Documentation/console/console.txt

Console Drivers
===============

The linux kernel has 2 general types of console drivers.  The first type is
assigned by the kernel to all the virtual consoles during the boot process.
This type will be called 'system driver', and only one system driver is allowed
to exist. The system driver is persistent and it can never be unloaded, though
it may become inactive.

The second type has to be explicitly loaded and unloaded. This will be called
'modular driver' by this document. Multiple modular drivers can coexist at
any time with each driver sharing the console with other drivers including
the system driver. However, modular drivers cannot take over the console
that is currently occupied by another modular driver. (Exception: Drivers that
call take_over_console() will succeed in the takeover regardless of the type
of driver occupying the consoles.) They can only take over the console that is
occupied by the system driver. In the same token, if the modular driver is
released by the console, the system driver will take over.

Modular drivers, from the programmer's point of view, has to call:

	 take_over_console() - load and bind driver to console layer
	 give_up_console() - unbind and unload driver

In newer kernels, the following are also available:

	 register_con_driver()
	 unregister_con_driver()

If sysfs is enabled, the contents of /sys/class/tty/console/backend can be
examined. This shows the console drivers currently registered by the system. On
an x86 system with the framebuffer console enabled, the contents of this
attribute may be like this:

cat /sys/class/tty/console/backend
0 S: VGA+
1 B: frame buffer device

The first line shows the VGA console driver, while the second line shows
the framebuffer console driver.

The leftmost numeric character is the driver ID.  The middle character with
the colon describes the status of the driver.

    S: - system driver (binding unspecified)
    B: - bound modular driver
    U: - unbound modular driver

The last column is the description of the driver.

Under /sys/class/tty/console are two other attributes, 'bind' and
'unbind'. What does these 2 attributes do? As their name implies, echo'ing the
driver ID to 'bind' will bind an unbound modular driver, and to 'unbind' will
unbind a bound modular driver. Echo'ing the ID of a system driver to either
attribute will do nothing.

Thus:

echo 1 > /sys/class/tty/console/unbind
cat /sys/class/tty/console/backend
0 S: VGA+
1 U: frame buffer device

When unbinding, the modular driver is detached first, and then the system
driver takes over the consoles vacated by the driver. Binding, on the other
hand, will bind the driver to the consoles that are currently occupied by a
system driver.

How useful is this feature? This is very useful for console driver
developers. By unbinding the driver from the console layer, one can unload the
driver, make changes, recompile, reload and rebind the driver without any need
for rebooting the kernel. For regular users who may want to switch from
framebuffer console to VGA console and vice versa, this feature also makes
this possible. (NOTE NOTE NOTE: Please read fbcon.txt under Documentation/fb
for more details).

Notes for developers:
=====================

take_over_console() is now broken up into:

     register_con_driver()
     bind_con_driver() - private function

give_up_console() is a wrapper to unregister_con_driver(), and a driver must
be fully unbound for this call to succeed. con_is_bound() will check if the
driver is bound or not.

Guidelines for console driver writers:
=====================================

In order for binding to and unbinding from the console to properly work,
console drivers must follow these guidelines:

1. All drivers, except system drivers, must call either register_con_driver()
   or take_over_console(). register_con_driver() will just add the driver to
   the console's internal list. It won't take over the
   console. take_over_console(), as it name implies, will also take over (or
   bind to) the console.

2. All resources allocated during con->con_init() must be released in
   con->con_deinit().

3. All resources allocated in con->con_startup() must be released when the
   driver, which was previously bound, becomes unbound.  The console layer
   does not have a complementary call to con->con_startup() so it's up to the
   driver to check when it's legal to release these resources. Calling
   con_is_bound() in con->con_deinit() will help.  If the call returned
   false(), then it's safe to release the resources.  This balance has to be
   ensured because con->con_startup() can be called again when a request to
   rebind the driver to the console arrives.

4. Upon exit of the driver, ensure that the driver is totally unbound. If the
   condition is satisfied, then the driver must call unregister_con_driver()
   or give_up_console().

5. unregister_con_driver() can also be called on conditions which make it
   impossible for the driver to service console requests.  This can happen
   with the framebuffer console that suddenly lost all of its drivers.

The current crop of console drivers should still work correctly, but binding
and unbinding them may cause problems. With minimal fixes, these drivers can
be made to work correctly.

==========================
Antonino Daplas <adaplas@pol.net>