[coreboot] Video card bios project

Sun Jun 19 14:11:15 CEST 2011

I have phoned Australia and spoke to an expert in Procon.com.au about 2
times and corresponded via email.  Procon.com.au are wanting several hundred
dollars whether it's  my font or theirs.  This is not affordable.  I don't
know why vga bios is proprietary still and there is not any opensource
alternatives.  Thus if some opensource enthusiast does it that would be
great.  Coreboot project are doing main bios.  Similarly if it's done for
video card bios that would be tremendous.

Regards

Meeku

On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 11:52 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Ramch April May the R A M months <ramchaprilmay at gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 8:31 AM
> Subject: Re: Help with Bitmap fonts
> To: Wynand Marais <wynand.marais at gmail.com>
>
>
> Hi Wynand
>
> Have not heard from you, have you forgotten about this?
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Meeku
>
>
> On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 6:30 PM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Wynard
>>
>> From those 3 expert responses, it could be 2 bitmap font types:
>>
>> Console bitmap font (first 2 expert responses)
>>
>> Bios and Video Card bitmap font (last expert response)
>>
>> Anyway I'm only a newbie, I'll leave it you :-)
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>> Meeku
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 10:30 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
>> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Wynand
>>>
>>> I received another response:
>>>
>>> -----Start-----
>>>
>>> *"Resolution*: default VGA text mode is 720 x 400, but can
>>> be swiched by software to 640x400, 640x350 and some others.
>>> *File Format*: no files, it's just somewhere in the BIOS
>>> and some pointers point to the start of the font character
>>> bytes startng at char 0.
>>>
>>> Does 1 indicate a pixel of the glyph, and 0 the background or visa versa?
>>> Yes
>>> *Glyph Size*: 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16 pixels
>>> Yes. 8x14 is missing often in todays BIOSes. Was used for
>>> EGA resolution (640x350) but some software uses it to get
>>> 28 text lines on VGA resolution. If missing, it looks messy.
>>> *How is the alphabet arrange*? Is all 256 glyphs in one image?"
>>> Yes.
>>>
>>> Since the text resolution is 720 wide, there are 9 pixels
>>> per char. So you can use all 8 pixels of each char, no space
>>> needed. The 9th pixel column just stays empty, so you always have
>>> a space between the chars. Only in a certain range (I think
>>> 176 to 223 the 8th column is duplicated to the 9th one to get
>>> block graphics chars without a gap.
>>>
>>> Since a real BIOS font shall look ok on 640x400 and 640x350 too,
>>> the chars use 7 pixels only and keep the 8th column empty.
>>> But there are some extra chars defined behind the default font
>>> which are used somehow for 720 pixel wide modes. Usualy there
>>> are the letters M, T, W and the zero.
>>> Just take a look at a BIOS, e.g. with MemPatch.
>>>
>>> http://www.uwe-sieber.de/files/mempatch.zip
>>>
>>> Here is some stuff:
>>> http://www.uwe-sieber.de/temp/dos-fonts.zip
>>>
>>> fontpatch is a tool for editing DOS fonts and store them
>>> into an executable which can load it into the memory and
>>> makes it used by changing the pointer to the font.
>>> The fnt files are pure BIOS fonts I had created 20 years
>>> ago...
>>>
>>> -----End-----
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>>
>>> Meeku
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 11:47 PM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
>>> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi
>>>>
>>>> I received 2 responses:
>>>>
>>>> "Under Linux, the file format used for console fonts is PSF:
>>>>
>>>> <http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/kbd/font-formats-1.html>
>>>>
>>>>  which, at its simplest, is a 4-byte header followed by monochrome
>>>> character data for 256 characters. (For the 16-row font this is 256*16 =
>>>> 4096 bytes, for a total of 4100 bytes).
>>>>
>>>>  I'm not aware of any automated conversion tool that can make PSFs
>>>> directly from bitmap images. The nearest a bitmap tool could get is probably
>>>> .PBM format, 8 pixels wide and 4096 high, with all the letters one above the
>>>> other. Then slice off the .PBM header and add a .PSF header."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "As far as I know, there's no header. Each byte is one row of the
>>>> character. All 256 glyphs are in one file sequentially -- i.e., 16 bytes for
>>>> character 0x00, 16 bytes for character 0x01, etc. 0 = background, 1 = pixel
>>>> on."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Cheers for doing this.  Hope this is helpful.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Meeku
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 5:46 AM, Wynand Marais <wynand.marais at gmail.com
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Meeku
>>>>>
>>>>> They are just verifying what I've been telling you so far. I'm
>>>>> not committing to this, but at the earliest it will have to wait till the
>>>>> weekend at the earliest. You have to realise I have 3 paying jobs, my
>>>>> current employers must take priority, otherwise they will have no initiative
>>>>> to pay me. Also you can't hire a professional software engineer for USD15 in
>>>>> Australia.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, get me all the information (see below), and I'll see when I
>>>>> have free time, if I can write it. The information i need is:
