xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/vt.4 (revision 282e23f07bf49b4e37aabdcc1c513a788db36d10)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2014 Warren Block
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\"
13.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
14.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
15.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
16.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
17.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
18.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
19.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
20.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
21.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
22.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
23.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
24.\"
25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd June 21, 2016
28.Dt "VIRTUAL TERMINALS" 4
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm vt
32.Nd virtual terminal console driver
33.Sh SYNOPSIS
34.Cd "options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=_attribute_"
35.Cd "options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_"
36.Cd "options VT_MAXWINDOWS=N"
37.Cd "options VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1"
38.Cd "options VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
39.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X"
40.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y"
41.Cd "options SC_NO_CUTPASTE"
42.Cd "device vt"
43.Pp
44In
45.Xr loader.conf 5 :
46.Cd hw.vga.textmode=1
47.Cd kern.vty=vt
48.Cd kern.vt.fb.default_mode="<X>x<Y>"
49.Cd kern.vt.fb.modes.<connector>="<X>x<Y>"
50.Pp
51In
52.Xr loader.conf 5 or
53.Xr sysctl.conf 5 :
54.Cd kern.vt.kbd_halt=1
55.Cd kern.vt.kbd_poweroff=1
56.Cd kern.vt.kbd_reboot=1
57.Cd kern.vt.kbd_debug=1
58.Cd kern.vt.kbd_panic=0
59.Cd kern.vt.enable_bell=1
60.Sh DESCRIPTION
61The
62.Nm
63device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature
64set:
65.Bl -item -offset indent
66.It
67Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.
68.It
69Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian
70character sets.
71.It
72Graphics-mode consoles.
73.It
74Integration with
75KMS
76.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
77video drivers for switching between the
78.Em X Window System
79and virtual terminals.
80.El
81.Ss Virtual Terminals
82Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer.
83Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined.
84A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard
85at a time.
86Key combinations are used to select a virtual terminal.
87Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual terminals.
88If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through
89Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional terminals.
90.Ss Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse
91Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported.
92Press and hold down mouse button 1, usually the left button, while
93moving the mouse to select text.
94Selected text is highlighted with reversed foreground and background
95colors.
96To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press mouse button
973, usually the right button.
98To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2, usually the
99middle button.
100The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard.
101The
102.Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
103kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons.
104Setting this option makes the second mouse button into the
105paste button.
106See
107.Xr moused 8
108for more information.
109.Ss Scrolling Back
110Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the
111Scroll Lock key, then scrolling up and down with the arrow keys.
112The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a
113time.
114The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback
115buffer.
116When finished reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to
117normal use.
118.Sh DRIVER CONFIGURATION
119.Ss Kernel Configuration Options
120These kernel options control the
121.Nm
122driver.
123.Bl -tag -width MAXCONS
124.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
125.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
126These options change the default colors used for normal and kernel
127text.
128Available colors are defined in
129.In sys/terminal.h .
130See
131.Sx EXAMPLES
132below.
133.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
134Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to
135.Fa N .
136The value defaults to 12.
137.It Dv VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
138When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC
139sequence instead of the Alt key.
140.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
141If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3.
142In effect, this makes the right-hand mouse button perform a paste.
143These options are checked in the order shown.
144.It Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
145Disable mouse support.
146.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X
147Set the default width to
148.Fa X .
149.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y
150Set the default height to
151.Fa Y .
152.El
153.Sh BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
154Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous
155console device,
156.Xr sc 4 .
157These options will be removed in a future
158.Fx
159version.
160.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy vt VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE" ".Sy SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
161.It Sy vt Option Name Ta Sy sc Option Name
162.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR Ta Dv SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR
163.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR Ta Dv SC_NORM_ATTR
164.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE Ta Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
165.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS Ta Dv MAXCONS
166.It none Ta Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
167.El
168.Sh START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS
169The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and
170the
171.Fx
172.Xr loader 8
173runs, loading the kernel.
174If
175.Va hw.vga.textmode
176is set, the system remains in text mode.
177Otherwise,
178.Nm
179switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode using
180.Cm vt_vga .
181If a KMS
182.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
183video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution
184and the KMS driver takes over.
185When a KMS driver is not available,
186.Cm vt_vga
187remains active.
188.Sh LOADER TUNABLES
189These settings can be entered at the
190.Xr loader 8
191prompt or in
192.Xr loader.conf 5 .
193.Bl -tag -width indent
194.It Va hw.vga.textmode
195Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode.
196Features that require graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be
197disabled.
198.It Va kern.vty
199Set this value to
200.Ql vt
201or
202.Ql sc
203to choose a specific system console, overriding the default.
204If not set, the default in the
205.Pa GENERIC
206kernel is
207.Nm .
