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Virtual Consoles

 
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Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Virtual Consoles

When I got RH 7.0 working, the ctl-alt-F2, etc. worked fine for a while. Then it quit working! Now if I am in Gnome or KDE and try ctl-alt-F2 I get a blank (black) screen, and ctl-alt-F7 will not bring back the GUI. In fact, I am at that point locked up so that a power off and power back on is the only way to resurrect the system.

Can anyone help me?
Retired, but still learning...
13 REPLIES 13
Marco Paganini
Respected Contributor
Solution

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hello Dale,

It seems that you have some kind of videocard misconfiguration. I've seen cases where X disrupts the text consoles when you switch the VCs using Ctrl-Alt-Fn. You should try to re-configure your Xserver to use default vga (It will be horrible, but it's just for testing purposes) and see if the problem still happens. If it does, it's a matter of fine-tuning your Xserver config.

Regards,
Paga
Keeping alive, until I die.
Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Paga - Thanks! I am slow, but please don't give up on me. I am a newbie with Linux, and do not always know *how* to do something. Your reply makes sense, because the V.C. failure occured about the time I "fixed" the resolution on my monitor. I'm not sure how to go back to just "VGA" but I will try. Editing XF86Config-4 did not help, because the file is too complicated for me to know what to do. Should I try linuxconf or Xconfigurator?

Thanks again - Dale
Retired, but still learning...
Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hello again, Paga
I tried Linuxconf and got a lockup. When I rebooted, there were boot errors regarding the Screen, and all I got was a text console. So I ran Xconfigurator to reset the Display to 800x600 (best choice for my monitor). It then booted back to my GUI, but ctl-alt-Fx still gave me a black screen and a lockup. You suggested a test in which I re-configure my Xserver to use default vga. I just don't know how to do that. Can you help me find documentation on how to do this?

Thanks - Dale
Retired, but still learning...
Vincent Stedema
Esteemed Contributor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hi,

Do you know the chipset of your video card?

Anyway, you can try to change to a vc on which you're already logged in and then type 'reset' to reset the console. This might just work..

Regards,

Vincent
Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hi, Vincent!

I cannot *get* a console on which to type "reset". I tried it in a Gnome Terminal, but nothing happened.

My XF86Config-4 file contains the line:

device:
"Intel Corporation|82810 CGC [Chipset Gra"

Does this help?

I really need a console, I believe, because there are times when one would like to just enter commands. Right?

Thank you. Any further help would be greatly appreciated!

Dale

Retired, but still learning...
Vincent Stedema
Esteemed Contributor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hi Dale,

So you mean that you don't even get a prompt when you open a gnome term?

Anyway, I suspect problems with your X configuration. Could you please post (or attach) the following:

- output of "lspci -vv"
- your XF86Config
- /var/adm/XFree86.0.log

Regards,

Vincent
Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Hi, Vincent!
I am able to get a Gnome terminal. The reason I am seeking Virtual Console functionality is so I can learn more.

Per your suggestion, I tried the command lspci -vv, and got a 'no such command' message.

I have attached (I hope) the other two things you wanted.

Thank you - Dale
Retired, but still learning...
Dale Stewart
Occasional Advisor

Re: Virtual Consoles

Here is the other file
Retired, but still learning...
Eric Ladner
Trusted Contributor

Re: Virtual Consoles

You have to be logged in as root to execute lspci.

Another thing to check is at the LILO: prompt, type 'linux single' and see if it brings you up to a shell prompt.

Your XF86Config-4 settings should have no effect on the virtual console. They are always standard VGA, unless you are running special vga modes out of the lilo.conf or using a package like SVGATextMode.

Including the output of dmesg would be helpful too, to see if there are any failure messages from the kernel at boot time.

Is this a hand compiled kernel, or an out of the box kernel, and what distrobution if so?