drm-vmwgfx

Updated: April 19, 2023

Start the DRM Server for graphics hardware to support virtual target environments in VMware

Syntax:

drm-vmwgfx  [-a ]
            [-d debug_mask]
            [-e ]
            [-f video_string]
            [-i ]
            [-l ]
            [-o option_value_pair]
            [-p ]
            [-s ]
            [-t ]
            [-v ]
    

Runs on:

QNX Neutrino

Options:

-a
List all available options for modules (full format) and then exit. These are the options that you can use to specify the -o option of this drm-vmwgfx utility.
-d debug_mask
Enable DRM debug messages according to the value specified by debug_mask. Specify which DRM debug messages you want to enable based on the following masks:
  • 0x01: DRM_UT_CORE messages
  • 0x02: DRM_UT_DRIVER messages
  • 0x04: DRM_UT_KMS messages
  • 0x08: DRM_UT_PRIME messages
  • 0x10: DRM_UT_ATOMIC messages
  • 0x20: DRM_UT_INFO messages
  • 0x80: DRM_UT_TRACE messages
  • 0xFF: All messages
-e
Enable the linux debugfs interface.
-f video_string
Set video format as specified in video_string. This is the analog of the linux kernel option: video=[video_string]. Specify video_string by using the following format:

connector:XxY[M][R][-bpp][@refresh_rate][i][m][eDd]

where:
  • connector is the type of connection to the display (e.g., DVI-I-1, eDP-1)
  • X is width (in pixels) of the display resolution
  • Y is height (in pixels) of the display resolution
  • M is the option that you can specify to compute a CVT mode
  • R is an option that you can specify to reduce blanking
  • bpp is the number of bits per pixel to use to indicate color depth
  • refresh_rate is rate of refresh of the display
  • i is the option that you can specify to compute with interlaced (non-CVT) mode
  • m is the option that you can specify to use margins
  • e is the option that you can specify to enable output
  • D is the option that you can specify to force digital output to be enabled if the display output connector (e.g., DVI-I connector) has dual (analog/digital) interfaces
  • d is the option that you can specify to disable output
-i
Starts the DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) server to support virtual target environments in VMWare and list the modules' options (short format) with their corresponding value. If you're specifying options with the -o option, then it must precede the -i in the command line. For example:
 
# drm-vmwgfx -o enable_fbdev=1 -i

Linux kernel modules settings:
    dp_aux_i2c_transfer_size: 16
    dp_aux_i2c_speed_khz: 10
    debug: 0
    edid_fixup: 6
    edid_firmware: 
    poll: Y
    timestamp_precision_usec: 20
    vblankoffdelay: 5000
    assume_16bpp: 0
    restrict_dma_mask: 0
    force_coherent: 0
    restrict_iommu: 0
    force_dma_api: 0
    enable_fbdev: 1         
                
-l
List all available options for modules (short format) and then exit. These are the options that you can use to specify the -o option of this drm-vmwgfx utility.
-o option_value_pair
Set the options that are specified in option_value_pair. Use the -a or -l options of this drm-vmwgfx utility to obtain a list of available options you can specify here. Specify option_value_pair by using the following format:

option=value

where option is from the list you retrieve from the -a or -l options and option is the value you want to set this option to. For example, you can run drm-vmwgfx with the -a option:
# drm-vmwgfx -a
...
enable_ppgtt     int  Override PPGTT usage...
enable_hangcheck bool Periodically check GPU activity for detecting hangs...
panel_use_ssc    int  Use Spread Spectrum Clock with panels [LVDS/eDP] (default: auto from VBT)
...
                

then you can run drm-vmwgfx and specify some options such as the following:

# drm-vmwgfx -o enable_ppgtt=-1 -o enable_hangcheck=0 -o panel_use_scc=1
                
Note: When you set the DRM_CMDLINE environment variable on your target, the options and values that you specify in DRM_CMDLINE will be used when drm-vmwgfx is invoked by screen.

Set DRM_CMDLINE to the command-line -o option. For example:

# export DRM_CMDLINE="-o enable_ppgtt=-1 -o enable_hangcheck=0 -o panel_use_scc=1"
                    
-p
Output messages via fprintf()
-s
Output messages via slogf()
-t
Output messages via trace_slogf()
-v
Display version information and then exit.

Description:

The drm-vmwgfx utility starts the DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) server to support virtual target environments in VMWare. This service is required only if you're running graphics in this type of virtualized environment.

If not already running, screen will start drm-vmwgfx before its initialization.

Note:

To run drm-vmwgfx as a general user rather than as root, you must:

  • be running in a system that uses a security policy
  • apply the corresponding policy rules by specifying the appropriate security type when you run drm-vmwgfx
  • start drm-vmwgfx before you start screen

Running as a general user, rather than as root, provides a more secure runtime environment. If there are any unpredictable applications on the system, they won't be able to leverage drm-vmwgfx to run undesirable code as a privileged user.

See the Security policies chapter of this guide for more information.

If you need to manually start drm-vmwgfx, then on your target do the following:

  1. Run drm-vmwgfx with your specified options from a shell.
  2. Start screen.