Frame-buffer - The first steps.

As I mentioned, I had thoughts about how to design a desktop User Interface that could be used on the LLL. The best way to do this on a resource-scarce machine like the LLL is using the framebuffer rather than X.

I've made the first start on this by setting up the framebuffer on my Ubuntu laptop. There is a few steps involved on this.

Firstly, the grub bootloader needs to be amended. To do this, amend the file /boot/grub/menu.lst with any editor. As this is a system file, it will have to be in root mode.

In menu.lst, scroll down to the bottom where the Grub Bootloader entries are located. These are always of in the format of

title ..
root ...
kernel ...
initrd

In the appropriate entry, edit the kernel line by removing the text splash and replace it with vga=792. An example would look like this

title Ubuntu 8.04.2, kernel 2.6.24-24-generic
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic root=UUID=ec2c54a8-1fd7-4186-9d86-33e5e27659a8 ro quiet vga=792
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-24-generic

To use different framebuffer resolution modes refer to the following webpage - link here

Secondly, /etc/X11/x.org needs to be amended to include the following text:

Section "Screen"
Driver "FBDev"
    Device "Primary Card"
    Monitor "Primary Monitor"
    SubSection "Display"
        Modes "default"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Lastly, the vesafb modules needs to removed from the module blacklist. To do this edit /etc/modprode.d/blacklist-framebuffer and comment out the vesafb module by entering a # in front of it. The entry should look like:

#blacklist vesafb

Reboot the computer and if everything works ok then the Framebuffer and the X11 framebuffer should be set up. To test this enter the following command at the terminal:

   ls /dev/fb*

The following info should be displayed:

   /dev/fb0

Also enter the command on the terminal:

   /fbset

If successful, the framebuffer mode settings should be displayed.