>is there some well known gotcha with vt0 console driver in the kernel,
>getty on ttyv1, and XDM based X login? I'm loosing kbd input and can't
>work out why. 
>before I drop back to pc0 and even disable getty on the console, is
>there something I should try?

That is exactly what you need to do.  Getty and X are fighting for
characters, and X is losing.

You need to not have a getty running on the vt where X is running.

I use 9 vt's in the kernel, but only start getty on 8 of them.  Then,
I start xdm on the 9th vt.


Here's part of my /etc/ttys:

     -----------------------------------------------------------------
console	"/usr/libexec/getty Pc"		pc3 off secure
vga   	"/usr/libexec/getty Pc"		pc3 off secure

ttyv0	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv1	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv2	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv3	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv4	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv5	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv6	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure
ttyv7	"/usr/libexec/getty console"	vt220 on secure

ttyp0	none			vt100
  etc....
     -----------------------------------------------------------------


And the appropriate line in my /etc/rc.local:
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
export PATH=${PATH}:/usr/X11/bin
/usr/X11/bin/xdm
     -----------------------------------------------------------------


And, finally, in my /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers:
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X vt9
     -----------------------------------------------------------------


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Michael L. VanLoon     michaelv@HeadCandy.com     michaelv@iastate.edu
  Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free un*x for PC/Mac/Amiga/etc.
     Working NetBSD ports: 386+PC, Mac, Amiga, HP300, Sun3, Sun4c, PC532
               In progress: DEC pmax (MIPS R2k/3k), VAX, Sun4m
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------