ffbconfig(1M) System Administration Commands ffbconfig(1M)NAME
ffbconfig, SUNWffb_config - configure the FFB Graphics Accelerator
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/ffbconfig [-dev device-filename] [ -res video-mode
[now | try]
[noconfirm | nocheck] ] [-file | machine | system] [-deflinear | true
| false] [-defoverlay | true | false] [-linearorder | first | last]
[-overlayorder | first | last] [-expvis | enable | disable] [-sov |
enable | disable] [-maxwids n] [-extovl | enable | disable]
[-g gamma-correction-value] [-gfile gamma-correction-file] [-propt]
[-prconf] [-defaults]
/usr/sbin/ffbconfig [-propt ] [-prconf]
/usr/sbin/ffbconfig [-help] [ -res ?]
DESCRIPTIONffbconfig configures the FFB Graphics Accelerator and some of the X11
window system defaults for FFB.
The first form of ffbconfig stores the specified options in the OWcon‐
fig file. These options will be used to initialize the FFB device the
next time the window system is run on that device. Updating options in
the OWconfig file provides persistence of these options across window
system sessions and system reboots.
The second and third forms of ffbconfig, which invoke only the -prconf,
-propt, -help, and -res ? options do not update the OWconfig file.
Additionally, for the third form all other options are ignored.
Options may be specified for only one FFB device at a time. Specifying
options for multiple FFB devices requires multiple invocations of ffb‐
config.
Only FFB-specific options can be specified through ffbconfig. The nor‐
mal window system options for specifying default depth, default visual
class and so forth are still specified as device modifiers on the open‐
win command line. See the OpenWindows Desktop Reference Manual for
details.
The user can also specify the OWconfig file that is to be updated. By
default, the machine-specific file in the /etc/openwin directory tree
is updated. The -file option can be used to specify an alternate file
to use. For example, the system-global OWconfig file in the /usr/open‐
win directory tree can be updated instead.
Both of these standard OWconfig files can only be written by root. Con‐
sequently, the ffbconfig program, which is owned by the root user,
always runs with setuid root permission.
OPTIONS-dev device-filename
Specifies the FFB special file. The default is /dev/fbs/ffb0.
-file machine|system
Specifies which OWconfig file to update. If machine is specified,
the machine-specific OWconfig file in the /etc/openwin directory
tree is updated. If system is specified, the global OWconfig file
in the /usr/openwin directory tree is updated. If the specified
file does not exist, it is created. This option has no effect
unless other options are specified. The default is machine.
-res video-mode [now | try [noconfirm | nocheck]]
Specifies the video mode used to drive the monitor connected to the
specified FFB device.
video-mode has the format of widthxheightxrate where width is the
screen width in pixels, height is the screen height in pixels, and
rate is the vertical frequency of the screen refresh.
The s suffix, as in 960x680x112s and 960x680x108s, indicates stereo
video modes. The i suffix, as in 640x480x60i and 768x575x50i, indi‐
cates interlaced video timing. If absent, non-interlaced timing
will be used.
-res (the third form in the SYNOPSIS) also accepts formats with @
(at sign) in front of the refresh rate instead of x. 1280x1024@76
is an example of this format.
Some video-modes are supported only on certain revisions of FFB.
Also, some video-modes, supported by FFB, may not be supported by
the monitor. The list of video-modes supported by the FFB device
and the monitor can be obtained by running ffbconfig with the -res
? option.
The following table lists all possible video modes supported on
FFB:
Name Description
1024x768x60
1024x768x70
1024x768x75
1024x768x77
1024x800x84
1152x900x66
1152x900x76
1280x800x76
1280x1024x60
1280x1024x67
1280x1024x76
960x680x112s (stereo)
960x680x108s (stereo)
640x480x60
640x480x60i (interlaced)
768x575x50i (interlaced)
1440x900x76 (hi-res)
1600x1000x66 (hi-res)
1600x1000x76i (hi-res)
1600x1280x76 (hi-res)
1920x1080x72 (hi-res)
1920x1200x70 (hi-res)
Symbolic names
For convenience, some video modes have symbolic names defined for
them. Instead of the form widthxheightxrate, one of these names
may be supplied as the argument to -res. The meaning of the sym‐
bolic name none is that when the window system is run the screen
resolution will be the video mode that is currently programmed in
the device.
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Name Corresponding Video Mode │
│svga 1024x768x60 │
│1152 1152x900x76 │
│1280 1280x1024x76 │
│stereo 960x680x112s │
│ntsc 640x480x60i │
│ pal 768x575x50i │
│none (video mode currently pro‐ │
│ grammed in device) │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The -res option also accepts additional, optional arguments immedi‐
ately following the video mode specification. Any or all of these
may be present.
now
Specifies that the FFB device will be immediately programmed to
display this video mode, in addition to updating the video mode in
the OWconfig file. This option is useful for changing the video
mode before starting the window system.
