FreeBSD Woes: Console with KMS XOrg

FreeBSD version: 9.3
Device: HP EliteBook 6930p
Symptom: No console, cannot switch to console after X desktop manager bootup.

FreeBSD 9.3-RELEASE kernel does not have VT (newcons) device driver enabled by default and a new kernel has to be compiled with the VT options enabled [1].

The process for compiling the kernel may be found in the handbook [2].

In order to have the bootup kernel messages in text mode instead of the graphics (VGA) mode, the following line is required in /boot/loader.conf[1].

/boot/loader.conf:

hw.vga.textmode=1

[1]: https://wiki.freebsd.org/Newcons

[2]: https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/kernelconfig-config.html, section 9.4 and 9.5.