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Setting a console resolution

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  Setting a console resolution henrik i <whocarez1@gmail.com> - 2017-12-28 12:50 +0100
    Re: Setting a console resolution henrik i <whocarez1@gmail.com> - 2017-12-28 17:20 +0100
      Re: Setting a console resolution Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2017-12-28 18:00 +0100
        Re: Setting a console resolution Sven Joachim <svenjoac@gmx.de> - 2017-12-28 20:30 +0100

#190384 — Setting a console resolution

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Hi,

I got two computers that usually run headless, but from time to time I
might need to troubleshoot from the console. When I do this, I just connect
a plain VGA cable to my 1920x1200 Dell monitor. Just upgraded to Stretch
with kernel 4.9 and noticed that no matter what I do, the console
resolution is 1920x1200. In addition, on the computer with the
Matrox-adapter running something as simple as 'dmesg -T' is really really
slow. It literally takes several seconds while the text scrolls on the
screen.

The thing is, I do not really care about fancy framebuffer resolution and
graphics on the console. I just want fairly big text that scrolls without
hiccups, even in 640x480 :P

I have tried setting the resolution in /etc/default/grub:
GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768x32
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

Then running update-grub. The only thing that changes, is the grub-menu
resolution, nothing else. I think the resolutions I have tried should be
supported, given the output from 'vbeinfo' in Grub. I also gave a couple of
kernel parameters a try, like video=1024x768x32. Even tried vga= and
nomodeset, but I think doing this is deprecated. None of these methods seem
to work.

I believe the resolution is set through KMS, Kernel Mode Setting. Maybe I
just need to blacklist some modules?

I know the onboard graphic cards are quite cheap, the Intel one is not even
made/supported by Intel :P Here is some output taken from lspci and dmesg:

1.
04:03.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. MGA
G200eW WPCM450 (rev 0a)
        Subsystem: Super Micro Computer Inc X9SCM-F Motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: mgag200
        Kernel modules: mgag200

[   12.997224] [drm] Initialized
[   13.150842] fbcon: mgadrmfb (fb0) is primary device
[   13.870421] mgag200 0000:04:03.0: fb0: mgadrmfb frame buffer device
[   13.888499] [drm] Initialized mgag200 1.0.0 20110418 for 0000:04:03.0 on
minor 0

2.
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor
D2xxx/N2xxx Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
        Subsystem: Intel Corporation Atom Processor D2xxx/N2xxx Integrated
Graphics Controller
        Kernel driver in use: gma500
        Kernel modules: gma500_gfx
- probably Intel 3600 graphics? (Not really Intel)

[    7.592556] [drm] Initialized
[    7.987711] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 2 (21.10.2013).
[    8.007901] [drm] No driver support for vblank timestamp query.
[    8.682025] fb: switching to psbdrmfb from VESA VGA
[    8.740893] fbcon: psbdrmfb (fb0) is primary device
[    9.598838] gma500 0000:00:02.0: fb0: psbdrmfb frame buffer device
[    9.613364] [drm] Initialized gma500 1.0.0 20140314 for 0000:00:02.0 on
minor 0
[   32.791633] [drm:cdv_intel_dp_complete_link_train [gma500_gfx]] *ERROR*
failed to train DP, aborting

With regards,
Henrik

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#190409

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A small update. I did some more testing on the system with Intel 3600
graphics, and at least one working solution was to blacklist the module:

In /etc/modprobe.d/whatever.conf
blacklist gma500_gfx

This enabled me to use the following lines in /etc/default/grub
GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768@60
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

Then run update-grub as always. For some reason, this works for resolution
change for both grub and the console. I guess this is because vesafb is now
in use. I wish it was possible to change the resolution with the 'native'
modules, but have not found the right documentation on the video= syntax
(if it works at all). As mentioned, it did not work with setting it in grub.

