TTY Blank in Gutsy? Click here!

[El Chupacabras]

There's a slight problem with the init scripts in Gutsy/Hardy involving its new kernel. It appears that the framebuffer has been incorporated into the kernel, instead of being added as a separate kernel module.

So what, you ask? If you press ctrl+alt+F1 through ctrl+alt+F6, you're supposed to see a terminal, much like a fullscreen version of gnome-terminal. However, (and I'm not sure how prevalent this issue is) in Gutsy/Hardy, you may see one of the following:

• If your monitor REALLY old, it might fry. (you may want to press ctrl+alt+F7 or ctrl+alt+F9 before this happens)
• If your monitor is semi-old, it might just display nothing
• if your monitor is modern, you will see "Out of Range" upon it
  • or a black screen with a cursor blinking
  • ... or a black screen with nothing on it.

These are all caused by the same bug, which is marked CRITICAL in launchpad, so hopefully an update will fix it soon. (see it here).

This guide may or may not cause your resolution to go a bit wonky until you get the settings right, but it shouldn't completely break X. If you see that you get an error message, please press ok. The X server did that to me a few times, but it reverted to VESA (crappy graphics mode), and allowed me to log in once more. I can't guarantee this won't break your installation, but I don't think it should. As a final word of warning: please don't do this if you're afraid to muck around in your system. If that's you, please wait for the Ubuntu devs to fix this.

However, I think I may have found a solution whilst looking through launchpad, and mixing and matching others' methods of solving this issue.

NOTE: Wherever it says `$ sudo vi «text file»`, you can either type it as you see it and use vi, or if you don't know how to use it, just use `sudo gedit` (Ubuntu) or `sudo kate`(Kubuntu), instead of `sudo vi`.

There are four parts to this solution:

STEP 1 - Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.

$ sudo vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer
It should look like:

 # Framebuffer drivers are generally buggy and poorly-supported, and cause
# suspend failures, kernel panics and general mayhem.  For this reason we
# never load them automatically.
blacklist aty128fb
blacklist atyfb
blacklist radeonfb
blacklist cirrusfb
blacklist cyber2000fb
blacklist cyblafb
blacklist gx1fb
blacklist hgafb
blacklist i810fb...

Find the fb module corresponding to your video card's driver. You may have to experiment, but its generally straightforward. If you use a radeon driver, try radoenfb. Try vesafb first if you have another card. It's a generic video driver, and may be what you're supposed to use. Comment out the line that blacklists the module you have chosen. (This means you should add a # before the line).

WARNING: If you use the proprietary nvidia driver, save yourself some time and comment out vesafb. nvidiafb is the kernel module for the open-source nv driver's framebuffer, with which the proprietary driver is not compatible. Maybe it should be called nvfb to be more consistent?

You may or may not have to comment out vga16fb. If you try with vesafb and it still fails, try again with your card's specific fb module, and if it's still failing, add vga16fb as well. Be warned though- vga16 might make windows in compiz appear white after you use a tty.

STEP 2 - Edit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
$ sudo vi /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
It shoud look like:

# List of modules that you want to include in your initramfs.
#
# Syntax:  module_name [args ...]
#
# You must run update-initramfs(8) to effect this change.
#
# Examples:
#
# raid1
# sd_mod

Add the following after the last line.

fbcon
vesafb

Again, vesafb is what I used. Remember the driver you uncommented for step 1? Use that one. Also, if you un-blacklisted vga16fb above, type it in right after vesafb. It probably isn't necessary though (At least, it wasn't for me...)

STEP 3 - Update the init scripts. This step is fortunately, simple.
$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

STEP 4- Edit /etc/grub/menu.lst
by now you should know:
$ sudo vi /etc/grub/menu.lst

Scroll down until it says: ## ## END DEFAULT OPTIONS ##
go to the first line that starts with Kernel,

kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=763f09b5-cf76-42a1-8dd2-123a2739b3ab ro quiet splash

and select a resolution from below:

(Image Coutesy of Zenwalk Wiki)

Remember the decimal value for it, (the one that has no 0x at the start) and change the line that says kernel to something like:

kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=763f09b5-cf76-42a1-8dd2-123a2739b3ab ro quiet splash vga=###

(Replace the ### with the aforementioned number)

The vga=XXX parameter allows you to select the resolution at which you will see your tty. Apparently the default setting may be too low for some monitors.

