1 2What is sisfb? 3============== 4 5sisfb is a framebuffer device driver for SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) 6graphics chips. Supported are: 7 8- SiS 300 series: SiS 300/305, 540, 630(S), 730(S) 9- SiS 315 series: SiS 315/H/PRO, 55x, (M)65x, 740, (M)661(F/M)X, (M)741(GX) 10- SiS 330 series: SiS 330 ("Xabre"), (M)760 11 12 13Why do I need a framebuffer driver? 14=================================== 15 16sisfb is eg. useful if you want a high-resolution text console. Besides that, 17sisfb is required to run DirectFB (which comes with an additional, dedicated 18driver for the 315 series). 19 20On the 300 series, sisfb on kernels older than 2.6.3 furthermore plays an 21important role in connection with DRM/DRI: Sisfb manages the memory heap 22used by DRM/DRI for 3D texture and other data. This memory management is 23required for using DRI/DRM. 24 25Kernels >= around 2.6.3 do not need sisfb any longer for DRI/DRM memory 26management. The SiS DRM driver has been updated and features a memory manager 27of its own (which will be used if sisfb is not compiled). So unless you want 28a graphical console, you don't need sisfb on kernels >=2.6.3. 29 30Sidenote: Since this seems to be a commonly made mistake: sisfb and vesafb 31cannot be active at the same time! Do only select one of them in your kernel 32configuration. 33 34 35How are parameters passed to sisfb? 36=================================== 37 38Well, it depends: If compiled statically into the kernel, use lilo's append 39statement to add the parameters to the kernel command line. Please see lilo's 40(or GRUB's) documentation for more information. If sisfb is a kernel module, 41parameters are given with the modprobe (or insmod) command. 42 43Example for sisfb as part of the static kernel: Add the following line to your 44lilo.conf: 45 46 append="video=sisfb:mode:1024x768x16,mem:12288,rate:75" 47 48Example for sisfb as a module: Start sisfb by typing 49 50 modprobe sisfb mode=1024x768x16 rate=75 mem=12288 51 52A common mistake is that folks use a wrong parameter format when using the 53driver compiled into the kernel. Please note: If compiled into the kernel, 54the parameter format is video=sisfb:mode:none or video=sisfb:mode:1024x768x16 55(or whatever mode you want to use, alternatively using any other format 56described above or the vesa keyword instead of mode). If compiled as a module, 57the parameter format reads mode=none or mode=1024x768x16 (or whatever mode you 58want to use). Using a "=" for a ":" (and vice versa) is a huge difference! 59Additionally: If you give more than one argument to the in-kernel sisfb, the 60arguments are separated with ",". For example: 61 62 video=sisfb:mode:1024x768x16,rate:75,mem:12288 63 64 65How do I use it? 66================ 67 68Preface statement: This file only covers very little of the driver's 69capabilities and features. Please refer to the author's and maintainer's 70website at http://www.winischhofer.net/linuxsisvga.shtml for more 71information. Additionally, "modinfo sisfb" gives an overview over all 72supported options including some explanation. 73 74The desired display mode can be specified using the keyword "mode" with 75a parameter in one of the following formats: 76 - XxYxDepth or 77 - XxY-Depth or 78 - XxY-Depth@Rate or 79 - XxY 80 - or simply use the VESA mode number in hexadecimal or decimal. 81 82For example: 1024x768x16, 1024x768-16@75, 1280x1024-16. If no depth is 83specified, it defaults to 8. If no rate is given, it defaults to 60Hz. Depth 32 84means 24bit color depth (but 32 bit framebuffer depth, which is not relevant 85to the user). 86 87Additionally, sisfb understands the keyword "vesa" followed by a VESA mode 88number in decimal or hexadecimal. For example: vesa=791 or vesa=0x117. Please 89use either "mode" or "vesa" but not both. 90 91Linux 2.4 only: If no mode is given, sisfb defaults to "no mode" (mode=none) if 92compiled as a module; if sisfb is statically compiled into the kernel, it 93defaults to 800x600x8 unless CRT2 type is LCD, in which case the LCD's native 94resolution is used. If you want to switch to a different mode, use the fbset 95shell command. 96 97Linux 2.6 only: If no mode is given, sisfb defaults to 800x600x8 unless CRT2 98type is LCD, in which case it defaults to the LCD's native resolution. If 99you want to switch to another mode, use the stty shell command. 100 101You should compile in both vgacon (to boot if you remove you SiS card from 102your system) and sisfb (for graphics mode). Under Linux 2.6, also "Framebuffer 103console support" (fbcon) is needed for a graphical console. 104 105You should *not* compile-in vesafb. And please do not use the "vga=" keyword 106in lilo's or grub's configuration file; mode selection is done using the 107"mode" or "vesa" keywords as a parameter. See above and below. 108 109 110X11 111=== 112 113If using XFree86 or X.org, it is recommended that you don't use the "fbdev" 114driver but the dedicated "sis" X driver. The "sis" X driver and sisfb are 115developed by the same person (Thomas Winischhofer) and cooperate well with 116each other. 117 118 119SVGALib 120======= 121 122SVGALib, if directly accessing the hardware, never restores the screen 123correctly, especially on laptops or if the output devices are LCD or TV. 124Therefore, use the chipset "FBDEV" in SVGALib configuration. This will make 125SVGALib use the framebuffer device for mode switches and restoration. 126 127 128Configuration 129============= 130 131(Some) accepted options: 132 133off - Disable sisfb. This option is only understood if sisfb is 134 in-kernel, not a module. 135mem:X - size of memory for the console, rest will be used for DRI/DRM. X 136 is in kilobytes. On 300 series, the default is 4096, 8192 or 137 16384 (each in kilobyte) depending on how much video ram the card 138 has. On 315/330 series, the default is the maximum available ram 139 (since DRI/DRM is not supported for these chipsets). 140noaccel - do not use 2D acceleration engine. (Default: use acceleration) 141noypan - disable y-panning and scroll by redrawing the entire screen. 142 This is much slower than y-panning. (Default: use y-panning) 143vesa:X - selects startup videomode. X is number from 0 to 0x1FF and 144 represents the VESA mode number (can be given in decimal or 145 hexadecimal form, the latter prefixed with "0x"). 146mode:X - selects startup videomode. Please see above for the format of 147 "X". 148 149Boolean options such as "noaccel" or "noypan" are to be given without a 150parameter if sisfb is in-kernel (for example "video=sisfb:noypan). If 151sisfb is a module, these are to be set to 1 (for example "modprobe sisfb 152noypan=1"). 153 154-- 155Thomas Winischhofer <thomas@winischhofer.net> 156May 27, 2004 157 158 159