Vesa framebuffer (vesafb) issues (nVidia card)

[ponchoboy]

Hello all,

I have been racking my brain over this one for quite sometime. I am trying to get a framebuffer console to work, specifically vesafb. I am using Slackware 11 with kernel version 2.6.18. After a fresh install, I get this message on first boot:

"You passed an undefined mode number..."

And then it prompts me to press <ENTER> or <SPACE> to choose or continue.
In any case, from the install, lilo.conf is set to use 773 as the mode number. I've tried a bunch of others and none work.

It is also important to note that running "fbset" returns and says that /dev/fb0 does not exist.

Note that after looking at the .config for the kernel source, FB support is compiled in, as well as vesafb. Also, vga16fb is selected as a module. Vga16fb seems to work as well, after loading it with modprobe.

Why would vga16fb work, and vesafb not work? Why is there no /dev/fb0?

I have an nVidia card, and I am using the open source nv driver for now.

Thanks in advance.

[rong]

I have been racking my brain over this one for quite sometime. I am trying to get a framebuffer console to work, specifically vesafb. I am using Slackware 11 with kernel version 2.6.18.

I have an nVidia card, and I am using the open source nv driver for now.

I'm running same kernel and nvidia 6200 and works fine. This is the relevant copy of my xorg.conf. Perhaps it will help.

Section "Device"
Identifier "VESA Framebuffer"
Driver "vesa"
#VideoRam 4096
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

# ************************************************** ********************
# Screen sections
# ************************************************** ********************

# Any number of screen sections may be present. Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen. A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "VESA Framebuffer"
Monitor "My Monitor"

# If your card can handle it, a higher default color depth (like 24 or 32)
# is highly recommended.

# DefaultDepth 8
# DefaultDepth 16
DefaultDepth 24
# DefaultDepth 32

# "1024x768" is also a conservative usable default resolution. If you
# have a better monitor, feel free to try resolutions such as
# "1152x864", "1280x1024", "1600x1200", and "1800x1400" (or whatever your
# card/monitor can produce)

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

EndSection