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From: Thomas Zimmermann <tzimmermann@suse.de>
To: javierm@redhat.com, julianbraha@gmail.com, sima@ffwll.ch,
	airlied@gmail.com
Cc: dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org, linux-fbdev@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, sashiko-reviews@lists.linux.dev,
	Thomas Zimmermann <tzimmermann@suse.de>
Subject: [PATCH v2] firmware: sysfb: Mark CONFIG_SYSFB_SIMPLEFB as deprecated
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:57:04 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260625065724.15794-1-tzimmermann@suse.de> (raw)

Mark CONFIG_SYSFB_SIMPLEFB as deprecated. Enabling it allows to
run simpledrm and simplefb on EFI/VESA framebuffers. Doing this
is discouraged in favor of using efidrm and vesadrm.

v2:
- resolve conflicting help texts (Sashiko)

Signed-off-by: Thomas Zimmermann <tzimmermann@suse.de>
Reviewed-by: Javier Martinez Canillas <javierm@redhat.com>
---
 drivers/firmware/Kconfig      | 32 ++++++++++----------------------
 drivers/gpu/drm/sysfb/Kconfig |  7 ++-----
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/firmware/Kconfig b/drivers/firmware/Kconfig
index bbd2155d8483..637e3bb5549e 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/firmware/Kconfig
@@ -184,32 +184,20 @@ config SYSFB
 	select SCREEN_INFO
 
 config SYSFB_SIMPLEFB
-	bool "Mark VGA/VBE/EFI FB as generic system framebuffer"
+	bool "Mark VGA/VBE/EFI FB as generic system framebuffer (deprecated)"
 	depends on X86 || EFI
 	select SYSFB
 	help
-	  Firmwares often provide initial graphics framebuffers so the BIOS,
+	  Firmware often provides initial graphics framebuffers so the BIOS,
 	  bootloader or kernel can show basic video-output during boot for
-	  user-guidance and debugging. Historically, x86 used the VESA BIOS
-	  Extensions and EFI-framebuffers for this, which are mostly limited
-	  to x86 BIOS or EFI systems.
-	  This option, if enabled, marks VGA/VBE/EFI framebuffers as generic
-	  framebuffers so the new generic system-framebuffer drivers can be
-	  used instead. If the framebuffer is not compatible with the generic
-	  modes, it is advertised as fallback platform framebuffer so legacy
-	  drivers like efifb, vesafb and uvesafb can pick it up.
-	  If this option is not selected, all system framebuffers are always
-	  marked as fallback platform framebuffers as usual.
-
-	  Note: Legacy fbdev drivers, including vesafb, efifb, uvesafb, will
-	  not be able to pick up generic system framebuffers if this option
-	  is selected. You are highly encouraged to enable simplefb as
-	  replacement if you select this option. simplefb can correctly deal
-	  with generic system framebuffers. But you should still keep vesafb
-	  and others enabled as fallback if a system framebuffer is
-	  incompatible with simplefb.
-
-	  If unsure, say Y.
+	  user-guidance and debugging.
+
+	  This option, if enabled, marks VBE/EFI framebuffers as system
+	  framebuffers so the generic simpledrm driver can be used.
+
+	  This option is deprecated and will be removed in the near future. If
+	  unsure, say N and select efidrm, vesadrm instead. The dedicated DRM
+	  drivers provide the same functionality plus additional features.
 
 config TH1520_AON_PROTOCOL
 	tristate "Always-On firmware protocol"
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/sysfb/Kconfig b/drivers/gpu/drm/sysfb/Kconfig
index 2559ead6cf1f..f7e48178885e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/sysfb/Kconfig
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/sysfb/Kconfig
@@ -67,11 +67,8 @@ config DRM_SIMPLEDRM
 
 	  This driver assumes that the display hardware has been initialized
 	  by the firmware or bootloader before the kernel boots. Scanout
-	  buffer, size, and display format must be provided via device tree,
-	  UEFI, VESA, etc.
-
-	  On x86 BIOS or UEFI systems, you should also select SYSFB_SIMPLEFB
-	  to use UEFI and VESA framebuffers.
+	  buffer, size, and display format must be provided via device tree's
+	  simple-framebuffer node.
 
 config DRM_VESADRM
 	tristate "VESA framebuffer driver"
-- 
2.54.0


                 reply	other threads:[~2026-06-25  6:57 UTC|newest]

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