help! ctrl-alt-f1 doesn't work

[r0ydster]

I think that this post will solve your problem:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=667271

Specifically post number 3.

I don't think that it's a keyboard problem - for some reason Ubuntu doesn't enable this by default. I was under the impression that this was going to be fixed in Hardy - but apparently not.

Another must do is to alter your terminal font size, in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file.

First back up the file: sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.orig

Then, depending on your screen size add this to the end of kernel line: vga=791

For more info look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_BIOS_Extensions

Look under Linux video mode numbers


Here is my current line:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=6e692be6-7bdb-41e6-ad00-0b078a7fbc04 ro quiet splash vga=791

After you make the changes, reboot and log in, then go to <CTRL><ALT><F1> - this should fix it - but if you get a blank screen, you'll need to use a lower resolution, such as vga=788.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[llama320]

Yeah, I do use the drivers off the nvidia site - I have to reinstall them every time there's an X update - or at least when there's a kernel update. I think this is because the installation process creates a kernel module which would need to match my kernel version.

I have to do the same thing...not a huge deal though, just a little extra something to do every month or so

[lightstream]

I have to do the same thing...not a huge deal though, just a little extra something to do every month or so

True, it's a piece of cake now I have a little script that does the complete compilation and installation for me. Before that, well I'm afraid there was a little gnashing of teeth and tearing out of hair !