How to fix tty1-6 (Ctrl+Alt+Fx terminals) if they are not working

If you run into the problem of having a black screen when switching through tty1-6 terminals it's most likely that something messed up your resolution, framebuffer outside X.

To fix please follow my little tutorial created after this article on Softpedia.
The issue can be found on some Debian distributions like Ubuntu and Crunchbang linux.

Quick fix for Crunchbang linux 9.04+ / Debian Squeeze  :
Please run the following command in a terminal :

cd $home && wget http://isti37.eu/debian/testfileisti37 && rm testfileisti37 && sudo apt-get install v86d && cd /etc/default && sudo cp --backup grub grub.backup && sudo rm grub && sudo wget http://isti37.eu/debian/grub && cd /etc/initramfs-tools/ && sudo cp --backup modules modules.backup && sudo rm modules && sudo wget http://isti37.eu/debian/modules &&  FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash && sudo update-grub2 && sudo update-initramfs -u && echo Please reboot your computer !

Enter your password when you are asked, when the terminal says "Please reboot your computer !" you should follow his advice.
If you have any problems or you don't receive the "Please reboot your computer !" message at the end just restore the /etc/default/grub.backup and /etc/initramfs-tools/modules.backup to their original names and run sudo update-grub2 && sudo update-initramfs

(Actually you can run the quick fix on any Debian based distro like Ubuntu 9.04+ if you didn't modified the /etc/default/grub and the /etc/initramfs-tools/modules files for your own needs and you don't need a splash screen )

NOTE: The 1280x1024 resolution mightn't be supported by old displays so follow the manual instructions and set your resolution lower if you got a really old or small display. (Usually every display made after 2000 should handle 1280x1024 without problems)

Manual instructions :

Step 1:
Install v86d needed by the uvesafb module :

sudo apt-get install v86d

Step 2:
Open your favorite text editor and start screwing things around :
I'll choose gedit to open /etc/default/grub :

gksu gedit /etc/default/grub

Find :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Replace with :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1280x1024-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap"

Find :

#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

Replace with :

GRUB_GFXMODE=1280x1024

It should look like this :

Save the file and close it.

Step 3 :

Now let's make our computer go crunch bang : (just kidding)
Open /etc/initramfs-tools/modules in your favorite text editor :

gksu gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

Add to the end of the file the following line :

uvesafb mode_option=1280x1024-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap

It should look like this :

Save and exit.

Step 4

Run the following command :

FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash && sudo update-grub2 && sudo update-initramfs -u

Step 5
Reboot.

Good luck.

Last edited by IsTI37 (2010-07-31 02:35:38)