night-sources

1.  Introduction

What, yet another kernel package?

Yes, another kernel package. Does the world need more unofficial kernel packages? Who knows. I created this one as an easy way to distribute a couple of high-demand patches.

Okay, what's different about this one?

It's pretty lightweight. It provides a vanilla Linux kernel (straight from kernel.org) along with a couple of patches by Gentoo developer spock: uvesafb and fbsplash. It's also got some patches I wrote that allow you to optionally select a Gentoo logo at boot, rather than Tux the Linux penguin. Yes, really, that's the extent of the patches.

Some folks like running the kernel source straight from kernel.org, but also like to have something to spice up the boot process. This kernel delivers that in the form of the fbsplash patch, and provides some additional features for video BIOS stuff (uvesafb). This may mean that you can do more adjustment of your framebuffer resolution, refresh rate, etc. Could be really nice for us poor AMD64 users that have been hitherto stuck with plain ol' vesafb on a widescreen panel. Reports vary as to whether or not you'll have extra resolutions available; keep in mind it's not a magic bullet for all your display troubles.

While uvesafb can run on non-x86 systems, like AMD64, there's probably no point in running this kernel source on anything but those two arches. Unless you're just in it for the stock kernel and fbsplash patch, without a bunch of distro-specific patches (or hacks). The ebuild I provide is only keyworded for amd64 and 86.

In order for uvesafb to work, you'll also need to compile and install the v86d package, a userspace helper that runs x86 code in an emulated environment. More on that later.

But what about so-and-so's sources?

Who knows? Word of uvesafb is getting around. I'm sure there are other custom kernel packages that provide it; I don't pay attention to 'em. The one I created works nicely for me. Another reason I put it together is that I figure it might be very useful for non-Gentoo distributions; I know that there are several out there that use fbsplash (Arch comes to mind), and recently I saw that at least one Gentoo user has uvesafb running on Debian. If you're using something besides Gentoo, feel free to try out the kernel. Could be a winning combination.

Gentoo users might notice that genpatches aren't included. Though that's a small patchset, in the interests of simplifying things even more, I just got rid of all of 'em. Additionally, only genpatches-base would apply cleanly; genpatches-extra contains vesafb-tng, which uvesafb replaces. Rather than worry about reverting patches, I just tossed 'em all out. Maybe -base will make it in one of these days, but for now, the vanilla Linux kernel provides a level playing field for all distros.

Why here? Why not on some overlay collection site?

Because I want to keep it here, that's why. It's much better for development to keep it with the rest of my stuff.

Final warnings

This kernel is completely unsupported by Gentoo developers, kernel upstream, etc. It's a convenience package only. That being said, I run it and it works just fine on my systems. Also, it's hard for much to go wrong with it, seeing as it's a vanilla kernel, with only two small patches.

uvesafb and v86d are both early, in-development software. Their author, spock, has put quite a bit of work into them, and even at this early stage, they work well enough. But they may not be perfect; you may or may not receive any additional benefits from using this over vesafb or vesafb-tng.

Stop by the Unsupported Software forum of the Gentoo Forums to see how and where others are using uvesafb. Maybe you'll even find an answer as to how to get it to do something interesting on your system.

2.  Gimme!

For Gentoo users

First, download the latest version of night-sources. Untar it and drop it into /usr/local/portage/sys-kernel, or wherever you keep your PORTDIR_OVERLAY. It's marked ~arch, so you'll need to keyword it in /etc/portage/package.keywords before installing.

(Keyword the package)
# echo "sys-kernel/night-sources" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
(Install it)
# emerge night-sources

Next, make sure that the kernel symlink points to the right kernel. Make sure to emerge app-admin/eselect if you don't already have it.

(Check the available kernels)
# eselect kernel list
Available kernel symlink targets:
  [1]   linux-2.6.18-gentoo-r4
  [2]   linux-2.6.21-gentoo-r4
  [3]   linux-2.6.22.1-night-r2
(Select the right kernel)
# eselect kernel set 3

Next, configure the kernel. The next several steps come from the instructions available at the uvesafb homepage.

# cd /usr/src/linux & & make menuconfig

In the Device Drivers section, be sure to select the following:

Device Drivers  --->
  <*> Connector - unified userspace <-> kernelspace linker
  . . .
  Graphics support  --->
  <*>   Userspace VESA VGA graphics support

Build the kernel with make. Next, you'll need to emerge klibc, even if it's already installed.

Now install v86d:

(Keyword it)
# echo "sys-apps/v86d" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords
(Install it)
# emerge v86d

Now you get to reconfigure your kernel! uvesafb needs some kind of initramfs to work correctly, so you'll need to specify where it is. On Gentoo, once v86d is emerged, it usually ends up being placed in /usr/share/v86d/initramfs. Be sure to double-check where the sources were unpacked. Got it? Now feed its location to the kernel.

General setup  --->
[*] Initial RAM filesystem and RAM disk (initramfs/initrd) support
(/usr/share/v86d/initramfs) Initramfs source file(s)

If you want, you can also choose to use the Gentoo logo I provide. Nothing like a nice bit of bootup branding. Enable the following options:

Device Drivers  --->
  Graphics support  --->
  [*] Bootup logo  --->
  [*]   Gentoo Linux 224-color logo

Now you can rebuild the kernel and install it. The following one-liner will compile the kernel, install modules, and finally install the kernel itself to /boot. No manual copying necessary. It will also rebuild any additional external kernel modules (nvidia, madwifi, etc.) for your new kernel, assuming you've installed the module-rebuild package. It's quite a timesaver.

# make && make modules_install && make install && module-rebuild rebuild

Finally, add a line to /boot/grub/grub.conf for your new kernel. (lilo users: you're on your own!) Here's an example:

title=Gentoo Linux 2.6.22.1-night-r2
root(hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/md3 video=uvesafb:1024x768-32,mtrr:3

That make install command added the symlink vmlinuz, which points to your current kernel, in this case night-sources, so you won't need to update the listings to point to freshly compiled and installed kernels. Handy! You should keep your existing grub.conf entries for your working kernel images, just so you have a backup ready.

Reboot and have fun!

For everyone else

If you're not running Gentoo, you're on your own for patching & installing the kernel and configuring grub. The latest night-sources patchset can be found here.

3.  Resources

Here are a few more links to help get you started with your new toys.

• The uvesafb homepage. Background information, instructions, downloads, and more. It's the upstream home of uvesafb and v86d.
• The gensplash homepage. This is where you can find sources and instructions for getting some good out of that fbsplash patch.
• This thread continues to follow the action around using uvesafb and v86d. spock sheds some light on the subject in this post.

The contents of this document, unless otherwise expressly stated, are licensed under the CC-BY-SA-2.5 license. The Gentoo Name and Logo Usage Guidelines apply.