[Bug 1247907] Re: Ubuntu booting into black console

[Thomas Schweikle]

This is true. But: why do I see, with Ubuntu and Debian kernels (the
ones from fedora do react the same):

No "vga", but "gfxmode=800x600", "gfxpayload=800x600":
1. Grub boots, then
2. switches to 800x600 before displaying the menu
3. waiting for timeout, then loading the kernel and initramdisk
4. _switching back to 640x480_
5. Kernel booting, printing various messages to console
6. console is keept at 640x480
7. login prompt

No "vga", but "gfxmode=800x600", "gfxpayload=keep":
1. Grub boots, then
2. switches to 800x600 before displaying the menu
3. waiting for timeout, then loading the kernel and initramdisk
4. No further messages while kernel is booting
5. Console switched to 640x480, some messages from booting kernel
6. console is keept at 640x480
7. login prompt

No "vga", but "gfxmode=800x600", no "gfxpayload":
1. Grub boots, then
2. switches to 800x600 before displaying the menu
3. waiting for timeout, then loading the kernel and initramdisk
4. No further messages while kernel is booting
5. Console switched to 640x480, some messages from booting kernel
6. console is keept at 640x480
7. login prompt

No "vga", no "gfxpayload", no "gfxmode":
1. Grub boots with text display
2. loads kernel and keeps text display
3. kernel prints various messages to console
4. console is keept at text display
5. login prompt

"vga=789", "gfxpayload=800x600", "gfxmode=800x600":
1. grub boots, switching to 800x600
2. kernel loads
3. console blinks switched from 800x600 to 640x480 then back again to 800x600
4. kernel boots with 800x600, printing various messages to console
5. console stays at 800x600
6. login prompt

"vga=789", "gfxpayload=keep", "gfxmode=800x600":
1. grub boots, switching to 800x600
2. kernel loads
3. console blinks switched from 800x600 to 640x480 then back again to 800x600
4. kernel boots with 800x600, printing various messages to console
5. console stays at 800x600
6. login prompt

The login prompt may or may not be shown, depending on kernel-version
used. Even the kernel messages may or may not be shown depending on
kernel version used. With the latest kernels the above list is what I
found with VMware Workstation 10 (and 9 – both behave the same). I did
not test all these combinations with real hardware, because sometimes
the system doesnt even boot to a state useful and reachable via ssh.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1247907

Title:
  Ubuntu booting into black console

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  Setting

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="vga=0x340"
  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

  and

  GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600
  GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=800x600

  then executing "update-grub" or "update-grub2" leads to booting Ubuntu without console. The screen is black and stays this way. The system itself is running! It is possible to remotely log in using ssh.
  Grub switches to 800x600, after the kernel overtakes, it switches back to 640x480, but never to 800x600 again. I've tried various combinations even "keep", but without success.

  Switching to

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""
  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

  and

  GRUB_GFXMODE=
  GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=

  makes the console been shown again, but not at higher resolution.

  I could find this problem with:

  Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal)
  Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail)
  Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander)
  Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
  Package: grub (not installed)
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-12.19-generic 3.11.3
  Uname: Linux 3.11.0-12-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.1
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Mon Nov  4 18:01:55 2013
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-12-12 (327 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 12.04.1 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120817.3)
  MarkForUpload: True
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=screen-bce
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: grub
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-02-11 (265 days ago)

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