Ctrl + Alt + F1 etc. fail to send me to console

[stop]

Ctrl + Alt + F1 through F6 don't throw me to console, instead I get static tearing pixels on screen. Ctrl + Alt + F7 luckily still sends me back to desktop.
Not sure if I picked the correct package here...

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Oct 10 02:49:11 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: vmnet vmci vmmon nvidia
Package: gnome (not installed)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-13.42-generic
SourcePackage: meta-gnome2
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-13-generic x86_64

[Bruce Miller (brm0423)]

I am running Kubuntu Karmic Koala Beta amd64, updated twice a day.

I do not have "static tearing pixels", just a blank, black screen

[Nick B. (futurepilot)]

This is most likely a usplash issue according to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/usplash/+bug/348440/comments/10 It looks like X is starting before Usplash quits

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

X definitely isn't starting before usplash quits in karmic; the usplash upstart job is defined as:

stop on (starting-dm
         or stopped rc RUNLEVEL=[2345]
         or starting rcS)

and each of {gdm,kdm,xdm} is configured to emit the 'starting-dm' signal before it starts - so unless you're starting X by hand (in which case the usplash package can't be expected to fix that for you), this doesn't look like a usplash bug. There have been some fixes in the past couple of days to usplash's upstart job (usplash 0.5.41 and above), but nothing that should ever have caused usplash to be running concurrently with X on startup.

The bug report shows that non-free nvidia drivers are in use. I think this is much more likely to be a bug in that driver; reassigning to nvidia-graphics-drivers-180 (whoop, please confirm which vintage of nvidia driver package you're using).

[Nick B. (futurepilot)]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Steve Langasek wrote:
> X definitely isn't starting before usplash quits in karmic; the usplash
> upstart job is defined as:
>
> stop on (starting-dm
> or stopped rc RUNLEVEL=[2345]
> or starting rcS)
>
> and each of {gdm,kdm,xdm} is configured to emit the 'starting-dm' signal
> before it starts - so unless you're starting X by hand (in which case
> the usplash package can't be expected to fix that for you), this doesn't
> look like a usplash bug. There have been some fixes in the past couple
> of days to usplash's upstart job (usplash 0.5.41 and above), but nothing
> that should ever have caused usplash to be running concurrently with X
> on startup.
>
> The bug report shows that non-free nvidia drivers are in use. I think
> this is much more likely to be a bug in that driver; reassigning to
> nvidia-graphics-drivers-180 (whoop, please confirm which vintage of
> nvidia driver package you're using).
>
> ** Package changed: usplash (Ubuntu) => nvidia-graphics-drivers-180
> (Ubuntu)
>
I'm using the nvidia-glx-96 drivers. I also tried with the "nv" driver
but the problem was still there. However if I remove "splash" from
grub, there is no corruption.
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[Bruce Miller (brm0423)]

I am not the original reporter of this bug, but am affected by it. I am running the 185 series non-free nvidia drivers and will fall back to the 180 series. But a question remains: even if it is a bug in a non-free driver, what has happened in Ku/Ubuntu development to trigger it only in the last 24 hours?

[Bruce Miller (brm0423)]

this problem is not caused by non-free driver. It also occurs when non-free driver is not used and the open source driver is used in its place.

[Funnnny (ntcong-it)]

Tested some driver by Nvidia, 190.36 beta too. Removed Nvidia's driver didn't solve the problem.
It's only triggered when I recently upgrade Karmic.

[klerfayt (klerfayt-deactivatedaccount)]

@ reporters with colorful garbage screens, if

/etc/modprobe.d/options
options nvidia NVreg_UseVBios=0

fixes your problem, then it's most likely the duplicate of two year old bug #85451

[Nick B. (futurepilot)]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

klerfayt wrote:
> @ reporters with colorful garbage screens, if
>
> /etc/modprobe.d/options
> options nvidia NVreg_UseVBios=0
>
> fixes your problem, then it's most likely the duplicate of two year old
> bug #85451
>
That gave the error "Unknown parameter "NVreg_UseVBios" on boot and
also made the system hang on bootup. Perhaps this option doesn't work
with the 96.xx drivers?

- From my own testing here's some conclusions I've come to.
1) This is not a problem with the Nvidia binary driver. I can
reproduce this with the "nv" driver as well
2) However, this may specific to Nvidia cards as I couldn't reproduce
it with Intel graphics

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[HBLaw (huangbolaw)]

Console also gone here for ATI card. I am using X1250 and the open source driver.

[HBLaw (huangbolaw)]

A follow up - I turned on radeon.modeset and the console is back. To be clear: withOUT KMS, the console is gone; with KMS, the console is back. Hope this helps.

[Seth (seth-hollen)]

I have this issue also but have an ATI X300 video card using the ubuntu drivers.

[josesuarez1983 (j-suarez-agapito)]

I am quoting my comment posted in bug #447775.

