TTY, Linux Framebuffer, EGLFS and SDL - Without the weight of Xorg or Wayland

2025-09-13

Right now I'm using w3m, and lynx. Lynx has a retarded configuration so I have to change it a little bit:

Some configurations are not save unless you edit the /etc/lynx.cfg

set Advanced mode (user_mode=ADVANCED) to get more screen real-estate

Make navigation easier

use vi keys for navigation (vi_keys=on)
turn on TEXTFIELDS_NEED_ACTIVATION so use of the vi keys doesn't get you stuck in text-input fields
set keypad_mode=LINKS_AND_FIELDS_ARE_NUMBERED
I personally also like NUMBER_LINKS_ON_LEFT:FALSE & NUMBER_FIELDS_ON_LEFT:FALSE to put the link-numbers after the links rather than before

Make images easier to work with

set MAKE_LINKS_FOR_ALL_IMAGES if it's not already set
set verbose_images=on

Currently, I’m only using EGLFS with ttyd, I start my browser with the following script:

EXTERNAL:http:w3m %s:TRUE EXTERNAL:http:cha %s:TRUE EXTERNAL:http:mpv %s:TRUE EXTERNAL:http:netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 %s:TRUE EXTERNAL:http:falkon %s:TRUE EXTERNAL:http:angelfish %s:TRUE

#!/bin/bash
sudo chmod 666 /dev/input/event*

ttyd --port 2020 --writable fish & 

falkon "http://localhost:2020"

And in .config/fish/config.fish I had:

if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 1
  tmux attach || exec tmux new-session
end
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=eglfs  
export XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT=es
set -U fish_greeting
export BROWSER=w3m

1. TTY Environment Setup

For efficient management of your terminals and processes, it is essential to use a terminal multiplexer.

Start a Terminal Multiplexer Upon Login:
- For fish shell, add to the .config/fish/config.fish file:

if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 1
  tmux attach || exec tmux new-session
end

This will automatically start tmux in the tty number 1 (a terminal multiplexer similar to tmux).
Alternatively, you can use dvtm.

2. Web Browsing from TTY

Recommended Text Browsers:
- w3m: This browser supports displaying images directly in the console without an additional tool you can render JavaScript only sites using headless chromium save it as shell script and set it as external browser in w3m: chromium --proxy-server="socks://localhost:9050" --headless $1 --disable-gpu --run-all-compositor-stages-before-draw --dump-dom --virtual-time-budget=10000 | sed "s|<head>|<head><base href=$1>|g" | w3m -T text/html. Scale of image %10. I use w3m from rkta with gemini and gopherhole support try to enter this URL to check if your web browser supports gopher: gopher.
- chawan.
- Install fbida:

3. Multimedia Viewing: Images, PDFs, and Videos

View Images in TTY (with fbi and mpv):
- Install fbida: pacman -S fbida. You can use fbi (part of fbida) to view images: fbi image.jpg or fim image.jpg.
- mpv can also be used to view images.
Read PDFs from the TTY:
- fbpdf: fbpdf document_name.pdf
- Alternatively, you can use any KDE application to open a pdf too.
Watch Videos (YouTube, Twitch) from the TTY:
- w3m with Invidious:
  - Browse to Invidious (e.g., inv.nadeko.net) with w3m.
  - Configure mpv as the default browser in w3m. When accessing the video URL, press Shift+M to open it with mpv or Escape+Shift+M.
- mpv for Twitch:
  - You can use mpv to watch Twitch streams (you will have to run mpv with --ignore-config if you’re using mpv with YouTube settings.
- Video Playback in DRM: mpv --vo=drm video.mp4
- mpv and invidious for YouTube:
  - alias invidious 'w3m https://inv.nadeko.net/feed/subscriptions' and set mpv as default browser.

My `/etc/mpv/mpv.conf`:

$ cat /etc/mpv/mpv.conf  
--profile=fast  
--sub-auto=all  
--vo=drm
--ytdl-raw-options="format=bestvideo[height<=?360]+bestaudio/best[height<=?360]/bestvideo[height<=?480]+bestaudio/best[height<=?480],write-auto-sub=,sub-lang=[es,en,ru],write-sub="  
--volume-max=600  
#--save-position-on-quit  
#--untimed  
#--profile=low-latency  
--mute=yes

My `/etc/yt-dlp.conf`:

$ cat /etc/yt-dlp.conf  
--format=233+230  
--write-auto-sub  
--write-sub  
--sub-lang=en  
#--cookies-from-browser firefox

Important: If you use mpv for videos, run it outside tmux; otherwise, you won’t be able to switch between other TTYs.

Search Torrents:
- Use jackett and btstrm to search for torrents from the console.

4. Using Lightweight Graphical Applications in TTY (FrameBuffer: `eglfs` and `linuxfb`)

Set environment Variables for eglfs and linuxfb:
To enable/disable gpu.

#export QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--ignore-gpu-blacklist --disable-gpu"
export QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--ignore-gpu-blacklist"

Use export XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT=es to set your keyboard distribution.
To use eglfs:

export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=eglfs

Then, start your Qt application (e.g., qutebrowser).

