FFB(4)

NAME
ffb - Sun accelerated 24-bit color frame buffer

SYNOPSIS
ffb* at mainbus0 addr 0xff8de000: Creator3D, model SUNW,501-4790, dac 10 (UltraSPARC II horizontal)
ffb* at mainbus0 addr 0xfeb80000: Creator3D, model SUNW,501-4788, dac 10 (UltraSPARC II vertical)
ffb* at mainbus0: Elite3D, model SUNW,540-3623, dac 10 (UltraSPARC II vertical)
ffb* at upa0: Creator3D, model SUNW,501-4788, dac 10 (UltraSPARC III vertical)
ffb* at upa0: Elite3D, model SUNW,540-3623, dac 10 (UltraSPARC III vertical)

DESCRIPTION
The ffb is a UPA based color frame buffer, found in some Sun SBus and PCI systems. The ffb driver supports both the Creator/Creator3D, and the Elite3D frame buffers.

There are several versions of the ffb board. The Sun part numbers and board types are:

501-2634
    Creator Series 1 (FFB)
    Ultra1, Ultra2
501-4127
    Creator Series 1 (FFB)
    Ultra1, Ultra2, Enterprisexx00
501-2633
    Creator 3D Series 1 (FFB)
    Ultra1, Ultra2
501-3129
    Creator 3D Series 1 (FFB)
    Ultra1, Ultra2, Enterprisexx00
501-4126
    Creator 3D Series 1 (FFB)
    Ultra1, Ultra2
501-4174
    Creator Series 2 (FFB2)
    Ultra 30, Ultra 60
501-4173
    Creator3D Series 2 (FFB2)
    Ultra1, Ultra2, Enterprisexx00
501-4172
    Creator3D Series 2 (FFB2)
    Ultra30, Ultra60
501-4789
    Creator Series 3 (FFB2+)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60
501-4790
    Creator 3D Series 3 (FFB2+)
    Ultra2, Enterprisexx00
501-4788, 501-5690
    Creator 3D Series 3 (FFB2+)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60, Blade1000, Blade2000
501-4860, 501-5268, 501-5201, 501-5484
    Elite3D-m3 Series 1 (AFB)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60, Ultra80
540-3623, 540-3902
    Elite3D-m6 Series 1 (AFB)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60, Ultra80
501-5574, 501-5575
    Elite3D-m3 Series 2 (AFB)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60, Ultra80, Blade1000, Blade2000
540-4313
    Elite3D-m6 Series 2 (AFB)
    Ultra10, Ultra30, Ultra60, Ultra80, Blade1000, Blade2000
540-3058, 540-3979, 540-4335
    Elite3D-m6 (AFB)
    Ultra2, Ultra450, Enterprisexx00

The ‘Creator’ cards have 5MB of on-board memory, support a maximum graphics resolution of 1280x1024, and are single-buffered.

The ‘Creator3D’ cards have 15MB of on-board memory support a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 double-buffered, and 1920x1360 single-buffered.

The ‘Elite3D’ cards have 15MB of on-board memory, support a maximum resolution of 1280x1024, and are always double-buffered. The ‘Elite3D-m3’ cards have one hardware geometry engine, whereas the ‘Elite3D-m6’ cards have two.

The ‘Series 3’ cards are considerably faster than the ‘Series 1’ and ‘Series 2’ cards.

The ffb driver supports reading EDID data from connected monitors, and will automatically set a resolution that is supported by both the card and the monitor if the EDID data can be read. This can be overridden for the console frame buffer, by setting the output-device openprom variable. For example, the following openprom command will set the console resolution to 1280x1024 @ 60Hz, which will not be altered by the ffb driver.

    setenv output-device screen:r1280x1024x60

SEE ALSO
eeprom(8)

BUGS
It is necessary to blank the video output when reading EDID data.

The ffb driver does not support 3D acceleration.

Not all 13W3 to VGA converters connect 13W3 pin 2 to VGA pin 9. This pin supplies +5V DC to power the monitor EEPROM, even when the monitor is powered off, and is necessary in order to obtain EDID data on some monitors.

Adapters that are known to connect these pins are:

530-2917
    13W3 cable
130-3034
    VGA cable

Adapters that are known not to connect these pins are:

530-2357
    13W3 cable