Choosing a bootloader vga mode

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1

Hi. I’m running opensuse 12.3 64-bit. I’m using grub2 as the bootloader. My laptop stretches the video to the dimensions of the screen, which is 1600x900. The bootloader is current configured in yast has having vga mode “Unspecified”. This presents me with a big and ugly grub2 menu.

It has occurred to me that I might be able to specify a resolution consistent with my screen and get a more attractive boot experience. But then again, this is the bootloader, and I worry about what will happen if I specify a vga mode that is unsupported.

So, the question is: what’s the worst thing that can happen when I change the vga mode setting? :slight_smile: If it makes any difference, my video card is Nvidia NVS 5200M, and I an using the proprietary driver (but that doesn’t load until later in the boot cycle). Thanks!

2

Hi
Run;


hwinfo --framebuffer

And select the ‘Mode’ you require.

3

Thanks. It took a couple of tries. It turns out the setting that really needed to be changed was the “Console resolution”. Anyway, all better now. :slight_smile:

4

Good to see that you got it sorted out.

Just as a general FYI, the resolution for the bootloader (e.g. Grub) and that of the console are two different things. Unfortunately the Yast bootloader module more_or_less lumps them together so that the distinction is not abundantly clear.