can I use the display native resolution on vty0 as on any other vty's using KMS ?

nacho Lariguet lariguet at gmail.com
Tue Aug 11 11:50:26 PDT 2020


On Tue, 11 Aug 2020 15:26:38 -0300
nacho Lariguet <lariguet at gmail.com> wrote:

This is a follow up:

If, instead of, trying to do: [sysctl kern.kms_columns=-1;] post boot
I do [set kern.kms_columns=-1] in the boot loader options ONLY, I mean
without initializing the DRM drivers there, I still end up with ttyv0
@ 80x25 while all the other ttyv>=1 are @ 240x75 :(

> On Tue, 11 Aug 2020 11:18:34 +0300
> "karu.pruun" <karu.pruun at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Hello
> >   
> > > Is it possible right now to end up in a pre-DRM situation by default ?
> > > IIRC kern.kms_console now defaults to 1 (don't know since when it does).    
> > 
> > The terminology here is a little confusing. I used pre-drm to mean
> > "until a drm driver (i915 or radeon) is loaded". Let me try to clarify
> > booting.  
> 
> OK. Now it is crystal-clear what pre-DRM is. My guess was pre-DRM meaned
> before we (I mean dragonFly) started using kms_console by default.
>  
> > The first screen with the boot menu is displayed by the loader. The
> > kernel modules to load by the loader are given in
> > 
> > /boot/loader.conf  
> 
> Right. The only thing I always added there is kern.kms_columns=-1
> 
> > However, the official advice is that the loader load the absolute
> > required minimum of kernel modules. For instance, my loader.conf has
> > no modules. This is because memory is tight at that early stage. If
> > you include, e.g. a drm driver, i915 or radeon, then the kernel will
> > most likely crash at boot.
> > 
> > The official advice is to load modules later by placing them in
> > /etc/rc.conf, for instance,
> > 
> > i915_load="YES"  
> 
> Right. Mine (rc.conf) has drm_load="yes" and radeon_load="yes". The
> first is supposed to be automatically loaded by the second but I leave
> it there to remind me of the process because it won't hurt at all.
> 
> > I have all the required wlan, drm etc there.  
> 
> Me too.
> 
> > And you can also load the drm modules manually on console using
> > 'kldload i915'.  
> 
> Right.
> 
> > This means that, for instance, if I choose to load the drm driver
> > manually then I'm in the pre-drm stage until I will have kldloaded it,
> > say, on console, manually. The copyright note (the "Regents" screen
> > you mention), this is the kernel starting to load. This is pre-drm,
> > there is no drm driver anywhere. This is either VGA or the UEFI
> > display. The terminology "kms_columns" is misleading; that variable is
> > read by the system to try to figure out column x row configuration,
> > but there is no drm driver anywhere. That same "kms_columns" is also
> > read later by the drm driver to set the column x row configuration.  
> 
> That's what mesmerizing me; suppose the following:
> 
> I am booting @ 1920x1200 as set by the uEFI framebuffer code and then
> while booting the kernel the REGENTS message follows (and seems lower
> resolution due to the font scaling you mention but actually is at
> 1920x1200) and then I end up at the root prompt still at 1920x1200 with
> font scaling enabled @ 80x25 characters and without any drm driver at
> all because when I booted I did not instructed the loader to use
> anything out of the ordinary as advised by the man pages and/or the
> handbook and/or whatever, and then, and only then I manually load the
> DRM drivers with kldload drm and kldload radeon and when I issue
> kldstat it shows them correctly loaded and then I do vidcontrol -i mode
> on ttyv0 and it shows ONLY 80x25 while ttyv>=1 shows 240x75. In this
> case I did not booted with the DRM drivers but I am still ending with
> ttyv0 limited to less characters on the screen than the ones available
> AFTER DRM was loaded post-boot the way is advised/intended to.
> 
> Summarizing:
> 
> - I boot the liveCD via uEFI without touching the boot loader options
> 
> - kldload drm;
> - kldload radeon;
> - kldstat; ### shows radeon loaded and '[DRM] radeon' shows up in dmesg
> 
> - vidcontrol -f 8x16 iso15-thin-8x16;
> - vidcontrol -i mode; ### shows 80x25
> 
> - sysctl kern.kms_console; ### not found
> - sysctl kern.kms_columns; ### not found
>          ### they are not even mentioned in the syscontrol man page
> - sysctl kern.kms_columns=-1; ### unable to: unknown OID
> 
> So, how do I instruct a running OS to switch to max columns now ?
