Graphics console with VESAFB doesn't kick in in kernel 4.4.x

[Boszormenyi Zoltan <zboszor@pr.hu>]

Hi,

I have tried kernel 4.4.0, 4.4.3 and 4.4.4 on an old Geode LX based
POS computer where the usual way to use graphics is VESAFB and
optionally Xorg with the VESA driver.

With vga=0x314 with or without video=vesafb:mtrr:3 the graphics mode is set but
VESAFB doesn't start. There is no /dev/fb0 device after boot, although
everything else works.

# dmesg | egrep -i '(vesa|onsol)'
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/bzImage 
root=UUID=b2cccbac-2717-4fcb-ae65-15189e087778 ro LANG=en.US.UTF-8 vga=0x314 
video=vesafb:mtrr:3
[    0.000000] Console: colour dummy device 80x25
[    0.000000] console [tty0] enabled
[    1.847411] systemd[1]: Starting Dispatch Password Requests to Console Directory Watch.
[    1.847838] systemd[1]: Started Dispatch Password Requests to Console Directory Watch.
[    2.416981] systemd[1]: Starting Setup Virtual Console...
[    2.698214] systemd[1]: Started Setup Virtual Console.

The relevant configuration pieces are set, VESAFB is built into the kernel:

CONFIG_FB_BOOT_VESA_SUPPORT=y
CONFIG_FB_VESA=y
CONFIG_HW_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_DETECT_PRIMARY=y
CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_ROTATION=y
CONFIG_VT=y
CONFIG_VT_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_VT_CONSOLE_SLEEP=y
CONFIG_VT_HW_CONSOLE_BINDING=y

Help, please and cc: me in the answer, I am not subscribed to the list.

Thanks in advance,
Zoltán Böszörményi