[Bug 862959] Re: Blank screen with a basic gfxmenu theme

[towheedm]

** Attachment added: "theme.txt file"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/862959/+attachment/2484460/+files/theme.txt

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to grub2 in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/862959

Title:
  Blank screen with a basic gfxmenu theme

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  I am using a very basic grub theme using the gfxmenu theming engine.
  The theme only sets a background image and displays the menu items
  using a DejaVu .pf2 font created using the grub-mkfont utility.

  This was tested on Natty using grub version 1.99~rc1-13ubuntu3.  This
  bug is being reported from my main OS (Maverick).

  What should happen:
  The theme should be displayed allowing me to select a menu item to boot.

  What happens:
  A blank screen is shown and the keyboard stops responding (using a Logitech wireless keyboard).

  What I did to rectify it:

  After several of testing, I found that the problem was two fold:
  1.  The first problem involves GRUB setting the default GFXMODE. In previous versions of GRUB2, if GRUB_GFXMODE was commented out in /etc/default/grub, it was automatically set to 640x480 in 10_linux.

  However, this behavior has changed and if the line is commented out,
  GRUB now sets it to 'auto'. I would assume, it would iterate through
  the list of valid vbe modes and select the first working mode.
  Unfortunately for me, it selects 640x400x256, which works in text
  mode, but causes a black screen and a hung keyboard with gfxmenu.  A
  quick fix was to uncomment the GRUB_GFXMODE variable.

  2.  The second problem involves the /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ script.
  Simple put, a --class <classname> parameter must be appended to the
  end of the menuentry line in grub.cfg. Without this, I get the same
  blank screen and hung keyboard even with the GFXMODE fix described
  above.

  A simple fix is to unset the executable bit from the 20_memtest86+
  script file with so that a menu entry is not created for it in
  grub.cfg.

  The same theme was tested on Karmic, Lucid and Maverick without the
  above-mentioned problems.

  Video Card: nvidia GeForce FX5200.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/862959/+subscriptions