> 
> > So long story short: it is all pre-drm until the drm driver is
> > literally kldloaded.
> > 
> > The screen change you see when going from loader to kernel loading
> > (the copyright, "Regents" note), there is no resolution change. The
> > resolution is the same as on the loader screen, it has been set by
> > UEFI. What you notice though is the change of font size. Between these
> > two screens, the system has done the calculation described in the
> > previous email, set the new column x row configuration, which is
> > larger than what you have in the UEFI screen; but there is no change
> > in resolution. Or perhaps there is slight change since it tries to
> > allocate a buffer that covers most of the screen.
> > 
> > I may have missed details, maybe someone can clarify more.  
> 
> I do really appreciate (your time and) your replies because they have a
> lot of content to begin with.
> 
> I also have to state that, what I was previously doing fiddling with the
> boot loader options in order to get early-KMS start (as it is called in
> linux) is because it didn't occurred to me I was ending in a 80x25 console
> at 1920x1200 with font scaling enabled, to me it seemed like a standard
> VGA screen, my fault, absolutely my fault. Although it will be nice to
> have dragonFly (or for the matter whatever OS for instance) booting at
> the best possible resolution (because it is far easy to read the kernel
> messages this way) I do not need/require early-KMS at all, I am really
> fine booting as it is intended to without DRM ... PROVIDED I can later
> change to max characters after loading everything DRM-related via rc.conf
> 
> I think the only thing I need to accomplish this right now is to find a
> way of setting:
> 
> sysctl kern.kms_columns=-1;
> 
> Am I right ?
> 
> > Cheers
> > 
> > Peeter
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > On Tue, Aug 11, 2020 at 1:41 AM nacho Lariguet <lariguet at gmail.com> wrote:  
> > >
> > > On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 14:37:14 +0300
> > > "karu.pruun" <karu.pruun at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm attaching the output of "gop list" as mentioned before.
> > >
> > > You can clearly see that it boots straight to 1920x1200 right from the
> > > liveCD. So uEFI is informing 1920x1200 capability without any doubt.
> > >
> > > When it gets to the REGENTS message, it switches to a lower resolution.
> > >
> > > PS: I keep forgetting to CC the users list: sorry to reply twice Peeter
> > >    
> > > > Hello
> > > >
> > > > I should clarify that when you load the drm driver (i915 or radeon, as
> > > > root on the console using 'kldload i915' or 'kldload radeon') the
> > > > initial buffer restriction does not apply any more. The drm drivers
> > > > allocate their own framebuffers, so all ttyv-s will have the same
> > > > column x row configuration.
> > > >
> > > > In the pre-drm situation, as explained earlier, the system tries to
> > > > work out an optimal column x row configuration based on the
> > > > information it gets from BIOS or UEFI. In the case of BIOS, you get
> > > > VGA modes; we don't have VESA at the moment, yet, if I'm correct. In
> > > > the case of UEFI, the system gets the resolution from UEFI and then
> > > > tries to work out the best column x row configuration under the
> > > > restriction that it must be max 160 column x 50 rows, font width is 8
> > > > and the final configuration must preserve font scaling. For instance,
> > > > on my laptop this works out precisely as described:
> > > >
> > > > - UEFI tells the resolution is 1680x1050 (X x Y)
> > > > - Font width is 8
> > > > - 1680 / 8 = 210, too large
> > > > - increase font width x 2
> > > > - 1680 / 16 = 105, yes under 160
> > > > - 1050 / 32 (font height is 16) = 32.8, round to nearest int, this is
> > > > 32; yes it's under 50
> > > > - final setup: 105x32
> > > >
> > > > The 105x32 is exactly what I get by default on my laptop if I set no
> > > > loader variables.
> > > >
> > > > I am not sure what if anything has changed between DragonFly 5.4 and
> > > > master. The syscons driver I believe is exactly the same. The BIOS and
> > > > UEFI setups would give different results though.
> > > >
> > > > I suggest you try to calculate the column x row configuration as
> > > > described above. In UEFI setup, you can see the modes as follows: at
> > > > boot, go to boot prompt (press '9'), and then do 'gop list' to see
> > > > what modes UEFI gives you. You can set the mode there too. (Give 'gop'
> > > > to see the command.) Enter 'boot' to continue booting. I guess you can
> > > > set the desired mode by default via a boot loader variable; but I
> > > > don't know what it would be.
> > > >
> > > > The graphical target etc stuff is linux speak, and probably systemd;
> > > > it has no relevance at all for DragonFly.