>>>>>
>>>>> *Resolution*: width x height (in pixels)
>>>>> *File Format*: its bitmap 1,0, but does the file need a specific
>>>>> header? Does 1 indicate a pixel of the glyph, and 0 the background or visa
>>>>> versa?
>>>>> *Glyph Size*: 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16 pixels
>>>>> *How is the alphabet arrange*? Is all 256 glyphs in one image?
>>>>>
>>>>>  Cheers
>>>>> -Wynand
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 5:12 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
>>>>> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Wynand
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here is another expert's quote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "BIOS fonts are 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16 pixels.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The fonts in the screenshot do no look like bitmap fonts
>>>>>> at all, they are not 'black and white', the are rendered."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please could you agree to doing the way they suggest.  I could pay you
>>>>>> USD15 for your time and trouble.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 11:57 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
>>>>>> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Wynand
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I contacted some experts about whether your bitmap font is suitable
>>>>>>> as a "hardware font" for Video Card and Bios.  Those who responded say the
>>>>>>> sizes are wrong and one expert says the colour is wrong.  Here are there
>>>>>>> quotes for your information:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "VGA hardware uses an 8x16-pixel character cell-- the smallest one in
>>>>>>> the samples you linked uses 16x16 pixels for each character."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "As it is, I don't think the font is suitable. The 256x256 one is
>>>>>>> probably the closest in size, but it's still a greyscale image; BIOS fonts
>>>>>>> can't be antialiased, so all those greys would have to be flattened to black
>>>>>>> or white. They also use a cell 16 pixels high and 8 wide, not the 16x16 cell
>>>>>>> used here, so some letters would be truncated (for example, the 'w')."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Is it possible you could fit the bitmap font to meet the above Video
>>>>>>> Card and Bios requirements?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Wynand Marais <
>>>>>>> wynand.marais at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Meeku
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sorry, I work three jobs atm, and I worked all night to get the last
>>>>>>>> software realse out the door, so was sleeping all day.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> > BTW, I saw on your website that you practice both software and
>>>>>>>> hardware automation.  I am wanting to launch a nonprofit-nonsalary
>>>>>>>> organisation for a purpose and I would be grateful if you have any regular
>>>>>>>> spare time for consultation?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I'd be curious to see what you end up doing, unfortunately as I
>>>>>>>> mentioned above, I'm allready working three jobs, so I rather not make any
>>>>>>>> promises at this stage, sorry.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Video-Tweak/HVFULLSC-Full-Screen-Video-Card-and-CPI-Fonts.shtml
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I don't think my stuff would be the same at all. The fonts use
>>>>>>>> internally by the vga adapter will likely only be a bit mask with
>>>>>>>> no anti-aliasing etc. (I would expect anyway, since the orgins date back to
>>>>>>>> when "PCs" in a sense were first conceived. ) I'm however completely out of
>>>>>>>> depth commenting on how it would work. I've never worked with anything like
>>>>>>>> that, the bitmap fonts I generate are itended to be used as textures in
>>>>>>>> graphics APIs like OpenGL and DirectX which are abstractions above the
>>>>>>>> hardware level. The application in the link I suspect would replace some
>>>>>>>> binary font set programmed into a flash/eeprom on the video card somewhere.
>>>>>>>> An example of where this font file can be used (and is targeted for use) is
>>>>>>>> given in this example:
>>>>>>>> http://nehe.gamedev.net/data/lessons/lesson.asp?lesson=43
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> > Please tell me if I could pay you an amount via PayPal for this
>>>>>>>> font.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> No, thats fine, I didn't design the font, just rendered it to a
>>>>>>>> picture, so I cant take any credit for it. Also, as I said on the website,
>>>>>>>> the tools are completely free, I just like to know what people use it for :)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>> -Wynand
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 7:24 PM, Ramch April May the R A M months <
>>>>>>>> ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I have released your font on Typophile forum,
>>>>>>>>> http://typophile.com/node/81929
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> <http://typophile.com/node/81929>Please tell me if I could pay you
>>>>>>>>> an amount via PayPal for this font.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 8:06 AM, Wynand Marais <
>>>>>>>>> wynand.marais at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> No, 256, 512 and 1024 maps to 2^N boundaries used on many video
>>>>>>>>>> cards for texture sizes. As mentioned earlier this is designed for game
>>>>>>>>>> engines, hence these sizes are specified as the minimum (256) where the font
