more data on screen

more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

This is a progress report that might encourage others to experiment:

I changed my lilo.conf to use the line

vga = 791

instead of

vga = normal

and then rebooted. I now have a 128 by 48 character display. When I
checked to see which applications were working correctly with the new
screen size, I found that lynx, pine, nano, mutella, less, and the man
pages, all were correctly resized to the new screen size. My text
reader, rita the reader, had to have its rita.cfg file changed to the
new screen parameters, but hey, that's a home made amateur program. So
far I see no down side to this new setup.

As for nano, I invoke it with a line length limit of 72 chars, so that
it wraps at that point, but without that command line option it too
would use the entire 128 char width. I will retain the 72 char width to
facilitate printing and emailing.

I am happy as a clam.

Chuck


-- 
The Moon is Waxing Crescent (4% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

more data on screen

[John covici]

You might try vga=15492 which is 132 by 60 or if your video card
won't take that try vga=15440 which is 60 by 80.

on Thursday 09/16/2004 Chuck Hallenbeck(chuckh@sent.com) wrote
 > This is a progress report that might encourage others to experiment:
 > 
 > I changed my lilo.conf to use the line
 > 
 > vga = 791
 > 
 > instead of
 > 
 > vga = normal
 > 
 > and then rebooted. I now have a 128 by 48 character display. When I
 > checked to see which applications were working correctly with the new
 > screen size, I found that lynx, pine, nano, mutella, less, and the man
 > pages, all were correctly resized to the new screen size. My text
 > reader, rita the reader, had to have its rita.cfg file changed to the
 > new screen parameters, but hey, that's a home made amateur program. So
 > far I see no down side to this new setup.
 > 
 > As for nano, I invoke it with a line length limit of 72 chars, so that
 > it wraps at that point, but without that command line option it too
 > would use the entire 128 char width. I will retain the 72 char width to
 > facilitate printing and emailing.
 > 
 > I am happy as a clam.
 > 
 > Chuck
 > 
 > 
 > -- 
 > The Moon is Waxing Crescent (4% of Full)
 > Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
 > Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074
 > 
 > _______________________________________________
 > Speakup mailing list
 > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
 > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
         John Covici
         covici@ccs.covici.com

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Thanks for those suggestions. I want to cut down on color depth also,
for possibly improving performance.

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, John covici wrote:

> You might try vga=15492 which is 132 by 60 or if your video card
> won't take that try vga=15440 which is 60 by 80.
>

-- 
The Moon is Waxing Crescent (4% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

Well, I think it may not have to do with framebuffers per se.

in the kernel configuration items, here's something you might want 
to know:
under "Device drivers" "Console display driver support" "VGA text console" 
"video mode selection support" the help says:
This enables support for text mode selection on kernel startup. If 
you want to take advantage of some high-resolution text mode your 
card's BIOS offers, but the traditional Linux utilities like 
SVGATextMode don't, you can say Y here and set the mode using the 
"vga=" option from your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) or set 
"vga=ask" which brings up a video mode menu on kernel startup. (Try 
"man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader about 
how to pass options to the kernel.) 
Read the file <file:Documentation/svga.txt> for more information 
about the Video mode selection support. 
Hth.


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Steve Holmes]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Well, to bring up this topic discussed heavily last month, I still
have an issue.  I'm currently using 'vga = extended' and I still get
25x80 screens.  During this past month, I got a new machine with new
video and discovered something.  Durring the loading of the kernel and
its drivers, I noticed I had 50 lines.  But after the shell completed
and terminal options were set I was back to 25 lines.  To get the
additional screen capacity, do I also have to change something in my
terminal options? I'm running Slackware 10.0 with the default
implimentation of terminfo and my console type is linux on all my tty
lines.  I thought it strange that I had greeater capacity while
loading but then it turns off after finishing the startup.

Any ideas?