To use linuxfb:

export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=linuxfb:size=1000x1000

To run some applications that normally require a graphical server (like graphical web browsers), you can run it using linuxfb or eglfs.

Always open Qt apps inside a Terminal Multiplexer, otherwise when the application freezes your entire machine will freeze and you won’t be able to use `Control+C`.

In some Linux distributions, you need to run the following command to get the mouse and keyboard working:

sudo chmod 666 /dev/input/event*

Graphical Browsers (with eglfs, linuxfb or sdl support):
- qutebrowser (with eglfs):
  Or configure the QT_QPA_PLATFORM environment variable as indicated above.
  - Copy/Paste in qutebrowser: You can use privatebin to copy text from qutebrowser, then access the URL and save the file.
- angelfish: It can be used with eglfs, although it did not work with linuxfb in one instance.
- falkon:
  - It can be used with eglfs, although it did not work with linuxfb in one instance.
  - I use Android as my User-Agent: For pages to load faster:
- Ad Blocking in Falkon (it’s no good) so I use greasymonkey (still not good).
  1. Go to AdBlock settings, and add all non-regional lists (EasyPrivacy, NoCoin List, Anti-Adblock Killer, Peter Lowe’s List, etc.).
  2. Go to Settings -> Extensions, and check the box for GreaseMonkey.
  3. Install a YouTube ad-blocking script from https://greasyfork.org.
- Konqueror: It is a KDE browser that can also be tested in these configurations.
- NetSurf: Can be run in tty using SDL: netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768. NetSurf does not have JavaScript support. You can add netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 as external browser in w3m.
All KDE applications built with Qt can run from the TTY using these framebuffer platforms like kolourpaint you can play games like doom also.
Use Control+Z to get back to the TTY and fg to reopen the qt application.
when using ffmpeg to record, you can capture any qt application with the linuxfb platform, but recording is not possible if you are using elgfs.

# You need to open the live dashboard first.  
  
falkon "https://www.youtube.com/live_dashboard"  
  
### Stream to YouTube only tty.  
ffmpeg -f alsa -i pipewire -thread_queue_size 1024 -f fbdev -framerate 60 -i /dev/fb0 -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 128k -f flv -async 1 -ar 48000 -latency 100 -bufsize 1000k rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/KEY 2> /dev/null  
  
#### Stream to YouTube TTY with camera.  
ffmpeg -f alsa -i pipewire -thread_queue_size 1024 -f fbdev -framerate 60 -i /dev/fb0 -f v4l2 -framerate 60 -video_size 320x240 -i /dev/video0 -filter_complex "[2:v]scale=320:240[cam];[1:v][cam]overlay=main_w-overlay_w-10:main_h-overlay_h-10[outv]" -map "[outv]" -map 0:a -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 128k -f flv -bufsize 1000k rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/KEY 2> /dev/null  
  
### Stream to YouTube full cam.  
ffmpeg -f alsa -i pipewire -thread_queue_size 1024 -f v4l2 -framerate 60 -video_size 1280x720 -i /dev/video0 -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -b:a 128k -f flv -bufsize 1000k rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/KEY 2> /dev/null  
  
### Record video.  
ffmpeg -f alsa -i pipewire -f fbdev -r 30 -i /dev/fb0 record.mp4

5. Additional Tips and Useful Tools

Mouse Usage in TTY:
- You need to use GPM to have mouse support in the TTY: sudo systemctl start gpm.
Copy and Paste Text from Graphical Browser:
- This is the solution I use I’m sure there’s better: I use ttyd a web terminal, to copy text (e.g., from qutebrowser), paste it into vim in ttyd.

Mi archivo: .config/fish/config.fish


if status is-interactive
    # Commands to run in interactive sessions can go here
end

#if status --is-login
#    if test -z "$DISPLAY" -a $XDG_VTNR = 2
#        exec tmux
#    end
#end

if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 1
  tmux attach || exec tmux new-session
end
if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 5
  sudo pacman --noconfirm -Syu
end
if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 2
  irssi
end
if test -z "$TMUX" -a $XDG_VTNR = 6
  mbsync -a
  neomutt
end

#sudo loadkeys /home/esotericwarfare/mi_mapa.kmap

set -xg WWW_BROWSER w3m
set BROWSER w3m
set -U fish_greeting
export BROWSER=w3m


#export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland
#alias dgg 'w3m -sixel dgg.gg'
#alias f1 'bash scripts/f1exposure.sh'
#alias wgoogle 'cha -V google.com'
#alias wgoogle 'w3m -sixel google.com'
#alias tdgg 'w3m -sixel dgg.gg'
#alias imlauera 'w3m -sixel imlauera.github.io'
#alias cimlauera 'cha -V imlauera.github.io'
#alias invidious 'w3m -sixel https://inv.nadeko.net/feed/subscriptions'
#alias cinvidious 'cha -V https://inv.nadeko.net/feed/subscriptions'
#alias upwork="falkon upwork.com"
#alias linkedin="falkon linkedin.com"
#alias freelancer="falkon freelancer.com"
#alias duolingo="falkon https://duolingo.com/learn"
#alias f1="echo 'Los tiempos están en UTC. Coordinated Universal Time está 3 horas adelantado a Buenos Aires'; bash $HOME/scripts/f1exposure.sh | jq ."
#alias telegram="falkon web.telegram.org"

