+/* XXX reunify this with vga-overlay? */
+#define VRAM_BASE              0xA0000UL
+#define TEXT_CONSOLE_OFFSET    0x18000UL 
+
+#define TEXT_CONSOLE_BASE      (VRAM_BASE + TEXT_CONSOLE_OFFSET)
+
+static unsigned char vga_read(unsigned char idx)
+{
+       outb(CRTC_IDX_REG, idx);
+       return inb(CRTC_DATA_REG);
+}
+
+static char * vga_base()
+{
+       return (char *) (
+               TEXT_CONSOLE_BASE
+               + (((unsigned int) vga_read(CRTC_START_ADDR_MSB_IDX)) << 9)
+               + (((unsigned int) vga_read(CRTC_START_ADDR_LSB_IDX)) << 1)
+       );
+}
+