Comment 360 for bug 129910

Revision history for this message
Oleksij Rempel (olerem) wrote : Re: [Bug 129910] Re: Blank ttys when using vesafb (vga=xxx)

If you will help, really _can_ do it. No programming experience needed.

Best choice to begin is vanilla kernel, but you can do the same with
ubuntu kernel too..

1. download latest kernel and chack if bug still there.

sudo apt-get install git-core

git clone
git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git

for vanilla kernel

or

git clone git://kernel.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-hardy.git

for ubuntu hardy.

2. install packages to build kernel
sudo apt-get build-dep linux
sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev

3. go to kernel, configure, compile and install it.
( you do not need to make kernel with initrd )

cd linux-2.6
make menuconfig ( to configure kernel )
make -j2 all && sudo make isnatll && sudo make modules_install

( -j2 option for dual core users )

4. edit grub to boot latest kernel

sudo vi ( or ) nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

-----------------------------------------------------------
and change this parts:
timeout 5
#hiddenmenu

title Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 acpi_sleep=s3_bios,s3_mode
libata.noacpi=1 ro
----------------------------------------------------------

normally you will have other kernel parameters

5. (MOST important part) If bug still exist and this is regression to
some kernel version:

man git-bisect

git bisect start ( will make extra branch for testing )
git bisect bad ( current version is bad )
git bisect good v2.6.23 ( version 2.6.23 is bad )

make menuconfig
make -j2 all && sudo make isnatll && sudo make modules_install

reboot test kernel if it's good, go to you git repository:

cd linux-2.6
git bisect goodmake -j2 all && sudo make isnatll && sudo make
modules_install
#if it's bad
git bisect bad

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This testing will need some time bud you will find exact patch braced
your system. And believe me, such bug report will really accelerate bug
fixing and make you as part of solution and not part of noise.