[edgy] TTY blank whith 'vga=791' and strange keyboard behaviour

The issue with the framebuffer should be fixed with new usplash-version, which is already available in repositories. (was: bug #61718)

Note: "vga=791" is setting up a fb with 1024x768, so it can't display an 1280x800 usplash correctly.

Concerning the keyboard issue: is it exactly the same like the bug mentioned?

>> The issue with the framebuffer should be fixed with new
>> usplash-version, which is already available in repositories. (was:
>> bug #61718)

Well, I'll try again, didn't find that bug.

>> Note: "vga=791" is setting up a fb with 1024x768, so it can't
>> display an 1280x800 usplash correctly.

I know, but didn't find something fitting better.

>> Concerning the keyboard issue: is it exactly the same like the bug
>> mentioned?

Yes, it's quite similar, but since that was a Dapper's problem, I thought it was better filing another one, sorry.

> Well, I'll try again, didn't find that bug.

You couldn't, because it was already marked as "Fix Commited".

> didn't find something fitting better.

If you have questions concerning setup issues, try out this:
https://launchpad.net/support . You of course can also start a forum thread.

> sorry

If you are unsure if it is the same issue, opening a new bug-report was a good idea. If you have encountered more than one "bug", not related to the same package, write two different reports, so it would be easier to fix the issues and to find out, if the issue already is known (this of course does not apply, if you think the two issues really are related to each other).

Ok, I confirm the keyboard's bug.

When no "vga=791" (or any other) is passed to the kernel at boot, all is good and I can type normally (though I have an incorrect frame buffer resolution).
When that parameter is passed, after I got KDE running, if I open a terminal and type a character, this is repeated untill a new one is typed. After that, the keyboard is unusable and the whole desktop environment behaves as if some character is typed while I use the mouse.

May this bug be related to the vga parameter or not?

Ok. If it only appears when parameter is passed, there at least seems to be a relation. Are there errors or failures reported in the logfiles /var/log/syslog and/or /var/log/Xorg.0.log? Is an error on bootup reported, when starting with framebuffer, but without quiet (or even without quiet and splash) option(s)?

Here it is /var/log/syslog.

Note that I extracted a part of the file and divided it with a gap: as you see, the first part is related to the boot with the vga=791 parameter, the second one is related to a normal boot.

I did a bit more troubleshooting.
When I boot with a "recovery mode" kernel, for example:

kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-386 root=/dev/md1 ro single

the problem does not appear.

When I boot with a fresh compiled plain vanilla kernel, straight from kernel.org, the problem is also there. This rules out any debian- or ubuntu-specific patches to the kernel. So it's either a standard kernel problem, or it's something completely unrelated.

I took a deep breath, made a good backup, and upgraded to Edgy. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it appears that the keyboard issue is gone. This message is the longest text that I have typed in about two months (!) without double and triple checking every keypress. It took me about 2 minutes (including looking up that line in /boot/grub/menu.lst) when before it would have taken me over 15 minutes.

If I read the comments correctly, it appears that the issue is fixed in recent Ubuntu releases