3 .\" Kazutaka YOKOTA <yokota@zodiac.mech.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp>
4 .\" All rights reserved.
6 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
7 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
9 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
10 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer as
11 .\" the first lines of this file unmodified.
12 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
16 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
17 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
18 .\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
19 .\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
20 .\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
21 .\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
22 .\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
23 .\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
24 .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
25 .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
27 .\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man4/syscons.4,v 1.10.2.14 2003/04/25 21:21:36 brueffer Exp $
35 .Nd the console driver
37 .Cd "options MAXCONS=N"
38 .Cd "options SC_ALT_MOUSE_IMAGE"
39 .Cd "options SC_DISABLE_DDBKEY"
40 .Cd "options SC_DISABLE_REBOOT"
41 .Cd "options SC_HISTORY_SIZE=N"
42 .Cd "options SC_MOUSE_CHAR=C"
43 .Cd "options SC_NO_CUTPASTE"
44 .Cd "options SC_NO_FONT_LOADING"
45 .Cd "options SC_NO_HISTORY"
46 .Cd "options SC_NO_PALETTE_LOADING"
47 .Cd "options SC_NO_SYSMOUSE"
48 .Cd "options SC_PIXEL_MODE"
49 .Cd "options SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
50 .Cd "options SC_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_"
51 .Cd "options SC_NORM_REV_ATTR=_attribute_"
52 .Cd "options SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR=_attribute_"
53 .Cd "options SC_KERNEL_CONS_REV_ATTR=_attribute_"
54 .Cd "options SC_DFLT_FONT"
55 .Cd "makeoptions SC_DFLT_FONT=_font_name_"
56 .Cd "device sc0 at isa?" Op flags Ar flags
60 driver provides multiple virtual terminals.
61 It resembles the SCO color console driver.
65 driver is implemented on top of the keyboard driver
67 and the video card drivers
73 .Sx DRIVER CONFIGURATION
74 below on how to make the console work with
81 device defined in the system.
85 driver provides multiple virtual terminals which appear as if they were
87 One virtual terminal is considered current and exclusively
88 occupies the screen and the keyboard; the other virtual terminals
89 are placed in the background.
91 In order to use virtual terminals, they must be individually
96 will recognize them to be active and run
98 to let the user log in to the system.
99 By default, only the first eight virtual terminals are activated in
104 key and a switch key to switch between
106 The following table summarizes the correspondence between the switch
107 key and the virtual terminal.
108 .Bd -literal -offset indent
109 Alt-F1 ttyv0 Alt-F7 ttyv6 Shift-Alt-F1 ttyv10
110 Alt-F2 ttyv1 Alt-F8 ttyv7 Shift-Alt-F2 ttyv11
111 Alt-F3 ttyv2 Alt-F9 ttyv8 Shift-Alt-F3 ttyv12
112 Alt-F4 ttyv3 Alt-F10 ttyv9 Shift-Alt-F4 ttyv13
113 Alt-F5 ttyv4 Alt-F11 ttyv10 Shift-Alt-F5 ttyv14
114 Alt-F6 ttyv5 Alt-F12 ttyv11 Shift-Alt-F6 ttyv15
117 You can also use the ``nscr'' key (usually the
119 key on the AT Enhanced keyboard) to cycle available virtual terminals.
121 The default number of available virtual terminals is 16.
122 This can be changed with the kernel configuration option
126 Note that the X server usually requires a virtual terminal for display
127 purposes, so at least one terminal must be left unused by
129 so that it can be used by the X server.
130 .Ss Key Definitions and Function Key Strings
133 driver, in conjunction with the keyboard driver, allows the user
134 to change key definitions and function key strings.
137 command will load a key definition file (known as ``keymap'' file),
138 dump the current keymap, and assign a string to a function key.
145 You may want to set the
148 .Pa /etc/rc.conf.local
149 to the desired keymap file so that it will be automatically loaded
150 when the system starts up.
152 For most modern video cards, e.g. VGA, the
154 driver and the video card driver allow the user to change
155 the font used on the screen.
