After booting to the GUI in 12.04, I attempt to move to the virtual terminal (or shell, or tty) via Ctrl-Alt-F1 (F1 through F6), and the screen remains blank. I have tried all 6 tty instances and the results are the same. Ctrl-alt-F7 brings me back to the GUI without a problem. Any thoughts?
6 Answers
This is usually caused because the graphical text-mode resolution set at boot up is not compatible with your video card. The solution is to switch to true text-mode by configuring Grub appropriately:
- Open the terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T
Paste the below, and enter your password when asked:
sudo sed -i -e 's/#GRUB_TERMINAL/GRUB_TERMINAL/g' /etc/default/grub
Then type
sudo update-grub
- Reboot and the virtual terminals should now work.
-
1Unfortunately, this didn't help with my graphic-driver issues (I need the X server down to install proper drivers, but the lack of drivers prevents me from getting a working command-line with
ctrl-alt-F1
). Feb 1, 2015 at 20:34 -
8CAREFUL, this thing has completely messed up my grub, I don't see a boot menu anymore. (Ubuntu 15.04)– ArtyOct 25, 2015 at 3:21
-
1@MinaMichael No. It changes
#GRUB_TERMINAL
toGRUB_TERMINAL
. The slash ends the regular expression, and the g is the global-modifier that sais: replace ALL matches. Jan 12, 2016 at 11:23 -
1
-
3Grub file states # Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only) #GRUB_TERMINAL=console Why would disabling graphical terminal fix this issue? For Ubuntu 16.04– Sun BearMar 10, 2017 at 17:56
What fixed this for me was adding nomodeset
to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
line in the /etc/default/grub
file. Here's how:
Type in terminal:
gksu gedit /etc/default/grub
Search for this line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
So for example if you have:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash usbcore.autosuspend=-1"
change it to:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash usbcore.autosuspend=-1 nomodeset"
After you finish, update grub (
sudo update-grub
) and reboot (sudo reboot
) for the changes to take effect.
Optional: You could add nomodeset vga=xxx
(not just nomodeset
), the xxx is a VESA screen code that best matches your screen resolution. Take a look at this.
-
2Worked for me. Be sure to read the last paragraph above, about running
sudo update-grub
to apply the changes. Mar 18, 2016 at 20:44 -
1
-
1When I do this with 14.04 and some Hardware enabling stack whatever this works technically, but graphical desktop is not booted into nor does startx work. But the terminal is back.– hakreSep 16, 2016 at 16:10
-
1For me On Ubuntu 16.04 this caused my HDMI-VGA monitor to completely stop working. Dec 22, 2016 at 17:21
-
@PadraicCunningham you can undo it from tty. I hope it wasn't too much trouble– 842MonoDec 22, 2016 at 20:49
This is for newer version of Ubuntu:
Edit the GRUB configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Locate the line
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480
change it to
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
and save the file.
Then update grub
sudo update-grub
-
On Ubuntu 14.04.5 I installed a program that caused a 4.x kernel to be installed. Previously I had a 3.x kernel. This answer is what fixed this issue of blank ttys for me on an Asus Zenbook UX303LN. Apr 17, 2018 at 12:30
Please take a look at my question at https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/643882, with regards to virtual terminal not functioning on Ubuntu 16.04 on Lenovo Thinkpad T400.
The solution i presented is geared towards user with Hybrid Graphics Card, in particular, AMD/ATI graphics card and Intel integrated graphics card. For me, disabling the intel graphics card and enabling the opensource ATI/AMD radeon module helps in my case.
If you are using a old Radeon graphics card like mine (Radeon HD 3450/3470), now you can switch between virtual terminal and graphical desktop with ease to troubleshoot potential issues.
If adding blacklist intel_graphics_card
in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
and running
sudo depmod -a
still doesn't work due to linux kernel or other dependencies, you are advised to add modprobe.blacklist=<module_name>
to /etc/default/grub
like the following example:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash crashkernel=384M-:128M radeon.dpm=1 modprobe.blacklist=i915"
You need to shut down the graphics driver after you Ctrl+Alt+F1 before you try to install the Nvidia driver
As in sudo /etc/init.d/lightdm stop
-
3"before you try to install the Nvidia driver" - I'm not sure what you mean by that. The question doesn't mention anything about Nvidia drivers.– wjandreaOct 2, 2017 at 18:20
Here is what worked for me on Ubuntu 18.04 with 2560x1440 screen:
open grub configuration file in editor:
sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
uncomment GFXMODE and set your exact resolution -> change
#GRUB_GFXMODE
toGRUB_GFXMODE=2560x1440
add line
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
Add remove
splash
and addnosplash noplymouth nomodeset
to yourGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
. After cahnges mine looks likeGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet nosplash noplymouth intel_idle.max_cstate=1 nomodeset"
save the file
update grub
sudo update-grub
reboot
use Ctlr+Alt+F2 to switch immediately after boot