Unable to logoff . Also Ctrl+alt+f1 does not work...

[rzs]

Hello,

I recently installed Debian Etch as a dual boot on my laptop . Everything works well, but im unable to logoff . Also ctrl+alt+f1 does not bring me to the shell . All I get is a black screen in both the cases and i have to manually shutdown my laptop and reboot.
I am however able to shutdown and restart from within gnome.I am new to linux so cant figure out whats wrong. I tried to find out what onboard video card im using from within windows by right clicking on the desktop then going to display properties->settings->advanced->adapter and there it says : VIA Chrome9 HC IGP.
What could be going wrong ?
Please help.

Thanks .

[jledhead]

you can also try ctrl-alt-backspace. That should restart X

Also if everything else seems to be functioning then open a terminal and as root type reboot

[pavlo_7]

ctrl+alt+f1 does not bring me to the shell .

To get to shell try:

ctrl+alt+f5

The above will not terminate already running session (GUI I assume), it will only let you start a new session in CLI.
To get back to the original session press:

ctrl+alt+f7

[rzs]

Thanks for the reply . But im still facing the same problem . Ctrl+alt+f5 , ctrl+alt+f7 , ctrl+alt+backspace..all lead to the same black screen and i have to manually shutdown and reboot as before.

[devils casper]

Try passing vga=771 parameter to kernel.
Execute this

gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Add vga=771 at the end of kernel line. Save file and reboot.

[rzs]

Thanks for the reply devils_casper . I added vga=771 at the end of the kernel entry in menu.lst . Saved the file and rebooted my machine. But i still get the black screen when i try to log off or press ctrl+alt+f1

[devils casper]

Which Graphics Driver are you using?
Execute this

su 
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep "Driver"

Post output here.
Try a few other modes in kernel line. 773 or 791.

[rzs]

vga=773 and vga=791 did not work . The output of

 cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep "Driver"

is :

Driver    "kbd"
Driver    "mouse"
Driver    "vesa"