cursor blink rate

From: Bela Lubkin <belal@sco.com>
Subject: Re: Cursor Blink Rate
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 08:06:20 GMT
References: <B48108C3EDB0D511B46C0008C79F4D9F6EFA18@platinum.sutton.siriusgroup.co.uk> 

Richard Luff wrote:

> I have an issue with the console screen on a SCO Unix 5.0.4
> installation. Please don't laugh but my client complains that the rate
> at which the cursor flashes on the main console screen is so fast it
> causes the operator a headache. Looking around my office at the various
> SCO servers I see quite a differential in the speed of the cursor but I
> can't find any commands to control it (terminfo / termcap) etc. Can
> anyone offer any guidance?

It seems you're talking about the text console.  If so, a program could
be written using the information in:

  
  http://aplawrence.com/Bofcusm/1158.html

which, on _some_ video boards, would allow a small amount of control
over this.  The hardware only offers two blink rates; this hypothetical
program would give you the ability to switch between them.  One is twice
as fast as the other.

It's likely that the difference your client sees comes down to how the
BIOS (motherboard or video board BIOS) on each machine is programming
the cursor.  It's most likely in the video board BIOS.  You could verify
this by swapping video boards between two machines.  (This would
probably aggravate the X11 system on both machines, but if they only use
text mode then that won't matter.)  You could then buy boards with the
desired characteristic -- an unusual selection key, but if that's what
they need, that's what they need...

Of course it would be a lot less hassle and a lot cheaper just to write
the necessary program -- if indeed it helps at all.

... and ...

I'm not sure, and I'm not at a console right now, but it looks like the
console ANSI escape sequence `ESC [ = ss ; ee C' might do the trick.
"ss" and "ee" are the start and end lines of the cursor, normally small
integers like 0 or 12.  If I'm reading things right, the two high bits
of one of the parameters (not sure which one) feed directly into those
bits of the CRTC.  So try adding 128 or 192 to the desired value, e.g.:

  ESC [ = 128 ; 12 C

You'll need to figure out the desired start/end lines, then add in the
128 or 192; also figure out whether it's the 1st or 2nd parameter that
counts (if either).

This might be FAQ material _after_ we've actually figured it out...

>Bela<
 

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