It is inadvisable to use this suboption with ffbconfig while the
configured device is being used (for example, while running the
window system); unpredictable results may occur. To run ffbconfig
with the now suboption, first bring the window system down. If the
now suboption is used within a window system session, the video
mode will be changed immediately, but the width and height of the
affected screen won't change until the window system is exited and
re-entered. In addition, the system may not recognize changes in
stereo mode. Consequently, this usage is strongly discouraged.
noconfirm
Instructs ffbconfig to bypass confirmation and and warning messages
and to program the requested video mode anyway.
Using the -res option, the user could potentially put the system
into an unusable state, a state where there is no video output.
This can happen if there is ambiguity in the monitor sense codes
for the particular code read. To reduce the chance of this, the
default behavior of ffbconfig is to print a warning message to this
effect and to prompt the user to find out if it is okay to con‐
tinue. This option is useful when ffbconfig is being run from a
shell script.
nocheck
Suspends normal error checking based on the monitor sense code. The
video mode specified by the user will be accepted regardless of
whether it is appropriate for the currently attached monitor. This
option is useful if a different monitor is to be connected to the
FFB device. Note: Use of this option implies noconfirm as well.
try
Programs the specified video mode on a trial basis. The user will
be asked to confirm the video mode by typing y within 10 seconds.
The user may also terminate the trial before 10 seconds are up by
typing any character. Any character other than y or RETURN is con‐
sidered a no and the previous video mode will be restored and ffb‐
config will not change the video mode in the OWconfig file and
other options specified will still take effect. If a RETURN is
pressed, the user is prompted for a yes or no answer on whether to
keep the new video mode.
This sub-option should not be used with ffbconfig while the config‐
ured device is being used (for example, while running the window
system) as unpredictable results may occur. To run fbconfig with
the try sub-option, the window system should be brought down first.
-deflinear true | false
FFB possesses two types of visuals: linear and nonlinear. Linear
visuals are gamma corrected and nonlinear visuals are not. There
are two visuals that have both linear and nonlinear versions:
24-bit TrueColor and 8-bit StaticGray.
-deflinear true sets the default visual to the linear visual that
satisfies other specified default visual selection options. Specif‐
ically, the default visual selection options are those set by the
Xsun (1) defdepth and defclass options. See OpenWindows Desktop
Reference Manual for details.
-deflinear false (or if there is no linear visual that satisfies
the other default visual selection options) sets the default visual
to the non-linear visual as the default.
This option cannot be used when the -defoverlay option is present,
because FFB does not possess a linear overlay visual.
-defoverlay true | false
FFB provides an 8-bit PseudoColor visual whose pixels are disjoint
from the rest of the FFB visuals. This is called the overlay vis‐
ual. Windows created in this visual will not damage windows cre‐
ated in other visuals. The converse, however, is not true. Windows
created in other visuals will damage overlay windows. This visual
has 256 maxwids of opaque color values. See -maxwids in OPTIONS.
If -defoverlay is true, the overlay visual will be made the default
visual. If -defoverlay is false, the nonoverlay visual that satis‐
fies the other default visual selection options, such as defdepth
and defclass, will be chosen as the default visual. See the Open‐
Windows Desktop Reference Manual for details.
Whenever -defoverlay true is used, the default depth and class cho‐
sen on the openwin command line must be 8-bit PseudoColor. If not,
a warning message will be printed and the -defoverlay option will
be treated as false. This option cannot be used when the -deflinear
option is present, because FFB doesn't possess a linear overlay
visual.
-linearorder first | last
If first, linear visuals will come before their non-linear counter‐
parts on the X11 screen visual list for the FFB screen. If last,
the nonlinear visuals will come before the linear ones.
-overlayorder first | last
If true, the depth 8 PseudoColor Overlay visual will come before
the non-overlay visual on the X11 screen visual list for the FFB
screen. If false, the non-overlay visual will come before the over‐
lay one.
-expvis enable | disable
If enabled, OpenGL Visual Expansion will be activated. Multiple
instances of selected visual groups (8-bit PseudoColor, 24-bit
TrueColor and so forth) can be found in the screen visual list.
-sov enable | disable
Advertises the root window's SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS property. SOV
visuals will be exported and their transparent types, values and
layers can be retrieved through this property. If -sov disable is
specified, the SERVER_OVERLAY_VISUALS property will not be defined.
SOV visuals will not be exported.
