Re: Independ multiple users on G550

[Helge H. <hel...@ai...>]

On Sun, Nov 30, 2003 at 04:24:04PM +0100, Svetoslav Slavtchev wrote:
> > > 
> > My advice is to take a look at /etc/securetty which
> > limits where root can log in.  I lost root logins upon
> > switching to and from devfs due to changing names of
> > the tty devices.  Make sure the "extra" consoles
> > are listed.
> 
> thanks 
> 
> that worked :-)
> 


I updated from CVS 30.nov, and copied the source into 2.6.0-test11
This compiled fine, in several configurations.

Booting with framebuffer console compiled-in still oopses,
this time the oops was unreadable except for the last line
about killing init.

So I tried a modular fbcon, with a kernel configured to load
modules automatically when needed.  This booted in the same way,
loaded the fbcon module automatically and crashed just as the compiled-in
variant.  The readable part of the crash message said something
about mdrun exiting with a wrong preempt count.

So I moved fbcon.ko where modprobe couldn't find it, and
booted again.  The machine came up fine, obviously without a
console.  I moved the module back to its proper place,
and loaded it.  I immediately got two penguins (it's a dual processor
machine) on the screen running accelerated X.  This screen
has the keyboard connected to the ordinary ps2 keyboard plug
(recognized by the bios too).  Ruby places this at vt17. 
Pressing ctrl+alt+F1 here did nothing, no console switch.

The other keyboard is connected to the ps2 mouse plug,
and seen by X on vt7. Pressing ctrl+alt+F1 switched to a
console.  X blanked itself. Unfortunately the console appeared at the other
screen - so I had matrox console and X running there simultaneously.
Psycho circus again. :-(  The second screen just sat there.

I believe this might work better if I ran the vt7 xfree on 
the first display, but I have a good reason for not doing so:
It is sometimes necessary to access the bios setup, or boot non-ruby
versions of linux. In those cases the keyboard connected to the
ordinary keyboard plug is the only keyboard, and X happens
on the first screen. (/dev/fb0).  Moving keyboards or screens around the
room isn't very interesting, so this is the layout I want.

Life would be so much easier if ruby considered the ordinary
pc keyboard as the first one, and one connected to the "mouse" port
as the second one.  Or if the vt/keyboarddevice/console connections
could be specified using kernel parameters. any hope of swapping the
keyboards so the console/screen/keyboard/vt combination that works
for plain linux simply becomes the "first" set of connected devices 
using ruby?


Is there anything I could do to help find out why fbcon oopses
when it is available "too early"?  Perhaps it uses resources
not yet initialized?  Or races somehow?  
It seems to work when loaded after the normal boot, except that
it don't match my screen/keyboard mapping.

Helge Hafting