How do I safely change grub2 screen resolution?

Question

I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 11.04 on a HP 550 Notebook. But grub2 isn't really fit in the best screen resolution that this Notebook can support (1280x800).

How can I do this without using a third party application ?

Answer 1

To do this safely requires two steps.

Step 1: find the preferred mode

Reboot and press and hold shift to display your grub. Press C to enter console mode.

Type vbeinfo

this will display various stuff how grub recognises your display. At the bottom is "preferred mode" - in your case it should say 1200x800. Note down the value.

Note: sometimes, some buggy video cards incorrectly give Grub the wrong preferred resolution - if the preferred mode is much higher than you were expecting, then select the nearest mode in the list displayed that you were expecting.

Press ESC to return to grub and press Enter to boot.

Step 2: Setting the resolution in grub

Reach for your terminal and type

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

find the line

#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

remove the # and change 640x480 for the preferred mode you wrote down.

e.g. GRUB_GFXMODE=1200x800

save, then type

sudo update-grub

Answer 2

Grub Customizer:

Easy to use Grub2 settings customizer. Go to "Preferences" -> "Appearance"

• check "custom resolution" and select one of the available resolution
• click "close"
• hit "save"
• close program and restart computer