Re: [PATCH v2 5/7] Documentation: fb: sm712fb: add information mainly about 2D.

From: Sudip Mukherjee
Date: Sun Mar 31 2019 - 14:54:35 EST


On Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 01:17:57PM +0800, Yifeng Li wrote:
> This commits add information about 32-bit color, 2D acceleration,
> as well as adding additional, general information about the hardware
> and many existing problems of the sm712fb driver.
>
> Signed-off-by: Yifeng Li <tomli@xxxxxxxx>
> ---
> Documentation/fb/sm712fb.txt | 123 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
> 1 file changed, 110 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/fb/sm712fb.txt b/Documentation/fb/sm712fb.txt
> index c388442edf51..906b48aa40e4 100644
> --- a/Documentation/fb/sm712fb.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/fb/sm712fb.txt
> @@ -1,31 +1,128 @@
> What is sm712fb?
> =================
>
> -This is a graphics framebuffer driver for Silicon Motion SM712 based processors.
> +"sm712fb" is a graphics framebuffer driver for Silicon Motion SM710 (LynxEM),
> +SM712 (LynxEM+), and SM720 (Lynx3DM, Lynx3DM+, aka. LynxEM4+) series of
> +video controllers. This series of video controller is a legacy from ~1998,
> +and was used on many classic, "prehistoric" laptops from 1998-2004, such as
> +IBM Thinkpad S30 and 240X. It was also used on some servers, industrial
> +computers, x86 and non-x86 embedded devices where only basic graphics was
> +needed.

I think this is wrong. Loongson 3A Notebook was released around 2011-2012
and had SM712.

> +
> +Notably, Lemote YeeLoong 8089, a MIPS laptop based on the Chinese Loongson

<snip>

> + * More VGA modes.
> * dual-head support
> + * hardware cursor support
> +
> +The first feature is planned to be implemented soon, but the maintainer
> +does not receive any monetary or hardware support from any company or OEMs,
> +and he has to purchase a test platform personally. The 1998's hardware
> +still costs 200 USD+, so don't expected an ETA. If you have a Big-Endian
> +platform and willing to help testing, please contact the maintainer, thanks!

I am not sure why will you want to mention about monetary or hardware
support. Maintainers are supposed to work voluntarily.

> +
> +Other VGA modes, dual-head, or hardware cursor support should be possible to
> +implement, but parts of the code must be rewritten, and there's little demand
> +for them on this legacy (retro?) platform, so there's no plan to implement them.
> +If you have a genuine need for them, please contact the maintainers.

If there is any need for new features then I think the plan should be to
make a drm driver.

> +
> +Maintainers
> +================
> +
> +This driver is maintained by
> +
> + * Tom Li <tomli@xxxxxxxx>

??
I didn't know this. MAINTAINERS file doesnot say so.

> + * Sudip Mukherjee <sudipm.mukherjee@xxxxxxxxx>
> + * Teddy Wang <teddy.wang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> +
> +Tom Li was the last contributor of this driver who implemented 2D acceleration,
> +and is the main author of this documentation, please send any bug reports or
> +requests to Tom, but don't forget to CC other maintainers as well to make everyone
> +be informed.

There is a MAINTAINERS file to list the maintainers. There is no need to
add that in documentation.

--
Regards
Sudip