"I get the same here. Running karmic with everything updated as of 12 October. I have been experiencing this bug since I upgraded to linux-image-2.6.31-13-generic.

Versions installed are as follows:
linux-image-2.6.31-13-generic 2.6.31-13.44
 usplash 0.5.42
 nvidia propietary driver v. 190.36 installed by hand (happened the same with vdpau ppa's version of the same driver)

As a side note, I must note that although the vts are corrupted, a user can login and operate as usual with the only problem that you will not see anything other than the corrupted image."

[camper365 (camper365)]

This is definitely not a problem with usplash or the nvidia drivers. I am running an ATI card, and the problem does not exist in kernel version 2.6.31-12-generic.

[Egbert van der Wal (eggie)]

I have the same problem on a Macbook Pro 5,5; consoles are garbled. Furthermore, if I connect an external monitor and enable it using nvidia-settings the colorful garbage also appears on this external monitor. The laptop screen remains functional though.

[Bruce Miller (brm0423)]

I confirm that on this system, removing the "splash" parameter from the kernel boot line (and routinely reconfiguring grub2) restored access to the virtual consoles Ctrl-Alt-F1.

From my non-developer's perspective, and after reading the 16 preceding comments on this thread, it appears that the solution will be obvious once we understand how the presence of the boot splash has so suddenly started disfiguring the customary virtual consoles Ctrl-Alt-F1 through F6.

[Paul Cook (narkosen)]

I confirm the above. It occurs with nv and nvidia driver. Graphics card Nvidia 7300LE.
The workaround is to remove the "splash" parameter and all TTY consoles work again.

[stop (whoopwhoop)]

Narkosen, this workaround worked for me too. I changed a line in /etc/default/grub to:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""
and ran update-grub2.
Now I can use the consoles again...

[Alexander Karlstad (alexander.karlstad)]

I can also confirm that removing the "splash" option from the boot paramters fixes the virtual terminals again.

Computer: Thinkpad R52
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon X300
Driver: radeon
Kernel: 2.6.31-13-generic i686

[ShadowDragonWater (shadowdragonwater)]

I have also ran into the problem of not being able to get to the terminals/konsoles. I can also confirm that removing 'splash' option from grub fixed my issues.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package usplash - 0.5.44

---------------
usplash (0.5.44) karmic; urgency=low

  [ Colin Watson ]
  * Add usplash_backend_name() function to the svgalib and bogl backends,
    returning "svga" and "bogl" respectively.

  [ Scott James Remnant ]
  * Move the console restoration into an atexit() function registered
    before the one from the svga or bogl backends; that way switching
    the VT doesn't result in svgalib having a panic attack and vomiting
    all over everything.
  * Remove the svgalib code guarding against restoring text mode when in
    a child process of the one that initialised the display; since we
    daemonise, this code meant we never restored text mode and left a
    corrupted or blank display. LP: #448977, #447692.

 -- Scott James Remnant <email address hidden> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:36:31 +0100

[Tony Maro (tonymaro)]

I'm running usplash 0.5.49 and this bug is still a problem.

Karmic 9.10 64 bit desktop
Graphics 1: nVidia 9800 GT
Graphics 2: nVidia 8600 GTS
Dual twinview
Ubuntu supplied nvidia driver: 185.18.36-0ubuntu9

Editing grub to remove "quiet splash" let me see commands scroll past at boot, but once the Ubuntu login screen appeared CTRL-ALT-F1 would only display a black screen. I know the console is there because I can blindly log in and do a sudo reboot.

This is a completely fresh install of Karmic with no extra's.

This bug keeps the user from installing the latest nVidia drivers if they want to - because there's no way to login without having X running.

[MrPetrovsky (boris-zag)]

I can confirm the last post (#23) - it doesn't solve the problem.

My setup:
Freshly installed Karmic, fully updated (28 Nov 2009)
usplash 0.5.49
nVidia GeForce Go 6800
NVIDIA Driver Version: 185.18.36

Editing grub by removing "quiet splash", then update-grub2 still yields a black screen after pressing CTRL+ALT+F1.

[matthew bliss (blimath)]

ctrl-alt-F1 stopped giving me a login prompt (and starting giving me inaccessible pixels) after this latest upgrade.

[Hiker Hauk (hhauk)]

I have this problem to. I don't know since when. Ctrl+Alt+F1-F6 gives ma a black screen. If I press Crtl+Alt+F7 at this time, sometimes computer keeps reading/writing my harddrive non-stop, and I have to turn it off forcefully.

[DougEdey (doug-edey)]

Is there any outlook for a fix on this? I still cannot acess tty with usplash 0.5.49

[Aisano (info-ais-sanmarino)]

I am running Ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 (daily updates) and experiencing the same thing: Ctrl-Alt-F1..6 freezes the X screen but does not make it go away. Ctrl-Alt-F7 reactivates the X session. Sometimes several Ctrl-Alt-F7s are necessary, or maybe it just takes many seconds to reactivate the X session.

