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 77 - XxYxDepth or 78 - XxY-Depth or 79 - XxY-Depth@Rate or 80 - XxY 81 - or simply use the VESA mode number in hexadecimal or decimal. 82 83For example: 1024x768x16, 1024x768-16@75, 1280x1024-16. If no depth is 84specified, it defaults to 8. If no rate is given, it defaults to 60Hz. Depth 32 85means 24bit color depth (but 32 bit framebuffer depth, which is not relevant 86to the user). 87 88Additionally, sisfb understands the keyword "vesa" followed by a VESA mode 89number in decimal or hexadecimal. For example: vesa=791 or vesa=0x117. Please 90use either "mode" or "vesa" but not both. 91 92Linux 2.4 only: If no mode is given, sisfb defaults to "no mode" (mode=none) if 93compiled as a module; if sisfb is statically compiled into the kernel, it 94defaults to 800x600x8 unless CRT2 type is LCD, in which case the LCD's native 95resolution is used. If you want to switch to a different mode, use the fbset 96shell command. 97 98Linux 2.6 only: If no mode is given, sisfb defaults to 800x600x8 unless CRT2 99type is LCD, in which case it defaults to the LCD's native resolution. If 100you want to switch to another mode, use the stty shell command. 101 102You should compile in both vgacon (to boot if you remove you SiS card from 103your system) and sisfb (for graphics mode). Under Linux 2.6, also "Framebuffer 104console support" (fbcon) is needed for a graphical console. 105 106You should *not* compile-in vesafb. And please do not use the "vga=" keyword 107in lilo's or grub's configuration file; mode selection is done using the 108"mode" or "vesa" keywords as a parameter. See above and below. 109 110 111X11 112=== 113 114If using XFree86 or X.org, it is recommended that you don't use the "fbdev" 115driver but the dedicated "sis" X driver. The "sis" X driver and sisfb are 116developed by the same person (Thomas Winischhofer) and cooperate well with 117each other. 118 119 120SVGALib 121======= 122 123SVGALib, if directly accessing the hardware, never restores the screen 124correctly, especially on laptops or if the output devices are LCD or TV. 125Therefore, use the chipset "FBDEV" in SVGALib configuration. This will make 126SVGALib use the framebuffer device for mode switches and restoration. 127 128 129Configuration 130============= 131 132(Some) accepted options: 133 134========= ================================================================== 135off Disable sisfb. This option is only understood if sisfb is 136 in-kernel, not a module. 137mem:X size of memory for the console, rest will be used for DRI/DRM. X 138 is in kilobytes. On 300 series, the default is 4096, 8192 or 139 16384 (each in kilobyte) depending on how much video ram the card 140 has. On 315/330 series, the default is the maximum available ram 141 (since DRI/DRM is not supported for these chipsets). 142noaccel do not use 2D acceleration engine. (Default: use acceleration) 143noypan disable y-panning and scroll by redrawing the entire screen. 144 This is much slower than y-panning. (Default: use y-panning) 145vesa:X selects startup videomode. X is number from 0 to 0x1FF and 146 represents the VESA mode number (can be given in decimal or 147 hexadecimal form, the latter prefixed with "0x"). 148mode:X selects startup videomode. Please see above for the format of 149 "X". 150========= ================================================================== 151 152Boolean options such as "noaccel" or "noypan" are to be given without a 153parameter if sisfb is in-kernel (for example "video=sisfb:noypan). If 154sisfb is a module, these are to be set to 1 (for example "modprobe sisfb 155noypan=1"). 156 157 158Thomas Winischhofer <thomas@winischhofer.net> 159 160May 27, 2004 161