Chvt , ALT-Fn, ALT-arrow fails with vga=xxx set

Bug #205484 reported by Peter Garrett
4
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
console-setup (Ubuntu)
New
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: console-setup

[Note: This may be related to bug #129910 , which I am sure everyone would love to see finally disappear as much as I would...]

Changing from tty1 to any other tty gives a blank screen with a blinking cursor when vga=xxx is specified.
Typing " setupcon " blindly restores the tty, but has to be typed on every tty change to make the screen output visible again. This occurs when using vesafb with vga=xxx on the boot line.

Tested on an install without X in virtualbox, and on the hardy Beta live CD on my hardware. Since, for example, feisty works correctly in both cases, this does not appear to be hardware-specific.

( Actually on the live CD using vga=791, *all* ttys were blank. ALT-F7 succeeded in accessing X/Gnome. )

lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu hardy (development branch)
Release: 8.04

console-setup:
  Installed: 1.21ubuntu4
  Candidate: 1.21ubuntu4

Kernel:
linux-image-2.6.24-12-386:
  Installed: 2.6.24-12.22
  Candidate: 2.6.24-12.22

Expected behaviour:

On using ALT-F[1-6] , ALT -arrow , or chvt [1-6] , expected result is to see a login prompt, or automatic login on live CD, on the tty to which these apply.

Observed behaviour:

On first booting, a login prompt appears on tty1 as expected. Changing to another tty results in a blank screen with a blinking cursor.

Steps to reproduce:

Boot hardy with a vga=xxx option on the grub kernel line (quiet and splash removed)
(tested here: vga=788 , vga=791 )

Attempt a tty change as above.

Try typing "setupcon" blindly in the resulting vacuum...
Expected result of `setupcon` : some complaints, followed by magical reappearance of tty text...

Now change back to tty1. Where did it go? Exercise for the reader...

Wild Guess: This may be something to do with "setupcon" not being correctly called during boot, or some weirdness associated with getty ??

Other possible package: console-tools ?

description: updated
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Peter Garrett (peter-garrett) wrote :

This bug may be a duplicate of Bug #201591 , but appears to affect vesafb as well.

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