can't invoke virtual consoles

[geoffrey froner]

Thank you for your help.

Geoffrey

On Feb 18, 2008 12:59 PM, sktsee <sktsee at tulsaconnect.com> wrote:

>
> On Sun, 2008-02-17 at 10:27 -0500, geoffrey froner wrote:
> > Hello and thank you for your offer of help.  I've attached my answers
> > as a file.  I wasnt aware of how rapidly you or your colleagues
> > respond and so wasnt explicit as to the problem which I will try to
> > rectify.  When I press Alt-Ctrl-F# I get a blank screen, though I can
> > return to the GUI desktop with Alt-Ctrl-F7.  I noticed that the on
> > light on the monitor changes from green to amber and thinking that
> > might be the problem, I switched the monitor off and then on again.
> > Then I get a message that the monitor is in power saving mode; the
> > only option I have is to invoke the GUI.
> >
> [major snippage]
>
> That your machine can do vga text mode is good news. The bad news is
> that your hardware, or the xorg intel driver it uses doesn't like
> switching modes. It is very likely that its the driver since there's a
> number of bug reports about xserver-xorg-video-intel problems with vt
> switching. Now there is currently a new version of the driver that's in
> the gutsy-proposed repository. It has some fixes, though I don't know if
> any specifically would address your problem. I wouldn't install it
> except as a last resort.
>
> One thing I forgot to mention in my last message was about Desktop
> Effects. If its enabled, you should turn it off while troubleshooting.
> Compiz is known to cause problems with framebuffer drivers used with
> various graphics controllers. Mine for one.
>
> The following instructions are the steps that hopefully will get your
> framebuffer driver and console to load correctly on boot. Since your
> machine doesn't switch from graphical to vga text mode nicely, I can't
> say these instructions will definitely work. OTOH, maybe they will!
>
> You'll need to use sudo to carry out each task
>
> Un-blacklist the blacklisted fb drivers
> Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer and comment out (#) the
> following entries like so.
> # blacklist intelfb
> # blacklist vesafb
> # blacklist vga16fb
>
> Add fb modules to the initrd image so modprobe can load them
> Edit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules and add the following entries to the
> bottom of the file
> vgastate
> fbcon
> vesafb
> intelfb
> vga16fb
>
> Optional:
> Adjust initramfs-tools hook script
> Edit /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/kernelextras and find the section
> at the bottom that reads "# And add vga16fb for usplash to use as well"
> Comment out the following lines
> # manual_add_modules vga16fb
>
> # if [ ${fbcon} = "y" ]; then
> #       force_load fbcon
> # fi
>
> Update the initrd image
> First backup current image. Update-initramfs is supposed to do this, but
> I've noticed some inconsistency in creating the backup if there's
> already one present.
> cd /boot
> sudo cp initrd-img-2.6.22-14-generic initrd-img-2.6.22-14-generic-backup
> sudo update-initramfs -u
> This should create a new initrd image that has the required fb and fbcon
> drivers manually included so they can be found by modprobe during boot.
> If for whatever reason the new initrd-img fails to load, you will need
> to reboot with the LiveCD and mount the drive partition that
> contains /boot/initrd-img-xxxxx and rename the backed up image to the
> original filename. Alternatively, you can edit the initrd line in the
> grub boot menu at boot time to point initrd= to the backed up image
> in /boot. See the link below on how to change boot parameters on a
> temporary basis in grub.
>
> Decide which fb driver to use
> Either vesafb or intelfb should work for your graphics controller. I
> can't speak to the performance of the intelfb since I don't have any
> hardware that uses Intel's integrated graphics. I would try the vesafb
> first. To select it, you'll need to use the "vga=" syntax for your
> kernel boot option. For instance, to set the console to 800x600 with
> 8-bit color depth you would use "vga=0x0303" (available modes listed
> with the hwinfo --framebuffer command) So your kernel line in grub menu
> would look something like this (on 1 line)
>
> kernel  /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic
> root=UUID=373c8094-13c8-4d7c-9a39-a12ce3f51434 ro quiet splash
> vga=0x0303
>
> Refer to this page on how to modify kernel boot parameters in grub on a
> temporary basis
>
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GrubHowto#head-7d876114f64c154224630a01c0bd9c4d335e931d
>
> Also, for the purpose of troubleshooting, I would remove the splash
> option from the kernel line.
>
> To use the intelfb driver use the "video=<driver>:option1,option2=value"
> syntax. So an example for your machine would be
> "video=intelfb:mode=800x600-8 at 60" This is the equivalent of the vesafb
> setting listed above. If you wish to use a higher refresh rate and/or
> resolution, change it whatever your monitor timings allow as listed by
> that hwinfo --framebuffer command. For more info on available options
> for the intelfb and vesafb drivers refer to
> http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/fb/intelfb.txt and
> http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt
>
> If you are still having a problem with vt switching,look
> at /var/log/Xorg.0.log and "dmesg |grep fb." for clues to diagnose the
> problem.
>
> --
> sktsee
>
>
>
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