> > > >
> > > > Hope this helps.
> > > >
> > > > Peeter
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 1:33 AM nacho Lariguet <lariguet at gmail.com> wrote:    
> > > > >
> > > > > On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 13:53:22 -0700
> > > > > Jonathan Engwall <engwalljonathanthereal at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >    
> > > > > > On Sun, Aug 9, 2020, 12:00 PM <users-request at dragonflybsd.org> wrote:
> > > > > >    
> > > > > > > Send Users mailing list submissions to
> > > > > > >         users at dragonflybsd.org
> > > > > > >
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> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Today's Topics:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >    1. Re: can I use the display native resolution on vty0 as on any
> > > > > > >       other vty's using KMS ? (nacho Lariguet)
> > > > > > >    2. how do I label (meaning adding a reminder caption) to any
> > > > > > >       given BSD slice ? (nacho Lariguet)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Message: 1
> > > > > > > Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2020 18:06:14 -0300
> > > > > > > From: nacho Lariguet <lariguet at gmail.com>
> > > > > > > To: users at dragonflybsd.org
> > > > > > > Subject: Re: can I use the display native resolution on vty0 as on any
> > > > > > >         other vty's using KMS ?
> > > > > > > Message-ID: <20200808180614.66f67761 at leonov>
> > > > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Sat, 8 Aug 2020 11:26:35 -0700
> > > > > > > Jonathan Engwall <engwalljonathanthereal at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > >    
> > > > > > > > Your picture looks to me like the standard "UNIX multi-user mode" perhaps
> > > > > > > > you should select a graphical target somehow. Are making a multi-head    
> > > > > > > boot,    
> > > > > > > > or bringing up each tty simultaneously?
> > > > > > > > Jonathan Engwall    
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ... standard "UNIX multi-user mode" ... sure: do I did try/ask for
> > > > > > > anything else ?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I'm afraid I'm not following
> > > > > > >    
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Your photo shows the BSD/UNIX default to boot to a root system
> > > > > > administrator account. To change this you will need to boot to a graphical
> > > > > > target, or launch a multi head, or something relevant to what you are doing.
> > > > > > I don't know what you are doing. Maybe puppet would work for you?
> > > > > > Jonathan Engwall    
> > > > >
> > > > > OK. Let me be more clear.
> > > > >
> > > > > I want to start using dragonFly ... daily.
> > > > >
> > > > > So the first step is to install it on the hardware that for whatever reasons
> > > > > I currently have, get it running without major issues, and last but not least,
> > > > > set a working environment that suits my needs, which ends in the following fact:
> > > > >
> > > > > What I want is dragonFly running ... WITHOUT X11 !
> > > > >
> > > > > I just want to develop and work with/on the system console, which in our case,
> > > > > happens to be syscons since we still don't have vt/wcons/whatever which means
> > > > > no native UTF-8 console for the time being.
> > > > >
> > > > > I feel comfortable working/developing without a major stack like X because:
> > > > >
> > > > > - I'm learning BSD and the best way to learn something like this is bottom to top
> > > > > not the other way around. This is exactly what I've done with arch-linux some years
> > > > > ago, I just installed a barebones system and from then on I kept learning and
> > > > > needless to say I learned a lot of thinks of linux inner workings which I doubt
> > > > > I could have learned with the zillion packages required by X and any given desktop
> > > > > environment with all their complexity and all the duplicacte functionality. Prior
> > > > > to start using linux I developed for many many years on, yes, Microsoft products
> > > > > and whatnot. Eventually moving to linux was so alien that I wanted to start, I say
> > > > > it again: bottom to top, not the other way around.
> > > > >
> > > > > - That said, I eventually want to move my primary workstation to dragonFly and a
> > > > > couple of servers, and I decided, wisely or not, that I want to move one server
> > > > > first because the server won't need X etc etc and albeit being a file/web server
> > > > > to begin with, it will give me a working environment so I can start coding in BSD,
> > > > > meaning primarily C.
> > > > >
> > > > > - Everything I need to code do not requires X at all: just a working system console.
> > > > > I learned to use VIM in the past few years and feels quite comfortably with it
> > > > > meaning I totally customized it (even I coded many syntax files from scratch), and
> > > > > in my arch linux console environment I have everything I want to.
> > > > >
> > > > > That will give you a detailed overview of what I am after with dragonFly.
> > > > >
> > > > > I need a couple of things:
> > > > >
> > > > > - digital video at max resolution: 1920x1200 in my case ... got it on my test-bed
> > > > > desktop and will attempt to get it running on my PowerEdge servers in a couple of
> > > > > days I guess.
