Re: Console access using F1 etc
On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 08:39:24PM -0500, John Foster wrote: On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 6:42 PM, Bob Proulx [1]b...@proulx.com wrote: John Foster wrote: Well I use it as an application server for a lot of video content so I need the X-windows for editing and viewing. I also do both on this system and it is an intranet server as well. When you said production server it implied something like a rack mount data center server. But you mean a machine with a graphics display and keyboard such as a deskside and it is acting as a server too. Gotcha. Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Probably. But please do tell us on the mailing list what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You asked about how to drop from X Windows to the text console and I replied with Control-Alt-F1. As far as I can tell that should have completely and totally answered your question. But I guess not. I and others on the mailing list will be happy to help but we are not mind readers. Tell us something. Bob Sorry I thought I made it plain. I can NOT use CTRL/ALT/F1 to get to the basic console. I have noticed that in the last 2 systems I have built installed linux on that this was the standard installation with xwindows. This function is disabled. I had to edit some file in /etc/ X11 or Xorg to get this to work. Its been a couple of years I forgot what I had to edit where it was. Sorry for the confusion. Not a rookie, just don't do this often. Thanks There are a few hits on the internet related to XKB and switching VT, most seem to suggest a mis-configured Keyboard. Try looking at bug #351267 and see if it helps. References Visible links 1. mailto:b...@proulx.com -- Darac Marjal -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20110915103254.gb1...@darac.org.uk
Re: Console access using F1 etc
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:59:35 -0500, John Foster wrote: I recently had to do a new installation of squeeze on a production server. Its been a LONG time since I did that and I see a few things are different since my last time. I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt, delete. I recall a couple of years ago that I had to edit something somewhere to enable this feature. I like to use the console for doing many things as root from a command line. I thought it was a file in /etc/X11 but do not recall. Anyone know what where I should edit. You must be the exception and not the norm because I guess most of us can fall into a terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1. You said you cannot access but what's the exact behaviour you are experiencing? What happens when you click that key combo? KMS¹ (the default since Squeeze) can be troublesome under some circunstancies. ¹http://wiki.debian.org/KernelModesetting Greetings, -- Camaleón -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/pan.2011.09.15.13.22...@gmail.com
Re: Console access using F1 etc
On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 9:46 PM, Bob Proulx b...@proulx.com wrote: John Foster wrote: Bob Proulx wrote: John Foster wrote: Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Probably. But please do tell us on the mailing list what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You asked about how to drop from X Windows to the text console and I replied with Control-Alt-F1. As far as I can tell that should have completely and totally answered your question. But I guess not. I and others on the mailing list will be happy to help but we are not mind readers. Tell us something. Sorry I thought I made it plain. I can NOT use CTRL/ALT/F1 to get to the basic console. Uhm... no. You said: I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt,delete. That is a different key sequence. To get to the console you need CTRL-ALT-F1 through CTRL-ALT-F6 or so. possibly_useful_sidebar The /etc/inittab defines the following line: # What to do when CTRL-ALT-DEL is pressed. ca:12345:ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t1 -a -r now And is documented in the 'man inittab' man page: ctrlaltdel The process will be executed when init receives the SIGINT signal. This means that someone on the system console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination. Typically one wants to execute some sort of shutdown either to get into single-user level or to reboot the machine. /possibly_useful_sidebar I have noticed that in the last 2 systems I have built installed linux on that this was the standard installation with xwindows. Sorry but your words are ambiguous. I can't tell if you are saying that you found CTRL-ALT-F1 standard and working or if you are saying that it has not been working for you the last few installs. Let me assure you that a stock Debian installation with X Windows on most normal supported hardware that CTRL-ALT-F1 will get you to the text console. If it doesn't then there may be a hardware support problem. Especially as related to the newer KVM and framebuffer console. Blech! I hate that the Linux kernel dropped support for much of the older hardware when they turned on that system. This function is disabled. I had to edit some file in /etc/ X11 or Xorg to get this to work. Its been a couple of years I forgot what I had to edit where it was. Sorry for the confusion. Not a rookie, just don't do this often. Okay. But how do you know it is disabled? Don't jump to conclusions. Instead describe exactly what you are seeing. You are in X11, right? Is this a gdm (gnome display manager) login screen? You press CTRL-ALT-F1 and nothing happens and you are still left at the gdm login screen? Or does something happen such as does the screen go black? Did you try Whit's suggestion to try setting vga=785 on the boot command line to set to a 640x480 64k color framebuffer? If you say the type of hardware you have then someone on the list may have the same hardware and be able to suggest the correct solution. Bob OK its working now. I have no idea why except that it may have been an issue with the keyboard. I installed a bunch of firmware for other hardware Video, keyboard, etc. and when I got done shut down the system to reboot another OS. When I restarted it all was working well including my Logictech G-10 keyboard. Now goes to the console when I hit Ctrl; Alt; F1; etc. As usual, this list is my lifesaver. I'm a user of Linux, not really interested in a lot of experimental software installation tweaking of things. I just want it to work. Thanks for your assist.
