Re: [gentoo-user] SVGA mode & the console

[Paul Hartman]

On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 11:55 AM,  <meino.cramer@×××.de> wrote:
> Paul Hartman <paul.hartman+gentoo@×××××.com> [11-01-03 17:27]:
>> On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 5:28 AM,  <meino.cramer@×××.de> wrote:
>> > Final question after all there words: How can I get such a high
>> > resolution with this hardware and the nvidia-drivers???
>>
>> http://dev.gentoo.org/~spock/projects/uvesafb/
>>
>> Works for me on ~amd64 gentoo with nvidia-drivers :)
>>
>
> Hi,
>
> that sounds really promising! :)
>
> I tried to compile the stuff...but...
>
> When starting to emerge v86d (was it that name...cant remember
> exactly) also linux-2.6.26 starts to download and klibc.*
>
> I checked, for what klibc is good for and in this case it is
> used for calling the userland tool via from initram, which I
> do not plan...
>
> Ok, I thought, than "low level".
>
> I compiled v86d by hand using "./configure --default" for the
> default configuration.
>
> But this time it fails to compile with:
>
>   make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/mccramer/data/downloads/v86d-0.1.9/libs/x86emu'
>   cc -march=native -O2 -pipe -msse3 -I/lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include -Ilibs/x86emu -c -o v86_x86emu.o v86_x86emu.c
>   In file included from /usr/include/asm/types.h:4,
>                    from /lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include/linux/types.h:4,
>                    from /lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include/linux/connector.h:25,
>                    from v86.h:7,
>                    from v86_x86emu.c:4:
>   /lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include/asm-generic/int-ll64.h:11:29: error: asm/bitsperlong.h: No such file or directory
>   In file included from /lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include/linux/connector.h:25,
>                    from v86.h:7,
>                    from v86_x86emu.c:4:
>   /lib/modules/2.6.36.2/source/include/linux/types.h:13:2: warning: #warning "Attempt to use kernel headers from user space, see http://kernelnewbies.org/KernelHeaders"
>   make: *** [v86_x86emu.o] Error 1
>
>
> I dont know, what the problem is...I am using linux-2.6.36.2 vanilla
> and compile this kernel with uvesafb support in beforehand.
> Nonetheless there seems something to be missed in the kernel
> sources...
>
> My goal is to have a better resolution on the console as this
> 8bit homecomputer like crap. It doesnot matter that much, whether
> switching to the higher resolution happens when the first boot scripts
> are read from /etc ...
>
> May I ask you for a little more informations how to proceed here?
> How did you achieve a working uvesafb? Do you use the gentoo sources
> or the vanilla kernel?

Hi,

I use vanilla-sources and do not use initrd. Don't be confused about
initramfs, it does not require you to use initrd. Basically just
follow the directions on that webpage and it should work. Here I'll
explain in different words in case it helps. :)

1. configure your kernel like it says on that page (CONFIG_CONNECTOR=y
and CONFIG_FB_UVESA=y)
2. make the kernel
3. emerge klibc (if it's already installed, emerge it again so it
builds against this newly-configured kernel)
4. emerge v86d
5. configure your kernel again, enable "Initial RAM filesystem and RAM
disk (initramfs/initrd) support"
6. In "Initramfs source file(s)" type /usr/share/v86d/initramfs
7. Make and install the new kernel :)
8. Reboot and type "cat /sys/class/graphics/fb0/modes" to see a list
of compatible modes on your card.
9. Edit your kernel commandline in grub configuration file to add the
uvesafb command. For example mine is
video=uvesafb:1280x720p-59,mtrr:2,ywrap (you can replace 1280x720p-59
with the mode that your card supports from the previous step)
9. Reboot again and hopefully enjoy new high-resolution framebuffer :)

Another way to make it look better is to use different console fonts.
I'm using ter-112n from package media-fonts/terminus-font. You can set
this in /etc/conf.d/consolefont (be sure consolefont is set as a boot
service from rc-update).

If you have a message in dmesg about mtrr type mismatch, you may need
to change from mtrr:2 to another number. Please read the uvesafb
documentation from linux kernel for more info:
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/uvesafb.txt

Good luck :) If you have any problems let me know and I can send you
my kernel .config in case you want to compare settings.