From: Marcus Sundberg <e94_msu@elixir.e.kth.se>
  To  : ggi-develop@eskimo.com
  Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 22:42:36 +0200

Re: kgicon FAQ

> > > > 2. What can kgicon do that vesafb cannot?
> > > > 
> > > > * Work on older hardware that does not support VESA 2.0. 
> > > > 
> > > > * Load as a module.  vesafb must be compiled into the kernel.
> > > 
> > > Can't be difficult to change. Just add init_module() etc. functions.
> > 
> > Well, vesafb currently needs to run in real mode to set the mode,
> > so making it a module would also need messing with the vm86*
> > functions of Linux...
> 
> Wrong. Vesafb doesn't call any 16 bit code. The video code is setup by video.S,
> i.e. before Linux boots. After that you can no longer change the video mode.

It doesn't?
This is from the top of vesafb.c:
  * switching to graphics mode happens at boot time (while
  * running in real mode, see arch/i386/video.S).

If it uses 32-bit code to set the mode, how can it run in real mode
like this comment says?
If it uses 16-bit code to set the mode, how can you run it as a
module (= after Linux has booted) without using the vm86 interface?

//Marcus
-- 
-------------------------------+------------------------------------
        Marcus Sundberg        | http://www.stacken.kth.se/~mackan
 Royal Institute of Technology |       Phone: +46 707 295404
       Stockholm, Sweden       |      E-Mail: e94_msu@e.kth.se