# Switching to console = black screen



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

Hi,

I finalized the installation of 
	
	



```
FreeBSD 10.3-BETA2
```
. Almost everything is O.K. but there is one problem I couldn't solve. If I leave X and switch to console using 
	
	



```
Ctrl+Alt+F1
```
 the screen is turning black with one message 
	
	



```
Entering power saving mode
```
. I have no access to the shell prompt.
Where is the clue ??

1. /boot/loader.con

```
nvidia_load="YES"
#Use new graphical console driver
kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1x1200"
#devil worship in loader logo
#loader_logo="beastie"
# Boot-time kernel tuning
kern.ipc.shmseg=1024
kern.ipc.shmmni=1024
kern.maxproc=10000
autotoboot_delay="5"
kern.vty="vt"
#hw.vga.textmode="1"
#splash_bmp_load="YES"
#bitmap_load="YES"
#bitmap_name="/boot/splash.bmp"
```

2. /etc/ttys

```
....
#
ttyv0  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
# Virtual terminals
ttyv1  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv2  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv3  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv4  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv5  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv6  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv7  "/usr/libexec/getty Pc"  xterm  on  secure
ttyv8  "/usr/local/kde4/bin/kdm -nodaemon"  on secure
```

3. /etc/rc.conf

```
hostname="ishwara"
kdm4_enable="YES"
kld_list="aio.ko coretemp.ko libiconv.ko libmchain.ko cd9660_iconv.ko msdosfs_iconv.ko cuse4bsd.ko"
keymap="fr.iso.acc."
ifconfig_re0="SYNCDHCP"
ifconfig_em0="SYNCDHCP"
sshd_enable="YES"
dumpdev="NO"
fsck_y_enable="YES"
webmin_enable="YES"
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
webcamd_enable="YES"
devd_enable="YES"
tmpmfs="YES"
firewall_enable="yes"
firewall_type="workstation"
firewall_logging="YES"
firewall_nat_enable="YES"
syslogd_enable="YES"
clear_tmp_enable="YES"
mixer_enable="YES"
tmpsize="1024m"
fusefs_enable="YES"
snd_hda_load="YES"
moused_enable="YES"
powerd_enable="YES"
powerd_flags="-a hiadaptive -b adaptive"
hcsecd_enable="YES"
sdpd_enable="YES"
ntpd_enable="YES"
ntpd_flags="-g"
linux_enable="YES"
if_em_load="YES"
devfs_system_ruleset="localrules"
blank_time="NO"
rc_info="YES"
```

Thanks


----------



## wblock@ (Feb 21, 2016)

The comment in loader.conf says it "uses" the vt(4) console, but the shown code does not actually enable vt(4).  And a 1x1200 mode is somewhat unlikely.


----------



## tobik@ (Feb 21, 2016)

What graphics card are you using?

wblock@ There's also a line in there that enables it:


mahashakti89 said:


> kern.vty="vt"





mahashakti89 said:


> Entering power saving mode


Is that a message from your display or from the FreeBSD console?


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

wblock@ said:


> The comment in loader.conf says it "uses" the vt(4) console, but the shown code does not actually enable vt(4).  And a 1x1200 mode is somewhat unlikely.


For that last line I grabbed that from some forum. I will comment it out.
Thanks


tobik said:


> What graphics card are you using?
> 
> I am using a NVIDIA GT 640
> 
> ...



That is a message from the display. I forgot :Consoles are working but only if I don't launch a X session.


----------



## wblock@ (Feb 21, 2016)

Hmm.  Why not keep related entries together?  There are several typos, like autotoboot.  The filename shown is loader.con.  If that is the actual filename, none of these settings are being used.


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

wblock@ said:


> Hmm.  Why not keep related entries together?  There are several typos, like autotoboot.  The filename shown is loader.con.  If that is the actual filename, none of these settings are being used.



For keeping related entries together , now /boot/loader.conf looks like that :

```
nvidia_load="YES"
kern.vty="vt"
kern.ipc.shmseg=1024
kern.ipc.shmmni=1024
kern.maxproc=10000
autotoboot_delay="5"
```

there is no typo in the shown file, the actual file name is right.

As for the typo with autoboot  
	
	



```
autotoboot_delay="5"
```
 it seems O.K. or not?

Thanks


----------



## chrbr (Feb 21, 2016)

Please change

```
kern.vty="vt"
```
to

```
kern.vty=vt
```
This would match the working setup here and should be worth to try. Please see https://wiki.freebsd.org/Newcons?highlight=(newcons) for additional information.


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

Thanks

Si it could be the quotes. We will try it. After reboot we will see and report the result.


----------



## kpa (Feb 21, 2016)

The quotes don't matter, they are eaten by the parser. It's in line with rc.conf(5) parsing where the sh(1) shell does the parsing and parameter expansion.


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## wblock@ (Feb 21, 2016)

autotoboot
autoboot


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

The quotes indeed didn't matter. I tried without quotes. Same result
Thanks to wblock for the typo. One can be blind ....


----------



## protocelt (Feb 21, 2016)

I don't think the Nvidia driver works with console switching from X right now when using vt(4) and the UEFI framebuffer(efifb). IIRC, this should be fixed in later versions of the Nvidia driver that have not, as of yet, been pulled into the ports tree. It's being worked on: PR 201340.

