Dan Mick wrote:
> Bart Smaalders wrote:
>> Dan Mick wrote:
>>> Nicolas Williams wrote:
>>>> On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 06:55:19PM -0800, Garrett D'Amore - sun
>>>> microsystems wrote:
>>>>> Grub has been modified to read and use the information in SPCR. A new
>>>>> keyword $CONSOLE is added for use on the kernel$ boot line in
>>>>> menu.lst;
>>>>> it will expand to properties which select either the appropriate
>>>>> serial
>>>>> port and mode (for example,
>>>>> "console=ttya,ttya-mode=19200,8,n,1,-,ttya-ignore-cd=true") or the
>>>>> normal text or graphics console ("console=text" or "console=graphics")
>>>>> as the Solaris release requires. (Currently Nevada uses text,
>>>>> OpenSolaris uses graphics.) A typical use in menu.lst would look
>>>>> like:
>>>>>
>>>>> kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS,$CONSOLE
>>>>
>>>> How will grub know whether to expand $CONSOLE to console=text or
>>>> console=graphics? Will grub be built differently for Nevada and
>>>> OpenSolaris?
>>>
>>> Yes, if the OpenSolaris transition hasn't taken over by the time of
>>> putback.
>>
>> OpenSolaris doesn't recompile anything right now... why would we
>> remove functionality such that this would have to change?
>
> Don't know what you mean by remove. The alternative choice of "text" or
> "graphics" is dictated by the default of the particular flavor of boot
> in the distro we're constructing. Right now, OpenSolaris and Nevada
> differ in their defaults. When Nevada-or-what-it-becomes changes
> default, then so will this. That might be pre-push.
To clear up some confusion, console=graphics is not the default for
openSolaris or Nevada media. openSolaris media does not set is as it
requires (required?) console interaction to set things like locale and
keyboard type.
There are two problems that need to be solved in order to enable
console=graphics as the default:
1) Don't break systems with serial console redirection.
This project solves that problem in addition to automatically
allowing the OS console to inherit any serial settings from the
platform firmware configuration (which is really cool BTW).
2) Automatically display any text that may need interaction on console
when it does.
That becomes possible with the VESA console (PSARC/2009/415).
Once both projects are integrated $CONSOLE can default to "graphics".
Prior to that it must default to "text".
If we really wanted this to be a distro configurable behavior, we
could work out a way to set a default in the menu file. However I really
don't think we require that level of control.
>> How does this interact w/ the VESA console project?
>
> I'm talking with Jan and Enrico; as far as I can see, that project
> changes how 'console=graphics' is implemented, but not that it is. In
> the case of "SPCR indicates serial", VESA mode will also be disabled
> just as 'VGA graphics' is disabled in the current prototype.
Correct, there's really no overlap. The SPCR support automates setting
the console property which both pre and post VESA consoles consume.
-jan
