11.3 resolution problem, no textmodus possible at startup

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hello,

I use normally opensuse 11.1. This days I installed the 11.3. Since I have installed it, the resolution is higher and the fonts are very small. I have some problems with my eyes, so I prefer to use text mode for startup and console. So now I dont know how I can get back to start system in textmode 80x25. suse seem to ignore every command I enter I tried in Yast grub settings to set there Text mode. I tried to add command vga-normal vga-0xF00. Nothing changes it. There is maybe a bug. Whay is the standard resulotion in 11.3 so high ? The installation works in textmode, but after first start it goes up.

Please help what can I do ? The resolution is very important for me to can work.

Thanks

Romeo

2

If you are using KDE Konsole, have you tried Settings>Edit profile>Appearance and then moving the font size slider?

3

Also if you’re using Gnome there’s Applications | Utilities | Desktop | Control Center | Apperance | where you can change fonts and/or font sizes for parts of the Desktop.

4

See if the suggestion in this thread helps your situation.

5

Replacing vga=0x31a (or whatever you have there) with vga=normal in the entry booting the kernel in /boot/grub/menu.lst works for sure. For Example (please scroll to the end of the line) , replace :

title openSUSE 11.3 (Teal) - kernel 2.6.34.7-0.7 (Desktop)
    root (hd0,10)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.7-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/316bc15c-b355-4857-98e2-3c623651c1c9 resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3ee92cf0-d362-44e8-92bc-cf629f6537b6 splash=silent quiet showopts **vga=0x31a**
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.7-desktop

with

title openSUSE 11.3 (Teal) - kernel 2.6.34.7-0.7 (Desktop)
    root (hd0,10)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.34.7-0.7-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/316bc15c-b355-4857-98e2-3c623651c1c9 resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3ee92cf0-d362-44e8-92bc-cf629f6537b6 splash=silent quiet showopts **vga=normal**
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.34.7-0.7-desktop
  • Of course, you have to change the default runlevel from 5 to 3 - but I assume you already did.
6

@please_try_again: I think as consused pointed out (in a previous thread):

It’s not that simple. The “vga=” option does not persist through the boot option due to 11.3 implementing Kernel Mode Setting (KMS). Using “nomodeset” as a boot option, depending on the graphics driver (if supporting KMS), can invalidate the driver normally loaded by default and cause a different graphics driver to be loaded e.g. the “intel” driver would not be loaded and would be replaced by “fbdev”, an inferior driver in performance with limited resolution support. Refer to the 11.3 release notes for the possible changes by “nomodeset”.

However, the ‘video=’ kernel parameter may be useful in setting the required display mode (more permanently) where KMS drivers are involved. You may remember the discussion in this thread.

7

Yes I remember. It depends indeed on the driver. The example I posted is from a machine using the nvidia driver. It wouldn’t have worked if using the nouveau driver and KMS. It works with ATI proprietary driver too and I guess with radeonhd and nomodeset (which might be required anyway). I don’t know anything about the Intel driver - don’t have laptops or Intel boards - but it seems to be a tough one.

8

[QUOTE]Yes I remember. It depends indeed on the driver.[/QUOTE
Yes, that’s right. It does depend on the graphics driver in question.

The radeon/radeonhd, nouveau, and Intel drivers are all KMS-enabled drivers, so the the ‘video=’ can be used to set the effective resolution (and associated font size) for the tty consoles at startup. For proprietary drivers (nvidia and fglrx), the ‘vga=’ parameter is applicable.

Some more references on this:

Framebuffer - Gentoo Linux Wiki

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/KernelModeSetting

For example:

video="800x600"