How to set text mode 132x60, i.e., VESA text mode 268 (010Ch), upon startup from Grub?

MdAyq · 07-24-2020, 05:15 PM

The old way was to add the kernel boot option "vga=780" (as 780=512+268). This option still kinda "works" but is shown as old and deprecated in favour of GRUB options set in /etc/default/grub. So, how to do this using GRUB? Yes, I'd like to have text boot mode with maximal text resolution, which I believe to be 132x60 for my video card.

(Reason: I'd like to maintain as many of log data on the screen as possible beginning from GRUB till starting GUI (GDM+Wayland) without useless clear screens and many mode changes. If the boot process fails for whatever reason and the journal doesn't have the information on it, I need to have a possibility to see what preceded the failure point or at least to take a video of it for a later analysis.)

I run dual-boot Debian buster with Windows 10. Debian has the following packages installed: grub-common, grub-efi-amd64, grub-efi-amd64-bin, grub-efi-amd64-signed, grub2-common.

mrmazda · 07-25-2020, 12:20 AM

I gave up trying to get Linux to use SVGA text modes years ago, but would like to know how myself.

Which gfxcard do you have exactly (chip ID)?

Code:

inxi -Gxx

Not all provide the same support. IME, among AMD, Intel & NVidia, AMD traditionally has had the best support for SVGA text modes, with NVidia coming up a distant last.

The messages you don't want lost should be recoverable via journalctl.

vga= still works if you don't mind disabling KMS (e.g. nomodeset) and having sucky GUI video.

Kernel doc files you may find helpful:

boot-options.txt
fbcon.txt
kernel-parameters.txt
modedb.txt
svga.txt

syg00 · 07-25-2020, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

The messages you don't want lost should be recoverable via journalctl.

I too haven't fooled with this in years, but have a look at gfxmode.

MdAyq · 07-25-2020, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

Which gfxcard do you have exactly (chip ID)?

Code:

inxi -Gxx

Device-1: AMD Heathrow XT [Radeon HD 7870M] vendor: Dell FirePro M6000

mrmazda · 07-26-2020, 07:56 PM

Quote:

...exactly (chip ID)

Code:

# inxi -GSxx
System:    Host: gx78b Kernel: 4.19.0-9-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 Desktop: Trinity R14.0.8 tk: Qt 3.5.0
           wm: Twin dm: TDM Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] vendor: Dell
           driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:6779
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: modesetting alternate: ati,fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz
           s-dpi: 120
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD CAICOS (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.19.0-9-amd64 LLVM 7.0.1) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 compat-v: 3.1
           direct render: Yes

MdAyq · 07-27-2020, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmazda

exactly

I apologize; I did not see the chip ID in the output earlier. Here we go, pseudonymized, from a tty:

Code:

System:    Host: undisclosedHostName Kernel: 4.19.0-9-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 Console: tty 3 dm: GDM3 
           Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Heathrow XT [Radeon HD 7870M] vendor: Dell FirePro M6000 driver: radeon 
           v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:6825 
           Display: tty server: X.org 1.20.4 driver: ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa compositor: gnome-shell 
           tty: 240x67 
           Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console for root.

Btw., I'm also o.k. with setting the SVGA text mode 240x67 upon boot (but I don't know the corresponding SVGA text mode number for my chip) instead of 132x60.

Shadow_7 · 07-27-2020, 03:49 AM

For xterm like things -geometry 132x60

For console like things, there's setfont. Not sure what font would favor exactly 132x60, but you can certainly do better than 80x25. Something 14 pixels by 18 pixels according to math for a 1920x1080 pixel display.

$ setfont /usr/share/consolefonts/Uni3-Terminus32x16.psf.gz

Gets me:

$ echo $COLUMNS x $LINES
120 x 33

$ setfont /usr/share/consolefonts/Uni3-Fixed18.psf.gz

Gets me:

$ echo $COLUMNS x $LINES
240 x 60

MdAyq · 07-27-2020, 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow_7

For console like things, there's setfont.

Thanks but... The OP is not about tty_ (I agree that you can actually change the text mode via setfont), but about the text mode for boot time messages and avoiding useless clear screens and useless mode switching.