On Thu, Sep 16, 2004 at 01:37:08PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> Well, I think it may not have to do with framebuffers per se.
> 
> in the kernel configuration items, here's something you might want 
> to know:
> under "Device drivers" "Console display driver support" "VGA text console" 
> "video mode selection support" the help says:
> This enables support for text mode selection on kernel startup. If 
> you want to take advantage of some high-resolution text mode your 
> card's BIOS offers, but the traditional Linux utilities like 
> SVGATextMode don't, you can say Y here and set the mode using the 
> "vga=" option from your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) or set 
> "vga=ask" which brings up a video mode menu on kernel startup. (Try 
> "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader about 
> how to pass options to the kernel.) 
> Read the file <file:Documentation/svga.txt> for more information 
> about the Video mode selection support. 
> Hth.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cheryl
> 
> "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 

- -- 
HolmesGrown Solutions
The best solutions for the best price!
http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
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Re: more data on screen

[Ralph W. Reid]

I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 09:59:49AM -0700, Steve Holmes wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Well, to bring up this topic discussed heavily last month, I still
> have an issue.  I'm currently using 'vga = extended' and I still get
> 25x80 screens.  During this past month, I got a new machine with new
> video and discovered something.  Durring the loading of the kernel and
> its drivers, I noticed I had 50 lines.  But after the shell completed
> and terminal options were set I was back to 25 lines.  To get the
> additional screen capacity, do I also have to change something in my
> terminal options? I'm running Slackware 10.0 with the default
> implimentation of terminfo and my console type is linux on all my tty
> lines.  I thought it strange that I had greeater capacity while
> loading but then it turns off after finishing the startup.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> On Thu, Sep 16, 2004 at 01:37:08PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
> > Well, I think it may not have to do with framebuffers per se.
> > 
> > in the kernel configuration items, here's something you might want 
> > to know:
> > under "Device drivers" "Console display driver support" "VGA text console" 
> > "video mode selection support" the help says:
> > This enables support for text mode selection on kernel startup. If 
> > you want to take advantage of some high-resolution text mode your 
> > card's BIOS offers, but the traditional Linux utilities like 
> > SVGATextMode don't, you can say Y here and set the mode using the 
> > "vga=" option from your boot loader (lilo or loadlin) or set 
> > "vga=ask" which brings up a video mode menu on kernel startup. (Try 
> > "man bootparam" or see the documentation of your boot loader about 
> > how to pass options to the kernel.) 
> > Read the file <file:Documentation/svga.txt> for more information 
> > about the Video mode selection support. 
> > Hth.
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Cheryl
> > 
> > "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > 
> > 
> 
> - -- 
> HolmesGrown Solutions
> The best solutions for the best price!
> http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
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-- 
Ralph.  N6BNO.  Wisdom comes from central processing, not from I/O.
rreid@sunset.net  http://personalweb.sunset.net/~rreid
Opinions herein are either mine or they are flame bait.
CIRCLE RADIUS = sqrt (x ^ 2 + y ^ 2)

Re: more data on screen

[Steve Holmes]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Well, using extended works for me while the stuff is being loaded.  I
can press the numpad-period and speakup speaks "line 50 col 1 tty1"
but right about the time the rc.d scripts finish up their thing, It
reverts back to saying "line 25...".  That's why I think something is
getting in the way later on after the boot sequence.

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 01:35:59PM -0800, Ralph W. Reid wrote:
> I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
> Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
> for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
> before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
> that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
> hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
> all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
> to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
> which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
> this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
> default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!

- -- 
HolmesGrown Solutions
The best solutions for the best price!
http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
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Re: more data on screen

[Kenny Hitt]

Hi.  Don't know about Slackware, but you can have this problem in Debian
because of the console font loaded during boot.  You might want to check
your startup scripts and see if you are loading a font.