Conclusion-
I have an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS, and this worked for me, after a bit of testing. I can now use TTY 1-6. I'm not sure if there are any negative side effects to this, but at least the terminals work again. Post your feedback below. I won't be able to get back to you until Tuesday, but if I get a chance to pop in on my free time, I'll try and answer any questions/remarks.

For simplicity's sake maybe the framebuffer should be compiled as a module in the future?

[patrickthebold]

My terminals are not blank, but sort of a black and white scrambled mess. Also mine worked fine before I installed nvidia-glx. Do you think this is the same bug or something different. I tried a similar solution to your post, and it did not work. Basically I did everything except pass the vga=### parameter. I will try again with the parameter when I get home.

[patrickthebold]

So I followed the instructions and I my terminals are still scrambled but a different color, I did not try all of the vga codes yet, so I guess I can play with it some more. I also didn't try vgafb. Its kinda of annoying when there are several dozen options and a reboot is required.

[Farax]

Hi, i followed every step and all my terminals were still black with blinking underscore, plus my X became black + underscore.

OK, i've fixed all the changes in the files, so i'm at the starting point and i've noticed that my ctrl + alt + F1 works normally(i see the X starting procedure without any problems) but all F2-F6 are dead (black screen + underscore). Do I understand correctly that it's not a graphics bug since one of terminals is alive?

[piccobello]

Thanks a lot! I had the same problem, now I can see the ttys again!
On a thinkpad X31 I had to use radeonfb.
One thing that I still don't understand is that I don't see anything on the screen
between grub menu and x. I mean where are all the messages gone?
Is it a new "feature" of gutsy, or am I still missing something?

[cyberslayer]

I tried this method for the vesafb and radeonfb driver and although the tty's are visible now and can be used, switching to and from Xorg with ctrl-alt-F7/F1 occasionally fails and the screen goes black and the system locks up. At this point, I cannot switch back to the tty or Xorg. This happens with both the vesafb and radeonfb drivers (I have not tested the others). Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks for posting this guide.

[th3t1nm4n]

I think step 4 should be:
sudo vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
or
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

[exjinn]

Just wanted extend my thanks for helping me fix this issue. Works just fine with the radeonfb and vesafb!

[amikrop]

Greetings. I have a GeForce FX Go5650 and I use the nvidia-glx-new driver. I followed your guide, and my problem is solved. TTYs are OK and look nice (with the graceful framebuffer support). I chose vga=773. Thanks a lot for publishing this, it was very helpful

PS: I hope the respective launchpad bug will be fixed soon.

[H_Plow]

THIS IS A DUPLICATE OF thread #105 in "ATI 8.1 Drivers -- Post Your results " (#671726), trying to post here to find a solution...

Ubuntu GUTSY AMD64 Desktop
Kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (also tried on a 2.6.20.3-custom..)

Using fglrx 8.1 here on my HD2600XT 256MB PCI-E

My situation:

- fglrx installed and working "properly" (Note: I have disabled ATIEVENTSD on startup to fix the famous "CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE" problem);
- compiz is working "like a charm"

but..........

TTY console are unaccessible..

Before or after GDM LOGIN, if I try to access any TTY (CTRL+ALT+F1-F6) the screen goes black (whatever the monitor sync LED remains always ON...not blinking) and I can't neither go back to X (CTRL+ALT+F7-F9) nor switch to another console (CTRL+ALT+F1-F6)...can only hard reboot or ALT+R SIST+S+U+B to reboot.....

I've tried to:

1) unblacklist "vesafb" driver:
$ sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer (and put a # before the vesafb line..);

2) $ sudo gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
and add lines "fbcon" and "vesafb" lines

3) update the init scripts:
$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

4) add a vga=XXX as a kernel parameter in /boo/grub/menu.lst

Results are:
- I can see usplash (but this wasn't a problem yet before...)
- I can see "text lines" (system messages) during bootup...after the usplash
- I CANNOT STILL ACCESS THOSE FU**IN TTY CONSOLES...like before!!!

This is rather frustrating....
Any suggestion from the experts?
Thanks.