tgafb - TGA graphics framebuffer driver

This is a driver for DECChip 21030 based graphics framebuffers, a.k.a. TGAcards, which are usually found in older Digital Alpha systems. Thefollowing models are supported:

  • ZLxP-E1 (8bpp, 2 MB VRAM)

  • ZLxP-E2 (32bpp, 8 MB VRAM)

  • ZLxP-E3 (32bpp, 16 MB VRAM, Zbuffer)

This version is an almost complete rewrite of the code written by GeertUytterhoeven, which was based on the original TGA console code written byJay Estabrook.

Major new features since Linux 2.0.x:

  • Support for multiple resolutions

  • Support for fixed-frequency and other oddball monitors(by allowing the video mode to be set at boot time)

User-visible changes since Linux 2.2.x:

  • Sync-on-green is now handled properly

  • More useful information is printed on bootup(this helps if people run into problems)

This driver does not (yet) support the TGA2 family of framebuffers, so thePowerStorm 3D30/4D20 (also known as PBXGB) cards are not supported. Thesecan however be used with the standard VGA Text Console driver.

Configuration

You can pass kernel command line options to tgafb withvideo=tgafb:option1,option2:value2,option3 (multiple options should beseparated by comma, values are separated from options by:).

Accepted options:

font:X

default font to use. All fonts are supported, including theSUN12x22 font which is very nice at high resolutions.

mode:X

default video mode. The following video modes are supported:640x480-60, 800x600-56, 640x480-72, 800x600-60, 800x600-72,1024x768-60, 1152x864-60, 1024x768-70, 1024x768-76,1152x864-70, 1280x1024-61, 1024x768-85, 1280x1024-70,1152x864-84, 1280x1024-76, 1280x1024-85

Known Issues

The XFree86 FBDev server has been reported not to work, since tgafb doesn’t dommap(). Running the standard XF86_TGA server from XFree86 3.3.x works fine forme, however this server does not do acceleration, which make certain operationsquite slow. Support for acceleration is being progressively integrated inXFree86 4.x.

When running tgafb in resolutions higher than 640x480, on switching VCs fromtgafb to XF86_TGA 3.3.x, the entire screen is not re-drawn and must be manuallyrefreshed. This is an X server problem, not a tgafb problem, and is fixed inXFree86 4.0.

Enjoy!

Martin Lucina <mato@kotelna.sk>