source: bootscripts/common/console.xml@ cc07a72

Last change on this file since cc07a72 was bf8c11f, checked in by Jim Gifford <clfs@…>, 19 years ago

r627@server (orig r625): jim | 2005-10-31 12:59:34 -0800
Import of Cross-LFS Book

  • Property mode set to 100644
File size: 5.2 KB
Line 
1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
2<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
4 <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../../general.ent">
5 %general-entities;
6]>
7
8<sect1 id="ch-scripts-console">
9 <?dbhtml filename="console.html"?>
10 <title>Configuring the Linux Console</title>
11
12 <indexterm zone="ch-scripts-console">
13 <primary sortas="d-console">console</primary>
14 <secondary>configuring</secondary></indexterm>
15
16 <para>This section discusses how to configure the <command>console</command>
17 bootscript that sets up the keyboard map and the console font. If non-ASCII
18 characters (e.g., the British pound sign and Euro character) will not be
19 used and the keyboard is a U.S. one, skip this section. Without the
20 configuration file, the <command>console</command> bootscript will do
21 nothing.</para>
22
23 <para>The <command>console</command> script reads the
24 <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file for configuration
25 information. Decide which keymap and screen font will be used. Various
26 language-specific HOWTO's can also help with this (see <ulink
27 url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html"/>. A pre-made
28 <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file with known settings for
29 several countries was installed with the LFS-Bootscripts package, so the
30 relevant section can be uncommented if the country is supported. If still
31 in doubt, look in the <filename class="directory">/usr/share/kbd</filename>
32 directory for valid keymaps and screen fonts. Read
33 <filename>loadkeys(1)</filename> and <filename>setfont(8)</filename> to
34 determine the correct arguments for these programs. Once decided, create
35 the configuration file with the following command:</para>
36
37<screen><userinput>cat &gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
38<literal>KEYMAP="<replaceable>[arguments for loadkeys]</replaceable>"
39FONT="<replaceable>[arguments for setfont]</replaceable>"</literal>
40EOF</userinput></screen>
41
42 <para>For example, for Spanish users who also want to use the Euro
43 character (accessible by pressing AltGr+E), the following settings are
44 correct:</para>
45
46<screen><userinput>cat &gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
47<literal>KEYMAP="es euro2"
48FONT="lat9-16 -u iso01"</literal>
49EOF</userinput></screen>
50
51 <note>
52 <para>The <envar>FONT</envar> line above is correct only for the ISO
53 8859-15 character set. If using ISO 8859-1 and, therefore, a pound sign
54 instead of Euro, the correct <envar>FONT</envar> line would be:</para>
55
56<screen><userinput>FONT="lat1-16"</userinput></screen>
57
58 </note>
59
60 <para>If the <envar>KEYMAP</envar> or <envar>FONT</envar> variable is not
61 set, the <command>console</command> initscript will not run the
62 corresponding program.</para>
63
64 <para>In some keymaps, the Backspace and Delete keys send characters
65 different from ones in the default keymap built into the kernel. This
66 confuses some applications. For example, Emacs displays its help (instead
67 of erasing the character before the cursor) when Backspace is pressed.
68 To check if the keymap in use is affected (this works only for i386
69 keymaps):</para>
70
71<screen><userinput>zgrep '\W14\W' <replaceable>[/path/to/your/keymap]</replaceable></userinput></screen>
72
73 <para>If the keycode 14 is Backspace instead of Delete, create the
74 following keymap snippet to fix this issue:</para>
75
76<screen><userinput>mkdir -p /etc/kbd &amp;&amp; cat &gt; /etc/kbd/bs-sends-del &lt;&lt;"EOF"
77<literal> keycode 14 = Delete Delete Delete Delete
78 alt keycode 14 = Meta_Delete
79 altgr alt keycode 14 = Meta_Delete
80 keycode 111 = Remove
81 altgr control keycode 111 = Boot
82 control alt keycode 111 = Boot
83altgr control alt keycode 111 = Boot</literal>
84EOF</userinput></screen>
85
86 <para>Tell the <command>console</command> script to load this
87 snippet after the main keymap:</para>
88
89<screen><userinput>cat &gt;&gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
90<literal>KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS="/etc/kbd/bs-sends-del"</literal>
91EOF</userinput></screen>
92
93 <para>To compile the keymap directly into the kernel instead of setting it
94 every time from the <command>console</command> bootscript, follow the
95 instructions given in <xref linkend="ch-bootable-kernel" role="."/> Doing
96 this ensures that the keyboard will always work as expected, even when
97 booting into maintenance mode (by passing <option>init=/bin/sh</option> to
98 the kernel), because the <command>console</command> bootscript will not be
99 run in that situation. Additionally, the kernel will not set the screen font
100 automatically. This should not pose many problems because ASCII characters
101 will be handled correctly, and it is unlikely that a user would need to rely
102 on non-ASCII characters while in maintenance mode.</para>
103
104 <para>Since the kernel will set up the keymap, it is possible to omit the
105 <envar>KEYMAP</envar> variable from the
106 <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> configuration file. It can
107 also be left in place, if desired, without consequence. Keeping it could
108 be beneficial if running several different kernels where it is difficult
109 to ensure that the keymap is compiled into every one of them.</para>
110
111</sect1>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.