155 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
155 lines
6.7 KiB
HTML
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<title>SVGATextMode Issue 21</title>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#0020F0"
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ALINK="#FF0000">
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H2>SVGATextMode</H2>
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<H4>By Larry Ayers,
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<a href="mailto:layers@marktwain.net">layers@marktwain.net</a></H4>
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</center>
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<center><h1>Fit More Text On Your Console Screen</h1></center>
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<center><h3>Introduction</h3></center>
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<p>This summer a new version of <b>SVGATextMode</b> was released, and
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thinking that many Linux users might be unfamiliar with the package, I put
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together this review as an introduction to a versatile and useful console
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utility.
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<p>Typically, Linux distributions use LILO as the boot loader, which refers to
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the file <i>/etc/lilo.conf</i> for instructions. One of the lines in the file
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is <kbd>vga = </kbd>, with either the number of a console video mode following
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the "=", or the word <i>ask</i>. If "ask" is specified, the Linux boot
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process is interrupted and you are asked which (EGA) video mode you prefer. An
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option (thankfully!) is also provided allowing the user to peruse a menu of
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available console video modes, which varies depending on the video chipset.
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With my generic S3 Virge card, these modes are offered:
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<ul>
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<li>80x25
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<li>80x50
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<li>80x43
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<li>80x28
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<li>80x30
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<li>80x34
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<li>80x60
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<li>132x25
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<li>132x43
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</ul>
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<p>It's nice to have a choice of video modes (which determine the screen font
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size) but these boot-time options just scratch the surface of what the newer video cards
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and monitors offer. SVGATextMode is a utility which borrows some of the
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techniques which the X-Window system uses to exploit the resources of your
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video system and applies them to the console screen.
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<center><h3>How It Works</h3></center>
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<p>SVGATextMode actually reprograms the registers of your video card, allowing
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many more modes than the preprogrammed modes available at boot-up. It borrows
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some of the techniques used by XFree86 in order to make available more console
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video modes. The modes provided by your video-card BIOS are EGA modes, and
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they run at a low refresh-rate and dot-clock compared to those used by
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X-windows.
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<p>The program can be either started at boot-time from one of the init-files,
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or at any time from the console prompt. When it starts a configuration file
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(<kbd>/etc/TextConfig</kbd>) is parsed. The defaults are very conservative.
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The file needs to be read and edited before any real advantage can be obtained
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from the program. This is due to the vast differences in capability between
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various video cards and monitors. As in X configuration, the correct values
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for your monitor's horizontal and vertical refresh rates need to be entered in
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the <b>TextConfig</b> file. If you've successfully configured X you shouldn't
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have any problems with SVGATextMode.
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<center><h3>Configuration and Use</h3></center>
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<p>SVGATextMode is what I consider to be a "mature" package, in that it has
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been under development long enough to have received contributions and bugfixes
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from a worldwide community of users. Many video cards are supported, though I
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don't think quite as many as XFree86 supports.
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<p>In the default <kbd>/etc/TextConfig</kbd> file many of the lines are
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high-resolution modes contributed by users. Once you have entered your video
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chipset and monitor timings into the file, the command <kbd>SVGATextMode -n
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[mode]</kbd> will let you know if your hardware can support the mode without
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actually starting the program. Once you've found some promising modes just
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eliminate the "-n" from the command and with any luck you'll have the new
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text mode visible on your console screen. Possibly the screen will be
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corrupted. Running the SVGAlib utility <b>savetextmode</b> before trying a
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new mode, then if corruption appears <b>restoretextmode</b> afterwards ought
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to allow recovery of your previous default text mode. It will take some
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experimentation, but the package is very well documented and is worth the
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trouble.
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<p>There are some included modes with 160-character wide screens, which can be
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very useful while running an editor which allows two 80-character pages to be
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displayed side-by-side. Emacs can do this, and there is a LISP package
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available called follow-mode which allows both pages to scroll relative to
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each other.
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<p>SVGATextMode doesn't just allow more characters to be displayed on the
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screen. Even relatively low-resolution modes will look crisper and be easier
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to read due to the higher refresh rates typically used. The most dramatic
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advantages, naturally, are evident with newer, more powerful video-cards and
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large monitors, but even with my middle-of-the-road equipment the utility is
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well worth using.
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<center><h3>Caveats</h3></center>
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<p>If you use Dosemu from the console there can be problems. I have to reset
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the text-mode to my old default 80x43 mode before starting Dosemu or I get
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unrecoverable corruption requiring a reboot. I haven't had any problems
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switching from a console session to X and back, but, just as with X-windows,
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performance varies depending upon the video-card and monitor involved.
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Read the documentation; it's very complete and a great help while getting
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started.
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<center><h3>Availability</h3></center>
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<p>The source package (version 1.6) can be retrieved from the Sunsite archive site or one of
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its mirrors, in this <a href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/console">directory</a>.
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A binary package for Redhat systems is available
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<a
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href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/redhat/contrib/i386/">here</a>,
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and a Debian binary can be downloaded from
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<a href="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/hamm/hamm/binary-i386/admin">
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here</a>.
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Larry Ayers<BR>
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Published in Issue 21 of the Linux Gazette, September 1997</H5></center>
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