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diff --git a/chapter07/console.xml b/chapter07/console.xml index 315112366..b0b9417a3 100644 --- a/chapter07/console.xml +++ b/chapter07/console.xml @@ -17,96 +17,207 @@ <para>This section discusses how to configure the <command>console</command> bootscript that sets up the keyboard map and the console font. If non-ASCII - characters (e.g., the British pound sign and Euro character) will not be used - and the keyboard is a U.S. one, skip this section. Without the configuration - file, the <command>console</command> bootscript will do nothing.</para> + characters (e.g., the copyright sign, the British pound sign and Euro symbol) + will not be used and the keyboard is a U.S. one, skip this section. Without + the configuration file, the <command>console</command> bootscript will do + nothing.</para> <para>The <command>console</command> script reads the <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file for configuration information. Decide which keymap and screen font will be used. Various language-specific - HOWTO's can also help with this (see <ulink - url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html"/>. A pre-made - <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file with known settings for several - countries was installed with the LFS-Bootscripts package, so the relevant - section can be uncommented if the country is supported. If still in doubt, look - in the <filename class="directory">/usr/share/kbd</filename> directory for valid - keymaps and screen fonts. Read <filename>loadkeys(1)</filename> and - <filename>setfont(8)</filename> to determine the correct arguments for - these programs. Once decided, create the configuration file with the following - command:</para> - -<screen><userinput>cat >/etc/sysconfig/console <<"EOF" -<literal>KEYMAP="<replaceable>[arguments for loadkeys]</replaceable>" -FONT="<replaceable>[arguments for setfont]</replaceable>"</literal> + HOWTO's can also help with this, see <ulink + url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html"/>. If still in + doubt, look in the <filename class="directory">/usr/share/kbd</filename> + directory for valid keymaps and screen fonts. Read + <filename>loadkeys(1)</filename> and <filename>setfont(8)</filename> manual + pages to determine the correct arguments for these programs.</para> + + <para>The <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file should contain lines + of the form: VARIABLE="value". The following variables are recognized:</para> + + <variablelist> + + <varlistentry> + <term>KEYMAP</term> + <listitem> + <para>This variable specifies the arguments for the + <command>loadkeys</command> program, typically, the name of keymap + to load, e.g. "es". If this variable is not set, the bootscript will + not run the <command>loadkeys</command> program, and the default kernel + keymap will be used.</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term>KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS</term> + <listitem> + <para>This (rarely used) variable + specifies the arguments for the second call to the + <command>loadkeys</command> program. This is useful if the stock keymap + is not completely satisfactory and a small adjustment has to be made. E.g., + to include the Euro sign into a keymap that normally doesn't have it, + set this variable to "euro2".</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term>FONT</term> + <listitem> + <para>This variable specifies the arguments for the + <command>setfont</command> program. Typically, this includes the font + name, "-m", and the name of the application character map to load. + E.g., in order to load the "lat1-16" font together with the "8859-1" + application character map, set this variable to "lat1-16 -m 8859-1". + If this variable is not set, the bootscript will not run the + <command>setfont</command> program, and the default VGA font will be + used together with the default application character map.</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term>UNICODE</term> + <listitem> + <para>Set this variable to "1", "yes" or "true" in order to put the + console into UTF-8 mode. This is useful in UTF-8 based locales and + harmful otherwise.</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term>LEGACY_CHARSET</term> + <listitem> + <para>For many keyboard layouts, there is no stock Unicode keymap in + the Kbd package. The <command>console</command> bootscript will + convert an available keymap to UTF-8 on the fly if this variable is + set to the encoding of the available non-UTF-8 keymap. Note, however, + that dead keys and composing will not work in UTF-8 mode without the + special kernel patch.</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + <varlistentry> + <term>BROKEN_COMPOSE</term> + <listitem> + <para>Set this to "0" if you are going to apply that kernel patch in + Chapter 8. Note that you also have to add the character set expected + by composition rules in your keymap to the FONT variable after the + "-m" switch.</para> + </listitem> + </varlistentry> + + </variablelist> + + <para>Support for compiling the keymap directly into the kernel has been + removed because there were reports that it leads to incorrect results.