My computer is a notebook with a secondary screen attached.

I will try to attach the relevant output from Xorg.0.log, though I have no idea if it can be of any help.

[Aisano (info-ais-sanmarino)]

I just rechecked the problem; Ctrl-Alt-F1 still just changed somepixel colours but Ctrl-Alt-F7 this time seems to have crashed something (Gnome session?), putting me back to the login screen. Afterwards I found that Ctrl-Alt-F7 had the same effect as Ctrl-Alt-F1..6, namely recolouring parts of the screen and freezing it. Instead, Ctrl-Alt-F8 had the effect of putting me back to my running X/Gnome session.

I checked this many times as I found it hard to believe. Ctrl-Alt-F7 had joined the behaviour of Ctrl-Alt-F1..6 (freezing), and Ctrl-Alt-F8 had taken over the function of Ctrl-Alt-F7 (restoring the graphical session). Or, you might say, Ctrl-Alt-F7 and Ctrl-Alt-F8 had swapped functions.

After restarting the system everything now is as usual (Ctrl-Alt-F[1234568]) freeze the screen, Ctrl-Alt-F7 unfreezes it).

No idea if this could be a hint about what's going wrong but it looks like we have no real clues, so I thought I'd better report anything unusual.

[Aisano (info-ais-sanmarino)]

Although the usplash problem was marked as "fixed" on 2009-10-14 I gave it a try and removed the splash option from the grub entry. The splash screen went away but the problem did not. Could it be that we have two similar problems, and only one was usplash-related and fixed? If so, shouldn't we open a new bug?

[humpmihk (humpmihk)]

I'm having the same / similar issue with lucid Alt Control F1 usually takes me to a flashing cursor no login, occasionally it works as it should and takes me to tty. Some times to return to graphical Alt Control F2 works rather than F7.

I'm using 32 bit lucid with an Athlon64 a GeForce 7300 LE and the 195.36.15 nvidia driver installed by the hardware drivers utility.

[humpmihk (humpmihk)]

Attaching log file

[humpmihk (humpmihk)]

Just tried Aisano suggestion and removed splash screen The problem did not go away.

[Joshua Farray (farray)]

Had the same problem (NVIDIA GeForce 9300M using default Ubuntu 10.04 LTS drivers).

This worked for me: http://www.webupd8.org/2010/03/how-to-get-plymouth-working-with-nvidia.html

[Aisano (info-ais-sanmarino)]

As I try this every couple of days to see if anything changes, so I did today -- and Ctrl-Alt-Fn worked! It worked reliably many times, I could log in to the tty session, and Ctrl-Alt-F7 would send me back to the X session.
Suspicious, I restarted the system, and the old problem was there again. On startup, there seems to be a small probability of getting a system without the error. But if the system starts up with the error it seems to persist.
I really tend to think this problem is unrelated to the original "usplash" bug.

[Aisano (info-ais-sanmarino)]

I have no idea how to get more information about this problem, which I consider really serious. Obviously it is restricted to a small number of hardware and/or software configurations, or I guess everybody would be shouting out loud about it. So to give users not affected by the problem at least an idea of what is happening I took a picture of the screen after keying Ctrl-Alt-F1. The result is attached and shows that obviously the display's palette (colour table) is out of order: The Gnome background is still displayed but with a wrong palette that shows the different shades of pink or puple as green.

I made a litte experiment: After pressing Ctrl-Alt-F1 I (biindly) keyed in my user id and password and then started a "wc" command. After switching back to graphics (Ctrl-Alt-F7) I ran a "ps -ef". Sure the "wc" was there. So obviously the problem is all on the display side: Ctrl-Alt-F1 switches the keyboard to a fully functional tty login but the output is hidden by the gnome image.

Maybe this could help anybody diagnose the problem?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for usplash (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[harrykar (harrykar)]

same behaviour here too
10.04LTS 2.6.32-74-generic #142-Ubuntu SMP Tue Apr 28 10:03:02 UTC 2015 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I'm pretty sure VT's worked but i have some time to use them
i did logged in blindly(without see the screen because its black )

ps -ef
...
root 26736 1 0 13:45 tty1 00:00:00 /bin/login --

who
harrykar tty7 2015-08-20 10:21 (:0)
harrykar pts/1 2015-08-20 10:22 (:0.0)
but VT's screen remains black

so all work fine and is only a visualization problem

[Ori Avtalion (salty-horse)]

I began having this problem after installing a new graphics card: GeForce GTX 750 Ti.

I agree that it's just a display problem - the console itself works fine, just doesn't show up.

I may need to play with some grub settings to fix this.
Another related effect: The computer seems to "wait" for the graphics card when shutting down. Only does so after several seconds of inactivity followed by a beep.