Re: Xorg startup with serial console

[Eduardo Horvath <eeh%NetBSD.org@localhost>]

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020, Volker A. Brandt wrote:

> Martin Husemann writes:
> > I am not sure what OF has to do with any framebuffer or the X server.
> 
> Nothing really, except that IIUC there will not be a console device in
> the device tree when there is no keyboard probed by the OBP.  This was
> Connors original problem.
> 
> If the OS initializes the frame buffer itself under the path that it is
> actually present, there shouldn't be any problem.  I guess the real
> question is how to get NetBSD to initialize the frame buffer this way.

The problem is that the X server driviers are not good enough to fully 
initialize PCI graphics cards and rely on some OBP initialization.  OBP 
only initializes the display device if has been opened.  Now I have 
successfully used SBus graphics cards since they can be fully initialized.

What you can try to do is open the device in the NVRAMRC or have the 
kenrel driver call into OBP and open the device before initializing the 
driver.  Haven't tried this, not sure it will work,

What I do know is that the Solaris drivers used to be able to initialize 
the PCI cards but the NetBSD drivers could not.  I think it may be that 
they require firmware downloads that are only done in the device open 
routine.

Eduardo