158 command can be used to load a font file from
159 .Pa /usr/share/syscons/fonts .
161 The font comes in various sizes: 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16.
162 The 8x16 font is typically used for the VGA card in the
163 80-column-by-25-line mode.
164 Other video modes may require different font sizes.
165 It is better to always load all three sizes of the same font.
174 to the desired font files so that they will be automatically loaded
175 when the system starts up.
177 Optionally you can specify a particular font file as the default.
182 If your video card does not support software fonts, you may still be able
183 to achieve a similar effect by re-mapping the font built into your video card.
186 to load a screen map file which defines the mapping between character codes.
187 .Ss Mouse Support and Copy-and-Paste
188 You can use your mouse to copy text on the screen and paste it as if
189 it was typed by hand.
190 You must be running the mouse daemon
192 and enable the mouse cursor in the virtual terminal via
195 Pressing mouse button 1 (usually the left button) will start selection.
196 Releasing button 1 will end the selection process.
197 The selected text will be marked by inverting foreground and
199 You can press button 3 (usually the right button) to extend
201 The selected text is placed in the copy buffer and can be pasted
202 at the cursor position by pressing button 2 (usually the
203 middle button) as many times as you like.
205 If your mouse has only two buttons, you may want to use the
206 .Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
207 option below to make the right button to paste the text.
208 Alternatively you can make the mouse daemon
209 emulate the middle button.
216 driver allows the user to browse the output which has ``scrolled off''
217 the top of the screen.
219 Press the ``slock'' key (usually
225 on many keyboards) and the terminal is
226 in the ``scrollback'' mode.
227 It is indicated by the
230 Use the arrow keys, the
234 keys to scroll buffered terminal output.
235 Press the ``slock'' key again to get back to the normal terminal mode.
237 The size of the scrollback buffer can be set by the
239 option described below.
243 driver can be made to put up the screen saver if the current
244 virtual terminal is idle, that is, the user is not typing
245 on the keyboard nor moving the mouse.
251 .Sh DRIVER CONFIGURATION
253 The following tunables are available and can be set in
255 .Bl -tag -width ".Va kern.kms_console"
256 .It Va kern.kms_console
257 Setting this tunable to 0 disables experimental framebuffer support
258 in conjunction with the
264 .It Va kern.kms_columns
265 The number of columns to use in conjunction with the
270 The font size is scaled to match the requested number of columns.
276 tries to find a more or less pleasant looking default.
279 to a negative value turns off scaling.
284 variable is available and can be either set via
286 or from the command line.
287 .Bl -tag -width ".Va kern.syscons_async"
288 .It Va kern.syscons_async
289 Set to 1 to enable asynchronous bulk framebuffer updates.
290 It is intended to help with
292 stuttering when a high resolution
294 scrolls during playback.
295 It is not enabled by default because on certain machines it has lead to
296 subtle issues with for example
299 .Ss Kernel Configuration Options
300 The following kernel configuration options control the
303 .Bl -tag -width MOUSE
305 This option sets the number of virtual terminals to
307 The default value is 16.
308 .It Dv SC_ALT_MOUSE_IMAGE
309 This option selects the alternative way of displaying the mouse cursor
310 in the virtual terminal.
311 It may be expensive for some video cards to draw the arrow-shaped
312 cursor, and you may want to try this option.
313 However, the appearance of the alternative mouse cursor may not be
315 Note that if you use the
316 .Dv SC_NO_FONT_LOADING
317 option then you must also use this option if you wish to be able to use
319 .It Dv SC_DISABLE_DDBKEY
320 This option disables the ``debug'' key combination (by default, it is
323 .Dv Ctl-PrintScreen ) .
324 It will prevent users from
325 entering the kernel debugger (DDB) by pressing the key combination.
326 DDB will still be invoked when the kernel panics or hits a break point
327 if it is included in the kernel.
328 .It Dv SC_DISABLE_REBOOT
329 This option disables the ``reboot'' key (by default, it is
331 so that the casual user may not accidentally reboot the system.
