How to display something on screen through linux framebuffer?

Question

I found the following code which was designed to draw a square on screen.

 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <linux/fb.h>
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>

 int main()
 {
     int fbfd = 0;
     struct fb_var_screeninfo vinfo;
     struct fb_fix_screeninfo finfo;
     long int screensize = 0;
     char *fbp = 0;
     int x = 0, y = 0;
     long int location = 0;

 // Open the file for reading and writing
 fbfd = open("/dev/fb0", O_RDWR);
 if (fbfd == -1) {
     perror("Error: cannot open framebuffer device");
     exit(1);
 }
 printf("The framebuffer device was opened successfully.\n");

 // Get fixed screen information
 if (ioctl(fbfd, FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO, &finfo) == -1) {
     perror("Error reading fixed information");
     exit(2);
 }

 // Get variable screen information
 if (ioctl(fbfd, FBIOGET_VSCREENINFO, &vinfo) == -1) {
     perror("Error reading variable information");
     exit(3);
 }

 printf("%dx%d, %dbpp\n", vinfo.xres, vinfo.yres, vinfo.bits_per_pixel);

 // Figure out the size of the screen in bytes
 screensize = vinfo.xres * vinfo.yres * vinfo.bits_per_pixel / 8;

 // Map the device to memory
 fbp = (char *)mmap(0, screensize, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED,
                    fbfd, 0);
 if ((int)fbp == -1) {
     perror("Error: failed to map framebuffer device to memory");
     exit(4);
 }
 printf("The framebuffer device was mapped to memory successfully.\n");

 x = 300; y = 100;       // Where we are going to put the pixel

 // Figure out where in memory to put the pixel
 for (y = 100; y < 300; y++)
     for (x = 100; x < 300; x++) {

         location = (x+vinfo.xoffset) * (vinfo.bits_per_pixel/8) +
                    (y+vinfo.yoffset) * finfo.line_length;

         if (vinfo.bits_per_pixel == 32) {
             *(fbp + location) = 100;        // Some blue
             *(fbp + location + 1) = 15+(x-100)/2;     // A little green
             *(fbp + location + 2) = 200-(y-100)/5;    // A lot of red
             *(fbp + location + 3) = 0;      // No transparency
         } else  { //assume 16bpp
             int b = 10;
             int g = (x-100)/6;     // A little green
             int r = 31-(y-100)/16;    // A lot of red
             unsigned short int t = r<<11 | g << 5 | b;
             *((unsigned short int*)(fbp + location)) = t;
         }

     }
 munmap(fbp, screensize);
 close(fbfd);
 return 0;
 }

When I run it there is no error but unfortunately, nothing happens, nothing is displayed. What I should do to obtain a picture on screen? I am working on ubuntu 14.

Answer 1

Use console not terminal . cntl+alt+f2 to open a console. then compile your code and run

Answer 2

It runs fine.

Framebuffer programs use the Linux "text" consoles (they do more than text), not XWindows, and not an ssh terminal session.

Framebuffer is not a very nice interface for most purposes. It might be OK for writing a game that takes over the machine. A new Linux desktop program should use something XWindows compatible.

To run:

1. from XWindows Linux desktop press Control+Alt+F1 to get a Linux "text" console. (Don't use a terminal window instead).
2. Log in with your password
3. Put the program in square.c. Compile the program with something like gcc square.c -o square It will give a warning about a pointer/int conversion that looks ok.
4. [*] use sudo su to become root
5. run the compiled program ./square

It makes a shaded pink square.

Or it prints Error: cannot open framebuffer device if you are not root.

[*] Never run as root a program you do not completely trust