OPENSTEP with VBE driver

This patch installs a VBE video driver. This driver allows an OPENSTEP 4.2 system to use any display adapter which conforms to version 2.0 of the VESA BIOS extension standard. Use of the VBE driver requires updating the kernel and the booter. The updated kernel and booter are also compatible with all other video drivers, and both are included in this patch. For more information, see the VESA VBE OPENSTEP Driver Overview, TIL article 70026.

New Booter Features

The new booter included in this patch includes two new features:

1. If you are using the new VESA VBE driver, you can specify a VBE video mode at boot time. Specify “VBE Check”=Yes at the boot prompt to get a list of available VBE video modes. Then use “VBE Mode”=xxx to specify the mode number you want to use. The mode number is the three-digit number listed before each mode. For example, if one of the listed video modes was:

257=640x480x256

you would type “VBE Mode”=257 at the booter prompt to boot with 640×480, 256-color VESA graphics.

2. The new booter allows you to step through your boot drivers, choosing which to load and which to skip. Specify Query=Yes at the boot prompt, and the booter will prompt before loading each boot driver.