332 .It Dv SC_HISTORY_SIZE=N
333 Sets the size of back scroll buffer to
336 The default value is 100.
337 .It Dv SC_MOUSE_CHAR=C
339 .Dv SC_ALT_MOUSE_IMAGE
340 option above is specified, the
342 driver reserves four consecutive character codes in order to display the
343 mouse cursor in the virtual terminals in some systems.
344 This option specifies the first character code to
346 to be used for this purpose.
347 The default value is 0xd0.
348 A good candidate is 0x03.
350 Adds support for pixel (raster) mode console.
351 This mode is useful on some laptop computers, but less so on
352 most other systems, and it adds substantial amount of code to
354 If this option is NOT defined, you can reduce the kernel size a lot.
358 .It Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
359 If you have a two button mouse, you may want to add this option
360 to use the right button of the mouse to paste text.
362 .Sx Mouse Support and Copy-and-Paste
364 .It Dv SC_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_
365 .It Dv SC_NORM_REV_ATTR=_attribute_
366 .It Dv SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR=_attribute_
367 .It Dv SC_KERNEL_CONS_REV_ATTR=_attribute_
368 These options will set the default colors.
369 Available colors are defined in
370 .In machine/pc/display.h .
375 This option will specify the default font.
376 Available fonts are: iso, iso2, koi8-r, koi8-u, cp437, cp850, cp865,
378 16-line, 14-line and 8-line font data will be compiled in.
379 Without this option, the
381 driver will use whatever font is already loaded in the video card,
382 unless you explicitly load a software font at startup.
388 The following options will remove some features from the
390 driver and save kernel memory.
391 .Bl -tag -width MOUSE
392 .It Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
393 This option disables ``copy and paste'' operation in virtual
395 .It Dv SC_NO_FONT_LOADING
398 driver can load software fonts on some video cards.
399 This option removes this feature.
400 Note that if you still wish to use
401 the mouse with this option then you must also use the
402 .Dv SC_ALT_MOUSE_IMAGE
405 This option disables back-scrolling in virtual terminals.
406 .\".It Dv SC_NO_PALETTE_LOADING
407 .It Dv SC_NO_SYSMOUSE
408 This option removes mouse support in the
413 will fail if this option is defined.
414 This option implies the
419 The following driver flags can be used to control the
422 They can be set either in the kernel configuration file
425 or else in the User Configuration Menu at boot
429 .Bl -tag -width bit_0
430 .\".It bit 0 (VISUAL_BELL)
431 .\"Uses the ``visual'' bell.
432 .\"The screen will blink instead of generating audible sound.
433 .\".It bit 1,2 (CURSOR_TYPE)
434 .\"This option specifies the cursor appearance.
435 .\"Possible values are:
436 .\".Bl -tag -width TYPE -compact
438 .\"normal block cursor
440 .\"blinking block cursor
444 .\"blinking underline (aka destructive) cursor
446 .\".It bit 6 (QUIET_BELL)
447 .\"This option suppresses the bell, whether audible or visual,
448 .\"if it is rung in a background virtual terminal.
449 .It 0x0080 (VESA800X600)
450 This option puts the video card in the VESA 800x600 pixel, 16 color
452 It may be useful for laptop computers for which the 800x600 mode
453 is otherwise unsupported by the X server.
454 Note that in order for this flag to work, the kernel must be
457 option explained above.
458 .\"Note also that the ``copy-and-paste'' function is not currently supported
459 .\"in this mode and the mouse pointer will not be displayed.
460 .It 0x0100 (AUTODETECT_KBD)
461 This option instructs the
463 driver to periodically scan
464 for a keyboard device if it is not currently attached to one.
