xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/vt.4 (revision b1f9167f94059fd55c630891d359bcff987bd7eb)
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd May 9, 2014
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 VT_MAXWINDOWS=N"
35.Cd "options VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1"
36.Cd "options VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
37.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X"
38.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y"
39.Cd "options SC_NO_CUTPASTE"
40.Cd "options SC_NO_SYSMOUSE"
41.Cd "device vt"
42.Pp
43In
44.Xr loader.conf 5 :
45.Cd hw.vga.textmode=1
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The
48.Nm
49device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature
50set:
51.Bl -item -offset indent
52.It
53Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.
54.It
55Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian
56character sets.
57.It
58Graphics-mode consoles.
59.It
60Integration with
61KMS
62.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
63video drivers for switching between the
64.Em X Window System
65and virtual terminals.
66.El
67.Ss Virtual Terminals
68Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer.
69Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined.
70A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard
71at a time.
72Key combinations are used to select a virtual terminal.
73Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual terminals.
74If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through
75Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional terminals.
76.Ss Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse
77Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported.
78Press and hold down mouse button 1, usually the left button, while
79moving the mouse to select text.
80Selected text is highlighted with reversed foreground and background
81colors.
82To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press mouse button
833, usually the right button.
84To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2, usually the
85middle button.
86The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard.
87The
88.Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
89kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons.
90Setting this option makes the second mouse button into the
91paste button.
92See
93.Xr moused 8
94for more information.
95.Ss Scrolling Back
96Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the
97Scroll Lock key, then scrolling up and down with the arrow keys.
98The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a
99time.
100The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback
101buffer.
102When finished reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to
103normal use.
104.Sh DRIVER CONFIGURATION
105.Ss Kernel Configuration Options
106These kernel options control the
107.Nm
108driver.
109.Bl -tag -width MAXCONS
110.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
111Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to
112.Fa N .
113The value defaults to 12.
114.It Dv VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
115When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC
116sequence instead of the Alt key.
117.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
118If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3.
119In effect, this makes the right-hand mouse button perform a paste.
120These options are checked in the order shown.
121.It Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
122Disable mouse support.
123.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X
124Set the default width to
125.Fa X .
126.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y
127Set the default height to
128.Fa Y .
129.El
130.Sh BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
131Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous
132console device,
133.Xr sc 4 .
134These options will be removed in a future
135.Fx
136version.
137.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy vt VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE" ".Sy SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
138.It Sy vt Option Name Ta Sy sc Option Name
139.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE Ta Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
140.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS Ta Dv MAXCONS
141.It none Ta Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
142.It none Ta Dv SC_NO_SYSMOUSE
143.El
144.Sh START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS
145The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and
146the
147.Fx
148.Xr loader 8
149runs, loading the kernel.
150If
151.Va hw.vga.textmode
152is set, the system remains in text mode.
153Otherwise,
154.Nm
155switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode using
156.Fn vt_vga .
157If a KMS
158.Pq Kernel Mode Switching
159video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution
160and the KMS driver takes over.
161When a KMS driver is not available,
162.Fn vt_vga
163remains active.
164.Sh LOADER TUNABLES
165These settings can be entered at the
166.Xr loader 8
167prompt or in
168.Xr loader.conf 5 .
169.Bl -tag -width indent
170.It Va hw.vga.textmode
171Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode.
172Features that require graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be
173disabled.
174.El
175.Sh FILES
176.Bl -tag -width /usr/share/syscons/keymaps/* -compact
177.It Pa /dev/console
178.It Pa /dev/consolectl
179.It Pa /dev/ttyv*
180virtual terminals
181.It Pa /etc/ttys
182terminal initialization information
183.El
184.Sh SEE ALSO
185.Xr kbdcontrol 1 ,
186.Xr login 1 ,
187.Xr vidcontrol 1 ,
188.Xr atkbd 4 ,
189.Xr atkbdc 4 ,
190.Xr keyboard 4 ,
191.Xr screen 4 ,
192.Xr splash 4 ,
193.Xr syscons 4 ,
194.Xr ukbd 4 ,
195.Xr vga 4 ,
196.Xr kbdmap 5 ,
197.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
198.Xr ttys 5 ,
199.Xr config 8 ,
200.Xr getty 8 ,
201.Xr kbdmux 8 ,
202.Xr kldload 8 ,
203.Xr moused 8
204.\" WB: to be uncommented when an actual release contains vt(4)
205.\" .Sh HISTORY
206.\" The
207.\" Nm
208.\" driver first appeared in
209.\" .Fx 9.3 .
210.Sh AUTHORS
211.An -nosplit
212The
213.Nm
214device driver was developed by
215.An Ed Schouten Aq ed@FreeBSD.org ,
216.An Ed Maste Aq emaste@FreeBSD.org ,
217and
218.An Aleksandr Rybalko Aq ray@FreeBSD.org ,
219with sponsorship provided by the
220.Fx
221Foundation.
222This manual page was written by
223.An Warren Block <wblock@FreeBSD.org>.
224.Sh CAVEATS
225Paste buffer size is limited by the system value
226.Brq Dv MAX_INPUT ,
227the number of bytes that can be stored in the terminal
228input queue, usually 1024 bytes
229(see
230.Xr termios 4 ) .
231