>>>>>>>>>> is not really clearly visible, the "nice" size (512) which give a good
>>>>>>>>>> balance of texture size and glyph resolution, and the biggest 1024 which is
>>>>>>>>>> generally the upper limit for what size textures you want to use in games.
>>>>>>>>>> When rendering bitmap fonts, you want to select the texture that gives you
>>>>>>>>>> the lest amount of scaling between the glyph size in the texture which is
>>>>>>>>>> either 256/16, 512/16 or 1024/16 in order to give you the least amount of
>>>>>>>>>> distortion. For example, if you want a font height of 16pixels, you would
>>>>>>>>>> just use the glyphs directly from the 256 image.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The ".awd" is the "advance width" file. Every-time you write a
>>>>>>>>>> glyph, you need to advance the text cursor a cetrain distance before drawing
>>>>>>>>>> the next glyph. This file contains this information for each glyph in the
>>>>>>>>>> image effectively supporting variable width fonts.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> The ".pwd" file is the "physical width" file which contains the
>>>>>>>>>> maximum width of each glyph in the image. This information is used when you
>>>>>>>>>> are calculating maximum line widths, or are working with rendering
>>>>>>>>>> individual glyphs to ensure you achieve proper centering.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Referring to your previous message:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Please could you help with converting a Rail Model font
>>>>>>>>>> (download: http://code.google.com/p/railmodel/downloads/list) into
>>>>>>>>>> bitmap font for modding an existing linux distribution's console font /
>>>>>>>>>> developing a linux distribution?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I don't think you need to create a bitmap font for this. If you
>>>>>>>>>> are using a powerful enough linux distro you should be able to just install
>>>>>>>>>> the font to the users .font directory, and then change the user terminal to
>>>>>>>>>> use that font. If you are talking about the TTY fonts, I really cant help
>>>>>>>>>> you as I have no idea about it myself. I honestly don't know if
>>>>>>>>>> these generated fonts will be useful in anyway for this purpose. I would
>>>>>>>>>> suggest that you workout which terminal you want to change the font for
>>>>>>>>>> (i.e. XTerm, Gnome Terminal, Konsole, Bash, TTY, etc), and change their
>>>>>>>>>> config options accordingly to use the truetype front found at the google
>>>>>>>>>> link.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>>>> -Wynand
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 6:21 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months
>>>>>>>>>> <ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Wynand
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers for doing the bitmap font.  I am not a techie: based on my
>>>>>>>>>>> viewing the tga images would I be correct in presuming that folders 1024,
>>>>>>>>>>> 256 and 512 are different screen sizes?  I am not sure what are awd and pwd
>>>>>>>>>>> files, are there any install instructions that you could send, for example
>>>>>>>>>>> for Ubuntu?  Even if I visit my local Linux User Group, they might not have
>>>>>>>>>>> the immediate understanding.  Thus I would be most grateful if you could
>>>>>>>>>>> send some information about how it should be done.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 8:17 AM, Wynand Marais <
>>>>>>>>>>> wynand.marais at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I've attached the generated bitmap fonts.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>>>>>> -Wynand
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 7:22 AM, Ramch April May the R A M months
>>>>>>>>>>>> <ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Wynand
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Please could you help with converting a Rail Model font
>>>>>>>>>>>>> (download: http://code.google.com/p/railmodel/downloads/list) into
>>>>>>>>>>>>> bitmap font for modding an existing linux distribution's console font /
>>>>>>>>>>>>> developing a linux distribution?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 3:27 AM, Wynand Marais <
>>>>>>>>>>>>> wynand.marais at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I'll do it just this once.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Just out of curiosity, what are you using the bitmap fonts
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for? (The fonts I'm generating is very specific for use in game engines to
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> render basic ASCII English text, so I really can't guarantee it will work on
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> anything else.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Wynand
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 1:51 AM, Ramch April May the R A M
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> months <ramchaprilmay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I saw your site
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> http://revantech.com/projects/linux-osx-mac-game-engine/bitmap-font-generator/ Bitmap
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Generator
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I need help as I am not a techie.  Could you produce a Bitmap
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> font if I sent you a  font?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Meeku
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
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