465 Otherwise, the driver only probes for a keyboard once during bootup.
470 commands are defined for the
475 .Bl -tag -width CONS -compact
476 .It Dv KDGETMODE Ar int *mode
477 .It Dv KDSETMODE Ar int *mode
478 Get or set the mode of the current (virtual) console. The
482 .Bl -tag -width KD_GRAPHICS -compact
487 Text mode, restore fonts and palette
491 Text mode, don't restore fonts and palette
493 Raster (pixel) text mode
496 .It Dv KDSBORDER Ar int *color
497 Set the border color of the current (virtual) console.
499 .It Dv KDRASTER Ar scr_size_t *sizes
500 Set raster (pixel) text mode and adjust the current (virtual) console's
501 geometry and font size. The
503 argument structure is as follows:
510 .It Dv GIO_SCRNMAP Ar scrmap_t *map
511 .It Dv PIO_SCRNMAP Ar scrmap_t *map
512 Get or set the screen map for the current (virtual) console. The
514 argument structure is defined as follows:
521 .It Dv GIO_ATTR Ar int *attr
522 Get the current text attribute.
524 .It Dv GIO_COLOR Ar int *color
525 Get the current text color.
527 .It Dv CONS_CURRENT Ar int *type
528 Get the adapter type. This is equivalent to
531 .It Dv CONS_GET Ar int *mode
532 Get the current video mode. This is equivalent to
535 .It Dv CONS_SET Ar int *mode
536 Set the current video mode. This is equivalent to
539 .It Dv CONS_BLANKTIME Ar int *time
540 Set the screen saver blank interval (in seconds).
542 .It Dv CONS_CURSORTYPE Ar int *type
543 Set the text cursor shape. The argument
545 can be one or more of the following:
547 .Bl -tag -width CONS_BLINK_CURSOR -compact
548 .It Dv CONS_BLINK_CURSOR
549 Set for a blinking cursor, unset for a non-blinking cursor.
550 .It Dv CONS_CHAR_CURSOR
551 Set for an underscore-shaped cursor, unset for a rectangle.
554 .It Dv CONS_BELLTYPE Ar int *type
555 Set the bell type. The argument
559 .Bl -tag -width CONS_VISUAL_BELL -compact
560 .It Dv CONS_VISUAL_BELL
561 Set for a visual bell, unset for an audible bell.
562 .It Dv CONS_QUIET_BELL
563 Set to enable the bell, unset to disable it.
566 .It Dv CONS_HISTORY Ar int *size
567 Set the history (scroll back) buffer size (in lines).
570 Clear the history (scroll back) buffer.
572 .It Dv CONS_IDLE Ar int *idle
573 Check if the (virtual) console has been idle.
575 .It Dv CONS_SAVERMODE Ar int *mode
576 Set the screen saver mode. The argument
580 .Bl -tag -width CONS_LKM_SAVER -compact
583 .It Dv CONS_USR_SAVER
585 .It Dv CONS_LKM_SAVER
586 Add a new screen saver
589 .It Dv CONS_SAVERSTART Ar int *start
590 Start or stop the screen saver.
592 .It Dv PIO_FONT8x8 Ar fnt8_t *font
593 .It Dv GIO_FONT8x8 Ar fnt8_t *font
594 Get or set the 8x8 font. The
596 argument structure is defined as follows:
603 .It Dv PIO_FONT8x14 Ar fnt14_t *font
604 .It Dv GIO_FONT8x14 Ar fnt14_t *font
605 Get or set the 8x14 font. The
607 argument structure is defined as follows:
610 char fnt8x14[14*256];
614 .It Dv PIO_FONT8x16 Ar fnt16_t *font
615 .It Dv GIO_FONT8x16 Ar fnt16_t *font
616 Get or set the 8x16 font. The
618 argument structure is defined as follows:
621 char fnt8x16[16*256];
625 .It Dv CONS_GETINFO Ar vid_info_t *info
626 Get information about the current video mode. The
628 structure is defined as follows:
634 u_short mv_row, mv_col;
635 u_short mv_rsz, mv_csz;
