Blank Virtual Consoles

csousa · 2012-10-19 12:14:54

Hi,

Since one week, when I change to virtual consoles tty1-tty6 I get a blank (black) screen, with no cursor blinking.
I can get back to X.

What must I check in order to found the problem?

I'm using catalyst-dkms 12.9-1 and xorg-server 1.13.0-2.

Thanks.

DSpider · 2012-10-19 16:12:20

Have you switched to systemd yet, or are still using initscripts (and /etc/inittab) ? See the systemd wiki page.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd

csousa · 2012-10-19 16:23:14

DSpider wrote:

Have you switched to systemd yet, or are still using initscripts (and /etc/inittab) ? See the systemd wiki page.

I've been delaying the transition

Thanks for the hint. I'll check if it solves the issue.

Last edited by csousa (2012-10-19 16:23:35)

csousa · 2012-10-23 21:18:26

Ok, I did the switch, to "A pure systemd installation".
About systemd, everything seems ok.

About the blank tty, not only the problem continues but it is worst.

When I change to virtual consoles I get a blank screen (LCD light on, but black screen) as before.
However, when I go back to X (Ctrl+Alt+F7) the LCD light turns off and on, but the screen continues black.

Moreover, I get blank screen when coming back from suspension and at shutdown sequence (so it is not possible to see shutdown messages).

Where must I search for the cause of this issue?

DSpider · 2012-10-23 22:02:35

Does the same happen with linux-lts?

Sounds like a KMS issue.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … t_problems

Which video card (and driver) do you have?

Last edited by DSpider (2012-10-23 22:04:05)

csousa · 2012-10-29 21:21:52

It's an ATI HD5730, with catalyst-dkms 12.9-1 on xorg-server 1.13.0-3.

I'll try LTS later then.

Thanks

wabi · 2012-11-04 13:23:34

having a similar problem.
booting with initscripts and systemd leads to a blank screen with nothing on it. I'm using the 3.6 kernel.
could not find anything other than it starts going blank right after udev starts.

any ideas would be helpful (currently I'm locked out of my machine).

Trilby · 2012-11-04 13:27:22

csousa wrote:

However, when I go back to X (Ctrl+Alt+F7)

Unless specifically specified when launching X, X will not be on tty7 under systemd. It's most likely on tty2.

I know this does address the original and main problem, but I suspect it is the same as before, not worse.

csousa · 2012-11-05 14:52:47

Trilby wrote:

Unless specifically specified when launching X, X will not be on tty7 under systemd. It's most likely on tty2.

Mine is on tty7. Where can it be configured?

Trilby · 2012-11-05 20:40:02

Wherever you launch X. I run "xinit -- vt7" from ~/.basrc so mine is on tty7, but if I just ran xinit it would be on tty2, or the lowest currently unused tty. I any case, this doesn't sound like it's related to the underlying problem.

csousa · 2012-11-05 20:41:45

Trilby wrote:

Wherever you launch X. I run "xinit -- vt7" from ~/.basrc so mine is on tty7, but if I just ran xinit it would be on tty2, or the lowest currently unused tty. I any case, this doesn't sound like it's related to the underlying problem.

Ok, in my case X is run by KDM daemon.

ZekeSulastin · 2012-11-05 21:20:51

If you log in to tty1 and `startx`or `xinit`, X will by default spawn on tty1 as per the current /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc. If it doesn't spawn on tty1 and you're using systemd-logind, your logind session is now broken and hilarity may ensue. I have no idea where KDM spawns by default, though - sorry.

I'm not sure what's causing the vt issues though; out of curiosity's sake, do you have any getty@tty_.service files in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants or /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants?

csousa · 2012-11-09 15:47:00

ZekeSulastin wrote:

do you have any getty@tty_.service files [...]

No, I have not.

I did some changes in the system to better find the issue:

- now it is using open source ATI driver (xf86-video-ati 1:6.14.6-2)
- there is no /etc/X11/xorg.conf now
- I disabled kdm.service

What I am getting now:

- system boots to tty1 shell, and I'm able to switch between VTs with no problems;

- if I startx, x seems to use tty1
- if I change to other tty I get the same issues as before
- if I try to blindly login to a console I cant
- if I do Alt+Sysrq+k, the issue continues, but the I can blindly use consoles (I can do 'sudo reboot')
- when I logout from X, it shows me black screen with some random green squares and the other problems continue

Since now I'm using other graphics driver the problem doesn't seems related to it.

Maybe it really is related to KMS issue as DSpider stated. I'll try linux-lts.

Last edited by csousa (2012-11-09 16:26:48)

csousa · 2012-11-09 16:27:23

No, LTS Linux does not solve anything...

csousa · 2012-11-09 17:10:05

Maybe it is related to Xorg...

Here is a log of a session:

http://pastebin.com/HAgHgyL6

After X termination I get back to a working shell but corrupted screen with random green and white squares which change as I write stuff (I can use the shell blindly).
It seems to me that those colors are related to the console text since my bash prompt shows text in green...

csousa · 2012-11-09 17:36:17

I tried with vesa driver (neither proprietary nor opensource ATI drivers) and everything works as expected.

Then I put proprietary ATI drivers again, and now I have blank virtual consoles but I'm able to get back to X again.

dbourgeo · 2013-03-17 18:03:00

I have a similar problem. I have systemd running for a long time. When I start up my virtual console 1 appears just fine. It switches to VT7 to run X, as I use lxdm.

My mouse freezes briefly now and again.

I am running the nvidia driver for a GT630.

Either from lxdm, or from my running X session, switching to VT1-6 causes my monitor to go into sleep mode. If I type blindly, I can login. When I switch back to VT7, X reappears. When I reboot/shutdown, my terminals also don't reappear.

I tried setterm, xset, and also the xscreen saver. No settings will prevent the blanking, which seems more terminal mode/resolution related.

I tried sudo xset -dpms; xset s off and also turning off DPMS for xscreensaver (apparently separate need) via xscreensaver-demo (reloading the daemon). There was no luck with doing either or both of these at the same time. I looked through all of nvidia's settings in Xorg.conf and found "Option DPMS" for my Monitor 0, so I commented that out. No luck there, either. I also tried typing setterm commands blindly, to no avail.

Edit: blindly typing fbset won't work either. It stubbornly stays in "1024x768-76". [Using a script to set and retrieve.]

Things stopped working when I put arch on a new computer with a new monitor. I am using the nvidia driver:

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LG Electronics IPS235"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 83.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 61.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GT 630"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Last edited by dbourgeo (2013-03-17 18:26:44)

WonderWoofy · 2013-03-17 19:59:37

@dbourgeo, this thread may not be incredibly old, but it is old enough that I think it can be considered dead. If you really want people to read about your issue, post a new thread and link back to this one if you feel that the information is relevant. Otherwise this is what we call necro-bumping.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-10-19 12:14:54

Blank Virtual Consoles

#2 2012-10-19 16:12:20

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#3 2012-10-19 16:23:14

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#4 2012-10-23 21:18:26

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#5 2012-10-23 22:02:35

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#6 2012-10-29 21:21:52

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#7 2012-11-04 13:23:34

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#8 2012-11-04 13:27:22

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#9 2012-11-05 14:52:47

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#10 2012-11-05 20:40:02

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#11 2012-11-05 20:41:45

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#12 2012-11-05 21:20:51

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#13 2012-11-09 15:47:00

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#14 2012-11-09 16:27:23

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#15 2012-11-09 17:10:05

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#16 2012-11-09 17:36:17

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#17 2013-03-17 18:03:00

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

#18 2013-03-17 19:59:37

Re: Blank Virtual Consoles

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