Comment 15 for bug 428519

I'm going to add my two cents of advice. I had the problem as well. This is what I did to solve it.

1) in /etc/grub.d, I've added the line set gfxpayload=keep right after set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE}
2) in /etc/default I've added the line GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768
3) I ran update-grub, and the grub.cfg file in /boot/grub was changed correctly

After these modifications I got the same issues as meantioned here (blank screen and no console output).
In /var/log/messages I've had these lines : Console: colour dummy device 80x25
and earlier without these changes it said : Console: colour VGA+ 80x25
After checking the /etc/modprobe.d directory, I've discovered a file named blacklist-framebuffer.conf
I've commented all of these, and rebooted the computer.

Now I had the problem discribed by Vernon. It switched back to 80x30. With lsmod I've discovered the kernel loaded the nvidiafb module. My guess was that this module caused the change so I wanted the kernel to load the vesafb module instead (nvidia is VESA compatible right)
So I blacklisted all modules in blacklist-framebuffer.conf again, except the vesafb module. Rebooted the computer again, and now the kernel didn't load any framebuffer modules.

I issued the command : sudo modprobe vesafb and checked the messages logfile again and now a line was added like : Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 128x48. I've checked the monitor on the computer (I did this all with an ssh connection) and now the console was displayed in 1024x768 mode.

To make all this work automatically I added vesafb in /etc/modules, and now the kernel loads this module at startup.

So recap for those who want to solve it without hassle :

1) In /etc/grub.d, add the line set gfxpayload=keep right after set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE}
2) In /etc/default, add the line GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768
3) Run update-grub to change the grub.cfg file
4) uncomment the vesafb module in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf
5) add vesafb in /etc/modules
6) restart the computer

now the issue should be solved.