Re: VESA FBconsole driver?

[Helge Hafting <helgehaf@aitel.hist.no>]

Kendall Bennett wrote:

> The reason why it would nice is so that the VESA FBconsole driver (and in 
> fact all the FBconsole drivers that use the real mode BIOS to set an 
> initial display mode) can restore that mode correctly when an application 
> exists and restores the console. Right now it is up to the application 
> program to restore the console, as the kernel has absolutely no way to do 
> it. If that program has not way to restore it (old SVGALib code for 
> instance) or the application crashes, you are stuck with a black screen 
> if you are using a framebuffer console. If the kernel knew how to call 
> the BIOS to restore the mode, this problem could be completely eliminated 
> and services could be provided to properly restore the system state

The bios isn't the way to go. Unless the bios coders puts an _ordinary_ 
linux kernel module in their eprom.

If the kernel knew how to restore the video state itself - that'd be 
something.  Go complain to those who keeps such knowledge secret.
And no, they won't risk their company on providing such information.
Setting the modes is such a tiny little piece of what a graphichs
card do.  (Providing full information on how to program the
accelerator chips wouldn't kill them either...)

Helge Hafting