How do I increase console-mode resolution?

Question

I've recently clean-reinstalled Maverick on my computer. It uses propietary Nvidia drivers.

Everything runs just fine, except that I'm seeing lots of ugly text when booting and shutting down Ubuntu.

I don't mind the text at all; in fact, I like seeing the startup/shutting down information.

What I don't like it's its ugliness!

When my computer goes to console mode - (booting up, shutting down or CTRL+ALT+F1) the text is super big - I can't take a screenshot of it, but it looks like a 640x480 resolution. My monitor normally works at 1440x900.

I remember that the console text that appeared while installing from the CD was nice and small.

How can I make the console text look like it looked while booting from the CD?

Answer 1

I've found a solution that works on this forum post:

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41881#p2705863

In short:

Open /etc/default/grub with your favorite editor as root.

Localize the line that says GRUB_GFXMODE= ... and change it to the resolution you want. Add another line for a new variable called GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD with the same resolution. It should look similar to this:

GRUB_GFXMODE=1440x900x32
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=1440x900x32

Save and exit. Then edit as root /etc/grub.d/00_header

Localize the line that says if [ "x${GRUB_GFXMODE}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXMODE=... . As before, change the resolution there to the one you want and add another line for payload:

if [ "x${GRUB_GFXMODE}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXMODE=1440x900x32 ; fi
if [ "x${GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD=1440x900x32 ; fi

Finally, localize the line that says set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE} and add a line for payload below it. It should look like this:

set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE}
set gfxpayload=${GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD}

Save and exit.

Still as root, refresh grub with

update-grub2

Reboot, and both the grub menu and the console should have nicer resolutions.

Fiuh!

Answer 2

Just some personal background: in my other computer I have no problem with that fancy mode (it's 160 cols x 60 rows, but it has a 4:3 CRT monitor). It's equipped with a TNT2 (yes, I swear), and that mode was promptly displayed on first boot. Problem is, it does this by loading the nouveau driver, and this guy is still a bit faulty (in my case, it hangs the whole system when trying to move windows). So, to have an usable system, I had to downgrade to the old and stable nv driver, and also disabling mode-setting ('cause the kernel would always load nouveau when enabled). Note that I'm not using nVidia proprietary drivers, but like you, I was switched back to 80x25 in console mode.

This is because the nv driver doesn't use kernel mode-setting. Now, I don't know about the proprietary drivers, but I'm guessing they might have changed your configuration in order to be usable, and possibly that's why you're seeing that "big" mode. Possibly they disabled mode-setting when installed. That's why you see the "small" text mode when booting from the Live CD.

You could try booting up with a different VESA mode, but that depends a lot on your hardware. For that, please check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_BIOS_Extensions#Linux_video_mode_numbers. For example, if you'd like to try booting your text mode on 1024x640, you'll find that the mode ID is 877.

So, when booting, hold the SHIFT key (in case you don't have a GRUB timeout) to bring up GRUB's menu. Select the mode which you wish to boot and press 'e' (to edit the commands). At the end of the "kernel" command, add vga=877. The number is the mode ID, if you want to try other modes, replace it with the desired number.

Also, at that same Wikipedia page, you could also try the helpful "Universal format" right below the modes table. That hwinfo command is quite useful.