Ubuntu virtual terminal font is different between machines

[Daniel van Vugt]

On some installations I notice that Ubuntu has a nice thin custom font in virtual terminals (Ctrl+Alt+F1). However on other machines, like this one, I'm stuck with the default BIOS font. Why?

Ubuntu 12.04 - Core i7-2600 (HD 2000) = BIOS font
Ubuntu 12.10 - Core i5-2467M (HD 3000) = Ubuntu font
Ubuntu 12.10 - Atom N270 (i915) = BIOS font
Ubuntu 13.10 - Core i5-4570 = Ubuntu font
Ubuntu 14.04 - Core i7-4770 = BIOS font

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic 3.2.0-29.46
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-29.46-generic 3.2.24
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-29-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.24.
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu12
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: dan 31120 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: command ['iw', 'reg', 'get'] failed with exit code 1: nl80211 not found.
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'PCH'/'HDA Intel PCH at 0xe1b60000 irq 51'
   Mixer name : 'Intel CougarPoint HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0269,1028047e,00100100 HDA:80862805,80860101,00100000'
   Controls : 33
   Simple ctrls : 16
Date: Tue Sep 4 16:56:50 2012
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=5bedf52c-a7e5-4fff-9bb4-ea8c47cec73b
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.
MachineType: Dell Inc. OptiPlex 990
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic root=UUID=9f6f99e2-1189-4bf1-bff7-af137071f572 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.2.0-29-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.2.0-29-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.79
RfKill:
 0: hci0: Bluetooth
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
StagingDrivers: mei
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 09/10/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A07
dmi.board.name: 0D6H9T
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A00
dmi.chassis.type: 15
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA07:bd09/10/2011:svnDellInc.:pnOptiPlex990:pvr01:rvnDellInc.:rn0D6H9T:rvrA00:cvnDellInc.:ct15:cvr:
dmi.product.name: OptiPlex 990
dmi.product.version: 01
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

penalvch: This bug is not BIOS related. It has been happening on _many_ different machines for _years_ now.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

I haven't seen this issue in years and the affected releases are EOL anyway.