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  • Antonino A. Daplas's avatar
    [PATCH] VT binding: Add binding/unbinding support for the VT console · 3e795de7
    Antonino A. Daplas authored
    
    
    The framebuffer console is now able to dynamically bind and unbind from the VT
    console layer.  Due to the way the VT console layer works, the drivers
    themselves decide when to bind or unbind.  However, it was decided that
    binding must be controlled, not by the drivers themselves, but by the VT
    console layer.  With this, dynamic binding is possible for all VT console
    drivers, not just fbcon.
    
    Thus, the VT console layer will impose the following to all VT console
    drivers:
    
    - all registered VT console drivers will be entered in a private list
    - drivers can register themselves to the VT console layer, but they cannot
      decide when to bind or unbind. (Exception: To maintain backwards
      compatibility, take_over_console() will automatically bind the driver after
      registration.)
    - drivers can remove themselves from the list by unregistering from the VT
      console layer. A prerequisite for unregistration is that the driver must not
      be bound.
    
    The following functions are new in the vt.c:
    
    register_con_driver() - public function, this function adds the VT console
    driver to an internal list maintained by the VT console
    
    bind_con_driver() - private function, it binds the driver to the console
    
    take_over_console() is changed to call register_con_driver() followed by a
    bind_con_driver().  This is the only time drivers can decide when to bind to
    the VT layer.  This is to maintain backwards compatibility.
    
    unbind_con_driver() - private function, it unbinds the driver from its
    console.  The vacated consoles will be taken over by the default boot console
    driver.
    
    unregister_con_driver() - public function, removes the driver from the
    internal list maintained by the VT console.  It will only succeed if the
    driver is currently unbound.
    
    con_is_bound() checks if the driver is currently bound or not
    
    give_up_console() is just a wrapper to unregister_con_driver().
    
    There are also 3 additional functions meant to be called only by the tty layer
    for sysfs control:
    
    	vt_bind() - calls bind_con_driver()
    	vt_unbind() - calls unbind_con_driver()
    	vt_show_drivers() - shows the list of registered drivers
    
    Most VT console drivers will continue to work as is, but might have problems
    when unbinding or binding which should be fixable with minimal changes.
    
    Signed-off-by: default avatarAntonino Daplas <adaplas@pol.net>
    Signed-off-by: default avatarAndrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
    Signed-off-by: default avatarLinus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
    3e795de7