From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Sep 29 18:22:36 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 62EF916A41F for ; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:22:36 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from Mike.Jeays@rogers.com) Received: from smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com (smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com [206.190.36.82]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id E43F143D48 for ; Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:22:35 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from Mike.Jeays@rogers.com) Received: (qmail 49193 invoked from network); 29 Sep 2005 18:22:35 -0000 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=rogers.com; h=Received:Subject:From:To:Cc:In-Reply-To:References:Content-Type:Message-Id:Mime-Version:X-Mailer:Date:Content-Transfer-Encoding; b=j6fYmhklbtKdDGr29mvRmobU5xeUfuZvB64WlU1Nf7C9/oZ+dw9t3gn5upbtiZA51jVEiCm3wHne0xVMY4YkN+YWSjgeXlfe7hH2KDDyho8twDK3OT14S016Ch4lgD6HZJCCijeq+BxHwHKoqw739OFlvHbaH0rWGUbBLjkDjn8= ; Received: from unknown (HELO ?192.168.2.150?) (mjeays2551@24.114.152.139 with plain) by smtp104.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com with SMTP; 29 Sep 2005 18:22:34 -0000 From: Mike Jeays To: Kevin Kinsey In-Reply-To: <4339B972.1070307@daleco.biz> References: <200509271005.59838.kirk@strauser.com> <4339669E.1020306@daleco.biz> <1127852545.655.18.camel@chaucer.jeays.ca> <4339B972.1070307@daleco.biz> Content-Type: text/plain Message-Id: <1128018153.678.9.camel@chaucer.jeays.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.4.6 Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:22:33 -0400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Bye-bye beastie ... X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:22:36 -0000 On Tue, 2005-09-27 at 17:28, Kevin Kinsey wrote: > Mike Jeays wrote: > > > > >As well as turning off the beastie, is there a way to suppress all the > >dmesg and other output, so that the first thing to appear is the KDM or > >GDM login screen? When I show FreeBSD to people who have only seen > >Windows before, their first reaction is how geeky all that text looks as > >it rolls by. They are turned off before I even get to the login > >screen. Most current Linuxes are 'better' in this respect. > > > >I realise it may make it harder to debug failed startups... > > > > > > We use a "splash" screen --- I forget where it's documented > in the handbook/FAQ, but splash(4) has most of the 'GUI' > details (pun intended). > > Basically, as root: > $ echo splash_bmp_load="YES" >> /boot/loader.conf > $ echo bitmap_name="/boot/splash.bmp" >> /boot/loader.conf > > This should cause "splash_bmp.ko" to be kldloaded at boot > time. The bitmap should be 320 x 200 x 8 colors (at least that's > what works for us - probably related to console settings). We use it > as an opportunity to show the company logo. > > It comes up after the "beastie menu" and the copyright info > (and a couple of error looking notices ... we're on 6.0-BETA5 > in the office now, dunno if it's related ;-), basically, during > the kernel device probe. > > It will stay on as long as a key isn't pressed. xdm "takes > over" after the boot process (I assume gdm/kdm would, too) > and so this is less "geeky" stuff to look at, I guess. It can > be a little confusing if you don't run an X based display > manager --- it'll stay on and cover up the login: prompt > on ttyv0, so a novice might well wonder "how long is this > going to take" while your box sits patiently waiting for > a login. > > Note that this splash/bitmap also acts as a "screensaver" when > you're in console, AFAICT. > > HTH, > > Kevin Kinsey > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" Well - I tried this, and maybe I didn't get the syntax exactly right. My machine refused to boot at the point where it was trying to load the splash screen, and seemed hopelessly wedged. I downloaded the 5.3 Fixit disk, burnt a copy, and tried with that. I could not mount ad0s1a - it said "Operation not permitted", although I could mount 'e' and 'f'. It wouldn't let me do an fsck on any of the partitions. I tried Knoppix, but 3.9 doesn't seem to know about UFS filesystems. In desperation, I booted a copy of Freesbie 1.1 that I happened to have around. I had no trouble running fsck on all the partitions (they were all clean anyway), and deleting the erroneous lines from /boot/loader.conf. My machine is now working again. So - next time I get stuck, I will try the Freesbie disk first.