Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 19:48:38 +0900 From: Kazutaka YOKOTA <yokota@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp> To: current@freebsd.org Cc: doc@freebsd.org, Giorgos Keramidas <charon@labs.gr>, yokota@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp Subject: Proposal: Replacement for VISUALUSERCONFIG (was: Re: Need to update man section 4!) Message-ID: <200110071048.TAA07886@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 07 Oct 2001 15:13:36 JST." <200110070613.PAA06382@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp> References: <200110061018.TAA03313@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp> <20011006142219.A12443@hades.hell.gr> <200110070613.PAA06382@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
We can manipulate "device hints" and loader/kernel environment variables in /boot/device.hints by the "set/unset/show" commands in the boot loader(8). This corresponds to what we used to do in the USERCONFIG menu in the kernel. I think it may be a good idea to have "visual" (or friendly?) interface to manipulate the device hints (and other loader variables) in the boot loader, just like the VISUALUSERCONFIG front-end, for novice users and those who are not quite familiar with the boot loader commands. If we are to have this facility in the boot loader, we can get rid of USERCONFIG and VISUALUSERCONFIG from the kernel :-) I wrote an experimental patch to the boot loader. You can find it at: ftp://people.freebsd.org/~yokota/vuserconfig.tar.gz It includes: vuserconfig.diff patch for /sys/boot/common/Makefile.inc and /sys/boot/i386/libi386/vidconsole.c vuseconfig.c put this in /sys/boot/common hints.diff patch for /sys/i386/conf/GENERIC.hints (and /boot/device.hints) to add some descriptive strings for device drivers Rebuild the loader. Type "userconfig" at the loader prompt, then you will be in this VISUALUSERCONFIG-like front-end. Use TAB, ENTER, and cursor keys to navigate. Type 'Q' to quit, and you will be put back to the loader prompt. Some notes: - I don't intend to do everything in this front-end. It provides just a simple interface to set/reset/edit device hints and other variables. - This front-end is not an exact "clone" of VISUALUSERCONFIG. But the basic idea is the same. - Maybe I should have written this in Forth, rather than in C. But, I have almost nil knowledge of Forth. - One big drawback: this will bloat the boot loader and will consume precious disk space in kern.flp... *sigh* I welcome any comments, suggestions, and ideas. Thank you, Kazu In my previous post, I wrote: >Thank you for your comments. > >The User Config menu is completely disabled and isn't available >in -CURRENT now. > >I strongly doubt it will ever come back. You see, we can now >set/unset/edit device resource "hints" from the loader(8) prompt, >thus, there is little need to have the old User Config menu compiled >into the kernel. > >Please also have a look at my draft on the man page for device.hints(5). > >http://people.freebsd.org/~yokota/device.hints.5 > >The only thing which were available in the User Config, but is not in >the loader(8) is the "Visual" User Config option. > >But, I expect such visual front-end to edit the device resource hints >can be added to the loader, in one way or another. > >Kazu To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200110071048.TAA07886>