636 struct colors mv_norm,
644 .It Dv CONS_GETVERS Ar int *version
645 Get the version of the driver.
647 .It Dv CONS_CURRENTADP Ar int *adapter
648 Get the video adapter index. This is equivalent to
651 .It Dv CONS_ADPINFO Ar video_adapter_info_t *info
652 Get the video adapter information. This is equivalent to
655 .It Dv CONS_MODEINFO Ar video_info_t *info
656 Get the video mode information. This is equivalent to
659 .It Dv CONS_FINDMODE Ar video_info_t *info
660 Find a video mode. This is equivalent to
663 .It Dv CONS_SETWINORG Ar u_int *origin
664 Set the frame buffer window origin. This is equivalent to
667 .It Dv CONS_SETKBD Ar int *kbd
671 Release the current keyboard.
673 .It Dv CONS_SCRSHOT Ar scrshot_t *data
674 Make a snapshot of the current video buffer. The
676 structure is defined as:
685 .It Dv CONS_GETTERM Ar term_info_t *info
686 .It Dv CONS_SETTERM Ar term_info_t *info
687 Get or set terminal characteristics. The
689 structure is defined as:
694 u_char ti_name[TI_NAME_LEN];
695 u_char ti_desc[TI_DESC_LEN];
699 .It Dv VT_OPENQRY Ar int *term
700 Get the next available terminal.
702 .It Dv VT_SETMODE Ar vtmode_t *mode
703 .It Dv VT_GETMODE Ar vtmode_t *mode
704 Get or set the terminal switching mode. The
706 argument structure is defined as follows:
717 .It Dv VT_RELDISP Ar int *ack
718 Acknowledge the release or acquisition of a terminal. The
720 argument can be one of:
722 .Bl -tag -width VT_ACKACQ -compact
724 The user refuses to release the screen, abort
726 The user has released the screen, go on
728 Acquisition of the screen acknowledged, switch completed
731 .It Dv VT_ACTIVATE Ar int *term
732 Activate the specified terminal.
734 .It Dv VT_WAITACTIVE Ar int *term
735 Wait until the specified terminal is active.
737 .It Dv VT_GETACTIVE Ar int *term
738 Get the currently active terminal.
740 .It Dv VT_GETINDEX Ar int *index
741 Get the index of the terminal.
743 .It Dv VT_LOCKSWITCH Ar int *lock
744 Prevent or permit terminal switching.
747 .Bl -tag -width /usr/share/syscons/xxxxyyyyzzz -compact
749 .It Pa /dev/consolectl
753 terminal initialization information
754 .It Pa /usr/share/syscons/fonts/*
756 .It Pa /usr/share/syscons/keymaps/*
758 .It Pa /usr/share/syscons/scrmaps/*
764 driver requires the keyboard driver and the video card driver,
765 the kernel configuration file should contain the following lines.
767 .D1 Cd device atkbdc0 at isa? port IO_KBD
768 .D1 Cd device atkbd0 at atkbdc? irq 1
769 .D1 Cd device vga0 at isa?
770 .D1 Cd device sc0 at isa?
771 .D1 Cd pseudo-device splash
773 If you do not intend to load the splash image or use the screen saver,
774 the last line is not necessary, and can be omitted.
776 Note that the keyboard controller driver
778 is required by the keyboard driver
781 The following lines will set the default colors.
782 The normal text will be green on black background.
783 The reversed text will be yellow on green background.
784 Note that you cannot put any white space inside the quoted string,
785 because of the current implementation of
788 .D1 Cd "options SC_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)"
789 .D1 Cd "options SC_NORM_REV_ATTR=(FG_YELLOW|BG_GREEN)"
791 The following lines will set the default colors of the kernel message.
792 The kernel message will be printed bright red on black background.
793 The reversed message will be black on red background.
795 .D1 Cd "options SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)"
796 .D1 Cd "options SC_KERNEL_CONS_REV_ATTR=(FG_BLACK|BG_RED)"
798 The following example adds the font files
805 .D1 Cd "options SC_DFLT_FONT"
806 .D1 Cd "makeoptions SC_DFLT_FONT=cp850"
807 .D1 Cd "device sc0 at isa?"
810 The amount of data that is possible to insert from the cut buffer is limited
813 a system limit on the number of bytes that may be stored in the terminal
814 input queue - usually 1024 bytes
839 driver first appeared in
845 driver was written by
846 .An S\(/oren Schmidt Aq Mt sos@FreeBSD.org .
847 This manual page was written by
848 .An Kazutaka Yokota Aq Mt yokota@FreeBSD.org
852 This manual page is incomplete and needs revision.