The letter ö shows as random bitmap on console

[Taleman]

Binary package hint: console-setup

Package name is guessing, fault may be elsewhere. Problem found on Hardy Heron updated today 2008-03-15.

The glyph shown on the console for the lower case letter ö seems to be random bitmap. I saw different kinds of muck for the ö, depending on what I did before. There seems to be some determinism, the bitmap looked the same if I did the same things before the ö prints.

I noticed also €, the currency symbol for Euro, is a messed up bitmap. Did not find other characters that display wrong.

These are installed:

ii console-setup 1.21ubuntu4 Set up the font and the keyboard on the console
ii console-terminus 4.20-6 Fixed-width fonts for fast reading on the Linux console
ii console-tools 1:0.2.3dbs-65ubuntu7 Linux console and font utilities
ii consolekit 0.2.3-3ubuntu3 framework for defining and tracking users, sessions and seats
ii libconsole 1:0.2.3dbs-65ubuntu7 Shared libraries for Linux console and font manipulation
ii libsvga1 1:1.4.3-24 console SVGA display libraries
ii libxine1-console 1.1.10.1-2 libaa/libcaca/framebuffer/directfb related plugins for libxine1

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363/8365 [KT133/KM133] (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363/8365 [KT133/KM133 AGP]
00:04.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super South] (rev 22)
00:04.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 10)
00:04.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 10)
00:04.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 10)
00:04.4 Bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI] (rev 30)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 74)
00:0b.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 08)
00:0b.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! Game Port (rev 08)
00:0c.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA 2064W [Millennium] (rev 01)
00:11.0 Mass storage controller: Promise Technology, Inc. PDC20265 (FastTrak100 Lite/Ultra100) (rev 02)

uname -a:
Linux wally 2.6.24-12-generic #1 SMP Wed Mar 12 23:01:54 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

I photographed the console:
  http://taleman.fi/Hardy-console-randomglyph.jpg

The last two characters on the last line are supposed to be €.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Does running 'setupcon' as root at the console fix it?

Do you know whether you're using a framebuffer device? (If you don't know, you probably aren't.)

Could you attach /etc/default/console-setup to this bug?

[Taleman (tapio-lehtonen)]

Setupcon did not help. I see the same random stuff for ö as before setupcon.

By the way, I did a new installation yesterday, this same bug is present even now. And I still can't get more than 800x600 in X Window except at the first login. But that is another bug.

How can I see whether the installer chose framebuffer for console? I think I am not using framebuffer, at least no mention of it during install (normal install), and in files I looked at.

Attached /etc/default/console-setup.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

I can reproduce something similar, except that 'setupcon' as root (i.e. 'sudo setupcon') *does* clear it up. However, I can only reproduce it after switching to X and back. That indicates that Matthew Garrett's kernel fix to make it restore the font on VT switch didn't really take properly.

Is it possible that the font needs to be restored after unblanking the VT, rather than before?

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4. Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced. You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the 2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26 kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

[Uwe Geuder (ubuntulp-ugeuder)]

The problem affects not only the letter ö, but many others too. I have created a more general report https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/355057 and will mark this report as a duplicate.
Taleman, please don't take this as a personal offense, the honor of reporting the letter ö problem first, remains of course yours.