xorg complains it can't run in framebuffer mode

[decuser]

Hi All,

This is a challenging problem. I can get x working on my laptop by:

pkg install nvidia-driver-470 nvidia-xconfig
nvidia-config
sysrc kld_list+=nvidia-modeset

But I don't want to. I want to run X on the framebuffer - no nvidia stuff. Is this possible? The reason is that I'm trying to rule out an nvidia driver issue with drawterm - a plan9 remote console (more or less). It works fine on my t430 with i915, but it fails to connect properly on the y500 with nvidia, or any other system in my environment with nvidia. The installs are identical except for the video driver.

 

[Phishfry]

I want to run X on the framebuffer - no nvidia stuff. Is this possible?

From the Manual Section 5.5.2
/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-scfb.conf

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Card0"
    Driver     "scfb"
EndSection

Chapter 5. The X Window System

This chapter describes how to install and configure the X Window System providing a graphical environment

docs.freebsd.org

FreeBSD Xorg ships with the scfb driver. Just make a config file.

 

[Phishfry]

Because this sounds like an Optimus Laptop you may need to add the PCI Bus Address for the Intel Graphics Device.

Handbook Section 5.5.2 - Example 6 - Shows how to do Optimus.

Section "Device" 
   Identifier "Card0"
   Driver     "intel"
   BusID     "pci0:0:2:0"
EndSection

You could also substitute "scfb" for "intel" if you want to run framebuffer driver instead.

 

[ppetrovic]

Maybe I'm wrong, but in my case I needed to add another semicolon between pci and the first zero in the bus ID/address, like this:
PCI:0:0:2:0
since on my machine X wouldn't start in framebuffer mode if I put the bus address like in the example above. Not sure if it's a typo in the Handbook or something specific to my laptop, though.