1 =======================
2 The Framebuffer Console
3 =======================
5 The framebuffer console (fbcon), as its name implies, is a text
6 console running on top of the framebuffer device. It has the functionality of
7 any standard text console driver, such as the VGA console, with the added
8 features that can be attributed to the graphical nature of the framebuffer.
10 In the x86 architecture, the framebuffer console is optional, and
11 some even treat it as a toy. For other architectures, it is the only available
12 display device, text or graphical.
14 What are the features of fbcon? The framebuffer console supports
15 high resolutions, varying font types, display rotation, primitive multihead,
16 etc. Theoretically, multi-colored fonts, blending, aliasing, and any feature
17 made available by the underlying graphics card are also possible.
22 The framebuffer console can be enabled by using your favorite kernel
23 configuration tool. It is under Device Drivers->Graphics Support->Frame
24 buffer Devices->Console display driver support->Framebuffer Console Support.
25 Select 'y' to compile support statically or 'm' for module support. The
28 In order for fbcon to activate, at least one framebuffer driver is
29 required, so choose from any of the numerous drivers available. For x86
30 systems, they almost universally have VGA cards, so vga16fb and vesafb will
31 always be available. However, using a chipset-specific driver will give you
32 more speed and features, such as the ability to change the video mode
35 To display the penguin logo, choose any logo available in Graphics
38 Also, you will need to select at least one compiled-in font, but if
39 you don't do anything, the kernel configuration tool will select one for you,
42 GOTCHA: A common bug report is enabling the framebuffer without enabling the
43 framebuffer console. Depending on the driver, you may get a blanked or
44 garbled display, but the system still boots to completion. If you are
45 fortunate to have a driver that does not alter the graphics chip, then you
46 will still get a VGA console.
53 1. Driver and fbcon are compiled statically
55 Usually, fbcon will automatically take over your console. The notable
56 exception is vesafb. It needs to be explicitly activated with the
57 vga= boot option parameter.
59 2. Driver is compiled statically, fbcon is compiled as a module
61 Depending on the driver, you either get a standard console, or a
62 garbled display, as mentioned above. To get a framebuffer console,
63 do a 'modprobe fbcon'.
65 3. Driver is compiled as a module, fbcon is compiled statically
67 You get your standard console. Once the driver is loaded with
68 'modprobe xxxfb', fbcon automatically takes over the console with
69 the possible exception of using the fbcon=map:n option. See below.
71 4. Driver and fbcon are compiled as a module.
73 You can load them in any order. Once both are loaded, fbcon will take
78 The framebuffer console has several, largely unknown, boot options
79 that can change its behavior.
83 Select the initial font to use. The value 'name' can be any of the
84 compiled-in fonts: 10x18, 6x10, 7x14, Acorn8x8, MINI4x6,
85 PEARL8x8, ProFont6x11, SUN12x22, SUN8x16, TER16x32, VGA8x16, VGA8x8.
87 Note, not all drivers can handle font with widths not divisible by 8,
90 2. fbcon=scrollback:<value>[k]
92 The scrollback buffer is memory that is used to preserve display
93 contents that has already scrolled past your view. This is accessed
94 by using the Shift-PageUp key combination. The value 'value' is any
95 integer. It defaults to 32KB. The 'k' suffix is optional, and will
96 multiply the 'value' by 1024.
100 This is an interesting option. It tells which driver gets mapped to
101 which console. The value '0123' is a sequence that gets repeated until
102 the total length is 64 which is the number of consoles available. In
103 the above example, it is expanded to 012301230123... and the mapping
106 tty | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ...
107 fb | 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 ...
109 ('cat /proc/fb' should tell you what the fb numbers are)
111 One side effect that may be useful is using a map value that exceeds
112 the number of loaded fb drivers. For example, if only one driver is
113 available, fb0, adding fbcon=map:1 tells fbcon not to take over the
116 Later on, when you want to map the console the to the framebuffer
117 device, you can use the con2fbmap utility.
119 4. fbcon=vc:<n1>-<n2>
121 This option tells fbcon to take over only a range of consoles as
122 specified by the values 'n1' and 'n2'. The rest of the consoles
123 outside the given range will still be controlled by the standard
126 NOTE: For x86 machines, the standard console is the VGA console which
127 is typically located on the same video card. Thus, the consoles that
128 are controlled by the VGA console will be garbled.
132 This option changes the orientation angle of the console display. The
133 value 'n' accepts the following:
135 - 0 - normal orientation (0 degree)
136 - 1 - clockwise orientation (90 degrees)
137 - 2 - upside down orientation (180 degrees)
138 - 3 - counterclockwise orientation (270 degrees)
140 The angle can be changed anytime afterwards by 'echoing' the same
141 numbers to any one of the 2 attributes found in
142 /sys/class/graphics/fbcon:
144 - rotate - rotate the display of the active console
145 - rotate_all - rotate the display of all consoles
147 Console rotation will only become available if Framebuffer Console
148 Rotation support is compiled in your kernel.
150 NOTE: This is purely console rotation. Any other applications that
151 use the framebuffer will remain at their 'normal' orientation.
152 Actually, the underlying fb driver is totally ignorant of console
155 6. fbcon=margin:<color>
157 This option specifies the color of the margins. The margins are the
158 leftover area at the right and the bottom of the screen that are not
159 used by text. By default, this area will be black. The 'color' value
160 is an integer number that depends on the framebuffer driver being used.
164 If the kernel is compiled with deferred fbcon takeover support, normally
165 the framebuffer contents, left in place by the firmware/bootloader, will
166 be preserved until there actually is some text is output to the console.
