Bug 145298

I found out something interesting :

Each character takes 9 pixels on the screen. Only on certain 'ASCII positions' (execute `showconsolefont`), the 8th character is duplicated for the 9th pixel. This is done for positions 192 to 223 _only_. Because the default-used SUSE font (lat9w-16.psfu) does not have its linedrawing characters there (see `showconsolefont`), the bugreported effect happens.

The "total default" font that is set when executing `setfont` without any arguments does not have this effect, as have most of the 4096-byte .fnt fonts.

what do I need to do to reproduce that?
yast shows me perfect graphics even after 'setfont'

Created attachment 73014 [details]
x

Created attachment 73015 [details]
dash.fnt

See the screenshot. This is SUSE 10.1 Beta 5 (should break with any version though) i386 CD 1, booted with the default language and Text Mode. Running it in VMware does not affect anything, since yast loads its own font (lat9w-16.psfu.gz) anyway.

As you can see, the horizontal bars have a hole. (This is again, not a VMware bug.) To see what I described in #1: On an installed system, switch to tty1 and load the attached dash.fnt, which will set all character positions >= 128 to a contiguous horizontal dash. Start gpm so you can hover the mouse. Run `showconsolefont` now and hover the mouse above the characters from block 2 row 5 and row 6 (character positions 192 to 223). You should see a black dash within the white mouse pointer. If you now hover over any other of the dashes, the dash does not completely fill the mouse pointer.

Fonts are usually 8 pixels wide, but graphic cards output 720x400 mode, which means 9 pixels per character. Obviously, one is reproduced. For line graphics, this must be done, on the other chars (mostly text), the 9th position stays blank, which is what you can see with `showconsolefont`.

Why does it show up in Yast? Because the loaded font has the horizontal line at position 128. When textmode yast has started in the install cd, run `setfont t` on tty2. Change back, you see the e-accent-grave (è). Back on tty2, running `showconsole` reveals that è (and the previous line draw character, respectively) is not within 192-223.

at tty1:
# gpm
# setfont dash.fnt.bz
# showconsolefont
right half of the matrix is all dashes. all equal. 
They all fill the block cursor completly.

Looks like I still lack a way to get the duplicated 8th column at all.

Use a standard graphics card in a desktop system (reproducing does not always
work with laptops because they do not output in 720x400, but some graphics
mode). Or use VMware (or some variant of it, like VMware Player).

Using ATI 3D Rage Pro in my PIII desktop system -- pretty standard, I guess.
I don't know much about VMware, never tested. Can you test without VMware?

Strange enough this does not happen outside VMware!

Persists outside VMware. Try a CRT monitor to see the effect, LCD/TFT ones tend to blur it when they resize 80x25 (normally 720x400) to 1024x768.

I have no blurr effects. All pixels are clearly visible, nothing gets duplicated, no gaps remain.

I still do not know how to set up such a mode, where an 8th column is duplicated. All I try works with 8 pixels per cell.

I presume, my framebuffer prefers 640x400 pixels in 80x25 mode. 
which is not a bad choice...

I'll close this bug with worksforme now.

Please disable any framebuffer whatsoever and use the regular 80x25 that was present back in 1990 and still is today. (Monitors which can display their current pixel size show 720x400. 640x400 will NOT show the issue.) IOW, this means: vga=0 or the "Text mode" from the CD's bootloader.

Reproduced without VMware.

Created attachment 185120 [details]
real world screenshot using camera

setfont lat9w-16
Graphics card is a nvidia gf2 mx400 ("NV11", VID:PID=10de:0110) - if you have something from that era or manufacturer, please have a look. On an ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY (VID:PID=1002:4c59), the problem does not appear, but that does not mean nv should be ignored. Also note this is 80x25 (vga=normal)!

-> new maintainer

Is this solved in current versions? 

(just shaking old bugs during openSUSE Bug Day)

Enhancements should be moved http://features.opensuse.org .

Note to self: The issue is still present in openSUSE 12.3 and is reproducible with VirtualBox as well.