Hope this helps.
          Kenny

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 10:17:52PM -0700, Steve Holmes wrote:
> Well, using extended works for me while the stuff is being loaded.  I
> can press the numpad-period and speakup speaks "line 50 col 1 tty1"
> but right about the time the rc.d scripts finish up their thing, It
> reverts back to saying "line 25...".  That's why I think something is
> getting in the way later on after the boot sequence.
> 
> On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 01:35:59PM -0800, Ralph W. Reid wrote:
> > I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
> > Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
> > for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
> > before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
> > that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
> > hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
> > all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
> > to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
> > which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
> > this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
> > default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!
> 
> -- 
> HolmesGrown Solutions
> The best solutions for the best price!
> http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Steve Holmes]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Thank you! Thank you!  It was the font! I just disabled rc.font and I
have a 50 line display with no other changes.  I'll have to go out and
experiment with Chuck's value and see if I can really squint to see
the screen:).  Actually, char size is totally moot to me since I use
speech exclusively.

On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 11:41:32PM -0600, Kenny Hitt wrote:
> Hi.  Don't know about Slackware, but you can have this problem in Debian
> because of the console font loaded during boot.  You might want to check
> your startup scripts and see if you are loading a font.
> 
> Hope this helps.
>           Kenny
> 
> On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 10:17:52PM -0700, Steve Holmes wrote:
> > Well, using extended works for me while the stuff is being loaded.  I
> > can press the numpad-period and speakup speaks "line 50 col 1 tty1"
> > but right about the time the rc.d scripts finish up their thing, It
> > reverts back to saying "line 25...".  That's why I think something is
> > getting in the way later on after the boot sequence.
> > 
> > On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 01:35:59PM -0800, Ralph W. Reid wrote:
> > > I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
> > > Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
> > > for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
> > > before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
> > > that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
> > > hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
> > > all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
> > > to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
> > > which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
> > > this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
> > > default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!
> > 
> > -- 
> > HolmesGrown Solutions
> > The best solutions for the best price!
> > http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> 

- -- 
HolmesGrown Solutions
The best solutions for the best price!
http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
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Re: more data on screen

[Gene Collins]

Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  *** 
Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
damage the monitor.  You have been warned!

Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
reset to a supported clock and resolution first!

Gene

Re: more data on screen

[Igor Gueths]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi. Actually Gene, I think I have a minor correction to what you said earlier about monitors.
On Fri, Nov 12, 2004 at 08:35:03AM -0600, Gene Collins wrote:
> 
> Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
> SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
> cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
> chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
> 202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
> clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  *** 
> Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
> damage the monitor.  You have been warned!

I think newer monitors, such as one that I have will drop the video signal entirely once it figures out it can't properly display it. A message that says something like "no signal" is 
displayed. And then once I set the resolution to something the monitor could display, the image came back on. As to whether or not the monitor is still digesting the video signal in some way I 
am not sure, which is why I said "possible minor correction."

> 
> Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
> you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
> will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
> reset to a supported clock and resolution first!
> 
> Gene
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

- -- 
"The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42." -- Douglas Adams
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Re: more data on screen

[Gene Collins]

Hi Igore.  What you say is true, but you don't want to take chances. 
You really don't want to have to buy a new monitor, right?  So unless
you know, turn it off and be safe.

Gene

>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>Hi. Actually Gene, I think I have a minor correction to what you said earlier 
about monitors.
>On Fri, Nov 12, 2004 at 08:35:03AM -0600, Gene Collins wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
>> SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
>> cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
>> chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
>> 202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
>> clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  *** 
>> Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
>> damage the monitor.  You have been warned!
>
>I think newer monitors, such as one that I have will drop the video signal ent
irely once it figures out it can't properly display it. A message that says som
ething like "no signal" is 
>displayed. And then once I set the resolution to something the monitor could d
isplay, the image came back on. As to whether or not the monitor is still diges
ting the video signal in some way I 
>am not sure, which is why I said "possible minor correction."
>
>> 
>> Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
>> you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
>> will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
>> reset to a supported clock and resolution first!
>> 
>> Gene
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>- -- 
>"The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42." -- Douglas Adams
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>=9DBs
>-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>
>_______________________________________________
>Speakup mailing list
>Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Janina Sajka]

Do you perhaps have a URL for this package SuperVgaTextMode? I don't
find it via Google--only about a handful of references that some folks
have used it.