208.It Va kern.vt.fb.default_mode
209Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode picked by the
210.Nm
211backend.
212The mode is applied to all output connectors.
213This is currently only supported by the
214.Cm vt_fb
215backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.
216.It Va kern.vt.fb.modes. Ns Pa connector_name
217Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode picked by the
218.Nm
219backend.
220This mode is applied to the output connector
221.Pa connector_name
222only.
223It has precedence over
224.Va kern.vt.fb.default_mode .
225The names of available connector names can be found in
226.Xr dmesg 8
227after loading the KMS driver.
228It will contain a list of connectors and their associated tunables.
229This is currently only supported by the
230.Cm vt_fb
231backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.
232.El
233.Sh KEYBOARD SYSCTL TUNABLES
234These settings control whether certain special key combinations are enabled or
235ignored.
236The specific key combinations can be configured by using a
237.Xr keymap 5
238file.
239.Pp
240These settings can be entered at the
241.Xr loader 8
242prompt or in
243.Xr loader.conf 5
244and can also be changed at runtime with the
245.Xr sysctl 8
246command.
247.Bl -tag -width indent
248.It Va kern.vt.kbd_halt
249Enable halt keyboard combination.
250.It Va kern.vt.kbd_poweroff
251Enable power off key combination.
252.It Va kern.vt.kbd_reboot.
253Enable reboot key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Del.
254.It Va kern.vt.kbd_debug
255Enable debug request key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Esc.
256.It Va kern.vt.kbd_panic
257Enable panic key combination.
258.El
259.Sh OTHER SYSCTL TUNABLES
260These settings can be entered at the
261.Xr loader 8
262prompt, set in
263.Xr loader.conf 5 ,
264or changed at runtime with
265.Xr sysctl 8 .
266.Bl -tag -width indent
267.It Va kern.vt.enable_bell
268Enable the terminal bell.
269.El
270.Sh FILES
271.Bl -tag -width /usr/share/vt/keymaps/* -compact
272.It Pa /dev/console
273.It Pa /dev/consolectl
274.It Pa /dev/ttyv*
275virtual terminals
276.It Pa /etc/ttys
277terminal initialization information
278.It Pa /usr/share/vt/fonts/*.fnt
279console fonts
280.It Pa /usr/share/vt/keymaps/*.kbd
281keyboard layouts
282.El
283.Sh EXAMPLES
284This example changes the default color of normal text to green on a
285black background, or black on a green background when reversed.
286Note that white space cannot be used inside the attribute string
287because of the current implementation of
288.Xr config 8 .
289.Pp
290.Dl "options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)"
291.Pp
292This line changes the default color of kernel messages to be bright red
293on a black background, or black on a bright red background when reversed.
294.Pp
295.Dl "options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)"
296.Pp
297To set a 1024x768 mode on all output connectors, put the following line in
298.Pa /boot/loader.conf :
299.Pp
300.Dl kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1024x768"
301.Pp
302To set a 800x600 only on a laptop builtin screen, use the following line instead:
303.Pp
304.Dl kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1="800x600"
305.Pp
306The connector name was found in
307.Xr dmesg 8 :
308.Pp
309.Dl info: [drm] Connector LVDS-1: get mode from tunables:
310.Dl info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1
311.Dl info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
312.Sh SEE ALSO
313.Xr kbdcontrol 1 ,
314.Xr login 1 ,
315.Xr vidcontrol 1 ,
316.Xr atkbd 4 ,
317.Xr atkbdc 4 ,
318.Xr kbdmux 4 ,
319.Xr keyboard 4 ,
320.Xr screen 4 ,
321.Xr splash 4 ,
322.Xr syscons 4 ,
323.Xr ukbd 4 ,
324.Xr kbdmap 5 ,
325.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
326.Xr ttys 5 ,
327.Xr config 8 ,
328.Xr getty 8 ,
329.Xr kldload 8 ,
330.Xr moused 8 ,
331.Xr vtfontcvt 8
332.Sh HISTORY
333The
334.Nm
335driver first appeared in
336.Fx 9.3 .
337.Sh AUTHORS
338.An -nosplit
339The
340.Nm
341device driver was developed by
342.An \&Ed Schouten Aq Mt ed@FreeBSD.org ,
343.An \&Ed Maste Aq Mt emaste@FreeBSD.org ,
344and
345.An Aleksandr Rybalko Aq Mt ray@FreeBSD.org ,
346with sponsorship provided by the
347.Fx
348Foundation.
349This manual page was written by
350.An Warren Block Aq Mt wblock@FreeBSD.org .
351.Sh CAVEATS
352Paste buffer size is limited by the system value
353.Brq Dv MAX_INPUT ,
354the number of bytes that can be stored in the terminal
355input queue, usually 1024 bytes
356(see
357.Xr termios 4 ) .
358