Re: no HDMI on rpi4b NetBSD 10.1

[Steve Rikli <sr%genyosha.net@localhost>]

On Mon, Jul 14, 2025 at 06:24:10PM +0200, Ramiro Aceves wrote:
> El 14/7/25 a las 17:26, Steve Rikli escribió:
> > I've used NetBSD for a while, but this is my first time with ARM. My
> > setup:
> > 
> > - Raspberry pi4 model B, 8GB RAM, microSD sysdisk, serial HAT with db9
> > 
> > - connected serial console, plus HDMI monitor and USB keyboard,mouse
> > 
> > - installed with dd image NetBSD-10-aarch64--generic.img.gz from
> >      https://nycdn.netbsd.org/pub/arm/
> >    as I understand it, these images come with UEFI.
> > 
> > During first boot I watched both serial and HDMI consoles. At poweron,
> > the serial console quickly showed output, but while the HDMI monitor
> > woke up right away, like it was getting a signal, no output ever
> > appeared there.
> > 
> > I was able to complete setup on serial console, and since that's how
> > I run most of my servers this is good enough to get started.
> > 
> > Is HDMI supposed to work at this point?
> > 
> > I'm confident in the HDMI monitor and cables, and the rpi4's HDMI; they
> > work with the original Raspbian OS, and I see rpi bootloader text output
> > on the monitor when I remove the microSD and power on.
> > 
> >  From NetBSD, the 'drvctl -l wsdisplay0' rc.conf routine doesn't find a
> > device, and 'dmesg' doesn't list anything that looks like "display"; I
> > do see these lines:
> > [     1.000004] /soc/hdmi@7ef00700 at simplebus1 not configured
> > [     1.000004] /soc/hdmi@7ef05700 at simplebus1 not configured
> > 
> > Presumably that's all related, but I don't know what to expect here.
> > 
> > I've sysupgrade to the daily NetBSD from Jul 12 as a matter of course,
> > but it didn't change HDMI behavior.
> > 
> > Do I need to add to (or replace?) any UEFI files which came along with
> > the NetBSD-10-aarch64--generic.img ?  Also, is there a way to check
> > the version of the UEFI file(s) there?
> > 
> > Newer/different kernel required? Or load some additional module?
> > 
> > Fwiw the full 8GB RAM appears available, I didn't have to do anything
> > to enable it.
> > 
> > I tried a few suggestions from rpi forums and wikis, e.g. hdmi_safe=1
> > in /boot/config.txt and similar things; no change. I don't know how
> > much NetBSD makes use of some of those settings -- I'm guessing some
> > functionality from NetBSD /boot.cfg is handled there for evbarm?
> > 
> > I'm thinking of updating the rpi4 bootloader using the "Raspberry Pi
> > Imager", the version this unit came with is dated 2022/01/25.
> > 
> > I'm not roadblocked without HDMI, but it'd be nice to know what I'm
> > missing here -- ideas and suggestions always welcome.
> 
> I'm curious to hear what answers to your question from people in authority
> who know the subject much better than me. I've never used the
> NetBSD-10-aarch64--generic.img.gz image, only the standard image plus the

When you say "standard image" are you referring to arm64.img.gz from e.g.
http://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-10.1/evbarm-aarch64/binary/gzimg/

I diff'd arm64.img.gz and NetBSD-10-aarch64--generic.img.gz before writing
my microSD card, and they were the same.

> UEFI firmware from github https://github.com/pftf/RPi4, as I mentioned here:
> https://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2025/07/14/msg032853.html
> 
> I have HDMI working fine that way.
> Keep tuned.

Yes, I've been following that thread (and others) :-) .  At this point
I'm wondering if the NetBSD-10-aarch64--generic.img.gz really does have
the "right" UEFI files; hence my question above about adding them.

Thanks,
sr.