How can I modify FreeBSD 12.0 to use the syscons driver?

neilms

neilms

Hello everyone,

Please can someone help with specific instructions on how I can recompile my kernel to use the syscons driver in FreeBSD 12?

I have installed FreeBSD 12 on a new laptop. At the moment I don't want or need Xorg etc. I just need a console that I can see! The default font is so small it strains my eyes and is unusable for this reason. I heard that the driver that replaced syscons is still in development and you cannot easily change the font size to make it larger. So I would like to modify my system to use the old sc. Can anyone instruct me how to do this please?

Alternatively please let me know if / how I can increase the font of the terminal with the 'new' driver?

Best wishes
 
From loader prompt (#3 on beastie menu)
set kern.vty="sc"
boot

To make it permanent:
/boot/loader.conf
kern.vty="sc"
 
To use the newer vt(4) you would might want to change the default screen resolution, not the font size.

This too is a /boot/loader.conf setting. For 1280 x800 example:
kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1280x800"

To determine what screen resolutions are available with vt(4) you can check with loader prompt(#3 beastie menu)
list gop <<< This will show all sizes available on your hardware;
set gop 3 <<< This example sets the screen resolution to #3 from list gop;
boot <<< This boots with your settings to test;
 
Also notice in the vt manual the parts about "Kernel Mode Setting".
If a KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) video driver is available, the display is
switched to high resolution and the KMS driver takes over. When a KMS
driver is not available, vt_vga remains active.
Click to expand...

So checkout your CPU. If you have Intel CPU from the last 9 years you can add i915kms settings.
This might help with better resolution if using Intel graphics.
/etc/rc.conf
kld_list=i915kms
 
Phishfry said:
From loader prompt (#3 on beastie menu)
set kern.vty="sc"
boot

To make it permanent:
/boot/loader.conf
kern.vty="sc"
Click to expand...
Hello I had a working system and edited /boot/loader.conf as stated above. Now the system freezes when I try to boot. Is there a way to fix it or will I have to install again?
 
Boot using recovery media, mount your root partition as read/write under /mnt/ and edit /mnt/boot/loader.conf again using vi.
 
Yes using the FreeBSD installer medium go to LiveCD mode.
mount /dev/ada0s2a /mnt <<< For MBR style install
ee /mnt/boot/loader.conf
Check for typo or random characters at end.
Command as listed is valid.
 
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