With regards,
Henrik

On Thu, Dec 28, 2017 at 12:48 PM, henrik i <whocarez1@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I got two computers that usually run headless, but from time to time I
> might need to troubleshoot from the console. When I do this, I just connect
> a plain VGA cable to my 1920x1200 Dell monitor. Just upgraded to Stretch
> with kernel 4.9 and noticed that no matter what I do, the console
> resolution is 1920x1200. In addition, on the computer with the
> Matrox-adapter running something as simple as 'dmesg -T' is really really
> slow. It literally takes several seconds while the text scrolls on the
> screen.
>
> The thing is, I do not really care about fancy framebuffer resolution and
> graphics on the console. I just want fairly big text that scrolls without
> hiccups, even in 640x480 :P
>
> I have tried setting the resolution in /etc/default/grub:
> GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768x32
> GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
>
> Then running update-grub. The only thing that changes, is the grub-menu
> resolution, nothing else. I think the resolutions I have tried should be
> supported, given the output from 'vbeinfo' in Grub. I also gave a couple of
> kernel parameters a try, like video=1024x768x32. Even tried vga= and
> nomodeset, but I think doing this is deprecated. None of these methods seem
> to work.
>
> I believe the resolution is set through KMS, Kernel Mode Setting. Maybe I
> just need to blacklist some modules?
>
> I know the onboard graphic cards are quite cheap, the Intel one is not
> even made/supported by Intel :P Here is some output taken from lspci and
> dmesg:
>
> 1.
> 04:03.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. MGA
> G200eW WPCM450 (rev 0a)
>         Subsystem: Super Micro Computer Inc X9SCM-F Motherboard
>         Kernel driver in use: mgag200
>         Kernel modules: mgag200
>
> [   12.997224] [drm] Initialized
> [   13.150842] fbcon: mgadrmfb (fb0) is primary device
> [   13.870421] mgag200 0000:04:03.0: fb0: mgadrmfb frame buffer device
> [   13.888499] [drm] Initialized mgag200 1.0.0 20110418 for 0000:04:03.0
> on minor 0
>
> 2.
> 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Atom Processor
> D2xxx/N2xxx Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
>         Subsystem: Intel Corporation Atom Processor D2xxx/N2xxx Integrated
> Graphics Controller
>         Kernel driver in use: gma500
>         Kernel modules: gma500_gfx
> - probably Intel 3600 graphics? (Not really Intel)
>
> [    7.592556] [drm] Initialized
> [    7.987711] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 2 (21.10.2013).
> [    8.007901] [drm] No driver support for vblank timestamp query.
> [    8.682025] fb: switching to psbdrmfb from VESA VGA
> [    8.740893] fbcon: psbdrmfb (fb0) is primary device
> [    9.598838] gma500 0000:00:02.0: fb0: psbdrmfb frame buffer device
> [    9.613364] [drm] Initialized gma500 1.0.0 20140314 for 0000:00:02.0 on
> minor 0
> [   32.791633] [drm:cdv_intel_dp_complete_link_train [gma500_gfx]]
> *ERROR* failed to train DP, aborting
>
> With regards,
> Henrik
>

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#190413

On Thu 28 Dec 2017 at 17:12:47 +0100, henrik i wrote:

> A small update. I did some more testing on the system with Intel 3600
> graphics, and at least one working solution was to blacklist the module:
> 
> In /etc/modprobe.d/whatever.conf
> blacklist gma500_gfx
> 
> This enabled me to use the following lines in /etc/default/grub
> GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768@60
> GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
> 
> Then run update-grub as always. For some reason, this works for resolution
> change for both grub and the console. I guess this is because vesafb is now
> in use. I wish it was possible to change the resolution with the 'native'
> modules, but have not found the right documentation on the video= syntax
> (if it works at all). As mentioned, it did not work with setting it in grub.

I have a machine with an nvidia card. 'video=800x600' added to the linux
line at boot time works satisfactorily. Can also be done via grub in
/etc/default.

-- 
Brian.

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#190422

On 2017-12-28 16:53 +0000, Brian wrote:

> On Thu 28 Dec 2017 at 17:12:47 +0100, henrik i wrote:
>
>> A small update. I did some more testing on the system with Intel 3600
>> graphics, and at least one working solution was to blacklist the module:
>> 
>> In /etc/modprobe.d/whatever.conf
>> blacklist gma500_gfx
>> 
>> This enabled me to use the following lines in /etc/default/grub
>> GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768@60
>> GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
>> 
>> Then run update-grub as always. For some reason, this works for resolution
>> change for both grub and the console. I guess this is because vesafb is now
>> in use. I wish it was possible to change the resolution with the 'native'
>> modules, but have not found the right documentation on the video= syntax
>> (if it works at all). As mentioned, it did not work with setting it in grub.
>
> I have a machine with an nvidia card. 'video=800x600' added to the linux
> line at boot time works satisfactorily. Can also be done via grub in
> /etc/default.

It is true that "video=800x600" works, but "video=800x600x32" (what the
OP had tried) does not.  The color depth, if any, has to be preceded by
a '-' sign, i.e. "video=800x600-32", see Documentation/fb/modedb.txt[1].

Rather than changing the display resolution, I would use a bigger font.
The console-setup-linux package ships various fonts with up to 32x16
pixels in the /usr/share/consolefonts directory which can be tried out
with setfont(1) and set in /etc/default/console-setup.

Cheers,
       Sven


1. https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/Documentation/fb/modedb.txt

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