Ctrl-Alt-F1 does not switch to a text mode console

[Pierre Sarrazin <sarrazip sympatico ca>]

On Nov. 15th, I reported a problem with my GNOME 2.4 desktop where
Ctrl-Alt-F1 fails to switch to a text mode console.

I did a few experiments to try to isolate the cause of the problem.

I created a .xsession file with the following lines and with
permissions 755 in my home directory:

    xterm &
    exec fvwm2

Then I logged in and got a session without GNOME and without Metacity,
which is the window manager I normally use.  Ctrl-Alt-F1 worked and
switched to a text console.

Then I tried running only Metacity:

    xterm &
    exec metacity

Ctrl-Alt-F1 still worked then.  Then I tried running only the
GNOME Panel:

    xterm &
    exec gnome-panel

Then Ctrl-Alt-F1 did not work.  Am I on the right track?  Could there
be something in the Panel that intercepts Ctrl-Alt-F1?  Thanks.

A few version numbers on my system:

    libgnome-2.4.0-1
    libgnomeui-2.4.0.1-1
    gnome-panel-2.4.0-3
    metacity-2.6.3-1

This installation is made of Fedora Core 1 RPM packages.

-- 
Pierre Sarrazin <sarrazip at sympatico dot ca>