FreeBSD Graphics

If you are a FreeBSD user and you are trying to set up graphics on your workstation then you might be interested in the Graphics FAQ!

• Add HW context support to i915
• Brightness
• DRI3
• Developer
• FAQ
• Getting started with kernel projects
• Kernel development workflow
• OptimusVideoSupport
• Ports development workflow
• Roadmap archive
• SCFB
• StatusReportSummary
• Update DRM generic code to Linux 3.8
• Update i915 GPU driver to Linux 3.8
• WITH_NEW_XORG

This page and all the linked articles presents the status and directions of all the low-level components making FreeBSD usable as a desktop.

This includes:

• X.Org-related ports: xserver, libraries, tools
• Future Wayland-related ports
• Mesa ports: libGL, dri, libglesv2, libEGL, freeglut, libGLU, libGLw, mesa-demos, libosmesa
• OpenCL low-level libraries
• Userland drivers (ie. xf86-*)
• Input devices detection and configuration
• Kernel-side GPU drivers

It does not include:

• Gnome, KDE or any other integrated desktop environments
• Image processing or drawing software applications

• Mailing List: freebsd-x11
• IRC: #freebsd-xorg (EFnet)

We also have a blog, which could be used to:

• Announce upcoming changes
• Answer technical questions
• Report team changes and how we work
• Report to the community following an event

What have we been doing:

• Status Report Summary

Developer informations, including tasks in progress and similar, are available in the developer section.

The tables below are not an exhaustive list of supported hardware. Hardware is only listed if and when it has been explicitly tested/confirmed by developers and/or users. Graphics hardware missing from these tables may or may not work. If you have tested hardware that is not on the list, please report the results.

Add:

• UMS vs. KMS
• Details about what works and what doesn't

You may refer to the following resources to determine your video card family:

• Comparison of Intel graphics processing units
• Comparison of AMD graphics processing units

Notes:

1. Radeon video cards:
   • AGP cards not supported before FreeBSD 10-CURRENT
   • Features not yet working/implemented:
     • Hardware-assisted video decoding
     • Audio over HDMI or DisplayPort
     • Multiple cards sharing output connectors
     • Power management
2. The GALLIUM backed Software renderer works.

The x11 team has used various external repositories over time. There is not currently an active external repository.

In sync with Linux…

We have a dedicated article to get people started with contributions to the kernel.

If you want to automatically load a video driver at boot time, we recommend to do it from /etc/rc.conf:

kld_list="radeonkms"

Loading the driver from /boot/loader.conf is not recommended and may not even work. Loading i915kms like this is known to cause a hang early in boot with a black screen.

Wayland has it own page.

OpenCL has it own page.

If encountering problems in either the kernel driver or the in-development ports, post the following information to the mailing list

• dmesg command output
• pciconf -lvbce command output
• devinfo -vr command output
• pkg info command output
• Contents of xorg.conf file (and included sub-files, if any)
• Contents of Xorg.log (if the problem is at X.Org startup or during your X session)
• Any ports build or installation errors (if relevant)
• If a kernel panic: Contents of core.$n.txt (in /var/crash)
• Any other details that may be relevant

If everything works, let us know on the mailing list. Your information helps us confirm which hardware/software configurations work well.

Please include:

• dmesg command output
• pciconf -lvbce command output
• pkg info command output
• Contents of xorg.conf file (and included sub-files, if any)
• Contents of Xorg.log
• Any other details that may be relevant

• Xorg -configure crashes with a “Segmentation fault”; it is a known defect. Do not use Xorg -configure anymore: it is recommended to let Xorg auto-configure itself. If you need to override part of the configuration, create a config file under /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ containing only the relevant section.