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CONS(4) Device Drivers Manual (vax) CONS(4)

cons — VAX console interface

The console is available to the processor through the console registers. It acts like a normal terminal, except that when the local functions are not disabled, a special command character puts the console in local console mode. The character itself is dependent upon the model of VAX and the type of console in use. The prompt in console mode is ‘>>>’, also called the ‘chevron’ prompt.

If the console is a serial console, sending a break will likely cause the machine to halt and enter console mode. The set of commands available at the console varies from machine to machine, although there are several commands which are common to most or all models.

 
Return to the currently executing program.

Halt the processor.

Display a list of available console commands.

[e]xamine [/bwl][/ins] [/pgiv] [/n:n] [addr]
Display the contents at address addr according to the options specified.

The options are:

 
Size of data to examine. Your choices are examining values as bytes (8 bits), words (16 bits), or longwords (32 bits). On systems that support it, you can use the /ins option to display the mnemonic representation of the instruction located at addr.

These options describe the meaning of addr. With the /p option, addr will be treated as an address in physical memory. With the /v option, addr will be treated as a virtual address. The /g option will let you examine the general registers. From 0 to F (base 16), general registers are R0-R12(AP), FP, SP, and PC. The /i option will let you view the internal processor registers. These vary from processor to processor, but a relatively complete description may be found in /usr/include/vax/mtpr.h.

count
The /n option specifies that the command will repeat count times after executing once, automatically incrementing addr while doing so.

[d]eposit [/bwl] [/pgiv] [/n:n] [addr] [value]
Insert the value value into the address addr according to the options specified.

The options are:

Size of data to insert. Your choices are inserting values as bytes (8 bits), words (16 bits), or longwords (32 bits).

These options describe the meaning of addr. Their meanings are identical to their respective meanings in the examine command.

count
The /n option specifies that the command will repeat count times after executing once, automatically incrementing addr while doing so.

With the above provisos the console works like any other UNIX terminal.

/dev/console
 

tty(4), reboot(8)

VAX Hardware Handbook.

The cons interface appeared in 4.0BSD.

January 17, 2013 OpenBSD-5.3