Console access using F1 etc
I recently had to do a new installation of squeeze on a production server. Its been a LONG time since I did that and I see a few things are different since my last time. I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt, delete. I recall a couple of years ago that I had to edit something somewhere to enable this feature. I like to use the console for doing many things as root from a command line. I thought it was a file in /etc/X11 but do not recall. Anyone know what where I should edit.
Re: Console access using F1 etc
John Foster wrote: I recently had to do a new installation of squeeze on a production server. Excellent! Its been a LONG time since I did that and I see a few things are different since my last time. I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt, delete. You mean Control-Alt-F1 instead. Or Control-Alt-F2 and similar for other function keys. After dropping to the console then you don't need to use control anymore. Originally on the console it was only Alt-F1, Alt-F2, and Alt-Left and Alt-Right to shift between virtual consoles. Recently because so many people have finger memory from X that the Control modifier was also added as additional key shortcuts. You installed X Windows on your server? Is that wise? If it is a server does it need to run X11 at all? I wouldn't think so and don't run it on any of my servers. Bob signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: Console access using F1 etc
On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 6:04 PM, Bob Proulx b...@proulx.com wrote: John Foster wrote: I recently had to do a new installation of squeeze on a production server. Excellent! Its been a LONG time since I did that and I see a few things are different since my last time. I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt, delete. You mean Control-Alt-F1 instead. Or Control-Alt-F2 and similar for other function keys. After dropping to the console then you don't need to use control anymore. Originally on the console it was only Alt-F1, Alt-F2, and Alt-Left and Alt-Right to shift between virtual consoles. Recently because so many people have finger memory from X that the Control modifier was also added as additional key shortcuts. You installed X Windows on your server? Is that wise? If it is a server does it need to run X11 at all? I wouldn't think so and don't run it on any of my servers. Bob --- Well I use it as an application server for a lot of video content so I need the X-windows for editing and viewing. I also do both on this system and it is an intranet server as well. Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Thanks.
