Using Links with a framebuffer

[curmudgeon]

I hope framebuffer questions go in this forum. :)

I don't know what I need to do to get this to work,
and I have a lot of questions, many probably basic.

I have framebuffer support compiled in the kernel.

I have no video or vga statement in grub.conf (at
least yet).

When I boot, I get (I think) 63 text lines (not a
problem - I really don't want a graphical boot).

I have /dev/fb0 (no other framebuffer devices).

I have links installed, and it works graphically inside
of X.

I tried "links -g" at a console, and the machine
rebooted. :(

Questions:

How do I make it work?

Can I run it from any terminal (not just the first
one)?

Can I run it with X running (I wouldn't want to
do this all the time, but I would like to know just
for my curiosity :) )?

I also compiled links with the svga flag. What
does that do (as opposed to the framebuffer)?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Sadako]

What use flags did you use to emerge links?
Please post the output of "emerge -v DirectFB links"
_________________
"You have to invite me in"

[Sadako]

[curmudgeon]

[Sadako]

Use flags look fine, similar to what I have.

Probably a kernel config issue, I think.
Coould you post the output of "grep -A 70 -i "Graphics support" /usr/src/linux/.config"?

Also, what do you have in /etc/fb.modes?
_________________
"You have to invite me in"

[curmudgeon]

[Sadako]

[curmudgeon]

I definitely went backwards here. :(

I recompiled the kernel with the
vesa-tng driver, but now I don't get
a framebuffer at all (no /dev/fb0).

Tried grub with both nothing, and
with the following:

[Sadako]

[curmudgeon]

[Sadako]

The only thing I can think of is that you're not specifying a bit depth.
Change "1280x1024@60" to either "1280x1024-32@60" or "1280x1024-16@60".
To be honest, though, I doubt this will fix the problem you're having.

Other things you should try are lowering the resolution to 1024x768 or 800x600, and maybe leave the refresh rate declaration out altogether.
_________________
"You have to invite me in"

[curmudgeon]

Well, I have made some progress here. :)

I couldn't get ANYTHING to work at 1280x1024
with vesa-tng (the Radeon framebuffer did
work at that resolution).

However, when I cut the resolution down to
1024x768 (still not using any video or vga
statements in the grub.conf file), I did get
a VISIBLE framebuffer.

Links did start fine (although I did see a
mouse pointer in the middle of the screen
that I couldn't move - even with gpm running).
Everything looked way too big (and required
a lot of scrolling at 1024x768), and I would
not consider it usable for everyday use (but
in an emergency - like X not starting as an
example, it will do).

I suppose I proved that it worked. If you
have any other ideas (the mouse pointer,
the vesa-tng framebuffer, the Radeon
framebuffer), let me know.

If I knew what I were doing, I could probably
file a boatload of bug reports, but I guess I
will have to leave those to others with a
little more knowledge about the way this
all works.

Thank you again for your help.

[Sadako]

IIRC, XDirectFB uses the first viable resolution it finds within /etc/fb.modes.

Here is are two simple commands which should fix this for you;

[curmudgeon]

I lost something here.

The fbset command just gives me this:

[Sadako]

[curmudgeon]

I had the radeon driver working at 1280 x 1024
(I didn't think about using fbset, so I don't know
about the bit depth or refresh rate).

BUT, when I typed "links -g" the machine just
spontaneously rebooted (not a good thing).

So far, I can only get vesa-tng working at
1024 x 768 (not good enough for everyday
use of links via the framebuffer). Should I
try to get 1280 x 1024 via fbset (so far, I
have changed the parameter in .config and
recompiled the kernel (a slower process,
mostly because of the reboot)?

[TelMarien]

If you had the /dev/fb device(s), and directfb, svga USE flags enabled, the only thing you have to do is make sure your in the video group.