Can't get to text console using Alt+Ctrl+F1-F6

[Van Snyder]

I searched in vain for the answer to this question in
http://www.x.org/wiki/FAQ and
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/.

As a consequence of some recent update, I can't get to a text console
using Alt+Ctrl+F1-F6.

I have to do Alt+Ctrl+F11 or Alt+Ctrl+F12 first.

After X starts but before I log in (that is, when the login screen is
still being displayed), Alt+Ctrl+F1 switches to a text console.

After either Gnome or KDE starts, Alt+Ctrl+F1 doesn't switch to a text
console.  Alt+Ctrl+F12 switches to a blank screen, after which Alt+Ctrl
+F1-F6 switch to a text console.  Alt+Ctrl+F7 then switches back to X,
after which Alt+Ctrl+F1-F6 again do not switch to a text console.

This is mostly just an annoyance I'd like to correct, but one of my
computers doesn't have an F12 key.  It uses an old AT 84-key keyboard.
On that computer, it's more than just an annoyance.

Why don't Alt+Ctrl+F1-F6 work any more without Alt+Ctrl+F12 first?
What can I do to repair it?

My kernel is 1.6.18-165.15.1
My distro is CentOs release 5.4 (Final)
My X server is xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.1.1-48.67.el5_4.1

My 88-key keyboard layout is attached.  The number in the bottom right
corner of each box is the keycode reported by xev.

Keycodes and unshifted keysyms for that beyboard, as reported by xev,
are attached.

-- 
Van Snyder                    |  What fraction of Americans believe 
Van.Snyder at jpl.nasa.gov       |  Wrestling is real and NASA is fake?
Any alleged opinions are my own and have not been approved or
disapproved by JPL, CalTech, NASA, the President, or anybody else.
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AT 84-key keyboard as reported by xev in
xorg-x11-server-Xorg-1.1.1-48.67.el5_4.1
         unshifted                            unshifted
keycode  keysym  symbol              keycode  keysym  symbol
67       ffbe      F1                36       0d        Enter
68       ffbf      F2                79       ff50      Home KP7
69       ffc0      F3                80       ff52      Up KP8
70       ffc1      F4                81       ff55      PgUp KP9
71       ffc2      F5                83       2a        PrtSc KP_Multiply
72       ffc3      F6                37       ffe3      Ctrl
73       ffc4      F7                38       61        A
74       ffc5      F8                39       73        S
75       ffc6      F9                40       64        D
76       ffc7      F10               41       66        F
49       60        `~                42       67        G
10       31        1!                43       68        H
11       32        2@                44       6a        J
12       33        3#                45       6b        K
13       34        4$                46       6c        L
14       35        5%                47       3b        ;:
15       36        6^                48       27        '"
16       37        7&                83       ff51      Left KP4
17       38        8*                84       ff9d      KP5
18       39        9(                85       ff53      Right KP6
19       30        0)                82       2d        KP_Subtract
20       2d        -_                50       ffe1      Shift-L
21       3d        =+                52       7a        Z
51       5c        \|                53       78        X
22       08        Backspace         54       63        C
 9       1b        ESC               55       76        V
77       ff7f      NUM               56       62        B
78       ff13      SCRL              57       6e        N
111      ff61      SYS REQ           58       6d        M
23       ff09      TAB               59       2c        ,<
24       71        Q                 60       2e        .>
25       77        W                 61       2f        /?
26       65        E                 62       ffe2      Shirt-R
27       72        R                 87       ff57      End KP1
28       74        T                 88       ff54      Down KP2
29       79        Y                 89       ff56      PgDn KP3
30       75        U                 86       ffab      KP_Add
31       69        I                 64       ffe9      ALT
32       6f        O                 65       20        Space
33       70        P                 66       ffe5      CapLock
34       5b        [{                90       ff63      Ins KP0
35       5d        ]}                91       ffff      Del