Re: [Linux-fbdev-devel] bugs in G450 framebuffer console un

[Petr V. <VAN...@vc...>]

On  9 Jan 02 at 23:20, Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom wrote:
> once a long time ago, Petr Vandrovec was kind enough to write: 
> test #1
> settings:
> PCI (ATI Xpert 98  - Mach64 chip) primary display (as set in the BIOS).
> no video= options
> result:
> nothing readable on any of the 3 heads.
> ATI - blank; tho there were some white pixels scrolling by on the left side
> of the screen at boot time.
> Matrox Head #1 - generally bluish pattern of 'snow' (in regular linear
> patterns).
> Matrox Head #2 - purplish pattern of 'wavy lines'

It is expected if your kernel does not know DAC used on ATI (or your
flavor of ATI at all). You must use con2fb (which accepts /dev/* names)
or con2fbmap (which accepts only number, as Geert already pointed out).
 
> test #2
> settings:
> PCI primary
> passed video=matrox:vesa:0x11A
> result:
> framebuffer console appeared on Matrox Head #1
> ATI - completely blank, tho still getting some sort of signal.
> Matrox Head #1 - got fb console
> Matrox Head #2 - same wavy purple pattern as in test #1

It is also expected. Secondary head displays garbage until you'll paint
something to it. 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/fb2 bs=1M' should clear it,
and 'yes > /dev/fb2' should give you pink (or what's that color) screen #2.
 
> test #3
> settings:
> AGP primary
> no video= options
> result:
> no working console. :(

Fix your ATI...
 
> how much does the information about the unreadable framebuffer colors &
> patterns actually help? can one gain more information knowing that something
> showed 'black with white pinstripes' rather than 'horizontal purple
> wavy-line patterns'?

Everything works as expected. Your atyfb does not understand your ATI,
and kernel uses only first framebuffer by default. You can try
'video=map:012012012012', and then your tty1,4,7 should map to first
framebuffer, tty2,5,8 to second, and tty3,6,9 to third, so you should
see something else than garbage on secondary outputs.
                                            Petr Vandrovec
                                            van...@vc...