[SOLVED] How to get rid of Unicode console fonts and keyboard layout?

w1k0 · 11-23-2010, 04:22 PM

I use Slackware 13.1. So far I chose during the installation of the system lat2a-16.psfu.gz font and my applications worked well in console mode. Now the same applications with the same font display gridded rectangles instead of some diacritical characters.

In /etc/rc.d/rc.font I have standard setfont -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz command:

/etc/rc.d/rc.font:

Code:

setfont -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz

In /etc/rc.d/rc.keymap I have standard loadkeys pl2.map command:

/etc/rc.d/rc.keymap:

Code:

if [ -x /usr/bin/loadkeys ]; then /usr/bin/loadkeys pl2.map; fi

Standard setfont -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz command reports for some reason loading of the Unicode mapping table:

# setfont -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz

Code:

Loading 256-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/lat2a-16.psfu.gz
Loading Unicode mapping table...

The above command with the switch 8859-2 do the same:

# setfont -m 8859-2 -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz

Code:

Loading symbolic screen map from file /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans/8859-2_to_uni.trans
Loading 256-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/lat2a-16.psfu.gz
Loading Unicode mapping table...

In /etc/lilo.conf I have standard vt.default_utf8=0 setting:

/etc/lilo.conf:

Code:

append="vt.default_utf8=0"

In /etc/profile.d/lang.sh I have LANG=en_US setting:

/etc/profile.d/lang.sh:

Code:

export LANG=en_US

The command kbd_mode displays the information about the keyboard working in the Unicode mode:

# kbd_mode

Code:

The keyboard is in Unicode (UTF-8) mode

I examined /etc/rc.d directory but I didn’t find the setting switching the console to the Unicode mode. The same with env and set commands outputs.

I tried to overwrite Slackware 13.1 /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/lat2a-16.psfu.gz with lat2a-16.psfu.gz file provided in kbd packages from Slackware 12.2 and 11.0 but the results were the same.

I suppose the problem is caused by improper handling of the system settings by the kernel but I’m not sure.

So I ask you how can I get rid of Unicode console font and keyboard layout and come back to ISO-8859-2 font and keyboard?

conraid · 11-24-2010, 08:55 AM

try font without built-in unicode mapping

cat /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/README.psfu

w1k0 · 11-24-2010, 12:12 PM

conraid,

As I wrote above lat2a-16.psfu.gz font worked in the past well but with Slackware 13.1 it displays the same invalid character instead of all diacritical characters from ISO Latin 2 encoding:

# setfont -v lat2a-16.psfu.gz

Code:

Loading 256-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/lat2a-16.psfu.gz
Loading Unicode mapping table...

I followed your advice and tried iso02.16.gz font but the result was the same:

# setfont -v iso02.16.gz

Code:

Read 32-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/partialfonts/none.00-17.16.gz
Read 96-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/partialfonts/ascii.20-7f.16.gz
Read 32-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/partialfonts/none.00-17.16.gz
Read 96-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/partialfonts/8859-2.a0-ff.16.gz
Loading 256-char 8x16 font
Loading Unicode mapping table...

So I downloaded kbd.tgz file from Slackware 7.0 and tried lat2-16.psf.gz font but the result was still the same:

# setfont -v lat2-16.psf.gz

Code:

Loading 256-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/lat2-16.psf.gz
Loading Unicode mapping table...

Finally I tried all the above commands with -u none and -m none switches:

# setfont --help

Code:

    -m none    Suppress loading and activation of a screen map.
    -u none    Suppress loading of a unicode map.

In result setfont command stopped to display the message:

Code:

Loading Unicode mapping table...

but diacritical characters were still displayed in an invalid way.

As far the problem persists. I thank you anyway because any answer is better than none.

conraid · 11-25-2010, 05:54 AM

mmm...

man kbd_mode

with kbd_mode command you can change keyboard "mode"

try -a or -k in /etc/profile

It's only a idea

p.s.
my kbd_mode output is unicode in console, raw in X terminal
Before, I don't remember since, I had to set "kbm_mode -u" in /etc/profile for unicode mode. Perhaps now is the default unicode

w1k0 · 11-26-2010, 08:58 PM

Unfortunately in my case kbd_mode used with -a switch does nothing (keyboard still works in Unicode mode) and kbd_mode with -k switch changed keyboard into minefield -- the only way to exit from that mode was to switch power off.

Anyway I thank you, conraid, for your constant support.

***

A month ago I bought ThinkPad X60s. I restored on it the system I installed previously on my older ThinkPad T60. I use my new machine almost constantly since I bought it. Recently I noticed the problem with the console fonts and keyboard. I described it above. Today I ran for some reason my older machine. There is no problem with the console font and keyboard on it.

I hate such problems! The same Slackware 13.1 installed on two similar machines behaves in two different ways.

w1k0 · 11-28-2010, 10:58 AM

I solved the problem with console font and keyboard.

I keep Slackware 13.1 on the second partition. Recently I installed Linux Mint 10 Julia on the first partition. Because Mint’s GRUB is invalid it doesn’t allow to install bootloader on ReiserFS partition (see: that thread) so I was forced to install it on MBR and call Slackware using Mint instead of calling Mint using Slackware. Now I overwrote MBR with Slackware’s LILO and in result console font and keyboard started to work properly.

Below there are two excerpts of Linux Mint’s /boot/grub/grub.cfg. First loads Unicode font and second calls Slackware.

Code:

insmod part_msdos
insmod reiserfs
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 142dff0d-d853-40d2-925a-6cf0620466b7
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=1024x768
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi

Code:

menuentry "Slackware Linux" {
set root=(hd0,2)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.33.4-smp root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=791
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

menuentry "Slackware Linux Huge" {
set root=(hd0,2)
linux /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=791
}

w1k0 · 12-21-2010, 03:41 PM

The above solution answers to the question why Slackware's console displays invalid diacritic characters when Linux Mint's GRUB chainloads Slackware's LILO. Now I installed in Linux Mint 10 Julia old GRUB Legacy. It allows to put bootloader at the beginning of the partition. So I can use Slackware's LILO to chainload Linux Mint's GRUB. In result when I run Slackware it displays valid console font. The solution is described here.