Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2017 04:34:46 +1000 (EST) From: Ian Smith <smithi@nimnet.asn.au> To: Warren Block <wblock@wonkity.com> Cc: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>, "Steve O'Hara-Smith" <steve@sohara.org>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Restoring sc console look and feel with vt Message-ID: <20170923033444.Q35468@sola.nimnet.asn.au> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.21.1709221038540.83552@wonkity.com> References: <mailman.83.1505476802.36054.freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> <20170916020243.B81507@sola.nimnet.asn.au> <20170915200315.289b3fdf.freebsd@edvax.de> <20170917011446.F81507@sola.nimnet.asn.au> <20170916185812.0ccc21a1.freebsd@edvax.de> <alpine.BSF.2.21.1709221038540.83552@wonkity.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Fri, 22 Sep 2017 11:14:13 -0600, Warren Block wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Sep 2017, Polytropon wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 17 Sep 2017 02:21:51 +1000 (EST), Ian Smith wrote:
> > > Are you sure there's no way to use sc(4) with X on 10.3?
> >
> > The reason why I switched to vt was exactly that reason: with sc
> > in place, X wouldn't start anymore. This happened at some point
> > during the "updating trail" of 10.1 -> 10.3 with ports updated
> > (via pkg). Something that worked for months suddenly stopped
> > working, which always is a terrible experience. When I switched
> > to vt in the loader, X worked again as it did before.
>
> I'm fairly sure that is due to KMS video. vt(4) supports it, sc(4) was out
> decades before anyone thought of it.
>
> > From another channel, I've been told that persistently setting the gop
> command in the loader is either not implemented or must be done in one of the
> Forth loader files. I tried some things with no success yet, and have
> inquiries to dteske@.
Have you tried on an i386 system? My explore indicated that gop(0) only
exists in /usr/src/sys/boot/efi/loader/arch/amd64/framebuffer.c on 10.3,
11.1 and head. Apparently nothing similar for the i386 loader.
Polytropon's system also is BIOS|ACPI not EFI, though it wasn't clear to
me that this code position in hierarchy necessarily implies EFI-booting?
> > > We saw lots
> > > about getting proper console switching going (again) using vt and X on
> > > the stable@ list on earlier 10.x, but I can't recall any details, since
> > > sc still works fine on my 9.3 (amd64) system, where vt(4) first became
> > > available, including proper suspend/resume support from ttyvN or from X.
Again, that's an older system; core2duo, no EFI, no KMS (GM4500 graphics
as I recall). So there's a complicated web of older systems being left
behind fairly unceremoniously (with nobody to blame :) at an increasing
rate .. or so it looks to we old farts who value stability over novelty.
> > That is a different problem. Until you start X, sc works perfectly
> > fine. Even in a setting where "sc + startx" is working, shutting
> > down the X session or switching using e. g. Ctrl+Alt+F1 leaves you
> > with a console that works, but without visible text ("blind console").
> > With vt, at least this problem is gone, even though the console now
> > is visible only with the tiniest letters.
>
> I just tested this on a Haswell notebook with 11-stable. The mode setting is
> either lost after leaving X, or it just keeps the resolution chosen in X.
>
>
> However, vidfont and vidcontrol work to select a larger font.
>
> vidfont -p
>
> to print available font names. Then
>
> vidcontrol -f vgarom-16x32
>
> to choose one of them. This can be set in /etc/rc.conf with
>
> allscreens_flags="-f vgarom-16x13"
>
> It does not take effect until late in the startup, so the boot messages are
> in the default or gop-set mode.
Does 'uga' command also in mentioned MFC work at your loader prompt?
> I'm not sure where this should be documented in the Handbook.
Seems it would by now need distinguishing between architectures, classes
of graphics and perhaps whether and where EFI boot or support is needed?
Just thought bubbles .. FWIW.
cheers, Ian
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20170923033444.Q35468>