[syslinux] Gfxboot COMBOOT module vs Ubuntu patches

Sebastian Herbszt herbszt at gmx.de
Fri Jul 17 06:57:02 PDT 2009


H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> Steffen Winterfeldt wrote:
>> 
>>> com32 library?  The API in Syslinux 4 should look very similar at the 
>>> high level, but I suspect we need to add  new API functions to the 
>>> framebuffer driver to support you -- one thing I *know* is going to 
>>> happen already is support for resolutions other than 640x480.  
>>> However, the overall structure of a 32-bit in-memory framebuffer and a 
>>> single "copy to screen" function which will also do pixel conversions 
>>> I intend to keep.  And of course, you have the JPEG and PNG libraries 
>>> available already.
>> 
>> I'm not at all sure yet what's needed. But gfx mode setting and a 
>> framebuffer should be ok. I've no plans to keep support for the old banked modes.
>> 
> 
> It's worth noting that there are devices in the field which don't have a 
>  direct-mapped framebuffer which do matter... so the shadow framebuffer 
> and blit to screen interface is almost certainly what we want anyway.
> 
> Where are you physically located?  It would be great if we could map out 
> the requirements sooner rather than later, and get clean interfaces that 
> does what we both need.
> 
> -hpa

As far as i know gfxboot works with syslinux, lilo and grub. It has its own
functions for graphic, audio and serial input. If the support for lilo and grub
is going to stay those functions can't just be ripped out. I don't think it's possible
to retain one gfxboot binary for all supported loaders if the SYSLINUX API
will be used. The result could be a gfxboot COM32 (?) module for SYSLINUX
and a different gfxboot binary for lilo and grub. Having to support two different
binaries might be a pain tho.

- Sebastian




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