Boot straight to TTY7?

jalu · 2010-03-12 01:01:34

Here's a quick one...

I have set up SLiM to start up automatically when my box boots (and I'm not using any splash screens). This works well, but for some reason, after booting, my machine shows tty1 *very briefly* before switching over SLiM on tty7. While not a major problem, I always found this a bit strange.

Am I doing something wrong, or is this just standard behavior?

For the visually minded...
Currently:
[boot] -> [tty1 for .5 seconds] -> tty7

Ideal:
[boot] -> tty7

n0dix · 2010-03-12 01:20:48

Post your inittab file.

jalu · 2010-03-12 01:27:05

Thanks for the interest. Will do...

#
# /etc/inittab
#

#  Runlevels:
#    0    Halt
#    1(S) Single-user
#    2    Not used
#    3    Multi-user
#    4    Not used
#    5    X11
#    6    Reboot

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!

# Boot to console
# id:3:initdefault:
id:5:initdefault:

rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p

# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux

# Hypervisor Virtual Console for Xen and KVM
#h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 hvc0 linux

ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

# Example lines for starting a login manager
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null

# End of file

I thought it might have something to do with inittab, but I wasn't able to find anything about setting a "default" tty with inittab. I guess I just don't have a good enough understanding of the file.

n0dix · 2010-03-12 02:34:19

I don't see anything wrong.
If do you start the system without slim also get the tty1 console?

jalu · 2010-03-12 03:33:02

Yes, without SLiM I go straight to tty1.

Anikom15 · 2010-03-12 04:22:20

I'm pretty sure it only shows tty1 because X is loading, but I could be wrong.

pseudonomous · 2010-03-12 05:09:16

change to:

x:5:wait:/usr/bin/slim >& /dev/null

# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux

and your machine will not execute agetty (the process which provides you with your virtual consoles) until x has finished loading, so you will not see the VT login screen, you will see only a blank screen until slim loads.

I think it's probably a better idea to load the VTs first though; that way if something goes wrong during the process of starting X, you'll already have a shell ready to log into.

Also, setting things this way, you won't be respawning the slim process when it terminates.

Edit: It's probably assumed but:

Leave the rest of the stuff in inittab alone; just swap the position of the line that starts slim and switch "respawn" to "wait".

Last edited by pseudonomous (2010-03-12 05:11:09)

jalu · 2010-03-12 06:16:04

Thanks for all the info n0dix, Anikom15, and pseudonomous.

pseudonomous, you're right. Changing the action to "wait" and moving the line up does the trick. The only problem is that, using this method, the ttys don't load at all, even after I have finished logging in with SLiM. Maybe they're waiting for X to terminate?

Moose9999 · 2010-03-12 22:36:41

I'm not sure but a friend told me you could have images loaded into the framebuffer for occasions like this, startup and shutdown. I haven't looked to see if its possible though or how for that matter. If that does works you should be able to set that and not worry about the other ttys.

pseudonomous · 2010-03-13 01:27:25

jalu wrote:

pseudonomous, you're right. Changing the action to "wait" and moving the line up does the trick. The only problem is that, using this method, the ttys don't load at all, even after I have finished logging in with SLiM. Maybe they're waiting for X to terminate?

Yes, that was my mistake, inittab does wait for the command to terminate before continueing. What if you just disable the agetty process running on tty1?

Last edited by pseudonomous (2010-03-13 01:29:18)

jalu · 2010-03-14 00:34:33

Thank you again, pseudonomous. It's interesting - that does it, but if I switch back to tty1 later (e.g., after I log in with SLiM), tty1 still contains a list of everything done at boot. For example:
::Task [DONE]

This is all a bit strange. Am I the only one who has these problems with tty1 flashing at boot, or am I the only one who is bothered by it? :-)

Last edited by jalu (2010-03-14 00:35:03)

Moose9999 · 2010-03-14 19:50:24

tty1 flashes for me when I login/out and at shutdown

toad · 2010-03-14 20:24:22

splashy, plymouth?

jalu · 2010-03-20 00:20:51

toad wrote:

splashy, plymouth?

Yeah, it looks like it's probably going to have to be one of those. I was wondering why I never had this problem with Ubuntu, but it makes sense - I was always using a splash when I was using Ubuntu.

Thanks all for the help. I'll let you know how a splash screen goes, if I ever get to it.

toad · 2010-03-20 00:25:11

Hm, while splasshy and plymouth are fun I do prefer to see my boot messages. I tried plymouth 'cos it looked a blinder and... it does, but no boot messages So off it went again after a week.

Last edited by toad (2010-03-20 00:25:38)

jalu · 2010-03-20 21:47:47

Yeah, I also prefer to see boot messages. Are there any splashy themes that show those (like the old Ubuntu splash screen did)?

Also, I've read that splash has problems whenever fsck is run - is that true?

Arch Linux

#1 2010-03-12 01:01:34

Boot straight to TTY7?

#2 2010-03-12 01:20:48

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#3 2010-03-12 01:27:05

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#4 2010-03-12 02:34:19

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#5 2010-03-12 03:33:02

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#6 2010-03-12 04:22:20

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#7 2010-03-12 05:09:16

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#8 2010-03-12 06:16:04

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#9 2010-03-12 22:36:41

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#10 2010-03-13 01:27:25

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#11 2010-03-14 00:34:33

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#12 2010-03-14 19:50:24

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#13 2010-03-14 20:24:22

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#14 2010-03-20 00:20:51

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#15 2010-03-20 00:25:11

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

#16 2010-03-20 21:47:47

Re: Boot straight to TTY7?

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