Gene Collins writes:
> Hi Igore.  What you say is true, but you don't want to take chances. 
> You really don't want to have to buy a new monitor, right?  So unless
> you know, turn it off and be safe.
> 
> Gene
> 
> >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> >Hash: SHA1
> >
> >Hi. Actually Gene, I think I have a minor correction to what you said earlier 
> about monitors.
> >On Fri, Nov 12, 2004 at 08:35:03AM -0600, Gene Collins wrote:
> >> 
> >> Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
> >> SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
> >> cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
> >> chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
> >> 202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
> >> clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  *** 
> >> Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
> >> damage the monitor.  You have been warned!
> >
> >I think newer monitors, such as one that I have will drop the video signal ent
> irely once it figures out it can't properly display it. A message that says som
> ething like "no signal" is 
> >displayed. And then once I set the resolution to something the monitor could d
> isplay, the image came back on. As to whether or not the monitor is still diges
> ting the video signal in some way I 
> >am not sure, which is why I said "possible minor correction."
> >
> >> 
> >> Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
> >> you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
> >> will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
> >> reset to a supported clock and resolution first!
> >> 
> >> Gene
> >> 
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Speakup mailing list
> >> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >- -- 
> >"The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42." -- Douglas Adams
> >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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> >-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Speakup mailing list
> >Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Chair
				Accessibility Workgroup
				Free Standards Group (FSG)

janina@freestandards.org	Phone: +1 202.494.7040

Re: more data on screen

[Gene Collins]

Hi Janina and all.  My appologies for not responding sooner.  Being laid
up with sniffles can adversely affect one's attention span.

It seems I was in error about the name of the package.  It is called
svgatextmode, all lowercase.  Debian people can install it by typing
apt-get install svgatextmode.  Redhat folks should be able to find an
rpm for it.  Slackware folks I'm not sure about.  If all else fails
doing a google search will find several references to svgatextmode.

Gene

>Do you perhaps have a URL for this package SuperVgaTextMode? I don't
>find it via Google--only about a handful of references that some folks
>have used it.
>
>Gene Collins writes:
>> Hi Igore.  What you say is true, but you don't want to take chances. 
>> You really don't want to have to buy a new monitor, right?  So unless
>> you know, turn it off and be safe.
>> 
>> Gene
>> 
>> >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> >Hash: SHA1
>> >
>> >Hi. Actually Gene, I think I have a minor correction to what you said earli
er 
>> about monitors.
>> >On Fri, Nov 12, 2004 at 08:35:03AM -0600, Gene Collins wrote:
>> >> 
>> >> Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
>> >> SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
>> >> cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
>> >> chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
>> >> 202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
>> >> clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  *** 
>> >> Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
>> >> damage the monitor.  You have been warned!
>> >
>> >I think newer monitors, such as one that I have will drop the video signal 
ent
>> irely once it figures out it can't properly display it. A message that says 
som
>> ething like "no signal" is 
>> >displayed. And then once I set the resolution to something the monitor coul
d d
>> isplay, the image came back on. As to whether or not the monitor is still di
ges
>> ting the video signal in some way I 
>> >am not sure, which is why I said "possible minor correction."
>> >
>> >> 
>> >> Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
>> >> you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
>> >> will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
>> >> reset to a supported clock and resolution first!
>> >> 
>> >> Gene
>> >> 
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Speakup mailing list
>> >> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> >> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> >
>> >- -- 
>> >"The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42." -- Douglas Adams
>> >-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> >Version: GnuPG v1.2.6 (GNU/Linux)
>> >
>> >iD8DBQFBlOriNohoaf1zXJMRAhPCAJ45wG4FH0tDMRBvghc8qaeeRkCjyQCgtBSF
>> >iUARvaTFVIQ942xFZTNV954=
>> >=9DBs
>> >-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> >
>> >_______________________________________________
>> >Speakup mailing list
>> >Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Speakup mailing list
>> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>-- 
>	
>				Janina Sajka, Chair
>				Accessibility Workgroup
>				Free Standards Group (FSG)
>
>janina@freestandards.org	Phone: +1 202.494.7040
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Speakup mailing list
>Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
>http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Sean McMahon]

