SYNOPSIS

options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=_attribute_ options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_ options VT_MAXWINDOWS=N options VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1 options VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE options VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X options VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y options SC_NO_CUTPASTE device vt

In loader.conf5: hw.vga.textmode=1 kern.vty=vt

DESCRIPTION

The device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature set:

Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.

Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian

character sets.

Graphics-mode consoles.

Integration with

KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) video drivers for switching between the X Window System and virtual terminals.

Virtual Terminals

Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer. Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined. A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard at a time. Key combinations are used to select a virtual terminal. Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual terminals. If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional terminals.

Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse

Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported. Press and hold down mouse button 1, usually the left button, while moving the mouse to select text. Selected text is highlighted with reversed foreground and background colors. To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press mouse button 3, usually the right button. To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2, usually the middle button. The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard. The VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons. Setting this option makes the second mouse button into the paste button. See moused(8) for more information.

Scrolling Back

Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the Scroll Lock key, then scrolling up and down with the arrow keys. The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a time. The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback buffer. When finished reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to normal use.

DRIVER CONFIGURATION

Kernel Configuration Options

These kernel options control the driver.

TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR= attribute

TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR= attribute

These options allow changing the default colors used for normal and kernel text. Available colors are defined in In sys/terminal.h . See Sx EXAMPLES below.

VT_MAXWINDOWS=N

Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to Fa N . The value defaults to 12.

VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1

When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC sequence instead of the Alt key.

VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE

If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3. In effect, this makes the right-hand mouse button perform a paste. These options are checked in the order shown.

SC_NO_CUTPASTE

Disable mouse support.

VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X

Set the default width to Fa X .

VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y

Set the default height to Fa Y .

BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous console device, sc(4). These options will be removed in a future Fx version.

vt Option Name Ta sc Option Name

TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR Ta SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR

TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR Ta SC_NORM_ATTR

VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE Ta SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE

VT_MAXWINDOWS Ta MAXCONS

none Ta SC_NO_CUTPASTE

START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS

The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and the Fx loader(8) runs, loading the kernel. If hw.vga.textmode is set, the system remains in text mode. Otherwise, switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode using vt_vga If a KMS (Kernel Mode Switching) video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution and the KMS driver takes over. When a KMS driver is not available, vt_vga remains active.

LOADER TUNABLES

These settings can be entered at the loader(8) prompt or in loader.conf5.

hw.vga.textmode

Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode. Features that require graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be disabled.

kern.vty

When both and sc(4)havebeencompiledintothekernel,theonetouseforthe system console can be selected by setting this value to `vt' or `sc' If this value is not set, sc(4) is used.

FILES

/dev/console

/dev/consolectl

/dev/ttyv*

virtual terminals

/etc/ttys

terminal initialization information

/usr/share/vt/fonts/*.fnt

console fonts

/usr/share/vt/keymaps/*.kbd

keyboard layouts

EXAMPLES

This example changes the default color of normal text to green on a black background, or black on a green background when reversed. Note that white space cannot be used inside the attribute string because of the current implementation of config(8).

"options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)"

This line changes the default color of kernel messages to be bright red on a black background, or black on a bright red background when reversed.

"options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)"

HISTORY

The driver first appeared in Fx 9.3 .

AUTHORS

An -nosplit The device driver was developed by An Ed Schouten Aq [email protected] , An Ed Maste Aq [email protected] , and An Aleksandr Rybalko Aq [email protected] , with sponsorship provided by the Fx Foundation. This manual page was written by An Warren Block <[email protected]>.

CAVEATS

Paste buffer size is limited by the system value Br q Dv MAX_INPUT , the number of bytes that can be stored in the terminal input queue, usually 1024 bytes (see termios(4)).