No Virtual Consoles after Upgrade to Breezy

Created an attachment (id=4927)
/var/log/syslog

Attaching a syslog from today that includes a reboot or two in case the
messages might be helpful

I Googled the issue and found a discussion thread regarding a "known" Fedora
Core 4 bug:
http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=11492

That thread says it's a bug in the file /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libvgahw.a and
the workaround is to downgrade to the previous release. I have found that the
file does exist at that location in Breezy... and dpkg -S reports that the file
is provided in the xserver-xorg-core package

Just in case the rumored Fedora Core 4 workaround was applicable here, I went to
http://packages.ubuntu.com/hoary/x11/xserver-xorg and got the .deb for Hoary,
extracted the libvgahw.a file and copied it to my /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/
directory. It didn't change anything. That would have been TOO easy.

I found what LOOKS like a more relevant message in a thread on a Debian list
http://lists.debian.org/debian-powerpc/2002/03/msg00446.html which says the
problem is with the keymap loaded in /etc/console/

This is saying the keymap is wrong. The way to set it up is to use

dpkg-reconfigure console-data

to choose a better keymap. I have tried the suggested keymap option and the
KERNEL keymap plus some others but so far it's still not allowing me to switch
to any virtual consoles. I guess I'll have to learn more about keymaps....

P.S.: For some reason the NOTAP option is NOT getting set on my trackpad, so
maybe there's a problem dealing with an ADB keyboard and trackpad.

I don't know why pbbuttonsd is NOT setting notap, but I have confirmed that I
can use the command

sudo trackpad notap

and the trackpad works as expected now.

I also just looked in /etc/sysctl.conf to see if I have overridden the default
keyboard behavior there and I have not. I have
dev/mac_hid/mouse_button_emulation set to 1, but the keycodes are not set.
Currently my mouse buttons are using the "Debian default" as listed below.
Here's what I have in /etc/sysctl.conf

# Emulate middle & right mouse buttons
dev/mac_hid/mouse_button_emulation = 1
# Ubuntu default F11=87 and F12=88
#dev/mac_hid/mouse_button2_keycode = 87
#dev/mac_hid/mouse_button3_keycode = 88
# Debian default fn-Option=100 and fn-Command=126
#dev/mac_hid/mouse_button2_keycode = 100
#dev/mac_hid/mouse_button3_keycode = 126

Another data point -- while the machine is booting I can switch among the
virtual terminals -- the boot messages will continue in whatever VT I've
switched to and the previous ones remain to the ones I switch back to. But my
ability to switch to virtual terminals ends as soon as X begins to start up. So
I suppose it IS some sort of compatibility issue with Xorg...

try:
mv /etc/X11/xkb{,.old}
sudo dpkg -i --force-confmiss /var/cache/apt/archives/xkeyborad-config_*.deb

(In reply to comment #7)
> try:
> mv /etc/X11/xkb{,.old}
> sudo dpkg -i --force-confmiss /var/cache/apt/archives/xkeyborad-config_*.deb

Thanks ... I had purged apt's cache because I ran short of disk space after the
upgrade so I had to download xkeyboard-config_0.6-5_all.deb from the breezy
repository. I ran the --force-confmiss command as described and rebooted...

only to discover my keymap in X was bizarre. (When I typed "t" it came out as a
"3" and "w" came out as "t"!) So I had to ssh in from another machine and run
dpkg-reconfigure console-data. So now as far as I can tell I'm back to where I
started -- I still can't get the Virtual Consoles to come up.

I'm trying some of the keyboard variations (I ran dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
and looked at the available files in /etc/X11/xkb/) so far without success. In
previous versions of Xfree86 and Xorg I didn't need any keyboard settings other
than the macintosh and us variants, but I see in xkb there are some that LOOK
like they would apply to my laptop. So far no luck.

P.S. this machine has also started powering itself down unexpectedly as I'm
attempting to write these -- could be a hardware problem or a weird power
management thing.

I have found a workaround ... when I need to switch to VT 9 (for MOL) or VT 1
for a console I can open a terminal and use the command

sudo chvt 9
  or
sudo chvt 1

From any VT OTHER than 7 I can use the usual ctrl-alt-Fn keyboard command to
switch between the VTs.

So I think this pretty conclusively indicates the problem is with Xwindows, but
I haven't learned enough about keymaps and etc to know where to look. Is there a
utility I can use to see what keycodes X is receiving and where they're going?

I have just learned that another user has opened a report for what must be the
same bug at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/xkbutils/+bug/4465

Let me know whether I should continue tracking the bug there or here (or if they
get linked somehow).

UPDATE: Whatever the problem may be, it's NOT exactly the same as bug 4465 because I do not have the duplicate directory / installation issue as described in that bug.

I have not yet tracked it down -- I am still using chvt as a workaround. I suspect a keymap issue but have not yet learned how to address it. Soon I will be looking at Dapper to see if the issue has been addressed there.

Try installing the x-window-system-core package. It controls X's ability to switch between different Virtual Terminals using Control-Alt-F[n].

It was already installed. In fact, since it's a metapackage, it doesn't have anything actually in it except for two files in the /usr/share/doc/x-window-system/ directory.

But thank you for the suggestion. I just reinstalled it and I will report back here again if I see any change in behavior.

> try:
> mv /etc/X11/xkb{,.old}
> sudo dpkg -i --force-confmiss /var/cache/apt/archives/xkeyborad-config_*.deb

This fixed it for me. According to some feedback I got on sounder it was a hoary->breezy transition bug. So I guess there's no bug, if a straight breezy->dapper upgrade would not be affected.

Thank you Lee for the reminder to mv the xkb directory before the command

sudo dpkg -i --force-confmiss /var/cache/apt/archives/xkeyboard-config_0.6-5_all.deb

That way I was sure I was seeing the files get installed -- they weren't just getting "touched" by dpkg.

Just in case, I also just did another dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Unfortunately I still cannot switch among VTs from X on this PowerPC machine. So I'm back to the theory about a flaky keymap in PPC.

Folks, do you still have this problem with Edgy/Dapper? Please let us know in any case so this bug can be resolved. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the timely reminder. I just upgraded my Wallstreet from Breezy to Dapper (a painfully slow ordeal!), but I can switch among VTs perfectly now!

So for ME, this works great now.

Closing this bug since it has been resolved for the reporter.
Thank you for the timely feedback.