167 This option causes fbcon to bind immediately to the fbdev device.
169 8. fbcon=logo-pos:<location>
171 The only possible 'location' is 'center' (without quotes), and when
172 given, the bootup logo is moved from the default top-left corner
173 location to the center of the framebuffer. If more than one logo is
174 displayed due to multiple CPUs, the collected line of logos is moved
177 9. fbcon=logo-count:<n>
179 The value 'n' overrides the number of bootup logos. 0 disables the
180 logo, and -1 gives the default which is the number of online CPUs.
182 C. Attaching, Detaching and Unloading
184 Before going on to how to attach, detach and unload the framebuffer console, an
185 illustration of the dependencies may help.
187 The console layer, as with most subsystems, needs a driver that interfaces with
188 the hardware. Thus, in a VGA console::
190 console ---> VGA driver ---> hardware.
192 Assuming the VGA driver can be unloaded, one must first unbind the VGA driver
193 from the console layer before unloading the driver. The VGA driver cannot be
194 unloaded if it is still bound to the console layer. (See
195 Documentation/driver-api/console.rst for more information).
197 This is more complicated in the case of the framebuffer console (fbcon),
198 because fbcon is an intermediate layer between the console and the drivers::
200 console ---> fbcon ---> fbdev drivers ---> hardware
202 The fbdev drivers cannot be unloaded if bound to fbcon, and fbcon cannot
203 be unloaded if it's bound to the console layer.
205 So to unload the fbdev drivers, one must first unbind fbcon from the console,
206 then unbind the fbdev drivers from fbcon. Fortunately, unbinding fbcon from
207 the console layer will automatically unbind framebuffer drivers from
208 fbcon. Thus, there is no need to explicitly unbind the fbdev drivers from
211 So, how do we unbind fbcon from the console? Part of the answer is in
212 Documentation/driver-api/console.rst. To summarize:
214 Echo a value to the bind file that represents the framebuffer console
215 driver. So assuming vtcon1 represents fbcon, then::
217 echo 1 > sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind - attach framebuffer console to
219 echo 0 > sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind - detach framebuffer console from
222 If fbcon is detached from the console layer, your boot console driver (which is
223 usually VGA text mode) will take over. A few drivers (rivafb and i810fb) will
224 restore VGA text mode for you. With the rest, before detaching fbcon, you
225 must take a few additional steps to make sure that your VGA text mode is
226 restored properly. The following is one of the several methods that you can do:
228 1. Download or install vbetool. This utility is included with most
229 distributions nowadays, and is usually part of the suspend/resume tool.
231 2. In your kernel configuration, ensure that CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE is set
232 to 'y' or 'm'. Enable one or more of your favorite framebuffer drivers.
234 3. Boot into text mode and as root run::
236 vbetool vbestate save > <vga state file>
238 The above command saves the register contents of your graphics
239 hardware to <vga state file>. You need to do this step only once as
240 the state file can be reused.
242 4. If fbcon is compiled as a module, load fbcon by doing::
246 5. Now to detach fbcon::
248 vbetool vbestate restore < <vga state file> && \
249 echo 0 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind
251 6. That's it, you're back to VGA mode. And if you compiled fbcon as a module,
252 you can unload it by 'rmmod fbcon'.
254 7. To reattach fbcon::
256 echo 1 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind
258 8. Once fbcon is unbound, all drivers registered to the system will also
259 become unbound. This means that fbcon and individual framebuffer drivers
260 can be unloaded or reloaded at will. Reloading the drivers or fbcon will
261 automatically bind the console, fbcon and the drivers together. Unloading
262 all the drivers without unloading fbcon will make it impossible for the
263 console to bind fbcon.
265 Notes for vesafb users:
266 =======================
268 Unfortunately, if your bootline includes a vga=xxx parameter that sets the
269 hardware in graphics mode, such as when loading vesafb, vgacon will not load.
270 Instead, vgacon will replace the default boot console with dummycon, and you
271 won't get any display after detaching fbcon. Your machine is still alive, so
272 you can reattach vesafb. However, to reattach vesafb, you need to do one of
277 a. Before detaching fbcon, do::
279 vbetool vbemode save > <vesa state file> # do once for each vesafb mode,
280 # the file can be reused
282 b. Detach fbcon as in step 5.
286 vbetool vbestate restore < <vesa state file> && \
287 echo 1 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind
291 a. Before detaching fbcon, do::
293 echo <ID> > /sys/class/tty/console/bind
297 b. Take note of the mode number
299 b. Detach fbcon as in step 5.
303 vbetool vbemode set <mode number> && \
304 echo 1 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon1/bind
309 Here are 2 sample bash scripts that you can use to bind or unbind the
310 framebuffer console driver if you are on an X86 box::
315 # Change this to where your actual vgastate file is located
316 # Or Use VGASTATE=$1 to indicate the state file at runtime
317 VGASTATE=/tmp/vgastate
320 VBETOOL=/usr/local/bin
323 for (( i = 0; i < 16; i++))
325 if test -x /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i; then
326 if [ `cat /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i/name | grep -c "frame buffer"` \
328 if test -x $VBETOOL/vbetool; then
329 echo Unbinding vtcon$i
330 $VBETOOL/vbetool vbestate restore < $VGASTATE
331 echo 0 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i/bind
337 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
344 for (( i = 0; i < 16; i++))
346 if test -x /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i; then
347 if [ `cat /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i/name | grep -c "frame buffer"` \
349 echo Unbinding vtcon$i
350 echo 1 > /sys/class/vtconsole/vtcon$i/bind
355 Antonino Daplas <adaplas@pol.net>