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Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 11:14:53 +0100 (MET)
From: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@linux-m68k.org>
To: Kendall Bennett <KendallB@scitechsoft.com>
cc: Linux Kernel Development <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
       Petr Vandrovec <vandrove@vc.cvut.cz>
Subject: Re: VESA FBconsole driver?
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On Thu, 13 Mar 2003, Kendall Bennett wrote:
> Petr Vandrovec <vandrove@vc.cvut.cz> wrote:
> > Why you need it? To run some parts of VGA BIOS? Why you cannot run
> > them from userspace task? I think that it is much easier,
> > especially now when initramfs is here. 
> 
> 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 when 
> console graphics programs crash (or the X server for that matter if it 
> crashes and does not properly clean up).

Assumed the BIOS can recover from whatever the application has done to the
graphics chipset...

Gr{oetje,eeting}s,

						Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- geert@linux-m68k.org

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But
when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
							    -- Linus Torvalds

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