> We're looking at various techniques for doing console-level graphics under
> Linux. So far, there seem to be few solutions: X, GGI, SVGAlib, or fbcon.
>
> X is unspeakable for what we want. GGI and SVGAlib are both pretty icky, which
> leaves fbcon.
GGI can work ontop of fbcon. Unaccelerated tho :-(
> Unfortunately, one of the things we're looking for is hardware acceleration.
> I've looked at the fbcon drivers; a lot of them do support acceleration, in
> particular blits, but only internally (i.e. used by the text consoles). There
> doesn't appear to be any exported API.
Correct. What you can do is mmap the MMIO region and program the hardware
yourself. Just be careful.
> So, finally, my questions: *is* there an acceleration API for fbcon? If yes,
> where, and if not, who do I talk to about it? Is there any documentation on
> the fbcon API (and no, I don't mean the source files)? How would I go about
> writing a driver for some weird and wonderful new graphics card?
No their is no accel API for fbcon. Fbcon really is just for mode setting.
As for docs take a look at http://www.linux-fbdev.org. Their are docs on
how to write a fbdev driver.
> I can't help noticing that the fbcon drivers haven't changed much recently. I
> hope they're still considered the Right Way to go...
Some internal changes did happen for 2.3.X but far bigger changes are in
store for 2.5.X.
Q: Why did they deprecate a.out support in linux?
A: Because a nasty coff is bad for your elf.
James Simmons [jsimmons@linux-fbdev.org] ____/|
fbdev/console/gfx developer \ o.O|
http://www.linux-fbdev.org =(_)=
http://linuxgfx.sourceforge.net U
http://linuxconsole.sourceforge.net
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