A few questions about supervgatextmode:  Do you have to have any modules for
your video card loaded?  Where would it be located under aptitude? I didn't see
it under alternative console environments and shells.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Collins" <collins@gene3.ait.iastate.edu>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: more data on screen


>
> Hi all.  Actually, you may want to check out a package called
> SuperVgaTextMode.  It interactively sets the screen resolution on video
> cards, if the machine is not using a frame buffer device.  If your video
> chip supports it, you can get some really large screen sizes like
> 202x81.  Your mileage will very according to your video chip and what
> clock rates it supports.  Warning: Be *** V E R Y * CAREFUL!  ***
> Setting a resolution with a clock rate not supported by your monitor can
> damage the monitor.  You have been warned!
>
> Nevertheless, if you are like me and run with the monitor turned off,
> you can set the video card for whatever clock rate and resolution it
> will support.  Just don't expect to turn on the monitor, and if you do,
> reset to a supported clock and resolution first!
>
> Gene
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Sean McMahon]

Where are the startup scripts located on Debian?
Sean
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kenny Hitt" <kenny@hittsjunk.net>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 10:41 PM
Subject: Re: more data on screen


> Hi.  Don't know about Slackware, but you can have this problem in Debian
> because of the console font loaded during boot.  You might want to check
> your startup scripts and see if you are loading a font.
> 
> Hope this helps.
>           Kenny
> 
> On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 10:17:52PM -0700, Steve Holmes wrote:
> > Well, using extended works for me while the stuff is being loaded.  I
> > can press the numpad-period and speakup speaks "line 50 col 1 tty1"
> > but right about the time the rc.d scripts finish up their thing, It
> > reverts back to saying "line 25...".  That's why I think something is
> > getting in the way later on after the boot sequence.
> > 
> > On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 01:35:59PM -0800, Ralph W. Reid wrote:
> > > I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
> > > Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
> > > for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
> > > before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
> > > that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
> > > hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
> > > all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
> > > to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
> > > which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
> > > this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
> > > default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!
> > 
> > -- 
> > HolmesGrown Solutions
> > The best solutions for the best price!
> > http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Kenny Hitt]

Hi.  why don't you go read Debian's documentation to answer this
question?  It's well written and explains it better than I can.  Just
knowing the location of the scripts isn't enough.  To find out what I
mean, go read.

          Kenny

On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 11:11:31AM -0700, Sean McMahon wrote:
> Where are the startup scripts located on Debian?
> Sean
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kenny Hitt" <kenny@hittsjunk.net>
> To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 10:41 PM
> Subject: Re: more data on screen
> 
> 
> > Hi.  Don't know about Slackware, but you can have this problem in Debian
> > because of the console font loaded during boot.  You might want to check
> > your startup scripts and see if you are loading a font.
> > 
> > Hope this helps.
> >           Kenny
> > 
> > On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 10:17:52PM -0700, Steve Holmes wrote:
> > > Well, using extended works for me while the stuff is being loaded.  I
> > > can press the numpad-period and speakup speaks "line 50 col 1 tty1"
> > > but right about the time the rc.d scripts finish up their thing, It
> > > reverts back to saying "line 25...".  That's why I think something is
> > > getting in the way later on after the boot sequence.
> > > 
> > > On Wed, Nov 10, 2004 at 01:35:59PM -0800, Ralph W. Reid wrote:
> > > > I tried 'vga = extended' in Slackware 9.0 with disappointing results.
> > > > Using 'vga=ask' at the 'boot' prompt should present a menu of choices
> > > > for video modes which work with your hardware, but this all happens
> > > > before any speech support is loaded.  I found by making some guesses
> > > > that modes in the range 0 through 9 or so worked with my
> > > > hardware--your system may offer different selections.  After trying
> > > > all of the modes which let the system boot (the system simply returned
> > > > to the menu when I tried an out-of-range value), I settled on mode 8,
> > > > which on my hardware provides 132X43 columns and rows.  I then put
> > > > this value in /etc/lilo.conf and ran `lilo` to make the value the
> > > > default at future boot times.  HTH, and have a _great_ day!
> > > 
> > > -- 
> > > HolmesGrown Solutions
> > > The best solutions for the best price!
> > > http://ld.net/?holmesgrown
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Steve,

