Re: [PATCH] Video mode fixes in linux loader

[Robert Millan <rmh@aybabtu.com>]

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 02:02:46AM +0200, phcoder wrote:
> With proposed autodetections bootloader becomes overzealous. I think it  
> should be configirable but in a more modern way. I think gfxpayload with  
> the same syntax as gfxmode plus additional platform-specific keywords  
> like text80x25 and text80x50 should be fine.

Sounds nice.  Will you implement this?

> If to gfxpayload variable  
> set, then use current mode.

I think based on what Pavel said, and on what you say below, that using
current mode should be avoided in official GRUB, because of the need to
support a wide variety of build configurations.  If gfxpayload is unset I
would just reset it.

Someone who's also distributing builds of Linux and has intimate knowledge
about their setup, can also make similar decisions when it comes to setting
up GRUB build options.

> I object against a solution of just using current mode because of the  
> current state on EFI: code to retrieve framebuffer address isn't yet  
> used for gfxterm.

Can this be fixed?

> vga= option could be deleted altogether and replaced by warning if  
> someone passes it.

A warning is fine, but please keep the vga=.  It's useful to provide
backward compatibility, even if it's a deprecated interface.

(Though, since it's backward compatibility, I would only provide it on BIOS
platforms)

-- 
Robert Millan

  The DRM opt-in fallacy: "Your data belongs to us. We will decide when (and
  how) you may access your data; but nobody's threatening your freedom: we
  still allow you to remove your data and not access it at all."