nanogui: /dev/fb0 questions
Subject:
/dev/fb0 questions
From:
####@####.####
Date:
28 Aug 2000 19:49:30 -0000
Message-Id: <200008281950.OAA10540@isis.visi.com>
Hello,
I seem to be "missing" some part of the big picture for
MicroWindows, and it all centers around /dev/fb0. As I understand it,
this windowing system "works" with a frame buffer, which is a Linux
character device, following the VESA 2.0 specification of a frame
buffer. This frame buffer is configurable in terms of bitplane
dimensions and color depth. The code of the driver itself is stored in
libmwdrivers.a, and the /dev/fb0 "character file" is created with the
mknod command, if not already available.
When executing nano-X from the microwin/src/bin directory, a rather
significant message is produced:
Error opening /dev/fb0: No such device. Check kernel config
Cannot initialise screen
For further details on my system:
it has an Intel Pentium Processor, over 100Mb of RAM, the ATI 3D Rage
II+ 215GTB Mach 64 video card, which uses the PCI bus, and some benign
monitor from Hyundai that apparently handles a fair variety of display
modes. Running RedHat distribution, a fresh build of Linux 2.2.12.
various frame buffer character special files listed:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 /dev/fb -> fb0
crw-r--r-- 1 root root 29, 0 /dev/fb0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 /dev/fb0current -> /dev/fb0
crw-r--r-- 1 root root 29, 32 /dev/fb1
crw-r--r-- 1 root root 29, 64 /dev/fb2
crw-r--r-- 1 root root 29, 96 /dev/fb3
...(on up to fb7)
A few thoughts occur to me as to why I am faced with the message
shown above. First, This powerful, late-model graphics card does not
work with the offered frame buffer architecture. That seems unlikely,
and perhaps even an errant hypothesis. Second, that I need to somehow
register or interface /dev/fb0 with the /usr/lib/libmwdrivers.a library,
which is where I am assuming the frame buffer drivers are actually
implemented. Third, that there is some step missed from the
installation process, which I only understand to be the "make install"
as root from the microwin/src directory, something implied, beyond the
makefile rules.
Please help my fire up the ol' frame buffer here. I'm so eager to
contribute, I just need to get my bearings.
-Joe Solinsky
####@####.####
Plymouth, MN
