14 Mar
2023
14 Mar
'23
11:46 p.m.
On 3/14/2023 11:42 AM, Derek Fawcus via TUHS wrote:
On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 11:24:24AM -0400, Clem Cole
wrote:
The real question in my mind is whether PC/IX had this sort of thing.
PC/IX was the first Unix I used regularly, and my recollection is that
it did have something along these lines, but Heinz or someone else with
ISC back then might be able to say definitively.
When I got a PC/AT, I started using (SCO?) Xenix because it better
utilized the hardware than PC/IX. I'm pretty sure Clem is correct that
Xenix had virtual consoles selected by the function keys.
AIX for the RT/PC definitely had such virtual consoles from the
beginning. See the article by Baker et al in the RT Book
(https://technologists.com/sauer/SA23-1057_IBM_RT_Personal_Computer_Technolo…)
By the time I had my own RT, we had X in AIX, so I probably chose to use
xterms.
I'm pretty sure that the SVR3 Dell Unix would have had these along the
lines described by Antoni, cited above, since SVR3 Dell Unix began with
code from ISC, probably a little earlier than what Antoni used. I
probably chose to use xterms instead.
I just powered up my Dell 450DGX (“JAWS”) and verified that the
SVR4-based Dell Unix had such virtual consoles. man keyboard excerpt:
Switching Screens
To change screens (virtual terminals), first run the vtlmgr command
[see vtlmgr(1M)]. Switch the current screen by typing ALT-SYSREQ
(also labelled ALT-PRINTSCRN on some systems) followed by a key which
identifies the desired screen. Any active screen may be selected by
following ALT-SYSREQ with Fn, where Fn is one of the function keys.
F1 refers to the first virtual terminal screen, F2 refers to the
second virtual terminal screen, etc. ALT-SYSREQ `h' refers to the
main console display (/dev/console). The next active screen can be
selected with ALT-SYSREQ `n,' and the previous screen can be selected
with ALT-SYSREQ `p.'
I doubt that I ever used them with Dell SVR4 before today, used xterms
instead.
CHS
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The virtual consoles using the function keys
predate Linux and 386BSD by a
number of years. I used them only early x86 Unix ports to the IBM PC such
as Xenix.
I'm pretty sure that the 386 version of ISC UNIX I used on a PC in the '88/89
timeframe had them. I vaguely recall it having a more awkward key sequence
than Linux for switching between consoles.
Here we go:
https://virtuallyfun.com/2010/02/09/fun-with-interactive-unix/
"On a text console side, the OS has virtual consoles switchable via SYSRQ + F key.
Console is on F8."
DF