Re: Oh, yeah: Unable to switch to TTY from X
On Fri, Apr 20, 2007 at 10:20:36PM EDT, Amy Templeton wrote:
> Amy Templeton wrote:
> > > This line, however, doesn't exist anywhere in my
> > > /etc/X11 directory, so as far as I can tell that isn't
> > > the problem.
> cga2000 wrote:
> > So what's your point, exactly?
>
> I just wanted to skip the part where people suggested things
> I'd already tried.
>
> > What's your video card?
>
> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17
> [GeForce4 420 Go 32M] (rev a3)
>
> > Maybe your x.org driver is not up to par .. ??
>
> I had this problem with the default nv driver and still do
> with the nvidia-glx driver I'm currently using.
>
> > # chvt 2 .. you need to be root, though ..
>
> Thanks to the magic of su and sudo, that is not a problem.
> chvt works, and from there I can go to various vt's and back
> to X in the normal way. Thanks a lot...it's just odd that
> that doesn't happen with the keybindings.
>
> Thanks,
> Amy
Well, you're very welcome.
I have no idea why chvt worked for me and alway seems to work under
these circumstances .. and I do wish somebody knowledgeable explained
the X - vt switch once and for all.
After 5-6 years screwing around with computers .. I still have not clue
how this works.
Apparently, at least two things happen when you hit CTRL-Alt-Fn:
1. your current X session is saved
2. the context of your chosen vt is restored/activated.
The saving of your X session's context makes sense because you will
likely issue an Alt+Fn at some point to switch back to it .. and all
your windows .. taskbar .. whatever .. will pop up again on your screen
exactly the way they were as if nothing had happened. Your keyboard as
well will have been reconfigured .. In my case Alt+; and Alt+'
respectively bring up the wmaker window list and root menus .. On the
linux console they only cause an unpleasant "beep" .. Why? Or I should
ask .. How?
My very uneducated take on this is that some kind of snapshot of all
this stuff must live somewhere in storage so it can be recreated. Does
X do that .. does your particular video card driver take care of it ..
is the linux kernel involved .. Does your particular window manager have
a role .. ???
I have no idea.
It's little comfort to me to that amongst the millions of X users ..
not more than a handful may be able to explain what really happens when
you're in an X session and hit CTRL-ALT-Fn .. And they don't seem to
be on this mailing list.
Anybody..?
Thanks,
cga
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