From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Fri Sep 22 19:18:58 2017 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 77F13E09C30 for ; Fri, 22 Sep 2017 19:18:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "wonkity.com", Issuer "wonkity.com" (not verified)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5751A777CC for ; Fri, 22 Sep 2017 19:18:57 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2) with ESMTPS id v8MJIrdJ083317 (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NO); Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:18:53 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.15.2/8.15.2/Submit) with ESMTP id v8MJIrO7083314; Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:18:53 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:18:53 -0600 (MDT) From: Warren Block To: Ian Smith cc: Polytropon , "Steve O'Hara-Smith" , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Restoring sc console look and feel with vt In-Reply-To: <20170923033444.Q35468@sola.nimnet.asn.au> Message-ID: References: <20170916020243.B81507@sola.nimnet.asn.au> <20170915200315.289b3fdf.freebsd@edvax.de> <20170917011446.F81507@sola.nimnet.asn.au> <20170916185812.0ccc21a1.freebsd@edvax.de> <20170923033444.Q35468@sola.nimnet.asn.au> User-Agent: Alpine 2.21 (BSF 202 2017-01-01) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.6.2 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:18:53 -0600 (MDT) X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2017 19:18:58 -0000 On Sat, 23 Sep 2017, Ian Smith wrote: > 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? I don't know. 32-bit i386 had a long, distinguished run, but it's a dying breed, and I have not spent any time on it in quite a while. > > > > 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. There's stability. There is also being left behind by an increasingly-distant herd and finding yourself surrounded by metaphorical wolves and alligators. Or literal ones. > > > 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? It says: uga: UGA Protocol not present (error=14) > > 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? Maybe a separate article, then. I'm not sure whether any of this applies to newer architectures like ARM.