Arch Linux

kleister

Member

Registered: 2009-06-20

Posts: 4

using the framebuffer

Hey!
I wondered how i could change the framebuffer "driver"? because i'd prefer to move some of my daily tasks to the console, mostly for learning reasons. unfortunately i didn't find anything that really explains to me what the framebuffer exactly is, how it works, how i can activate it (if i even need to) - i can't watch movies via mplayer on the console for example and i recieve an error message:

Can't open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
Error opening/initializing the selected video_out (-vo) device.

i'm not so much into loading/unloading modules in my kernel yet, and i frankly know very few about the framebuffer itself. so, i have 2 questions:

- can someone find me a good website/manual/tutorial or so where i could find further information? google seems not to work so well on this subject, wikipedia is rather about the hardware and historical part it seems... otherwise i only find descriptions that are specific for ubuntu.

- does someone have a solution for my specific /dev/fb0 problem? i use an eee pc 701 (german layout) with an intel chipset inside. i already managed to load the intelfb and vesafb modules so that they appear in my lsmod list but they are not being used.

thank you in advance! greets kleister 

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when i was a kid i used to pray every night for a new bicycle. then i realised god doesn't work that way, so i stole one and prayed for forgiveness.

HashBox

Member

Registered: 2009-01-22

Posts: 271

Re: using the framebuffer

The framebuffer, as I understand it, is more or less a way for the kernel and applications to directly address video memory. It seems with the eeepc you might need to set the framebuffer resolution from the boot prompt, you can do that in grub by pressing "e" on the entry you usually boot, and then "e" again on the kernel line, and appending "vga=ask" to the end of the kernel parameters. This should let you choose a framebuffer resolution at boot time, in which case /dev/fb0 should be created.

Here's a page that might help, http://thewayeye.net/2008/september/1/s … eee-pc-901
Edit: The main part I was referring to in that page is the 'vga=789' part.

Good luck

Last edited by HashBox (2009-06-21 02:31:20)

kleister

Member

Registered: 2009-06-20

Posts: 4

Re: using the framebuffer

Hey!
Thanks, that way i got a movie working in my framebuffer Still have problems getting the right resolution... it's just up to 640x480, my screen has, with the eee pc, up to 1440x900 pixels. Anyone got an idea for that?

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when i was a kid i used to pray every night for a new bicycle. then i realised god doesn't work that way, so i stole one and prayed for forgiveness.

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: using the framebuffer

This is for setting up uvesafb:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Uvesafb

If your graphic adapter isn't showing enough modes, do what's suggested with 915resolution. Just make sure that you use the 915resolution-static package from AUR instead of the other:

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=15486

If your graphics card happens to be the Intel Poulsbo (500 GMA), post back and I'll post a working patch. I asked the maintainer of 915resolution-static to include the patch over e-mail, but I haven't heard any word back.

Intrepid

Member

Registered: 2008-06-11

Posts: 254

Re: using the framebuffer

whoah really eee pc has that many pixels?

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Intrepid (adj.): Resolutely courageous; fearless.

bwh1969

Member

Registered: 2008-01-05

Posts: 151

Re: using the framebuffer

The 1000 series I think does.

kleister

Member

Registered: 2009-06-20

Posts: 4

Re: using the framebuffer

eee pc has up to 1600x1050... but you have to overclock the cpu, otherwise it's up to 1440x900 for the VGA, the eee pc screen only has 800x480 pixels. i'll just try out that other thing

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when i was a kid i used to pray every night for a new bicycle. then i realised god doesn't work that way, so i stole one and prayed for forgiveness.

alte

Member

Registered: 2009-06-23

Posts: 2

Re: using the framebuffer

If your graphics card happens to be the Intel Poulsbo (500 GMA), post back and I'll post a working patch. I asked the maintainer of 915resolution-static to include the patch over e-mail, but I haven't heard any word back.

It would be great if you could post a patch, as GMA500 is my case

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: using the framebuffer

If your graphics card happens to be the Intel Poulsbo (500 GMA), post back and I'll post a working patch. I asked the maintainer of 915resolution-static to include the patch over e-mail, but I haven't heard any word back.

It would be great if you could post a patch, as GMA500 is my case

915resolution-static in AUR now supports the GMA500.

alte

Member

Registered: 2009-06-23

Posts: 2

Re: using the framebuffer

Thanks, skottish! You've made my Eking I1 useable under X