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SubjectRe: [linux-fbdev] Re: atyfb with 2.3.30 ond x86

On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, Egbert Eich wrote:

> > Personally I would rather avoid BIOS altogether...
> >
> For initializing it is still the safest!

I have seen many broken BIOS in my time. I wouldn't say its always the
safest. Also the BIOS might not set the cards at the best possible values.
Programming the cards registers is indepedent of the platform the card is
on. A good example of this is the Virge card. Their are versions that run
on the zorro bus as well as the PCI bus. Now you can ask the PCI bus what
specific virge card you have. The zorro bus can most likely also do the
same thing. Don't know. Now the Virge card has a special register that can
tell you what virge card model you have. I would this method since I don't
have to do a #ifdef CONFIG_PCI and #ifdef CONFIG_ZORRO. This make the
driver more portable.

> I can only repeat myself: Graphic chipsets have so many
> parameters for memory size, memory layout, memory timings
> on notebooks: voltages, display properties bus types and
> whatever you can think of.
> Please tell me how you want to probe all that!!

The docs from the video card company should tell you how.

> Do you expect the user to hack all these parameters into
> a configuration file? When the user doesn't even know
> what chipset is on his board? - if he has done something
> wrong he might fry his card or his LCD (notebooks).

No. Into the fbdev driver. Fbdev abstracts mode setting for userland so
userland doesn't have to do this. Its the drivers job to make sure it sets
the mode right. Yes progarmming a fbdev driver can fry a video card. You
just have to be cardful and accept the risk. I have some very early code
in fbmon.c to handle monitors so you can't fry them. I haven't had time
yet to work on it but thats the goal.


-----==
----== _
---== (_)__ __ ____ __ James Simmons
--== / / _ \/ // /\ \/ / jsimmons@edgeglobal.com
-=====/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\ fbdev/gfx developer
The choice of a GNU generation



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