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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 ?

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2 Answers

up vote 16 down vote accepted

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
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Exactly what I wanted, Thanks a lot:) – Binarylife Jul 22 '11 at 7:39
up vote 3 down vote

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

enter image description here

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i've found this method to be unreliable, my menu colors never update and the resolution list is not valid in all cases. luckily nothing breaks when choosing an unsupported resolution, it just doesn't change anything – Dirk Hartzer Waldeck Jul 22 '11 at 7:44
I used to have the same issue where no visual settings applied would take hold... under the "Advanced" tab in "Preference" make sure "GRUB_GFXMODE" is checked and when using a background picture make sure it is in the same "/boot" folder as the grub installation. Now all options w/in the program works perfectly for me w/ no issues at all. – 13east Jul 22 '11 at 14:51
awesome! thanks – Dirk Hartzer Waldeck Jul 22 '11 at 14:57

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