A question about graphics subsystems under FreeBSD

[Pete Wright]

On 12/23/18 3:41 PM, Manish Jain wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a port mkdesktop which simplifies the task of FreeBSD desktop 
> configuration. I was looking to enhance the port in its capabilities 
> and it would help me if I could know the various pkg's and kld's 
> needed by the various chipsets.
>
> As per my (incomplete) knowledge, the following are usually needed:
>
> Chipset   | <Packages>                 | <Modules>
>
> AMD GPU   | drm-kmod:xf86-video-amdgpu |
> Radeon    | drm-kmod:xf86-video-ati    | radeonkms.ko**
> NVidia    | drm-kmod:nvidia-driver     | nvidia.ko:nvidia-modeset.ko
> Intel GPU | drm-kmod:xf86-video-intel  |
>
> (** : Radeon appears to need radeon.ko and radeonkms.ko under FreeBSD 
> 11.x, and only radeonkms.ko in 12.0)
>
> I doubt if the above table is entirely correct and complete.
> Could someone please fill me in on the missing tidbits so that I can 
> enhance my port (mkdesktop).
>

We've been trying to get the wiki in better shape in regards to AMD GPU 
and Intel i915 graphics.  Here are two tables which should be pretty up 
to date (although I suspect some of the newer CPU's need to be added):

https://wiki.freebsd.org/Graphics/AMD-GPU-Matrix
https://wiki.freebsd.org/Graphics/Intel-GPU-Matrix

Also the main wiki has been updated which will hopefully provide some 
insight as well:
https://wiki.freebsd.org/Graphics/

tl;dr version is if you have an AMD GPU or Intel i915 based system, 
installing the "drm-kmod" package should work for you as it will select 
the appropriate kmod for your platform.  Furthermore, there is no need 
to install the xf86-video drivers for these platforms as the modesetting 
driver which ships with Xorg is now the preferred Xorg driver upstream.

Cheers,
-pete

-- 
Pete Wright
pete at nomadlogic.org
@nomadlogicLA