&gt; ...except that in that case, why is it trying to output to software-based video?<p>I don&#x27;t have much experience with rsyslog, but syslog-ng <i>can</i> be configured to log to all consoles. [0] I know that consoles are usually configured to blank themselves after a period of inactivity. I wonder if a blanked console can be written to faster than an non-blanked one. [1]<p>Edit: The Fine Article supports my assumption about how rsyslog is configured on the RPi. Search for &quot;printk&quot;. Also remember that -when syslog is disabled- printks are written to the active console.<p>[0]  The default configuration appears to log everything to &#x2F;dev&#x2F;tty12. I see no reason why you couldn&#x27;t log everything to -I guess- &#x2F;dev&#x2F;console. (Or, failing that, &#x2F;dev&#x2F;tty[0-12].)<p>[1] I know that screen-scrolling updates that happen in a console that is not the current one (or that happen in a screen window that&#x27;s not the current one) are <i>substantially</i> faster than on-screen screen-scrolling updates.