Question

How can I change console shell's resolution?, by this i mean the shell when you ctrl+alt+F1. I'm running Ubuntu 9.10, i thought this could be done by changing grub's menu.lst file by with grub2 i really don't know how to achieve this.
Thanks.

Answer 1

Edit /boot/grub/grub.cfg Identify a block that looks like this (your current running kernel):

menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
    recordfail=1
    if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set e5ce0bc0-d1b0-4802-a6d4-3fd9fc0e7e58
linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=e5ce0bc0-d1b0-4802-a6d4-3fd9fc0e7e58 ro   quiet splash
initrd	/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}

Edit the "linux ..." line and, at the end (after "quiet splash"), leave a blank and add something like "vga=773" or another code, depending on the resolution. Here is a list of codes for various resolutions.

Reboot and the new resolution should be enabled.

Answer 2

To add custom boot options to your boot linux from grub 2, you need to edit

/etc/default/grub

find the line that reads

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

and change it to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash vga=ask"

if you know your exact vga= number is, then put that in instead of "ask"

After you edit any of grubs files in /etc you should run

update-grub

to apply the changes

Answer 3

Sorry, vga=ask as well as similar to vga=796 does not work, at least not on my system (acer aspir 5532 laptop). Similar to vga=798 gives me a warning after the grub menu that goes by a bit to fast for me to read (probably in /var/logs somewhere), but it starts with "vga=798 is deprecated", then continues to boot. My vt's are then standard resolution (whatever that is, 800x640?). Giving it vga=ask gives me a "no longer supported" error after grub, "press any key to continue." Pressing a key gives me a "you have to load a kernel first" error and goes back to grub, after which it repeats. To get out of that I had to press "e" in grub and edit the arguments before booting. Guess I could have gone to recovery mode instead and edited /etc/default/grub then run update-grub. If I find something that works I'll post it here, morning the loss of /boot/grub/menu.lst all the while.

Answer 4

Boot with the vga=ask parameter.

Answer 5

try holding the shift key down while booting. when the menu appears press c for the commandline and then enter "vbeinfo" this will give you a list of supported resolutions for your videocard. It might be that the number representing what you want is there. on mine for example 1152x864x32 is 0x156 I am thinking this 156 number may be what it is looking for?

Answer 6

add this to /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768

then run sudo update-grub2

Answer 7

has anyone solved this using grub2? i'd love to get rid of this tiny console screen.

Answer 8

Hi, according this excellent howto http://harrison3001.blogspot.com/2009/09/grub-2-graphical-boot-tips-to-set.html it works for me on ubuntu-server-9.10

with the following additions in /etc/default/grub GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="gfxpayload=true" GRUB_GFXMODE=1600x1200x32
GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="vbe"

resolution can be found out via hwinfo --framebuffer

i read that x32 is a must

and modification of /etc/grub.d/00_header

set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE} <-- FIND THIS LINE (as you note GRUB_GFXMODE is the variable we set before through /etc/default/grub) set gfxpayload=keep <-- THIS IS FOR THE VGA CONSOLE! (as you note the statement keep, obviously, keeps, what?, the resolution we set before through GRUB_GFXMODE variable set into /etc/default/grub) insmod gfxterm insmod ${GRUB_VIDEO_BACKEND}

then run update-grub

Answer 9

One way would be to switch back to Grub 1, if you can figure out how. It should be doable, because Karmic still supports Grub 1 for computers that upgrade from 9.04 and earlier versions.