Arch Linux

cmtptr

Member

Registered: 2008-09-01

Posts: 135

[solved] blank tty only AFTER startx (switching VCs and quitting X)

Hi,

I recently bought a new laptop, and this is the problem I'm facing:
Immediately after booting up, all seven virtual consoles work fine.  However, after I "startx" to initiate an X session, if I try to switch back with ctrl+alt+F# or if I kill the X server, the screen remains OFF - the backlight doesn't even turn back on.  I've searched the forums and tried several solutions...

1. Tried putting Option "XkbRules" "xorg" in the keyboard device section of xorg.conf
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=18115

2. Tried adding "vga=773" to the end of the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=32285

3. Tried adding "options nvidia NVreg_UseVBios=0" to /etc/modprobe.conf
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=61517

Obviously - since I'm posting now - none of these worked.  I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!  My system details and xorg.conf are listed below...

MSI MS-1651
Intel Core2Duo P8600 2.4GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB
4GB DDR2

Arch x86_64
kernel26 2.6.29.3-1
nvidia 180.51-1
hal 0.5.12git20090421.4fc367-2

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 1.0  (buildmeister@builder58)  Fri Apr 17 00:40:10 PDT 2009

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0"
#    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
#    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "type1"
    Load           "freetype"
    Load           "glx"
EndSection

#Section "InputDevice"
#    # generated from default
#    Identifier     "Mouse0"
#    Driver         "mouse"
#    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
#    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
#    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
#    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
#EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Unknown"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"

    Option         "UseEdidDpi" "false"
    Option         "DPI" "96 x 96"
    Option         "NoLogo" "true"
    Option         "BackingStore" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Last edited by cmtptr (2009-06-21 04:23:16)

cmtptr

Member

Registered: 2008-09-01

Posts: 135

Re: [solved] blank tty only AFTER startx (switching VCs and quitting X)

I probably should have posted this in the "Desktop Environments" forum.  Is there any chance a moderator could move this?

wakkadojo

Member

Registered: 2009-05-31

Posts: 50

Re: [solved] blank tty only AFTER startx (switching VCs and quitting X)

This is an nvidia driver problem. I have it too. I've seen it elsewhere (even in other distros). Still trying to work it out -- if you figure it out please share!

P.S. You have the EXACT same hardware as I do!

Last edited by wakkadojo (2009-06-05 23:13:52)

wakkadojo

Member

Registered: 2009-05-31

Posts: 50

Re: [solved] blank tty only AFTER startx (switching VCs and quitting X)

I think I found a solution to this problem

Because I was experiencing problems with the 2.6.29 kernel with my SSD, I did a custom kernel installation, and subsequently installed the nvidia drivers separately from pacman. Hence the latest nvidia drivers available on nvidia's website allow me access to the Ctrl+Alt+F[1-6] terminals. So try (on 64 bit system)

pacman -R nvidia
wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86_64/185.18.14/NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-185.18.14-pkg2.run
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-185.18.14-pkg2.run
reboot

That might work, mind you I'm on a 2.6.28.10 kernel.

cmtptr

Member

Registered: 2008-09-01

Posts: 135

Re: [solved] blank tty only AFTER startx (switching VCs and quitting X)

wakkadojo, I eventually wound up trying the beta drivers from AUR (the same 185.18.14 you mentioned).  This did fix it for me, I just embarrassingly forgot about this thread.  Still, thanks for posting!  If I hadn't have tried that, your post would have helped.