[PATCH] fbdev: Add an fbdev compositor backend using pixman and evdev

[Nerdopolis]

David Herrmann <dh.herrmann at ...> writes:

> I don't think this is a good idea. We have a vesafb in the kernel so
> please use this instead of accessing graphic-cards via VESA from
> user-space.
> I don't see any reason why we should copy vesafb-code into weston.
> 
> vesafb provides a fbdev device which then can be used by weston.
> 

I see.
The only concern is that can the vesafb fbdev device resolution be changed in
runtime if its too small?
Otherwise users are going to have to manually set the framebuffer size by
correcting the correct vga= argument with grub if they get the wrong size.


> In my opinion this is a misconfigured system. udev is used on most
> linux systems to set up nodes in /dev. If udev is not used or if it
> fails, you should fix your system not weston.
> I cannot see any reason why we should work around udev/system bugs in
> weston. But that does not mean you cannot convince us ;)
> 
> Regards
> David


I think that would mean there is an issue with Ubuntu, (I would assume it's
Casper as it runs and configures the live environment during runtime). 
And that this would need to be fixed in order for fbdev-backended Weston to
work on VirtualBox.

I tested it on a default Kubuntu 12.10 Live ISO, and when it booted, 
there was no /dev/fb0 as well.

As this is an issue within a distribution, either a workaround will have to be
provided, or we'll have to wait for the distribution to fix this issue.

I don't know enough about what could be causing the issue that the same ISO
when booted as a Live CD does not have /dev/fb0, but when its installed 
it has /dev/fb0.