Re: std location for system console

[Marcus Brinkmann]

On Sun, Sep 01, 2002 at 10:00:42PM -0700, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:
> There is an ambiguity here about what "/dev/console" should mean,
> however.  
> 
> Either /dev/console is a redirectable hardware device, and the fancy
> console driver runs on it,
> or something *else* is the hardware device,
> the fancy console driver runs on that, and then /dev/console points at
> one of the fancy console driver files.
> 
> I prefer the *latter* solution, by far.

I think that's what we do, but just so that we are really sure that no
further misunderstandings slip in (for example, I can only guess what "fancy
console driver" means), here is a diagram of the setup we plan to have so
far:

Single user mode (and initial setup at boot time):

/dev/console => /hurd/term /dev/console device console

[Note: This depends on a working console device in the device driver
component.  In fact, currently it depends on the Mach console device.]

Multi user mode mode:

/dev/system-console => /hurd/console
[Note: "system-console" is the "somename" that I tried to discuss in this 
thread]

/dev/tty1 => /hurd/term /dev/tty1 hurdio /dev/system-console/1/console
/dev/tty2 => /hurd/term /dev/tty2 hurdio /dev/system-console/2/console
/dev/tty3 => /hurd/term /dev/tty3 hurdio /dev/system-console/3/console
/dev/tty4 => /hurd/term /dev/tty4 hurdio /dev/system-console/4/console
...

/dev/console => /hurd/term /dev/console hurdio /dev/tty1
[Note: This can be done seamlessly to existing users of /dev/console by
using the new fsysopts feature, which allows this redirection.
This redirection should happen when the console client was successfully
started, because only then we know that the content of /dev/tty1 is actually
seen.]

The following command will start the console client, which accesses the VGA
card and reads keyboard input from the device, etc, and put it in the
background:
console-console --daemon /dev/system-console

The client is started on the root directory of the console server as it
provides virtual console switching etc.

Thanks,
Marcus





-- 
`Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' GNU      http://www.gnu.org    marcus@gnu.org
Marcus Brinkmann              The Hurd http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/
Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
http://www.marcus-brinkmann.de/