I don't know if this is the case across the board but it is for all the hardware I own/use.


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

Sounds strange to me. Till then I never had a problem wit the Nvidia driver, for example when I was running the 10.2-RELEASE.


----------



## protocelt (Feb 21, 2016)

I haven't seen this until recently myself. Right around the time 10.3-BETA1 was tagged is when I noticed it. It happens on 11-CURRENT as well.

Edit: Just adding that there is a recent PR filed against this very issue - PR 201461


----------



## mahashakti89 (Feb 21, 2016)

If so then it is a bug ? And I have to wait till 10.3-BETA3 or later.


----------



## protocelt (Feb 21, 2016)

mahashakti89 said:


> If so then it is a bug ? And I have to wait till 10.3-BETA3 or later.


Yes, but it's not clear to me if it is a bug in certain Nvidia hardware, the Nvidia driver itself, the FreeBSD console driver or the interaction between them by looking at the PR. 

The problem has to be found before it can be fixed so I really have no idea how long it will take to fix, sorry. I'm hoping it will be fixed once the newer Nvidia driver(s) are pulled into the ports tree if the issue isn't found and fixed before hand.


----------



## ZOleg (Mar 5, 2016)

I change x11/nvidia-driver x11/nvidia-settings x11/nvidia-xconfig for 361.28 nvidia driver, work well on my FreeBSD 11/GTX980.
I can not attach files to messages, link - http://rghost.net/6txtyjJ85


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## mahashakti89 (Mar 5, 2016)

Thanks for the tip. So I assume you install the driver from the tarball ?


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## protocelt (Mar 6, 2016)

ZOleg said:


> I change x11/nvidia-driver x11/nvidia-settings x11/nvidia-xconfig for 361.28 Nvidia driver, work well on my FreeBSD 11/GTX980.
> I can not attach files to messages, link - http://rghost.net/6txtyjJ85


This is not a very good idea. The x11/nvidia port is patched by the port maintainer to install correctly without clobbering/replacing existing files. The driver tarball from Nvidia's website is not patched so you'll likely end up with a broken system the first time you try to update your ports or packages if it doesn't break your system before that.

There is a reason driver v361.28 is not in the ports tree yet.


----------



## mahashakti89 (Mar 6, 2016)

I tried it with driver v.361.28. it didn't solve the problem, so I decided to switch back to x11/nvidia-driver and to wait ... 
Also  updated system to 10.3-RC1. Same result.

Regards


----------



## albertobsd (Mar 16, 2016)

Time ago I have the same problem I did in the file  /boot/loader.conf


```
kern.vty=vt
hw.vga.textmode=1
```

I hope this help you!


----------



## mahashakti89 (Mar 17, 2016)

Thanks for the  tip. I will try it when I am back home


----------



## mahashakti89 (Mar 19, 2016)

O.K.now back home. Same result. Black screeen.

Regards


----------



## uzsolt (Mar 28, 2016)

Try update to 10.3-RELEASE.


----------



## mahashakti89 (Mar 30, 2016)

Already done. I noticed one change : I do have a graphic session as usual and one console on
	
	



```
/dev/tty1
```
. I can't access the other consoles with `Ctr+Alt+F*`.

My actual /boot/loader.conf

```
nvidia_load="YES"
#Use new graphical console driver
kern.vty=vt
hw.vga.textmode=1
#kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1x1200"
#devil worship in loader logo
loader_logo="beastie"
# Boot-time kernel tuning
kern.ipc.shmseg=1024
kern.ipc.shmmni=1024
kern.maxproc=10000
```
and futher /etc/rc.conf

```
hostname="ishwara"
kdm4_enable="YES"
kld_list="aio.ko coretemp.ko libiconv.ko libmchain.ko cd9660_iconv.ko msdosfs_iconv.ko cuse4bsd.ko"
keymap="fr.iso.acc"
ifconfig_re0="SYNCDHCP"
ifconfig_em0="SYNCDHCP"
sshd_enable="YES"
dumpdev="NO"
fsck_y_enable="YES"
webmin_enable="YES"
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
webcamd_enable="YES"
devd_enable="YES"
tmpmfs="YES"
firewall_enable="YES"
firewall_type="client"
firewall_logging="YES"
firewall_nat_enable="YES"
syslogd_enable="YES"
clear_tmp_enable="YES"
mixer_enable="YES"
tmpsize="1024m"
fusefs_enable="YES"
snd_hda_load="YES"
devfs_system_ruleset="devfsrules_common"
moused_enable="YES"
powerd_enable="YES"
powerd_flags="-a hiadaptive -b adaptive"
hcsecd_enable="YES"
sdpd_enable="YES"
ntpd_enable="YES"
ntpd_flags="-g"
linux_enable="YES"
if_em_load="YES"
```

Regards


----------



## mahashakti89 (Jun 4, 2016)

Hi,

Some good news. I updated to 11.0-ALPHA1-RELEASE and console is back .... Switching to 
	
	



```
CTRL+ALT+F1
```
 works.
Some bad news. The problem I addressed in another thread : https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/56153/    is still here.
Waiting for other releases or a new Nvidia driver.

Regards


----------

