[PATCH] Remove deprecated "nv" driver from autoconfiguration list

[Mark Kettenis]

> From: Adam Jackson <ajax at nwnk.net>
> Date: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:19:37 -0400
> 
> On Wed, 2010-03-31 at 23:18 +0200, Mark Kettenis wrote:
> > > From: Alan Coopersmith <alan.coopersmith at oracle.com>
> > > Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:38:08 -0700
> > >=20
> > > Nvidia hardware will now default to "vesa" until an xorg.conf file is
> > > created to set it to "nv", "nvidia", or "nouveau".
> >=20
> > The vesa driver only works on i386/amd64.  Where does this leave users
> > of other architectures?  Quite a few PowerPC Mac's have nvidia hardware.
> 
> There's no deep reason for this to be true.  nvidia cards with PC BIOSes
> would work fine under x86emu, assuming we emulate enough of the system
> ROM calls.  And nv card BIOSes tend not to call system ROM services that
> much.

Well, I was thinking specifically about the origional graphics
hardware that shipped with these machines, which will have an Open
Firmware ROM.

> > > We've had reports of displays that fail to autoconfigure because
> > > Xorg tries to use "nv", but nv fails when DisplayPort is in use.
> >=20
> > Still the majority of the hardware out there will still work.  And
> > monitors that have a DisplayPort connector typically don't have a
> > resolution that's a very good match to the vesa driver isn't it?
> 
> The vesa driver does not have a static mode list.  The vesa BIOS does.
> So it's entirely card-dependent.
> 
> I've actually seen nvidia cards that will modify their vesa BIOS mode
> list depending on the monitor that's attached.  Like, at runtime.  It's
> terrifying and awesome.

Ah, so the situation is not as bad as I thought.  Still, the vesa
driver will not offer a good experience to people who are used to the
nv driver, especially with a large display.

> > > Given nvidia's recent announcement deprecating the nv driver,
> > > and that nv will never support DisplayPort, the vesa driver
> > > seems a safer default for autoconfiguration than nv.
> >=20
> > I disagree.  If Nvidia decides to screw over the open source
> > community, it doesn't mean we have to bend over backwards.  Isn't
> > "nouveau" ready to take over the role of "nv" yet?
> 
> Pretty close, for OSes that have a nouveau kernel component.

So perhaps its better to wait for the next release, when it is ready
and replace "nv" with "nouveau" for the OSes that have the kernel
component and leave everybody else with "nv" for a little while
longer?