[Bug 761830] Re: grub2 still hands off to blank tty7 on non-Server command-line-only systems and some Server systems

[Jim Rees]

The real bug here is not so much that grub is asking the kernel to
switch to vt7 when there is no splash. The real bug is that grub is
requesting a vt switch at all. Grub has no business making this request
because it has no way of knowing whether there is anything on vt7.

The way this should work, and the way it used to work, is that the post-
grub application (splash, X, gdm, or /bin/login) would request a vt
switch to itself (or not, in the case of /bin/login, which runs on all
vts). Only the application running on a particular vt can know which vt
should be switched to, and the switch shouldn't happen until that app is
up and running.

Please don't lecture me about kms and how the current way of doing
things is so much better than ums. I know about that. The kernel does vt
switches at the request of user space programs. That part hasn't
changed. The vt switch request should be a "pull" to the program
requesting the vt, not a "push" from some program (like grub) that hopes
and prays there is someone home on the target vt.

And by the way, VirtualBox on Mac does not pass Alt-F1 to the guest OS
by default. That's not really relevant to this bug except that it tends
to raise the frustration factor for those of us trying to deal with it.
Except for this grub bug I would never have any need to switch vt on my
ubuntu VM install.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/761830

Title:
  grub2 still hands off to blank tty7 on non-Server command-line-only
  systems and some Server systems

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  On Natty and Oneiric non-Server command-line only systems (which can
  be installed from the Alternate and Minimal CD's), grub2 hands off to
  blank tty7 (as in bug 700686). As a consequence, a blank black (or
  purple) terminal is shown, and the system does not appear to be
  functional. This can be particularly confusing to novices, who
  sometimes assume that the system has not successfully booted.
  Switching to an active virtual console (for example, by pressing
  Alt+F1) yields a login screen and makes it possible to use the
  machine.

  This also happens on a few Natty and Oneiric Server systems. It seems
  to happen on all such server systems running on VMware virtual
  machines and installed using the VMware Easy Install automatically
  installation facility (but it does not seem to occur with VMware when
  the OS is installed manually). The most obvious explanations specific
  to that feature do not seem to apply (see
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub2/+bug/761830/comments/35).
  It would perhaps be worthwhile to investigate if the problem occurs on
  other kinds of unattended installations.

  Please see bug 700686, bug 695658, and this bug's original description
  for some (incomplete) details about the cause of this behavior (and
  why it did not occur in previous releases). See original description
  and comments for details substantiating the above generalizations.

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