From owner-freebsd-hackers Sun Jan 25 22:31:44 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id WAA12482 for hackers-outgoing; Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:31:44 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from wcc.wcc.net (wcc.wcc.net [208.6.232.10]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id WAA12476 for ; Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:31:41 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from piquan@wcc.wcc.net) Received: from detlev.UUCP (tnt83.wcc.net [208.10.139.83]) by wcc.wcc.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id AAA20673; Mon, 26 Jan 1998 00:28:14 -0600 (CST) Received: (from joelh@localhost) by detlev.UUCP (8.8.8/8.8.7) id AAA02183; Mon, 26 Jan 1998 00:30:57 -0600 (CST) (envelope-from joelh) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 00:30:57 -0600 (CST) Message-Id: <199801260630.AAA02183@detlev.UUCP> To: mike@smith.net.au CC: mike@smith.net.au, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG In-reply-to: <199801251158.WAA00285@word.smith.net.au> (message from Mike Smith on Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:28:26 +1030) Subject: Re: Splash screen (splashkit) for 3.0 systems... From: Joel Ray Holveck Reply-to: joelh@gnu.org References: <199801251158.WAA00285@word.smith.net.au> Sender: owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk >> Well, enough of that, I've gotten in the mood to write a graphical >> *SOMETHING* now, so I'll probably be submitting a graphical >> screensaver RSN. > OK, where is it? 8) It's presently only on my machine. And it still doesn't work. I have identified the two major root problem areas: * I don't know much about syscons * I don't know anything about register- and memory-level VGA programming Naturally, these are making development nontrivial. On the other hand, when I'm done, then people will have a decent template for a graphical screensaver. Now, I am presently heavily RTFSing to learn everything i ever wanted to know about syscons. As for the VGA programming, I have been going over libvgl and syscons sources, but they are not particularly enlightening. I am also occasionally looking on the WWW for a decent "VGA Hacking For Dummies" web site. I have also been considering making the screen saver a separate process. The major win for this is that it would be pageable, which would be a Good Thing for screensavers that have large memory requirements (eg, bitmaps, renders, etc.) Comments on this idea? Anybody who knows syscons and libvgl is welcome to go over the source and help me make it work. Meanwhile, I continue to RTFS and post to -hackers when I figure out the right questions to ask. Happy hacking, joelh -- Joel Ray Holveck - joelh@gnu.org - http://www.wp.com/piquan Fourth law of programming: Anything that can go wrong wi sendmail: segmentation violation - core dumped