When I Vagrant Up->Vagrant SSH my terminal doesn't go to the Homestead "Logo" screen, instead it shows a blank screen with the cursor blinking. What could be the issue?

Updated: Jan 29, 2025

When I Vagrant Up->Vagrant SSH my terminal doesn't go to the Homestead "Logo" screen, instead it shows a blank screen with the cursor blinking. What could be the issue?

When you run vagrant up and then vagrant ssh to connect to your Homestead environment, but instead of seeing the Homestead logo screen, you're met with a blank screen and a blinking cursor, it could indicate a few different issues. Here are some possible causes and solutions:

  1. Incorrect SSH key: Homestead uses SSH keys for authentication, so if your SSH key isn't set up correctly, you might not be able to log in. Check that you have added your SSH key to the Homestead box by running vagrant ssh-config and verifying that the IdentityFile option is set to the correct path for your SSH key.
  2. Incorrect Homestead.yaml file: Make sure that your Homestead.yaml file is correctly configured. Check that the ip and port options are set to the correct values for your Homestead box. You can find the IP address of your Homestead box by running vagrant status and looking for the Private Network IP value.
  3. Display issues: It's possible that there's an issue with the display settings on your local machine or on the Homestead box. Try running vagrant ssh -t homestead bash -s /etc/profile.d/vim.sh to update the Vim configuration file on the Homestead box, which can sometimes help with display issues. If that doesn't work, you can try connecting to the Homestead box using a different SSH client, such as PuTTY or MobaXterm, to see if the issue is specific to your terminal emulator.
  4. Network issues: If you're having trouble connecting to the Homestead box at all, it could be a network issue. Check that your local machine is able to reach the Homestead box by pinging it using the IP address. If you're unable to ping the box, check your network settings and firewall rules to make sure that traffic is allowed between your local machine and the Homestead box.
  5. Vagrant or Homestead version issues: Make sure that you're using the latest versions of Vagrant and Homestead. You can check your Vagrant version by running vagrant --version and your Homestead version by running homestead --version. If you're not using the latest versions, try updating them and see if that resolves the issue.

If none of these solutions work, try searching for similar issues online or reaching out to the Homestead community for help.