-maxwids n
Specifies the maximum number of FFB X channel pixel values that are
reserved for use as window sIDs (WIDs). The remainder of the pixel
values in overlay colormaps are used for normal X11 opaque color
pixels. The reserved WIDs are allocated on a first-come first-serve
basis by 3D graphics windows (such as XGL), MBX windows, and win‐
dows that have a non-default visual. The X channel codes 0 to
(255-n) will be opaque color pixels. The X channel codes (255-n+1)
to 255 will be reserved for use as WIDs. Legal values on FFB, FFB2
are: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32. Legal values on FFB2+ are: 1, 2, 4, 8,
16, 32, and 64.
-extovl enable | disable
This option is available only on FFB2+. If enabled, extended over‐
lay is available. The overlay visuals will have 256 opaque colors.
The SOV visuals will have 255 opaque colors and 1 transparent
color. This option enables hardware supported transparency which
provides better performance for windows using the SOV visuals.
-g gamma-correction value
This option is available only on FFB2+. This option allows chang‐
ing the gamma correction value. All linear visuals provide gamma
correction. By default the gamma correction value is 2.22. Any
value less than zero is illegal. The gamma correction value is
applied to the linear visual, which then has an effective gamma
value of 1.0, which is the value returned by XSolarisGetVisual‐
Gamma(3). See XSolarisGetVisualGamma(3) for a description of that
function.
This option can be used while the window system is running. Chang‐
ing the gamma correction value will affect all the windows being
displayed using the linear visuals.
-gfile gamma-correction file
This option is available only on FFB2+. This option loads gamma
correction table from the specified file. This file should be for‐
matted to provide the gamma correction values for R, G and B chan‐
nels on each line. This file should provide 256 triplet values,
each in hexadecimal format and separated by at least 1 space. Fol‐
lowing is an example of this file:
0x00 0x00 0x00
0x01 0x01 0x01
0x02 0x02 0x02
...
...
0xff 0xff 0xff
Using this option, the gamma correction table can be loaded while
the window system is running. The new gamma correction will affect
all the windows being displayed using the linear visuals. Note,
when gamma correction is being done using user specified table, the
gamma correction value is undefined. By default, the window system
assumes a gamma correction value of 2.22 and loads the gamma table
it creates corresponding to this value.
-defaults
Resets all option values to their default values.
-propt
Prints the current values of all FFB options in the OWconfig file
specified by the -file option for the device specified by the -dev
option. Prints the values of options as they will be in the OWcon‐
fig file after the call to ffbconfig completes. The following is a
typical display using the -propt option:
--- OpenWindows Configuration for /dev/fbs/ffb0 ---
OWconfig: machine
Video Mode: NONE
Default Visual: Non-Linear Normal Visual
Visual Ordering: Linear Visuals are last
Overlay Visuals are last
OpenGL Visuals: disabled
SOV: disabled
Allocated WIDs: 32
-prconf
Prints the FFB hardware configuration. The following is a typical
display using the -prconf option:
--- Hardware Configuration for /dev/fbs/ffb0 ---
Type: double-buffered FFB2 with Z-buffer
Board: rev x
PROM Information: @(#)ffb2.fth x.x xx/xx/xx
FBC: version x
DAC: Brooktree 9068, version x
3DRAM: Mitsubishi 1309, version x
EDID Data: Available - EDID version 1 revision x
Monitor Sense ID: 4 (Sun 37x29cm RGB color monitor)
Monitor possible resolutions: 1024x768x60, 1024x768x70,
1024x768x75, 1152x900x66, 1152x900x76,
1280x1024x67, 1280x1024x76,
960x680x112s, 640x480x60
Current resolution setting: 1280x1024x76
-help
Prints a list of the ffbconfig command line options, along with a
brief explanation of each.
DEFAULTS
For a given invocation of ffbconfig command line if an option does not
appear on the command line, the corresponding OWconfig option is not
updated; it retains its previous value.
When the window system is run, if an FFB option has never been speci‐
fied via ffbconfig, a default value is used. The option defaults are
listed in the following table:
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│Option Default │
│-dev /dev/fbs/ffb0 │
│-file machine │
│-res none │
│-deflinear false │
│-defoverlay false │
│ -linearorder last │
│-overlayorder last │
│-expvis enabled │
│-sov enabled │
│-maxwids 32 │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The default for the -res option of none means that when the window sys‐
tem is run the screen resolution will be the video mode that is cur‐
rently programmed in the device.
This provides compatibility for users who are used to specifying the
device resolution through the PROM. On some devices (for example, GX)
this is the only way of specifying the video mode. This means that the
PROM ultimately determines the default FFB video mode.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Changing The Monitor Type
The following example switches the monitor type to the resolution of
1280 ~ 1024 at 76 Hz:
example% /usr/sbin/ffbconfig -res 1280x1024x76
FILES
/dev/fbs/ffb0 device special file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWffbcf │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOmmap(2), attributes(5), fbio(7I), ffb(7D)
OpenWindows Desktop Reference Manual
SunOS 5.10 8 Apr 2004 ffbconfig(1M)