xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/vt.4 (revision dd41de95a84d979615a2ef11df6850622bf6184e)
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd June 4, 2020
28.Dt "VT" 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_MAX_WIDTH=X"
40.Cd "options VT_FB_MAX_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 hw.vga.acpi_ignore_no_vga=1
48.Cd kern.vty=vt
49.Cd kern.vt.color.<colornum>.rgb="<colorspec>"
50.Cd kern.vt.fb.default_mode="<X>x<Y>"
51.Cd kern.vt.fb.modes.<connector>="<X>x<Y>"
52.Pp
53In
54.Xr loader.conf 5 or
55.Xr sysctl.conf 5 :
56.Cd kern.vt.kbd_halt=1
57.Cd kern.vt.kbd_poweroff=1
58.Cd kern.vt.kbd_reboot=1
59.Cd kern.vt.kbd_debug=1
60.Cd kern.vt.kbd_panic=0
61.Cd kern.vt.enable_bell=1
62.Sh DESCRIPTION
63The
64.Nm
65device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature
66set:
67.Bl -item -offset indent
68.It
69Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.
70.It
71Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian
72character sets.
73.It
74Graphics-mode consoles.
75.It
76Integration with
77KMS
78.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
79video drivers for switching between the
80.Em X Window System
81and virtual terminals.
82.El
83.Ss Virtual Terminals
84Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer.
85Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined.
86A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard
87at a time.
88Key combinations are used to select a virtual terminal.
89Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual terminals.
90If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through
91Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional terminals.
92.Ss Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse
93Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported.
94Press and hold down mouse button 1, usually the left button, while
95moving the mouse to select text.
96Selected text is highlighted with reversed foreground and background
97colors.
98To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press mouse button
993, usually the right button.
100To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2, usually the
101middle button.
102The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard.
103The
104.Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
105kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons.
106Setting this option makes the second mouse button into the
107paste button.
108See
109.Xr moused 8
110for more information.
111.Ss Scrolling Back
112Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the
113Scroll Lock key, then scrolling up and down with the arrow keys.
114The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a
115time.
116The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback
117buffer.
118When finished reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to
119normal use.
120.Sh DRIVER CONFIGURATION
121.Ss Kernel Configuration Options
122These kernel options control the
123.Nm
124driver.
125.Bl -tag -width MAXCONS
126.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
127.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
128These options change the default colors used for normal and kernel
129text.
130Available colors are defined in
131.In sys/terminal.h .
132See
133.Sx EXAMPLES
134below.
135.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
136Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to
137.Fa N .
138The value defaults to 12.
139.It Dv VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
140When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC
141sequence instead of the Alt key.
142.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
143If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3.
144In effect, this makes the right-hand mouse button perform a paste.
145These options are checked in the order shown.
146.It Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
147Disable mouse support.
148.It VT_FB_MAX_WIDTH=X
149Set the maximum width to
150.Fa X .
151.It VT_FB_MAX_HEIGHT=Y
152Set the maximum height to
153.Fa Y .
154.El
155.Sh BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
156Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous
157console device,
158.Xr sc 4 .
159These options will be removed in a future
160.Fx
161version.
162.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy vt VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE" ".Sy SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
163.It Sy vt Option Name Ta Sy sc Option Name
164.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR Ta Dv SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR
165.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR Ta Dv SC_NORM_ATTR
166.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE Ta Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
167.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS Ta Dv MAXCONS
168.It none Ta Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
169.El
170.Sh START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS
171The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and
172the
173.Fx
174.Xr loader 8
175runs, loading the kernel.
176If
177.Va hw.vga.textmode
178is set, the system remains in text mode.
179Otherwise,
180.Nm
181switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode using
182.Cm vt_vga .
183If a KMS
184.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
185video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution
186and the KMS driver takes over.
187When a KMS driver is not available,
188.Cm vt_vga
189remains active.
190.Sh LOADER TUNABLES
191These settings can be entered at the
192.Xr loader 8
193prompt or in
194.Xr loader.conf 5 .
195.Bl -tag -width indent
196.It Va hw.vga.textmode
197Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode.
198Features that require graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be
199disabled.
200.It Va hw.vga.acpi_ignore_no_vga
201Set to 1 to force the usage of the VGA driver regardless of whether
202ACPI IAPC_BOOT_ARCH signals no VGA support.
203Can be used to workaround firmware bugs in the ACPI tables.
204.It Va kern.vty
205Set this value to
206.Ql vt
207or
208.Ql sc
209to choose a specific system console, overriding the default.
210The
211.Pa GENERIC
212kernel uses
213.Nm
214when this value is not set.
215.It Va kern.vt.color. Ns Ar colornum Ns Va .rgb
216Set this value to override default palette entry for color
217.Pa colornum
218which should be in a range from 0 to 15 inclusive.
219The value should be either a comma-separated triplet of
220red, green, and blue values in a range from 0 to 255 or
221HTML-like hex triplet.
222See
223.Sx EXAMPLES
224below.
225.It Va kern.vt.fb.default_mode
226Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode picked by the
227.Nm
228backend.
229The mode is applied to all output connectors.
230This is currently only supported by the
231.Cm vt_fb
232backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.
233.It Va kern.vt.fb.modes. Ns Pa connector_name
234Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode picked by the
235.Nm
236backend.
237This mode is applied to the output connector
238.Pa connector_name
239only.
240It has precedence over
241.Va kern.vt.fb.default_mode .
242The names of available connector names can be found in
243.Xr dmesg 8
244after loading the KMS driver.
245It will contain a list of connectors and their associated tunables.
246This is currently only supported by the
247.Cm vt_fb
248backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.
249.El
250.Sh KEYBOARD SYSCTL TUNABLES
251These settings control whether certain special key combinations are enabled or
252ignored.
253The specific key combinations can be configured by using a
254.Xr keymap 5
255file.
256.Pp
257These settings can be entered at the
258.Xr loader 8
259prompt or in
260.Xr loader.conf 5
261and can also be changed at runtime with the
262.Xr sysctl 8
263command.
264.Bl -tag -width indent
265.It Va kern.vt.kbd_halt
266Enable halt keyboard combination.
267.It Va kern.vt.kbd_poweroff
268Enable power off key combination.
269.It Va kern.vt.kbd_reboot
270Enable reboot key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Del.
271.It Va kern.vt.kbd_debug
272Enable debug request key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Esc.
273.It Va kern.vt.kbd_panic
274Enable panic key combination.
275.El
276.Sh OTHER SYSCTL TUNABLES
277These settings can be entered at the
278.Xr loader 8
279prompt, set in
280.Xr loader.conf 5 ,
281or changed at runtime with
282.Xr sysctl 8 .
283.Bl -tag -width indent
284.It Va kern.vt.enable_bell
285Enable the terminal bell.
286.El
287.Sh FILES
288.Bl -tag -width /usr/share/vt/keymaps/* -compact
289.It Pa /dev/console
290.It Pa /dev/consolectl
291.It Pa /dev/ttyv*
292virtual terminals
293.It Pa /etc/ttys
294terminal initialization information
295.It Pa /usr/share/vt/fonts/*.fnt
296console fonts
297.It Pa /usr/share/vt/keymaps/*.kbd
298keyboard layouts
299.El
300.Sh EXAMPLES
301This example changes the default color of normal text to green on a
302black background, or black on a green background when reversed.
303Note that white space cannot be used inside the attribute string
304because of the current implementation of
305.Xr config 8 .
306.Pp
307.Dl "options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)"
308.Pp
309This line changes the default color of kernel messages to be bright red
310on a black background, or black on a bright red background when reversed.
311.Pp
312.Dl "options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)"
313.Pp
314To set a 1024x768 mode on all output connectors, put the following line in
315.Pa /boot/loader.conf :
316.Pp
317.Dl kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1024x768"
318.Pp
319To set a 800x600 only on a laptop builtin screen, use the following line instead:
320.Pp
321.Dl kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1="800x600"
322.Pp
323The connector name was found in
324.Xr dmesg 8 :
325.Pp
326.Dl info: [drm] Connector LVDS-1: get mode from tunables:
327.Dl info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1
328.Dl info: [drm]   - kern.vt.fb.default_mode
329.Pp
330To set black and white colors of console palette
331.Pp
332.Dl kern.vt.color.0.rgb="10,10,10"
333.Dl kern.vt.color.15.rgb="#f0f0f0"
334.Sh SEE ALSO
335.Xr kbdcontrol 1 ,
336.Xr login 1 ,
337.Xr vidcontrol 1 ,
338.Xr atkbd 4 ,
339.Xr atkbdc 4 ,
340.Xr kbdmux 4 ,
341.Xr keyboard 4 ,
342.Xr screen 4 ,
343.Xr splash 4 ,
344.Xr syscons 4 ,
345.Xr ukbd 4 ,
346.Xr kbdmap 5 ,
347.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
348.Xr ttys 5 ,
349.Xr config 8 ,
350.Xr getty 8 ,
351.Xr kldload 8 ,
352.Xr moused 8 ,
353.Xr vtfontcvt 8
354.Sh HISTORY
355The
356.Nm
357driver first appeared in
358.Fx 9.3 .
359.Sh AUTHORS
360.An -nosplit
361The
362.Nm
363device driver was developed by
364.An \&Ed Schouten Aq Mt ed@FreeBSD.org ,
365.An \&Ed Maste Aq Mt emaste@FreeBSD.org ,
366and
367.An Aleksandr Rybalko Aq Mt ray@FreeBSD.org ,
368with sponsorship provided by the
369.Fx
370Foundation.
371This manual page was written by
372.An Warren Block Aq Mt wblock@FreeBSD.org .
373.Sh CAVEATS
374Paste buffer size is limited by the system value
375.Brq Dv MAX_INPUT ,
376the number of bytes that can be stored in the terminal
377input queue, usually 1024 bytes
378(see
379.Xr termios 4 ) .
380