Debian (Ubuntu) question - CTL-ALT-Fn to switch consoles

[Collins Richey]

On 6/10/06, Net Llama! <netllama at linux-sxs.org> wrote:
> On 06/10/2006 07:37 PM, David Bandel wrote:
> > On 6/10/06, Collins Richey <crichey at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On 6/10/06, Net Llama! <netllama at linux-sxs.org> wrote:
> >> > On 06/10/2006 05:54 PM, Collins Richey wrote:
> >> > > On 6/10/06, Net Llama! <netllama at linux-sxs.org> wrote:
> >> > >> On 06/10/2006 10:48 AM, Collins Richey wrote:
> >> > >> > Replying to my own post.
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > This gets weirder and weirder.
> >> > >> >
> >> > >> > If I switch to tty1, 5, or 6, the console operates normally, If I
> >> > >> > which to tty2-4, the behavior is as described above.
> >> > >> >
> >> > >>
> >> > >> This wasn't happening on the Breezy installations that I did.  Perhaps
> >> > >> this is an X driver issue where the console isn't getting properly restored?
> >> > >>
> >> > >
> >> > > Very likely. All the reported problems I've found (very old, 2002 the
> >> > > latest) are X driver problems. There aren't any recent reports, and
> >> > > thus far I've drawn no commens on the Ubuntu forum. It's a good thing
> >> > > this is not critical.
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> > Which X driver are you using?
> >> >
> >>
> >> sis. It's an onboard video chip that has been totally reliable for
> >> everything else.
> >>
> >
> > Might have seemed reliable, but SIS is the flakiest video chip I've
> > ever had the misfortune to have foisted on me.  I would never
> > willingly use a SIS video chip and have often had to buy a decent
> > video card and turn off the motherboard video support.
>
> Good news is that SiS will likely be out of business or bought within a
> year or so.  Their market share has been shrinking for years, and
> they're virtually non-existent at this point in new motherboards.
>

I have no doubt that SIS is a complete piece of work, but I've had no
problems whatsoever with the SIS chips in this box (PowerSpec P4), and
it's running on 3 years now. I thought SIS had already been bought by
someone called XGI, at least that's what I read on the developer
website for the sis driver.

In any case, it's got to be an X or kernel problem. My CentOS system
still works fine (no problems switching consoles), even after  an X
upgrade tonight. Of course with RHEL stuff you can't really tell what
level of X you're getting since RH likes to backport patch sets and
never change the version.

Fortunately I have no pressing need to switch consoles on the home
box, so I'll just wait it out. I'm not putting out any money for this
box. When it dies, I'll get something with nvidia. ATI is almost as
good as SIS, IMO, at least on Linux. Video cards are one of the last
remaining categories where we have to put up with proprietary drivers.

Thanks for the responses.

-- 
Collins Richey
     If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
     of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.