UBUNTU 11.04 BOOTS TO CURSOR

On Natty and Oneiric non-Server command-line only systems (which can be installed from the Alternate and Minimal CD's), grub2 hands off to blank tty7. As a consequence, a blank black (or purple) terminal is shown, and the system does not appear to be functional.

Switching to an active virtual console (for example, by pressing Alt+F1) yields a login screen and makes it possible to use the machine.

There is an easy permanent fix by editing the 10_linux file
sudo nano /etc/grub.d/10_linux

change this line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="$GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT vt.handoff=7"
to
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="$GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT"

Save the changes and then run:
sudo update-grub2

Next reboot will boot straight to the login prompt.