Re: Console access using F1 etc
John Foster wrote: Well I use it as an application server for a lot of video content so I need the X-windows for editing and viewing. I also do both on this system and it is an intranet server as well. When you said production server it implied something like a rack mount data center server. But you mean a machine with a graphics display and keyboard such as a deskside and it is acting as a server too. Gotcha. Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Probably. But please do tell us on the mailing list what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You asked about how to drop from X Windows to the text console and I replied with Control-Alt-F1. As far as I can tell that should have completely and totally answered your question. But I guess not. I and others on the mailing list will be happy to help but we are not mind readers. Tell us something. Bob signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: Console access using F1 etc
On 09/14/2011 06:59 PM, John Foster wrote: I recently had to do a new installation of squeeze on a production server. Its been a LONG time since I did that and I see a few things are different since my last time. I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt, delete. I recall a couple of years ago that I had to edit something somewhere to enable this feature. I like to use the console for doing many things as root from a command line. I thought it was a file in /etc/X11 but do not recall. Anyone know what where I should edit. John, I had the same problem using Lenny when I changed monitors. Found to fix it was to add vga=785 to the end of the kernel lines in /boot/grub//menu/./lst. The 785 has to do w. the font size. I forget exactly how it all works but that was what did it for me. Hope that helps. It did for me. I kept getting a message out of range. It did not like my new monitor for some reason. Here is an example of some of the lines in my _old_ menu.lst file... [...] / title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.26-1-amd64 root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-1-amd64 root=/dev/sda1 ro quiet _vga=785_ initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.26-1-amd64 [...] Whit
Re: Console access using F1 etc
On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 6:42 PM, Bob Proulx b...@proulx.com wrote: John Foster wrote: Well I use it as an application server for a lot of video content so I need the X-windows for editing and viewing. I also do both on this system and it is an intranet server as well. When you said production server it implied something like a rack mount data center server. But you mean a machine with a graphics display and keyboard such as a deskside and it is acting as a server too. Gotcha. Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Probably. But please do tell us on the mailing list what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You asked about how to drop from X Windows to the text console and I replied with Control-Alt-F1. As far as I can tell that should have completely and totally answered your question. But I guess not. I and others on the mailing list will be happy to help but we are not mind readers. Tell us something. Bob Sorry I thought I made it plain. I can NOT use CTRL/ALT/F1 to get to the basic console. I have noticed that in the last 2 systems I have built installed linux on that this was the standard installation with xwindows. This function is disabled. I had to edit some file in /etc/ X11 or Xorg to get this to work. Its been a couple of years I forgot what I had to edit where it was. Sorry for the confusion. Not a rookie, just don't do this often. Thanks
Re: Console access using F1 etc
John Foster wrote: Bob Proulx wrote: John Foster wrote: Any idea what I need to edit to get my system back to what I like. I will probably figure it out sooner or later, but sooner will be better. Probably. But please do tell us on the mailing list what it is that you are trying to accomplish. You asked about how to drop from X Windows to the text console and I replied with Control-Alt-F1. As far as I can tell that should have completely and totally answered your question. But I guess not. I and others on the mailing list will be happy to help but we are not mind readers. Tell us something. Sorry I thought I made it plain. I can NOT use CTRL/ALT/F1 to get to the basic console. Uhm... no. You said: I can not access the consoles by hitting ctrl,alt,delete. That is a different key sequence. To get to the console you need CTRL-ALT-F1 through CTRL-ALT-F6 or so. possibly_useful_sidebar The /etc/inittab defines the following line: # What to do when CTRL-ALT-DEL is pressed. ca:12345:ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t1 -a -r now And is documented in the 'man inittab' man page: ctrlaltdel The process will be executed when init receives the SIGINT signal. This means that someone on the system console has pressed the CTRL-ALT-DEL key combination. Typically one wants to execute some sort of shutdown either to get into single-user level or to reboot the machine. /possibly_useful_sidebar I have noticed that in the last 2 systems I have built installed linux on that this was the standard installation with xwindows. Sorry but your words are ambiguous. I can't tell if you are saying that you found CTRL-ALT-F1 standard and working or if you are saying that it has not been working for you the last few installs. Let me assure you that a stock Debian installation with X Windows on most normal supported hardware that CTRL-ALT-F1 will get you to the text console. If it doesn't then there may be a hardware support problem. Especially as related to the newer KVM and framebuffer console. Blech! I hate that the Linux kernel dropped support for much of the older hardware when they turned on that system. This function is disabled. I had to edit some file in /etc/ X11 or Xorg to get this to work. Its been a couple of years I forgot what I had to edit where it was. Sorry for the confusion. Not a rookie, just don't do this often. Okay. But how do you know it is disabled? Don't jump to conclusions. Instead describe exactly what you are seeing. You are in X11, right? Is this a gdm (gnome display manager) login screen? You press CTRL-ALT-F1 and nothing happens and you are still left at the gdm login screen? Or does something happen such as does the screen go black? Did you try Whit's suggestion to try setting vga=785 on the boot command line to set to a 640x480 64k color framebuffer? If you say the type of hardware you have then someone on the list may have the same hardware and be able to suggest the correct solution. Bob signature.asc Description: Digital signature