My Slackware 10.0 system gives me 132X60 screens using vga=15492, but
the environment variables "COLUMNS" and "LINES", which are set properly,
need to be exported via /etc/profile. I am still using kernel 2.4.26
here with only minor changes in the configuration. Those big screens are
addicting.

Chuck



-- 
The Moon is Waning Crescent (2% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely at hhs48.com:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Sean McMahon]

What do you set columns and rows to for the bigger screens.  Do you have any of
the modules from the framebuffer section enabled?
Sean
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chuck Hallenbeck" <chuckh@hhs48.com>
To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 3:15 AM
Subject: Re: more data on screen


> Steve,
>
> My Slackware 10.0 system gives me 132X60 screens using vga=15492, but
> the environment variables "COLUMNS" and "LINES", which are set properly,
> need to be exported via /etc/profile. I am still using kernel 2.4.26
> here with only minor changes in the configuration. Those big screens are
> addicting.
>
> Chuck
>
>
>
> -- 
> The Moon is Waning Crescent (2% of Full)
> Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
> Speakfreely at hhs48.com:2074
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

I do not set the columns and rows to anything, just export them like
this:

export COLUMNS
export LINES

I am still using the 2.4.26 kernel with the frame buffer section
unchanged from the default setting, which means I guess none of the
modules are checked there.


On Mon, 15 Nov 2004, Sean McMahon wrote:

> What do you set columns and rows to for the bigger screens.  Do you have any of
> the modules from the framebuffer section enabled?
> Sean

-- 
The Moon is Waxing Crescent (14% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely at hhs48.com:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Ralph W. Reid]

Some time ago, I came across the 'vga=ask' parameter somewhere (don't
remember where now...maybe something in the kernel docs?).  If entered
at the boot prompt, the valid modes for the installed VGA card are
supposed to be displayed in a menu--this is before the kernel is
loaded, so speech does not operate during this selection process.  It
has been a while, but as I recall, I made some guesses, and discovered
that something like choices 0-9 let the system boot with a variety of
lines and columns.  I settled on 'vga=8', which produces a 132X43
screen with the old video card in this system.  I never tried values
higher than 10, so I do not know if anything larger is possible on my
system.  Results on other systems are likely to differ.  I have never
tried any software that allows the use of otherwise invalid
modes--maybe some day I will try experimenting further.

HTH, and have a _great_ day!

On Thu, Sep 16, 2004 at 06:51:19AM -0400, Chuck Hallenbeck wrote:
> This is a progress report that might encourage others to experiment:
> 
> I changed my lilo.conf to use the line
> 
> vga = 791
> 
> instead of
> 
> vga = normal
> 
> and then rebooted. I now have a 128 by 48 character display. When I
> checked to see which applications were working correctly with the new
> screen size, I found that lynx, pine, nano, mutella, less, and the man
> pages, all were correctly resized to the new screen size. My text
> reader, rita the reader, had to have its rita.cfg file changed to the
> new screen parameters, but hey, that's a home made amateur program. So
> far I see no down side to this new setup.
> 
> As for nano, I invoke it with a line length limit of 72 chars, so that
> it wraps at that point, but without that command line option it too
> would use the entire 128 char width. I will retain the 72 char width to
> facilitate printing and emailing.
> 
> I am happy as a clam.
> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> -- 
> The Moon is Waxing Crescent (4% of Full)
> Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
> Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

-- 
Ralph.  N6BNO.  Wisdom comes from central processing, not from I/O.
rreid@sunset.net  http://personalweb.sunset.net/~rreid
Opinions herein are either mine or they are flame bait.
CIRCLE RADIUS = sqrt (x ^ 2 + y ^ 2)

Re: more data on screen

[Sean M McMahon]

To you folks who resize your screen, do you have your framebuffer 
disabled?  Mine is and I want to know if resizing will still work.