</para> + + <para>Some examples:</para> + + <itemizedlist> + + <listitem> + <para>For a non-Unicode setup, only the KEYMAP and FONT variables are + generally needed. E.g., for a Polish setup, one would use:</para> + +<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat > /etc/sysconfig/console << "EOF" +<literal># Begin /etc/sysconfig/console + +KEYMAP="pl2" +FONT="lat2a-16 -m 8859-2" + +# End /etc/sysconfig/console</literal> EOF</userinput></screen> + </listitem> - <para>For example, for Spanish users who also want to use the Euro - character (accessible by pressing AltGr+E), the following settings are - correct:</para> + <listitem> + <para>As mentioned above, it is sometimes necessary to adjust a + stock keymap slightly. The following example adds the Euro symbol to the + German keymap:</para> -<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat >/etc/sysconfig/console <<"EOF" -<literal>KEYMAP="es euro2" -FONT="lat9-16 -u iso01"</literal> +<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat > /etc/sysconfig/console << "EOF" +<literal># Begin /etc/sysconfig/console + +KEYMAP="de-latin1" +KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS="euro2" +FONT="lat0-16 -m 8859-15" + +# End /etc/sysconfig/console</literal> EOF</userinput></screen> + </listitem> - <note> - <para>The <envar>FONT</envar> line above is correct only for the ISO 8859-15 - character set. If using ISO 8859-1 and, therefore, a pound sign - instead of Euro, the correct <envar>FONT</envar> line would be:</para> + <listitem> + <para>Here is a Unicode-enabled example for Bulgarian, where a stock + UTF-8 keymap exists and defines no dead keys or composition rules:</para> -<screen role="nodump"><userinput>FONT="lat1-16"</userinput></screen> - </note> +<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat > /etc/sysconfig/console << "EOF" +<literal># Begin /etc/sysconfig/console + +UNICODE="1" +KEYMAP="bg_bds-utf8" +FONT="LatArCyrHeb-16" - <para>If the <envar>KEYMAP</envar> or <envar>FONT</envar> variable is not set, - the <command>console</command> initscript will not run the corresponding - program.</para> - - <para>In some keymaps, the Backspace and Delete keys send characters different - from ones in the default keymap built into the kernel. This confuses some - applications. For example, Emacs displays its help (instead of erasing the - character before the cursor) when Backspace is pressed. To check if the keymap - in use is affected (this works only for i386 keymaps):</para> - -<screen role="nodump"><userinput>zgrep '\W14\W' <replaceable>[/path/to/your/keymap]</replaceable></userinput></screen> - - <para>If the keycode 14 is Backspace instead of Delete, create the - following keymap snippet to fix this issue:</para> - -<screen role="nodump"><userinput>mkdir -pv /etc/kbd && cat > /etc/kbd/bs-sends-del <<"EOF" -<literal> keycode 14 = Delete Delete Delete Delete - alt keycode 14 = Meta_Delete - altgr alt keycode 14 = Meta_Delete - keycode 111 = Remove - altgr control keycode 111 = Boot - control alt keycode 111 = Boot -altgr control alt keycode 111 = Boot</literal> +# End /etc/sysconfig/console</literal> +EOF</userinput></screen> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>Due to the use of a 512-glyph LatArCyrHeb-16 font in the previous + example, bright colors are no longer available on the Linux console unless + a framebuffer is used. If one wants to have bright colors without + framebuffer and can live without characters not belonging to his language, + it is still possible to use a language-specific 256-glyph font, as + illustrated below. This would, however, also break single quotes in manual + pages.</para> + + <!-- And even with the LatArCyrHeb-16 font, copying-and-pasting produces + non-ASCII variants of opening and closing single quote instead of ` and '. + Maybe another sed has to be added to groff instructions that will remove + both issues. --> + +<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat > /etc/sysconfig/console << "EOF" +<literal># Begin /etc/sysconfig/console + +UNICODE="1" +KEYMAP="bg_bds-utf8" +FONT="cyr-sun16" + +# End /etc/sysconfig/console</literal> EOF</userinput></screen> + </listitem> - <para>Tell the <command>console</command> script to load this - snippet after the main keymap:</para> + <listitem> + <para>The following example illustrates keymap autoconversion from + ISO-8859-15 to UTF-8 and enabling dead keys in Unicode mode:</para> -<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat >>/etc/sysconfig/console <<"EOF" -<literal>KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS="/etc/kbd/bs-sends-del"</literal> +<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat > /etc/sysconfig/console << "EOF" +<literal># Begin /etc/sysconfig/console + +UNICODE="1" +KEYMAP="de-latin1" +KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS="euro2" +LEGACY_CHARSET="iso-8859-15" +BROKEN_COMPOSE="0" +FONT="LatArCyrHeb-16 -m 8859-15" + +# End /etc/sysconfig/console</literal> EOF</userinput></screen> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>For Chinese, Japanese, Korean and some other languages, the Linux + console cannot be configured to display the needed characters. Users + who need such languages should install the X Window System, fonts that + cover the necessary character ranges, and the proper input Method (e.g. + SCIM, it supports a wide variety of languages).</para> + </listitem> - <para>To compile the keymap directly into the kernel instead of - setting it every time from the <command>console</command> bootscript, - follow the instructions given in <xref linkend="ch-bootable-kernel" role="."/> - Doing this ensures that the keyboard will always work as expected, - even when booting into maintenance mode (by passing - <parameter>init=/bin/sh</parameter> to the kernel), because the - <command>console</command> bootscript will not be run in that - situation. Additionally, the kernel will not set the screen font - automatically. This should not pose many problems because ASCII characters - will be handled correctly, and it is unlikely that a user would need - to rely on non-ASCII characters while in maintenance mode.</para> - - <para>Since the kernel will set up the keymap, it is possible to omit - the <envar>KEYMAP</envar> variable from the - <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> configuration file. It can - also be left in place, if desired, without consequence. Keeping it - could be beneficial if running several different kernels where it is - difficult to ensure that the keymap is compiled into every one of - them.</para> + </itemizedlist> + + <!-- Added because folks keep posting their console file with X questions + to blfs-support list --> + <note> + <para>The <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file only controls + Linux text console localization. It has nothing to do with setting the proper + keyboard layout and terminal fonts in X Window System.</para> + </note> </sect1> |