[TUHS] virtual consoles / Alt-Fx

[Charles H Sauer (he/him)]

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 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

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_Technology_1986.pdf). 
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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