> > > > >
> > > > > - a working US international keyboard layout (us-acentos) ... still not working
> > > > >
> > > > > - a UTF-8 native console ... I know I should give up on this if I want to use this OS
> > > > >
> > > > > - a custom script in CSH to execute after booting a liveCD that formats/installs/
> > > > > configures everything as needed ... almost done, testing it right now.
> > > > >
> > > > > From there on I'm planing to use what for whatever reasons I am currently using in arch:
> > > > >
> > > > > - BIND
> > > > > - nginx
> > > > > - postgreSQL
> > > > >
> > > > > Nothing special, all are in dPorts and I can customize and recompile them as needed.
> > > > >
> > > > > WHEN I get this server working I will start fiddling with X11 on my future BSD workstation.
> > > > >
> > > > > Sorry if this answer was a bit long but I hope you'll understand where I am standing
> > > > > right now.
> > > > >    
> > > > > > I don't know what you are doing. Maybe puppet would work for you?    
> > > > >
> > > > > I'll eventually get it running with/without your support.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks for your advice, and I mean it.
> > > > >
> > > > > PS: You will note that I am asking a lot of questions on the mailing list, I read the man
> > > > > pages, always, that won't mean that some thing can goes unnoticed to me at any given time
> > > > > or that simply I just forgot about some x detail I read before, there's a LOT to learn
> > > > > and the fact that I am asking is because I am a NEWBIE to BSD in general and I want to
> > > > > learn, nothing out of the ordinary I guess. If that irritates you just ignore me. I will
> > > > > be fine.
> > > > >    
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ------------------------------
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Message: 2
> > > > > > > Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2020 15:04:42 -0300
> > > > > > > From: nacho Lariguet <lariguet at gmail.com>
> > > > > > > To: dragonFlyBSD user list <users at dragonflybsd.org>
> > > > > > > Subject: how do I label (meaning adding a reminder caption) to any
> > > > > > >         given BSD slice ?
> > > > > > > Message-ID: <20200809150442.7f5bc89d at leonov>
> > > > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ie: the "label:" field shown under the "diskid:" one with disklabel64
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > It seems there is no switch (maybe -l) on disklabel64 (when using -w) to
> > > > > > > label a slice.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > eg:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > # /dev/da0s1:
> > > > > > > #
> > > > > > > # Calculated informational fields for the slice:
> > > > > > > #
> > > > > > > # boot space:    1044480 bytes
> > > > > > > # data space:  175691776 blocks # 171574.00 MB (179908378624 bytes)
> > > > > > > #
> > > > > > > # NOTE: The partition data base and stop are physically
> > > > > > > #       aligned instead of slice-relative aligned.
> > > > > > > #
> > > > > > > # All byte equivalent offsets must be aligned.
> > > > > > > #
> > > > > > > diskid: af1b4686-d85d-11ea-9373-012324e2aca4
> > > > > > > label: ... HOW TO SET THIS ONE ?
> > > > > > > boot2 data base:      0x000000001000
> > > > > > > partitions data base: 0x000000100000
> > > > > > > partitions data stop: 0x0029e3700000
> > > > > > > backup label:         0x0029e37ff000
> > > > > > > total size:           0x0029e3800000    # 171576.00 MB
> > > > > > > alignment: 4096
> > > > > > > display block size: 1024        # for partition display and edit only
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > 16 partitions:
> > > > > > > #          size     offset    fstype   fsuuid
> > > > > > >   a:    1048576          0    4.2BSD    #    1024.000MB
> > > > > > >   d:   33554432    1048576   HAMMER2    #   32768.000MB
> > > > > > >   e:  134217728   34603008   HAMMER2    #  131072.000MB
> > > > > > >   f:    6871040  168820736   HAMMER2    #    6710.000MB
> > > > > > >   a-stor_uuid: eb61372a-d85d-11ea-9373-012324e2aca4
> > > > > > >   d-stor_uuid: eb613733-d85d-11ea-9373-012324e2aca4
> > > > > > >   e-stor_uuid: eb613739-d85d-11ea-9373-012324e2aca4
> > > > > > >   f-stor_uuid: eb61373e-d85d-11ea-9373-012324e2aca4
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ------------------------------
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Subject: Digest Footer
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > > > > Users at dragonflybsd.org
> > > > > > > http://lists.dragonflybsd.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ------------------------------
> > > > > > >
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> > > > > > > *************************************
> > > > > > >    
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