systemd-vconsole-setup[981]: /usr/bin/setfont failed with exit status 65.

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Hi,

I found a few threads about vconsole here, a fixed bug etc. but I am not sure if any of those relate to my situation. I see in my journal:


# journalctl -b | grep vconsole
Jul 22 16:44:32 pc systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 22 16:44:37 pc systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 22 16:44:47 pc systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 22 16:44:58 pc systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-vconsole-setup[981]: /usr/bin/setfont failed with exit status 65.
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-vconsole-setup[982]: /usr/bin/setfont failed with exit status 65.
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-vconsole-setup[981]: Setting source virtual console failed, ignoring remaining ones
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-udevd[850]: Process '/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-vconsole-setup' failed with exit code 1.
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-vconsole-setup[982]: Setting source virtual console failed, ignoring remaining ones
Jul 22 16:45:05 pc systemd-udevd[854]: Process '/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-vconsole-setup' failed with exit code 1.
Jul 22 16:45:07 pc systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 22 16:45:39 pc display-manager[1504]: /etc/vconsole.conf available

FWIW:


# cat /etc/vconsole.conf
KEYMAP=us
FONT=eurlatgr.psfu
FONT_MAP=
FONT_UNIMAP=

My questions are:

What is the reason for this failure?
What is the effect of it?
What is the right thing to do?

#2

Might check to see if the font you specify can be found in its proper location

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Linux_console#Fonts

TSU

#3

KEYMAP and FONT don’t match:

erlangen:~ # journalctl -b -u systemd-vconsole-setup.service 
-- Logs begin at Tue 2019-05-21 13:04:40 CEST, end at Mon 2019-07-22 21:34:27 CEST. --
Jul 20 06:11:31 erlangen systemd[1]: Starting Setup Virtual Console...
Jul 20 06:11:31 erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[435]: KD_FONT_OP_GET failed while trying to get the font metadata: Function not implemented
Jul 20 06:11:31 erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[435]: Fonts will not be copied to remaining consoles
Jul 20 06:11:31 erlangen systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 20 06:11:31 erlangen systemd[1]: Started Setup Virtual Console.
Jul 20 06:11:32 erlangen systemd[1]: Starting Setup Virtual Console...
Jul 20 06:11:32 erlangen systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
Jul 20 06:11:32 erlangen systemd[1]: Started Setup Virtual Console.
erlangen:~ # 

erlangen:~ # cat /etc/vconsole.conf
KEYMAP=de-nodeadkeys
FONT=eurlatgr.psfu
FONT_MAP=
FONT_UNIMAP=
erlangen:~ #
#4

Looks like it is:


# find /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/ -name eurlatgr.psfu*
/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/eurlatgr.psfu.gz

Why? This is a freshly installed system. During installation I chose US English. Might that be a bug?
Also how does one know which two would match?

#5

Tried to paste contents of /etc/vconsole.conf posted above. It complains about unprintable characters. You might check the contents of this file.

#6

I have shared my vconsole.conf in the OP. I have also seen yours.
Which question does that answer? I don’t understand what you are saying.

#7

Does your version of vconsole.conf contain unprintable characters?

#8

You can see my version in the OP.
Or I don’t understand what you are asking.

#9

Yes, I can see your version. When I try to copy what I see and try paste into /etc/vconsole.conf on my machine the following message is displayed:

The text you’re trying to paste contains hidden unprintable characters …
Any idea?

#10

Must be something on your system.
I tried:


cat --show-nonprinting /etc/vconsole.conf

It shows me no additional characters.

#11

All my installations are en_US only. vconsole.conf on the currently running one contains:

KEYMAP=us
FONT=lat9w-16.psfu
FONT_MAP=trivial

‘journalctl -b | grep vcons’ produces no output.

#12

Good. What is the output of setfont? You need to run it in a virtual console, not in a graphics console.

erlangen:~ # setfont -v eurlatgr.psf
Loading 512-char 8x16 font from file /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/eurlatgr.psfu.gz
Loading Unicode mapping table...
erlangen:~ #
#13

@mrmazda:

On my Leap systems it is the same as yours. However this is TW. No idea why it is different.

@karlmistelberger:

The same command as yours shows “Cannot open font file eurlatgr.psf”. But “setfont -v eurlatgr.psfu” (with ‘u’ at the end as in the conf file) shows the same output as yours.

#14

Tumbleweed got updated to 20190726 and journal messages changed:

erlangen:~ # journalctl -b -u systemd-udevd.service -o short-monotonic 
-- Logs begin at Tue 2019-05-21 13:04:40 CEST, end at Tue 2019-07-30 08:24:27 CEST. --
    2.082511] erlangen systemd-udevd[350]: Network interface NamePolicy= disabled on kernel command line, ignoring.
    2.084185] erlangen systemd[1]: Started udev Kernel Device Manager.
    2.163290] erlangen systemd-udevd[370]: link_config: autonegotiation is unset or enabled, the speed and duplex are not writable.
    2.229133] erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[394]: KD_FONT_OP_GET failed while trying to get the font metadata: Function not implemented
    2.229318] erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[394]: Fonts will not be copied to remaining consoles
    2.230286] erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[395]: KD_FONT_OP_GET failed while trying to get the font metadata: Function not implemented
    2.230462] erlangen systemd-vconsole-setup[395]: Fonts will not be copied to remaining consoles
    2.412788] erlangen systemd[1]: Stopping udev Kernel Device Manager...
    2.843595] erlangen systemd[1]: systemd-udevd.service: Succeeded.
    2.843778] erlangen systemd[1]: Stopped udev Kernel Device Manager.
erlangen:~ # 

erlangen:~ # journalctl -b -u systemd-vconsole-setup.service -o short-monotonic 
-- Logs begin at Tue 2019-05-21 13:04:40 CEST, end at Tue 2019-07-30 08:25:39 CEST. --
    2.845027] erlangen systemd[1]: Starting Setup Virtual Console...
    2.880945] erlangen systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
    2.881117] erlangen systemd[1]: Started Setup Virtual Console.
    3.691778] erlangen systemd[1]: Starting Setup Virtual Console...
    3.752693] erlangen systemd[1]: systemd-vconsole-setup.service: Succeeded.
    3.752907] erlangen systemd[1]: Started Setup Virtual Console.
erlangen:~ #

Still errors on your machine?

#15

Yes.
(My system is up to date too)

#16

For those who don’t mind leaving text consoles unconfigured by systemd, prefer a quick and more silent boot and just want to get rid of those error messages:

$ sudo cp -i /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-vconsole-setup ~/Desktop/
$ sudo cp -i /usr/bin/true /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-vconsole-setup
$ dracut --hostonly --force

That’s right, after backing up the original, I single-handedly replaced that error-prone setup module with the standard command always returning success (»true«). A dracut run after that transfers the change into the initrd.

Reversing the change and going back to the original behavior:

$ sudo cp -i ~/Desktop/systemd-vconsole-setup /usr/lib/systemd/
$dracut --force

Disadvantages: it’s a dirty, dirty hack (don’t do it unless you know whatcha doin’), and chances are you have to manually redo it after a systemd update.
Advantages: no error messages, and: if you still know the US keyboard layout by heart because you’re a child of 1980’s home-computer culture, you still can use your text consoles fluently.
:wink:

#17

If this is run early in the boot process, the font file needs to be in the initial ramdisk.
You can check this (as root):

lsinitrd /boot/initrd-5.2.2-1-default | grep "usr/share/kbd/consolefonts"

Replace the version number with the one of your current kernel.

#18

You may add all fonts to initial ramdisk. From man dracut:

–no-hostonly-i18n: Install all keyboard and font files available.