Oliver Fromme wrote: > It probably makes sense to let the boot loader set up > graphics mode (including VESA support), so it is already > active when the kernel comes up. Then the kernel will > only have to deal with the frame buffer, not with the BIOS. > That will work on both i386 and amd64 platforms. The only > drawback is that the mode cannot be changed by the kernel > once it is running, i.e. you have to stay in that mode > till reboot. FWIW, this is exactly what FreeBSD/xbox does; the boot loader is responsible for setting up the video mode, and all it does is remap the framebuffer to a more sensible location (the way to do this is just writing to a register which is the same for any Xbox, and most bootloaders set the framebuffer to 4MB, which is a bit much for 640x480x16M especially if your machine only has 64MB of memory :-) > That solution requires support by the loader and by > syscons. It is my plan to look into that, as soon as the > basic graphics support in the loader is finished. I think that is a good approach. Go for it! Regards, -- Rink P.W. Springer - http://rink.nu "Chance favours the prepared mind" - Penn