Re: more data on screen

[John covici]

I am not using the frame buffer at all -- if you do, you have to use
the framebuffer commands to control the screen size.  Also certain
vga values seem to trigger the frame buffer if it is in the kernel.

-- 
         John Covici
         covici@ccs.covici.com

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Hi, John,

My video card evidently works with vga = 15492, so I now have 132 x 60
on the screen. Thanks for the tip. In for a dime, in for a dollar, I
guess. I am surprised we can do this stuff without frame buffers
enabled. My console output is noticeably more sluggish than with vga =
normal, but the added capacity makes it worth it. Each screen now has
four times the data it had before.

Chuck
On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, John covici wrote:

> I am not using the frame buffer at all -- if you do, you have to use
> the framebuffer commands to control the screen size.  Also certain
> vga values seem to trigger the frame buffer if it is in the kernel.


-- 
The Moon is Waxing Crescent (5% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, Sean M McMahon wrote:

> To you folks who resize your screen, do you have your framebuffer
> disabled?  Mine is and I want to know if resizing will still work.


I am using the stock kernel speakup.s included with Slackware 10.0, and
have not changed any config settings. I think the frame buffer is
essential to this resizing thing though.


-- 
The Moon is Waxing Crescent (5% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

Actually, I forgot a link in that chain as far as the kernel 
configuration. This is actually under "graphics support" under "device 
drivers" so it's in the same submenu as framebuffer support but a 
different item.


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

I have a rather strange problem here.
When i was using gentoo, I could put
vga=8
in my lilo.conf and make the necessary  changes to  the kernel  config and 
end up with a 132 by 43 screen. However, when I try the same thing in 
debian, I get using dmesg that my resolution has indeed changed but when I 
run "more" for instance I actually appear to be getting a couple lines 
less than I got with
vga=normal
Is there some other application running in debian unstable that may be 
preventing me from getting the benefit of the vga=8 useage.
thank you.


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Doug Sutherland]

First, see the framebuffer howto
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Framebuffer-HOWTO-5.html#ss5.3

Those are hexadecimal number, in decimal they are:

257 = 256 colors 640x480
259 = 256 colors 800x600
261 = 256 colors 1024x768
263 = 256 colors 1280x1024

272 = 32k colors 640x480
275 = 32k colors 800x600
278 = 32k colors 1024x768
281 = 32k colors 1280x1024

273 = 64k colors 640x480
276 = 64k colors 800x600
279 = 64k colors 1024x768
282 = 64k colors 1280x1024

274 = 16m colors 640x480
277 = 16m colors 800x600
280 = 16m colors 1024x768
283 = 16m colors 1280x1024


The higher the resolution, the more characters on the screen.
Since color depth doesn't matter, these 256 color modes are find:

vga=257 #640x480
vga=259 #800x600
vga=261 #1024x768
vga=263 #1280x1024

 > When i was using gentoo, I could put vga=8

Not sure what gentoo is doing, but this doesn't follow the standard
decimal codes for vesa framebuffer kernel parms. Try one of the above.

Re: more data on screen

[Doug Sutherland]

oops I listed the decimal, not vesa codes ... the vesa codes are
as follows, in ascending higher resolution

256 color = 769 771 773 775 796
32k color = 784 787 790 793 797
64k color = 785 788 791 794 798
64m color = 786 789 792 795 799

So you can try one of these

vga=769 #640x480
vga=771 #800x600
vga=773 #1024x768
vga=775 #1280x1024
vga=796 #1600x1200

Sorry about that

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Someone suggested I try "vga=15492" and it worked for me, giving me
132X60 screens. Not sure how that relates.


