[Bug 1247907] Re: Ubuntu booting into black console

[Thomas Schweikle]

For these tests I have set "vga=789", "gfxpayload=800x600",
"gfxmode=800x600":

Ubuntu 14.04:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  printing various messages. After a while no more output is printed (various
  service-starts are not shown on console) last line printed:
  "piix4_smbus 000:00:07.3: Host SMBus controller not enabled!"
  Login-Screen never shown on console. Login not possible.

Ubuntu 13.10:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  console goes blank. Login not possible.

Ubuntu 13.04:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  console goes blank.
  After a while (depends on services installed and to start) login-screen is
  shown. No kernel messages, a few service start notifications, short before
  logon is shown. Login is possible.

Ubuntu 12.10:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  console goes blank.
  After a while (depends on services installed and to start) login-screen is
  shown. No kernel messages, a few service start notifications, short before
  logon is shown. Login is possible.

Ubuntu 12.04.3 LTS:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  console goes blank.
  After a while (depends on services installed and to start) login-screen is
  shown. No kernel messages, a few service start notifications, short before
  logon is shown. Login is possible.

Debian unstable:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  printing various messages. After a while no more output is printed (various
  service-starts are not shown on console) last line printed:
  "[drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810"
  Sometimes the last line is:
  "Error: Driver 'pcspkr' is already registered, aborting..."
  Login-Screen never shown on console. Login not possible.

Debian testing:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  printing various messages. After a while no more output is printed (various
  service-starts are not shown on console) last line printed:
  "[drm] Initialized drm 1.1.0 20060810"
  Sometimes the last line is:
  "Error: Driver 'pcspkr' is already registered, aborting..."
  Login-Screen never shown on console. Login not possible.

Debian stable:
  Grub starting with 640x480, then switching  to 800x600 before drawing menu,
  Switching to 640x480 at kernel boot. Kernel switching back to 800x600, then
  printing various messages. All service startup-messages are printed. Login-
  Screen is shown. Login possible.


On all tested system I could log in using ssh -- all services where started OK.


** Changed in: grub2 (Ubuntu)
       Status: Expired => Incomplete

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1247907

Title:
  Ubuntu booting into black console

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  Setting

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="vga=0x340"
  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

  and

  GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600
  GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=800x600

  then executing "update-grub" or "update-grub2" leads to booting Ubuntu without console. The screen is black and stays this way. The system itself is running! It is possible to remotely log in using ssh.
  Grub switches to 800x600, after the kernel overtakes, it switches back to 640x480, but never to 800x600 again. I've tried various combinations even "keep", but without success.

  Switching to

  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""
  GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

  and

  GRUB_GFXMODE=
  GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=

  makes the console been shown again, but not at higher resolution.

  I could find this problem with:

  Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal)
  Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail)
  Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander)
  Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
  Package: grub (not installed)
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-12.19-generic 3.11.3
  Uname: Linux 3.11.0-12-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.1
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Mon Nov  4 18:01:55 2013
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-12-12 (327 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 12.04.1 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120817.3)
  MarkForUpload: True
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=screen-bce
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
   LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: grub
  UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-02-11 (265 days ago)

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