TTY switch for Ctrl-Alt F1 and Alt-F1...F6 in Mac OS X

Question

Is it possible...

to have a terminal mode for the keybinding Ctrl+Alt+F1
to switch between TTYs for Alt+F1...F6

Ubuntu has the above commands to move between different TTYs.

It seems that Mac does not have them activated.

How can you activate the above functionalities in Mac?

Are you booting in single user mode or something? What are you trying to do, exactly? — Jason Coco, Apr 28 '09 at 23:18
@Jason: I am trying to have code modes for me, such that I can just concentrate on coding and I see just black and green. — Léo Léopold Hertz 준영, Apr 29 '09 at 02:13
As the question title might be a bit confusing, the question is about switching between LINUX ttys in console mode, on a MAC computer not OS X. And the answer by mandolo below does work. — Benito, Mar 14 '16 at 17:51

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 01 '16 at 09:52

9

Only one TTY (TTY1) is available in OSX. To enable tty use fn+ctrl+alt+F1.

edited Sep 01 '16 at 09:52

Léo Léopold Hertz 준영

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answered Sep 05 '13 at 17:21

mandolo

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That doesn't do anything?? – Carl Smith Jun 07 '15 at 20:56
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It indeeds work on a Mac! Thanks for saving my day :D. – Benito Mar 14 '16 at 17:50
Answering the wrong question, but thanks for answering my question! – vpzomtrrfrt May 06 '16 at 00:35
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i, too, cannot find this desirable-but-hidden TTY – infinite-etcetera Feb 16 '17 at 20:51
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this is not true – Odaym May 05 '19 at 11:09
what about newer models without a F1? – Sajuuk Aug 23 '21 at 11:34

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 28 '09 at 23:14

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I am not sure what you are asking. Are you asking about accessing TTYs in Mac OS X? That is not possible. Use the terminal, /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app

answered Apr 28 '09 at 23:14

Josh

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@Josh: Is there any similar kind of applications in Mac as TTYs which would allow me to have TTYs for OS X? - - It is hard for me to believe that you cannot access TTYs in OSX. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Apr 29 '09 at 02:12
You can access them if you're not running Aqua. Is that what you want? I can provide a link to that, I've done it before. – Josh Apr 29 '09 at 02:54
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@Masi does this help? http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050617234017755&query=geektool – Josh Apr 29 '09 at 13:11
Yes, it helps. I am just wondering if the process isolation in your example without Aqua as good as with TTYs. I suspect. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Dec 12 '12 at 22:57
@Josh Can you update the link? I'm interested in this. – SevenBits Mar 26 '15 at 22:01
@SevenBits try: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20020318020806482 or http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/85742/console-does-not-work – Josh Mar 27 '15 at 00:53

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 27 '17 at 09:37

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For Mac/apple keyboard, on Linux system, press and hold fn first, then press ctrl+opt+f2 for e.g. after that.

@mandolo was on the right track.

answered Jan 27 '17 at 09:37

blamb

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The question was about Mac OS X – tjespe Feb 13 '17 at 18:00
my bad, didnt catch that minor detail. – blamb Feb 10 '18 at 01:48
in newer macbook there is no F1 keys – Sajuuk Aug 22 '21 at 16:07

TTY switch for Ctrl-Alt F1 and Alt-F1...F6 in Mac OS X

3 Answers3