On Sun, 3 Oct 2004, Doug Sutherland wrote:

> oops I listed the decimal, not vesa codes ... the vesa codes are
> as follows, in ascending higher resolution
>
> 256 color = 769 771 773 775 796
> 32k color = 784 787 790 793 797
> 64k color = 785 788 791 794 798
> 64m color = 786 789 792 795 799
>
> So you can try one of these
>
> vga=769 #640x480
> vga=771 #800x600
> vga=773 #1024x768
> vga=775 #1280x1024
> vga=796 #1600x1200
>
> Sorry about that
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

-- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (74% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

What you are refering to is a difference between using the menu item 
number or using the conversion for the hexadecimal code for that setting. 
I don't think that's the problem since my dmesg indicates that the new 
setting is being used but it isn't actually happening.
Even though I'm not running X except when I start freedombox, maybe some 
of the xfonts are being started by Debian and this is preventing my vga 
choice from working?


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

Cheryl,

That makes sense. I spent a fitful night in bed thinking about
"VGA=15492" and obsessed over it until I realized that 15492 was
equivalent to 60 * 256 + 132, which is to say, a byte pair of 132
followed by 60, using the little endian convention, and by gosh, that's
my screen size! I finally got to sleep.

Chuck

On Mon, 4 Oct 2004, Cheryl Homiak wrote:

> What you are refering to is a difference between using the menu item number 
> or using the conversion for the hexadecimal code for that setting. I don't 
> think that's the problem since my dmesg indicates that the new setting is 
> being used but it isn't actually happening.
> Even though I'm not running X except when I start freedombox, maybe some of 
> the xfonts are being started by Debian and this is preventing my vga choice 
> from working?
>
>
>

-- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (69% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

Poor Chuck; sorry i gave you a sleepless night!!1
I'll have to watch what I post late at night, just like  people are 
supposed to watch what they eat late at night!!!


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

No problem, Cheryl. Just imagine how good I felt when I figured it out!

On Mon, 4 Oct 2004, Cheryl Homiak wrote:

> Poor Chuck; sorry i gave you a sleepless night!!1
> I'll have to watch what I post late at night, just like  people are supposed 
> to watch what they eat late at night!!!
>
>
>

-- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (66% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Janina Sajka]

Chuck, my dear friend,

You're in Linux now. You should be able to multi-thread and multi-task
this with other night-time tasks, like


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Cheryl Homiak writes:
> Poor Chuck; sorry i gave you a sleepless night!!1
> I'll have to watch what I post late at night, just like  people are 
> supposed to watch what they eat late at night!!!
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cheryl
> 
> "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Chair
				Accessibility Workgroup
				Free Standards Group (FSG)

janina@freestandards.org	Phone: +1 202.494.7040

Re: more data on screen

[Cheryl Homiak]

Janina,
I LOVE IT!!!


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Re: more data on screen

[Chuck Hallenbeck]

You are right, Janina. There is still a stubborn grain of single
threadedness I cannot completely shake. I ought to have contacted my
buddy, my partner, what are they called in "A.A."? at such a moment of
weakness, but I thought I could get the monkey off my back all by
myself. What a fool was I! But next time, I'll just remember the old
"alt right-arrow" trick and dream pleasantly while problem solving.

Chuck

On Mon, 4 Oct 2004, Janina Sajka wrote:

> Chuck, my dear friend,
>
> You're in Linux now. You should be able to multi-thread and multi-task
> this with other night-time tasks, like

-- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (60% of Full)
Home page at http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
Speakfreely address 24.105.197.112:2074

Re: more data on screen

[Sean M McMahon]

Lets see if I got this straight: I enable the text mode vga support in my 
kernel then I pass the vga parameters to my boot loader?




Cheryl Homiak <chomiak@charter.net>
Sent by: speakup-bounces@braille.uwo.ca
09/16/2004 12:15 PM
Please respond to "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." 

 
        To:     speakup <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
        cc: 
        Subject:        more data on screen


Actually, I forgot a link in that chain as far as the kernel 
configuration. This is actually under "graphics support" under "device 
drivers" so it's in the same submenu as framebuffer support but a 
different item.


-- 
Cheryl

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup