Re: No console anymore. How to figure this out.

On 3/15/26 7:11 AM, Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> Sorry, I used the wrong word.  I really meant firmware.  This is in the
> kernel configuration under Device Drivers/Generic Driver Options/Firmware
> Loader in make menuconfig.  There, I have a (long) list of firmware files
> for the built in AMD graphics I use on my machine.  You surely have a
> similar list there, but for an nVidia graphics card.
>
> I don't think one can use the kernel module mechanism for these files.
> Are you using a recently build kernel (e.g. 6.18.12)?  If so, have any of
> these firmware files been updated recently?  They are probably in package
> sys-kernel/linux-firmware.

No problem.  I'm on the same kernel I've used for a long time.  I need 
to upgrade but just haven't.  Anyway, I'm on gentoo-sources-6.12.31 
right now.

This is what I have for that menu you mentioned.



-*- Firmware loading facility
   ()    Build named firmware blobs into the kernel binary
   [ ]   Enable the firmware sysfs fallback mechanism
   [ ]   Enable compressed firmware support
   [*]   Enable firmware caching during suspend
  [ ]   Enable users to initiate firmware updates using sysfs



I edited that a bit to try to avoid line wrap.  I don't recall ever 
changing those so that is likely the default setting.  I do have this in 
/boot that is loaded when I boot.



-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 306176 Feb 5 04:13 amd-uc.img



I think that is some sort of microcode.  I had forgot about that. I'm 
not sure what even installed it.  So, let me look.



root@Gentoo-1 / # equery b /boot/amd-uc.img
  * Searching for /boot/amd-uc.img ...
sys-kernel/linux-firmware-20260110 (/boot/amd-uc.img)
root@Gentoo-1 / #


But this is the last update for it.


Sat Jul 12 06:31:53 2025 >>> sys-kernel/linux-firmware-20250708



So it hasn't changed in a while now.  Since this started two or three 
weeks ago, that may not be it.  Maybe not.  ???


>> I use Nvidia drivers.  I tried the other one but it was a disaster.
>> Even on this fast rig, the mouse couldn't move smoothly.  It would jump
>> and jerk to places.  Windows were slow too.  Is that where the
>> microcode comes from or something else?
> See above.
>
>> I think the nvidia drivers updated a while back so that is a good
>> idea.  I wouldn't have thought about that.  If it was the GUI, then I
>> would.
> Might it be possible that nVidia simply removed the console driver from
> the code?

I can't go back to a previous version of nvidia since it is out of the 
tree now.  I did keyword a newer version to see if it had been fixed 
tho.  Still the same.  No console.

When I rebooted, the usual text was scrolling up until the display 
manager started.  That worked normally.  I also did something else. When 
I upgraded the nvidia drivers, I tried again to go to a console.  Blank 
screen.  I typed in root and then my password as if I was logging in.  I 
then typed in reboot.  A few seconds later the computer beeped the usual 
booting beep and up comes the BIOS screen.  So, agetty is running and it 
is working, this seems to be purely a display problem.  This may be yet 
another clue.  I dunno.


>
>> Oh, would I need to reboot for the code to take effect once I go back a
>> version of something?
> I think that's likely.  :-(
>
>> Dale
>> :-)  :-)


Do you think it would help to regenerate the grub info for the kernel 
and init images and reinstall grub on the boot up thingy? Could 
something have maybe changed and something is not being seen/loaded now, 
that amd thingy in /boot for example???

I'm grasping at straws here.  Trying to share info that may be a clue to 
think on.  I'm kinda clueless.  Given I can blindly login, I know 
everything but the display is working.  I also know it works when 
booting up as well as all the kernel loading a services are displayed.  
Once it switches to GUI tho, no more console.

This info help any?  It give you a clue as to where we can look? I'm 
going to do like I usually do after a grub update and regenerate that.  
See if that helps any.  Dang it takes me a while to get back up and 
running tho.  Several of my drive sets are encrypted.  The little 
scripts I wrote, with some help from this list, do help speed that up.  ;-)

Thanks for the help.  I'm open to ideas.

Dale

:-)  :-)