CFT: Graphics support for /boot/loader

[Oliver Fromme]

Alex Dupre wrote:
 > Oliver Fromme ha scritto:
 > > The problem is related to the fact that a 64bit kernel
 > > cannot use VESA BIOS functions.  You should be able to
 > > use standard VGA modes though, which don't require VESA
 > > support.
 > 
 > Actually I cannot see any splash screen on amd64, at least on the 
 > machines I tried (most with ATI ES1000 cards), with a 320x200x8 bitmap. 
 > No problems with i386 (on the same machines).

Yeah, my fingers were faster than my brain.  The current
syscons code cannot switch modes (no matter if VESA or
standard VGA) if there is no BIOS support.

It probably makes sense to let the boot loader set up
graphics mode (including VESA support), so it is already
active when the kernel comes up.  Then the kernel will
only have to deal with the frame buffer, not with the BIOS.
That will work on both i386 and amd64 platforms.  The only
drawback is that the mode cannot be changed by the kernel
once it is running, i.e. you have to stay in that mode
till reboot.

That solution requires support by the loader and by
syscons.  It is my plan to look into that, as soon as the
basic graphics support in the loader is finished.

Best regards
   Oliver

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