terminal font size/type
 

Hi,

I am on a non-gui terminal (on a Debian Linux) and the font is so HUGE ! If I want to display a piece of code, it only fits 24 lines on the screen which is kind of sad :)

How do I change font size / type?

Thanks!!!

In your /boot/grub/menu.lst file, look in the kernel line for an option that starts with:

vga=

Editing this option is one way to change the font size in your terminal. If you don't have a vga= option listed in the menu.lst line that begins with "kernel" w/o quotes, then the system will revert to the default resolution for your boot messages and terminal of 640x480. That's a safe resolution since every graphics card imaginable will support it but it will leave you with huge fonts. That's probably what's going on here.

If you want a better resolution you need to add a vga= option to the kernel line in menu.lst if there is none or edit the existing vga= option if there isn't. For a 1024x768 resolution insert/edit this into your kernel line options:

vga=791

that's the one I usually use. Most distros seem to prefer 800x600 which is what you get when you use:

vga=788

It's really a matter of personal preference.

Edit: Note, since the resolution change and the resulting smaller font is accomplished by passing a kernel parameter in menu.lst, you will have to reboot for the new resolution to be implemented.

sweet! thanks so much!

widescreen resolution
 

I do have one more question, though. My laptop's native resultion is 1280x800, so I went to 1024x768 which makes the font look somewhat "stretched". It's a matter of what you'll get used to but I am definitely interested in more flexibility there.

------------------------------------------

I just found my solution here:
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/gam...tty-fonts.html


Installing a program called hwinfo (hardware info) and using it to view the vga modes the card is capable of...
...lets you find the exact options. Use hexadecimal number as your vga= value in /boot/grub/menu.lst and reboot.