alias doom="cd doom; bash play_doom.sh;"
alias wiby="w3m http://wiby.org"
alias geohot="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 https://geohot.github.io/blog"
alias ce="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 http://cursoelectricidad.github.io"
alias el="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 http://cursoelectrodomesticos.github.io"
alias mc="w3m https://sotwe.com/marianocrosetti"
alias in="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 https://imlauernews.github.io"
alias im="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 https://imlauer.github.io"
alias imlauer="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 http://imlauera.github.io"
alias hp="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbasees/hframe.html"
#alias news="netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 news.ycombinator.com"
alias news="lynx news.ycombinator.com"

alias ls='ls --color=auto'
alias grep='grep --color=auto'
alias ..="cd .."
#export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=eglfs
#export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=linuxfb
#export QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--ignore-gpu-blacklist --disable-gpu"
export QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--ignore-gpu-blacklist"


export QT_QPA_EGLFS_INTEGRATION=eglfs_kms
#export QT_QPA_FONTDIR=/lib/Fonts
#export QT_QPA_PLATFORM_PLUGIN_PATH=/usr/lib/plugins/platforms
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_PHYSICAL_WIDTH=155
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_PHYSICAL_HEIGHT=86
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_WIDTH=1024
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_HEIGHT=614
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_NO_LIBINPUT=0

#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_KEYBOARD_LAYOUT='es'
#export QT_QPA_EGLFS_KBD_MAP='es'

export QT_QPA_EGLFS_FULLSCREEN=1

export XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT=es
export XKB_DEFAULT_VARIANT=nodeadkeys

alias drudgereport="w3m drudgereport.com"
alias dgg='w3m  dgg.gg'
#alias google='cha -V google.com'
alias mojeek "w3m https://www.mojeek.com/search?q=hola"
alias google "w3m https://leta.mullvad.net/search?q=google&engine=google"
alias images2 "w3m https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=ecosia"
alias ecosia "w3m https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=ecosia"
alias blog='w3m imlauera.blogspot.com'
alias blog='w3m imlauer.blogspot.com'
alias tdgg='w3m  dgg.gg'
alias imlauera='cha -V imlauera.github.io'
alias analisismatematico2='netsurf-fb -f sdl -w 1366 -h 768 analisismatematico2.github.io'
alias wimlauera='w3m imlauera.github.io'
alias invidious='w3m  https://inv.nadeko.net/feed/subscriptions'
alias cinvidious='cha -V https://inv.nadeko.net/feed/subscriptions'
alias upwork="falkon upwork.com"
alias linkedin="falkon linkedin.com"
alias home="w3m $HOME/samba/offline_tastyfish/startpage.html"
alias freelancer="falkon freelancer.com"
alias duolingo="falkon https://duolingo.com/learn"
alias f1="bash $HOME/scripts/f1exposure.sh"
alias notebooklm="falkon https://notebooklm.google.com"
alias telegram="falkon web.telegram.org"
alias images="w3m https://pinterest.lurkmore.com/"
alias lyrics="w3m https://genius.lurkmore.com/"
alias rightdao="w3m https://rightdao.com"
alias ttt="torsocks w3m ~/projects/imlauer.github.io/index.html"
alias focus="sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager"



fish_add_path $HOME/.local/bin
set -gx ANDROID_HOME ~/Android/Sdk
set -gx PATH $PATH $ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/bin $ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

I read my news with newsboat and newsraft.

cat ~/.newsboat/urls

https://nobloatnews.github.io/rss.xml
https://cursoelectricidad.github.io/feed.xml
https://stallman.org/rss/rss.xml
https://geohot.github.io/blog/feed.xml
https://xcancel.com/sstricklandmma/rss
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC3ts8coMP645hZw9JSD3pqQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCld68syR8Wi-GY_n4CaoJGA
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCbpe1SYzZKG4RswEnxxSRZQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCdlKPiNQ_Dw20N9CzGms-XA
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCwgKmJM4ZJQRJ-U5NjvR2dg
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCxrN_J1dBX4ir-3xF8u3fUQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCR4W7Mq0HD8JoW9KBRm0mZg
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC1qH20lfqK4b_BgNQ-iP9Ww
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCnhDCF3Slf9MlmYGIr47y-g
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCZbjyqToF-4qmGNwYrhqQtQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC2eYFnH61tmytImy1mTYvhA
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCq-PF3nIPg5KO8po0dHcXsQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC7YOGHUfC1Tb6E4pudI9STA
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCDeWwrp2LUWkDSymrmnfKDQ
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCylGUf9BvQooEFjgdNudoQg
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCRfo-DAifrP3lzcxUHtGm_A
https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCrqM0Ym_NbK1fqeQG2VIohg