HOWTO: Links2 with graphics mode (using DirectFB) as user

This is my first HOWTO. So please be patient if there are some typos or if you find my english a bit awkward.
It is assumed that you have links2 and gpm (general purpose mouse) installed.
A console resolution of 1024x768 16M color is recommended. Click here for more info about this.
Last but not least, the disclaimer: I am not responsible to any damage caused to your system by the use of this gude. Use ta your own risk (and joy). I hope it works for everybody.
I tested on Ubuntu 7.04. Hopefully it will work on earlier versions, but i can't be sure.
You can skip the following part if you know what the problem is.

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PROBLEM: Links2 can use DirectFB to disply graphics, but to use it on a default Ubuntu installation root privileges are required.

if you use links2 -driver directfb it won't start. instead it'll give you an output like this:

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~$ links2 -driver directfb

---------------------- DirectFB v0.9.25 ---------------------
(c) 2000-2002 convergence integrated media GmbH
(c) 2002-2004 convergence GmbH
-----------------------------------------------------------

(*) DirectFB/Core: Single Application Core. (2006-10-17 10:09)
(*) Direct/Memcpy: Using MMXEXT optimized memcpy()
(!) DirectFB/core/vt: Error opening `/dev/tty0'!
--> Permission denied
(!) DirectFB/Core: Could not initialize 'system' core!
--> Initialization error!
svgalib: Cannot get I/O permissions.

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The option -g can be used to disply graphics, but they will be in 16 colour mode and mouse will work awkwardly, with no wheel suport.

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To allow links2 use DirectFB and the mouse in a virtual console it is necessary to do some editing of the 40-permissions.rules file.
First make a backup of this file by issuing the command

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sudo cp /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules.backup

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If you run into trouble roll back the backup:

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sudo cp /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules.backup /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules

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Here's how to do it:

1) open a console and type:

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sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules

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2) Find a line wich looks like this:

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KERNEL=="tty[0-9]*",                        GROUP="root"

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3)Make the following change to make it look like this:

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KERNEL=="tty[0-9]*",                        GROUP="root", MODE="0666"

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This wiil grant us permissions to /dev/tty0 or the other virtual consoles. Don't close gedit yet.

Now let's grant us permissions for the mouse:

4)In the end of the same file, add the following line:

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KERNEL=="mice",                                MODE="0666"

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5) Now restart your computer.
Let's check out if everything is ok: Open up a terminal and type
ls -l /dev/tty0
You should get something like this:

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crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 4, 0 2007-05-24 08:47 /dev/tty0

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Notice the read-write permissions for users.
Same thing should happen to /dev/input/mice:

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jdarias@familia-arias:~$ ls -l /dev/input/mice
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 13, 63 2007-05-24 08:47 /dev/input/mice

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That's it! Now just type links2 -g in a virtual console and enjoy full DirectFB support!

I followed this how-to but "links2 -g " in directfb is in different resolution than my VC which I have in 1024x768. The display is blurry and mouse movement deletes text. In svgalib mouse dont work properly (it needs some /etc/vga tweaking), display is better but I must run it in sudo mode which is, I supose, not safe for Internet.
I have NVIDIA GeForce MX400 with Xubuntu FF.
Any advice for directfb display mode improvement?

maybe try links2 -driver directfb

I did but it was like I wrote.

No longer working under 11.10. Any changes needed?

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Originally Posted by revaso

No longer working under 11.10. Any changes needed?

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I know this is an old thread but I found it myself in search of a solution, so perhaps someone else will too.
So an update: I found that under 12.04 two things helped get links2 -g working in framebuffer right after installing links2:

1) installing gpm (not sure if #2 would have worked already on its own - I installed gpm before)
2) sudo dpkg-statoverride --update --add root root 4755 /usr/bin/links2 (got the solution from here: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=75704#p419582)

PS. I did none of the mods indicated in this howto.