The following isn't a cut-and-paste "how to" solution. Rather, in an effort to get resolution (the pun was too good to pass up) on this bug, my comments are intended as a starting place for how to get the framebuffer working. If this were a real "how to", I'd make it more friendly for newbies, but if you even know what the console and the framebuffer are, you are not a newbie. My hope is that the following will be of assistance to the community in making headway. I'm NOT confident that the following is entirely or even mostly accurate. Following the instructions below is at your own risk and may cause some or all of your descendants to be born naked. You have been warned. If anyone has anything to add or correct, please post a message. 

WHERE TO GET INFO. Install the package "linux-doc", which depends on the latest kernel documentation. Once installed, you can navigate to /usr/share/docs/linux-docs-2.6.[latest greatest]/Documentation/fb and find a number of surprisingly detailed documents about the framebuffer. The best starting place is framebuffer.txt.gz, which can be viewed in a terminal using "less" without having to decompress the file first (which is kinda slick, don't you think?). I also recommend that you read fbcon.txt.gz, vesafb.txt.gz, modedb.txt.gz, and the document for the native driver for your video card, if it exists. The "Framebuffer HOWTO" by Alex Buell is already 8 years old, so it doesn't have the latest, greatest information, but it is a helpful read. 

GOTCHAS
1. Misconfiguration. My sense is that misconfiguration accounts for 75% of the problems people are having with the framebuffer. For the framebuffer to work on the console, one must load TWO modules: (1) the video card framebuffer driver; and (2) "fbcon", the framebuffer's console driver. 
2. Splash screen. The splash screen itself causes problems if the monitor does not have a 4x3 aspect ratio. That is to say, if you have a wide screen monitor, the splash screen won't work correctly because it's a graphic. My workaround solution is simply to delete "splash" from the boot loader line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. A better solution would probably be to create a splash graphic that has the right resolution and aspect ratio. Someday, I'll learn how to do that, but I'm not up to it today.

LOAD THE FRAMEBUFFER KERNEL MODULES
You should probably do a little testing to see which driver works best for you. For most cards, one of the drivers listed in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffers will be appropriate. The "vesafb" driver is a generic framebuffer driver that works very well with many video cards. Sometimes it works better than the card-specific driver. In either event, you'll have to edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffers to get your favorite driver working. Comment out the fbcon line and the line referring to the driver you want to use (i.e., add a # to the beginning of the line). To have the modules load at boot time, add to the beginning of /etc/modules: "fbcon" (without quotes) and EITHER "vesafb" (ditto) OR the name of the native fb driver for your card. 

FIGURE OUT THE RIGHT VIDEO MODE
From modedb.txt.gz:
   "To specify a video mode at bootup, use the following boot options:
       video=<driver>:<xres>x<yres>[-<bpp>][@refresh]
   where <driver> is a name from the table below.  Valid default modes can be
   found in linux/drivers/video/modedb.c.  Check your driver's documentation.
   There may be more modes."

EDIT BOOTLOADER
You'll need to tell the kernel which video mode you want at boot time. There are several ways to do it, depending on which driver you are using. Using vga=scan will likely give you sub-optimal results. Read the documentation referred to above. While you are testing the modules, it's probably best to edit the bootloader at boot time. Once you've figured out what works for you the best, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst. 

 All comments, corrections, etc. welcome.