| # Virtcon |
| |
| Virtcon is the system terminal. It is a critical part of bringup and |
| provides graphical output with minimal hardware requrements. |
| |
| ## Legacy Virtcon |
| |
| The legacy implementation is written in C++ and graphical output is |
| limited to bitmap text and basic primitives such as pixel aligned |
| rectangles. Legacy Virtcon can be found in [virtcon/](/src/bringup/bin/virtcon). |
| |
| ## New Virtcon |
| |
| The new version of Virtcon is written in Rust and powered by Carnelian. |
| Carnelian enable advanced vector graphics and truetype text rendering |
| while maintaining minimal hardware requirements. |
| |
| ### Goals |
| |
| * Minimal resource usage. |
| * Maximize code reuse with Terminal app. |
| * Splash screen mode for startup and shutdown. |
| * Runtime product configuration. |
| * Flicker free single framebuffer mode. |
| |
| ### Roadmap |
| |
| 1. Improve splash screen mode. |
| 2. Implement all features of legacy Virtcon. |
| 3. Enable new Virtcon by default. |
| 4. Remove legacy Virtcon code and dependencies. |
| |
| ## Using new Virtcon |
| |
| Configure, and build |
| |
| fx set core.x64 --args use_legacy_virtcon=false # or similar |
| fx build |
| |
| then pave and boot. |
| |
| ## Testing |
| |
| Configure |
| |
| fx set core.x64 --with //src/bringup/bin/virtcon2:tests |
| |
| Then test |
| |
| fx test virtual_console_tests |
