From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Dec 22 22:19:31 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2C5BC16A41B for ; Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:19:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@parodius.com) Received: from mx01.sc1.parodius.com (mx01.sc1.parodius.com [72.20.106.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 233B813C44B for ; Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:19:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jdc@parodius.com) Received: by mx01.sc1.parodius.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id E10111CC038; Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:19:30 -0800 (PST) Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:19:30 -0800 From: Jeremy Chadwick To: Chuck Robey Message-ID: <20071222221930.GA33588@eos.sc1.parodius.com> References: <476AF132.4080304@chuckr.org> <20071221074556.GA69673@cicely12.cicely.de> <476C85A0.7050402@chuckr.org> <20071222103723.GC15935@cicely12.cicely.de> <476D4E35.7000808@chuckr.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <476D4E35.7000808@chuckr.org> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.16 (2007-06-09) Cc: FreeBSD-Hackers , ticso@cicely.de Subject: Re: printing boot probe messages X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:19:31 -0000 On Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 12:49:41PM -0500, Chuck Robey wrote: > TCSH-april:root:/home/chuckr:#105-12:23>conscontrol > Configured: dcons > Available: dcons,gdb > Muting: off > > If you use the "list" parameter to conscontrol, the same printout results. I > *think* you might be saying that I should see something dealing with > consolectl, nothing resu;ting even from man -k consolectl. I did find the > file /dev/consolectl, but I can't figure out the use of it. conscontrol(8) output of configured/available devices simply parses the kern.console sysctl variable. Everything after the "/" is considered an available device for console output, and everything prior is considered a working/used console. So, based on the output of the command you ran, I'd say all of your console messages (the ones you're looking for) are going to dcons. I had absolutely no idea what "dcons" was until I man'd it. It appears to be a basic I/O driver that allows other drivers (or busses) to attach to it. When used as a console device, all kernel messages end up going into that buffer. Therefore, you appear to have some settings in your kernel configuration which are inducing the behaviour you're experiencing. A RELENG_6 box with serial console enabled (/boot.config contains -Dh) and "options GDB" (but no dcons device) enabled in the kernel shows this: eos# conscontrol Configured: ttyd0,consolectl Available: ttyd0,consolectl Muting: off eos# sysctl kern.console kern.console: ttyd0,consolectl,/ttyd0,consolectl, A RELENG_7 box without serial console (just VGA), and "options GDB" in the kernel shows this: icarus# conscontrol Configured: consolectl Available: consolectl,gdb,ttyd0 Muting: off icarus# sysctl kern.console kern.console: consolectl,/consolectl,gdb,ttyd0, > Hmmm, I found a hint on an old email, hinting that the command "conscontrol > should have been used to add a console. conscontrol(8) lets you adjust which devices kernel messages go to. You can't just pick "any device in /dev". It doesn't work that way. > I just tried using the ctl-alt-f1 > combo to get onto ttyv0. I did a tty, this proved I was in fact on ttyv0, so > i tried to do a "conscontrol add /dev/ttyv0, but what came back was "device > not configured". I think I'm close here, so what should my console device be? No, you can't do this. Your available console devices are listed when you do `conscontrol' from the command line. In your case right now, your available consoles are either dcons (which you're already using) or gdb. Based on what I can figure out, your kernel configuration is very likely missing the inclusion of the syscons(4) driver, which is what drives VGA output. Although, the fact that you can switch virtual VGA consoles via Control-Alt-Fx seems to indicate you have a working VGA console somehow. I think it would be benefitial to see your kernel configuration, the contents of /boot/loader.conf, and /boot.config if you have one. -- | Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com | | Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ | | UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA | | Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |