Console size and scrollback buffer.

[John Nielsen]

On Monday 10 November 2008 08:07:23 am James Williams wrote:
> Hello List,
>
> [On FreeBSD 7.1-BETA2, i386.]
>
> 1) How can I change the number of rowsxcols of the console? I'd like
> to use the maximum rows/cols available for the 1440x900 screen.

In order to use "graphical" VESA modes you need a custom kernel that 
includes these options:

options VESA
options SC_PIXEL_MODE

You will only be able to use a 1440x900 resolution if your video hardware 
advertises that as a standard VESA mode. Once you are running a kernel 
with the above options you can use vidcontrol to list the available 
options:

	vidcontrol -i mode

When you see a mode you like you can switch to it using vidcontrol again. 
For example:

	vidcontrol MODE_XX -f 8x8 cp437-8x8.fnt

Replace XX with the number of the mode you'd like to use. Adjust the 
arguments to -f to suit your needs. Other sizes are 8x14 and 8x16. You 
should choose a font to match the specified size and the character set 
you're using. See the manpage for vidcontrol for greater detail.

With a standard kernel you can use "text" modes like 80x50 or even 80x60 
to get more rows than the standard 80x25. e.g:

	vidcontrol -f 8x8 cp437-8x8.fnt VGA_80x60

> 2) How can these settings be made default (takes effect at boot)?
>
> IOW, what is the equivalent of the "vga=0x365" Linux kernel option?

Use the "allscreens_flags" option in rc.conf. For the text example above 
you'd want:

	allscreens_flags="-f 8x8 cp437-8x8.fnt VGA_80x60"

Similarly for graphics modes, just include everything you'd include on the 
command line to vidcontrol.

> 3) How I can set the scrollback buffer size (if that's the name) of
> the console -- the equivalent of Shift+{PgUp,PgDn} on Linux?

I usually do this via the SC_HISTORY_SIZE kernel option. Scroll-lock can 
be used to browse the history in any console virtual terminal.

See the sc(4) manpage for details on this option and the SC_PIXEL_MODE 
option mentioned above.

JN