Command Line Interfaces

[NoOp]

On 10/05/2007 09:37 AM, Pete Holsberg wrote:
> NoOp pounded out the following on his or her keyboard on 10/4/2007 6:48 PM:
>> On 10/04/2007 03:23 PM, Pete Holsberg wrote:
>>> Mario Vukelic pounded out the following on his or her keyboard on
>>> 10/4/2007 3:37 PM:
>>>> On Thu, 2007-10-04 at 14:54 -0400, Pete Holsberg wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What controls the resolution in the console?
>>>>>
>>>>> Pretend I'm a Unix geek. Now what's your answer? :-)
>>>>>
>>>> Pass a vga= command line to the kernel to change the resolution. Google
>>>> for "grub vga modes" or something.
>>>>
>>> Tried it. Didn't work.
>>>
>>>> You can also use a framebuffer, which would give you higher resolutions
>>>> easily.
>>>>
>>> How do I use a framebuffer?
>>
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FrameBuffer
> 
> Very nice (as far as it goes). There's no vga= in my menu.lst. Can I 
> assume that I do not have a frame buffer?
> 
> 

Do this (assumes that hwinfo is not installed):

$ sudo apt-get install hwinfo

when it finishes installing:

$ sudo hwinfo --framebuffer

The output of that will show you: 1) if framebuffer is supported by your
graphics card/chipset, and 2) what resolutions are available to you.

For example, on this machine I have an ATI card, output of sudo hwinfo
--framebuffer is:

02: None 00.0: 11001 VESA Framebuffer
  [Created at bios.440]
  Unique ID: rdCR.99a6Uj8yMKC
  Hardware Class: framebuffer
  Model: "ATI RAGE128 R128"
  Vendor: "ATI Technologies Inc."
  Device: "R128"
  SubVendor: "ATI RAGE128"
  SubDevice:
  Revision: "01.00"
  Memory Size: 32 MB
  Memory Range: 0xf0000000-0xf1ffffff (rw)
  Mode 0x0382: 320x200 (+320), 8 bits
  Mode 0x030d: 320x200 (+640), 15 bits
  Mode 0x030e: 320x200 (+640), 16 bits
  Mode 0x030f: 320x200 (+960), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0320: 320x200 (+1280), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0392: 320x240 (+320), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0393: 320x240 (+640), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0394: 320x240 (+640), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0395: 320x240 (+960), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0396: 320x240 (+1280), 32 bits
  Mode 0x03a2: 400x300 (+400), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03a3: 400x300 (+800), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03a4: 400x300 (+800), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03a5: 400x300 (+1200), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03a6: 400x300 (+1600), 32 bits
  Mode 0x03b2: 512x384 (+512), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03b3: 512x384 (+1024), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03b4: 512x384 (+1024), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03b5: 512x384 (+1536), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03b6: 512x384 (+2048), 32 bits
  Mode 0x03c2: 640x350 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x03c3: 640x350 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x03c4: 640x350 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x03c5: 640x350 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x03c6: 640x350 (+2560), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0300: 640x400 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0383: 640x400 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0384: 640x400 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0385: 640x400 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0386: 640x400 (+2560), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0301: 640x480 (+640), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0310: 640x480 (+1280), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0311: 640x480 (+1280), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0312: 640x480 (+1920), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0321: 640x480 (+2560), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0303: 800x600 (+800), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0313: 800x600 (+1600), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0314: 800x600 (+1600), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0315: 800x600 (+2400), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0322: 800x600 (+3200), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0316: 1024x768 (+2048), 15 bits
  Mode 0x0317: 1024x768 (+2048), 16 bits
  Mode 0x0318: 1024x768 (+3072), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0323: 1024x768 (+4096), 32 bits
  Mode 0x0307: 1280x1024 (+1280), 8 bits
  Mode 0x0319: 1280x1024 (+2560), 15 bits
  Mode 0x031a: 1280x1024 (+2560), 16 bits
  Mode 0x031b: 1280x1024 (+3840), 24 bits
  Mode 0x0324: 1280x1024 (+5120), 32 bits
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown

That tells me that I can use any of those in my grub vga=settings. Example:
Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits
so I'd use vga=0x0305 in my grub (menu.lst) settings to get that resolution.

Here is another link that you might find helpful:
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Framebuffer-HOWTO.html
its a bit dated, but it should provide for some good reading.
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framebuffer


Gary