Rotating the display?

[Jr922]

Is it possible to rotate the display output to portrait mode? I looked at vidcontrol help but didn't know what to look for.

 

[pirateghost]

Huh?

 

[Jr922]

Huh?

I want rotate the console display ouput. I have an old 24" dell that I've been using. I know FreeNAS is mostly expected to be headless but I usually use the old monitor instead of SSH because it ends up being easier.

I already used vidcontrol MODE_ to get the resolution displayed much much better then the default which was about 1/5 of the screen space. Now im wondering if the vidcontrol command can be used to rotate the display ouput so I can rotate the 24" display into portrait.

 

[Mirfster]

I know FreeNAS is mostly expected to be headless but I usually use the old monitor instead of SSH because it ends up being easier.

Not sure I agree, SSH (Putty for me) is by far easier. You can copy/paste into SSH for starters. Personally, I would think that there are a lot better uses for a 24" monitor than as a display for FreeNas. Admit it, you're just trying for the "cool factor"... ;)

 

[Jr922]

Not sure I agree, SSH (Putty for me) is by far easier. You can copy/paste into SSH for starters. Personally, I would think that there are a lot better uses for a 24" monitor than as a display for FreeNas. Admit it, you're just trying for the "cool factor"... ;)

I mean cool is cool man but; Well the way I have my setup with my NAS next to my desktop makes it easier. I also use putty, but doesn't putty just give you the shell and not the full console? If not how do you get to the console? Also how do you copy paste in putty? I didn't know you could do that.

Also ssh requires me to use part of my main screen which is already annoying. And while I'm making excuses I would also like to say that the 24" monitor is the only VGA monitor I have and has no other use except to craigslist it away for $20, so its banished forever to FreeNAS duty.

If im being honest it's already a good setup after I changed the resloution and I can see a lot of text on screen now. But it just seems like a waste to have it landscape if it could be portrait, mostly because it would be cooler.
But I guess it's not possible to do this, vidcontrol does have a lot of options including color but I guess rotation requires drivers that wouldn't make sense on an OS with only a console display.

 

[danb35]

I also use putty, but doesn't putty just give you the shell and not the full console? If not how do you get to the console?

PuTTY will give you the shell, from which you can run the console menu if desired (though I don't know why you would so desire). /etc/netcli is the command.

Also how do you copy paste in putty?

Edit menu? Right click?

Also ssh requires me to use part of my main screen

Granted, but under ordinary circumstances there's no reason to regularly spend much time logged in to the shell/console on the FreeNAS server anyway.

 

[Mirfster]

I also use putty, but doesn't putty just give you the shell and not the full console? If not how do you get to the console? Also how do you copy paste in putty? I didn't know you could do that.

Between the Web GUI and SSH (Putty), I rarely (if ever) need access to the Console. If I really wanted to access the console, I would use IPMI to establish a KVM session (not sure if your system has that or not). BTW, all of my servers are like 5 feet from me in a rack with a 18" KVM but I still use the methods I just mentioned (talk about too lazy to get up)...

Mind if I ask what there is that you need to see in the console? If it is just messages, then that can be enabled to appear in the footer of the Web GUI.

Edit/Addition: If you have e-mails/notifications properly setup then if there are any issues FreeNas will notify you as well...

Also how do you copy paste in putty? I didn't know you could do that.

Paste = Right-Mouse Click or CTRL-V
Copy = Highlight with mouse and Right-Mouse Click. I prefer to use CTRL-C; but note that will also cancel any existing command you may have running.

 

[Jr922]

Between the Web GUI and SSH (Putty), I rarely (if ever) need access to the Console. If I really wanted to access the console, I would use IPMI to establish a KVM session (not sure if your system has that or not). BTW, all of my servers are like 5 feet from me in a rack with a 18" KVM but I still use the methods I just mentioned (talk about too lazy to get up)...

Mind if I ask what there is that you need to see in the console? If it is just messages, then that can be enabled to appear in the footer of the Web GUI.

Edit/Addition: If you have e-mails/notifications properly setup then if there are any issues FreeNas will notify you as well...


Paste = Right-Mouse Click or CTRL-V
Copy = Highlight with mouse and Right-Mouse Click. I prefer to use CTRL-C; but note that will also cancel any existing command you may have running.

ooo, I didn't know you could enable messages in the footer, thats cool.

Yeah I tried Ctrl -V and it didnt work so I always assumed you couldn't paste. Didn't think to right click....

 

[Jr922]

(though I don't know why you would so desire).

Because noobs need menus.
Thanks for the command.

 

[danb35]

Because noobs need menus.

That makes sense, but anything you can do from the console menu, you can also do from the web GUI.

 

[Bidule0hm]

Paste = Right-Mouse Click or CTRL-V
Copy = Highlight with mouse and Right-Mouse Click. I prefer to use CTRL-C; but note that will also cancel any existing command you may have running.

The correct version is:

Paste = Right-Mouse Click.
Copy = Highlight with mouse.

 

[Mirfster]

The correct version is:

Paste = Right-Mouse Click.
Copy = Highlight with mouse.

I stand corrected. Was mixing in Windows there. :)

 

[pirateghost]

Because noobs need menus.

You only need that menu one time when configuring the first time...

Unless you're breaking your server every day, there is no need for that menu. At all.

 

[Jr922]

Well I guess I've been looking at this the wrong way from the beginning. I ended up plugging the monitor into my desktop with a vga to DVI as a second screen and rotated the display through the nvidia driver and now obv I can have what I wanted, a full screen portrait mode shell, with the added benefits of diplaying any windows when not messing with the NAS. If I ever need the console menu for initial setup I can just move the vga back to the NAS and use the monitor in landscape.

Two more questions, is there a way to enable console messages in ssh and also how can get access to the vidcontrol utility in ssh?

 

[pirateghost]

You don't need vidcontrol in ssh session.

To access the logs just run
tail -f /var/logs/messages

 

[Jr922]

You don't need vidcontrol in ssh session.

To access the logs just run
tail -f /var/logs/messages

What if I want to make the text bright white instead of white. Would vidcontrol not work for that?

 

[pirateghost]

What if I want to make the text bright white instead of white. Would vidcontrol not work for that?

That's just a setting in your shell. You can configure your shell prompt or putty to do that...has nothing to do with vidcontrol

 

[Jr922]

You don't need vidcontrol in ssh session.

To access the logs just run
tail -f /var/logs/messages

I get no such directory. When I do ls -l /var it shows "log@ -> /var/db/system/syslog-[hexadecimal]/log" so I should I try that directory?

 

[pirateghost]

tail -f /var/log/messages


Just use the tab key to autocomplete your commands

 

[Jr922]

That's just a setting in your shell. You can configure your shell prompt or putty to do that...has nothing to do with vidcontrol

Ok thanks I found the settings.