I prefer to boot in non-graphical mode then load the Xwindow system, or not, as desired. To this end I set my default runlevel to 3 and delete the option "rhgb quiet" in grub.conf, as is well documented. In past releases the startup messages would change from 80 to 132 columns early on (no doubt in preparation for displaying them in a graphical window during startup if you choose that option) , but the shell prompt in the end was back to 80 columns. In F13, though, it remains small. This is hard on my eyes. How do I get back to an 80-column shell?
My searches on this topic have been surprisingly unproductive. I either get hits on changing the xterm display, which is a whole other thing, or passing a vga option to the kernel. The latter can't be right because the change is *after* Grub passes control to the kernel. I tried this and, indeed, it still changes to a small font during start-up.
"stty cols 80" does not seem to work. In any case, I'd prefer to find where it changes to a small font in the first place and stop it.
David
On Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:37:04 -0400 David Liguori wrote:
My searches on this topic have been surprisingly unproductive.
Mine too, but I eventually found something that helps (though it isn't setting things back to 80 columns).
With the new kernel video mode setting, the fonts in console mode come from the console fonts in /lib/kbd/consolefonts/.
The one it uses is determined by the font named in the file /etc/sysconfig/i18n and (for me) usually seems to be the silly name "latarcyrheb-sun16".
So what I wanted was a font twice as big as latarcyrheb-sun16, but with the same characterset. A google search eventually led me to "psftools" which I downloaded, built, and used to scale the 16 bit font by a factor of 2, producing a 32 bit font, which I can actually read (a tad blocky, but better than invisible).
Install that in the consolefonts directory, point the i18n file at it, and Bob's yer uncle.
(See how simple that was :-).
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On 07/22/2010 08:37 AM, David Liguori wrote:
I prefer to boot in non-graphical mode then load the Xwindow system, or not, as desired. To this end I set my default runlevel to 3 and delete the option "rhgb quiet" in grub.conf, as is well documented. In past releases the startup messages would change from 80 to 132 columns early on (no doubt in preparation for displaying them in a graphical window during startup if you choose that option) , but the shell prompt in the end was back to 80 columns. In F13, though, it remains small. This is hard on my eyes. How do I get back to an 80-column shell?
My searches on this topic have been surprisingly unproductive. I either get hits on changing the xterm display, which is a whole other thing, or passing a vga option to the kernel. The latter can't be right because the change is *after* Grub passes control to the kernel. I tried this and, indeed, it still changes to a small font during start-up.
"stty cols 80" does not seem to work. In any case, I'd prefer to find where it changes to a small font in the first place and stop it.
David
Something else that might be tried is adding 'vga=ask' to the kernel boot line, and then trying various modes until you find one that fits for you, then setting 'vga=<mode>'
THere are a couple standard ones (including 80 column mode), but it also allows you to set the vesafb to any resolution that fits for you.
- -- Stephen Gallagher RHCE 804006346421761
Delivering value year after year. Red Hat ranks #1 in value among software vendors. http://www.redhat.com/promo/vendor/
On Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Stephen Gallagher sgallagh@redhat.com wrote:
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On 07/22/2010 08:37 AM, David Liguori wrote:
I prefer to boot in non-graphical mode then load the Xwindow system, or not, as desired. To this end I set my default runlevel to 3 and delete the option "rhgb quiet" in grub.conf, as is well documented. In past releases the startup messages would change from 80 to 132 columns early on (no doubt in preparation for displaying them in a graphical window during startup if you choose that option) , but the shell prompt in the end was back to 80 columns. In F13, though, it remains small. This is hard on my eyes. How do I get back to an 80-column shell?
I wrote this a LONG time ago and it may no longer be valid: http://xm-c32-002.digitalhermit.com/linux/hiresconsole.html
Check out the SVGATextMode command.. MIght still exist
On 7/22/2010 9:19 AM, Tom Horsley wrote:
With the new kernel video mode setting, the fonts in console mode come from the console fonts in /lib/kbd/consolefonts/.
The one it uses is determined by the font named in the file /etc/sysconfig/i18n and (for me) usually seems to be the silly name "latarcyrheb-sun16".
(snip)
Install that in the consolefonts directory, point the i18n file at it, and Bob's yer uncle.
(See how simple that was :-).
Maybe I was naive to think it's as simple as I did!
Thing is, I have my laptop here, it's running F8. That also has /etc/sysconfig/i18n pointing to latarcyrheb-sun16. But in console mode boot it stays in 80 columns right through to the shell prompt. It also has an option to "display details" in graphical boot wherein you can see the startup messages in a graphical window. The only difference may be, as you said, a new kernel video mode setting in F13.
I wasn't prepared to build myself a new console font. However, I was prepared to change to whatever they used in F8, had it been something different.
@Kwan Lowe: Thanks, as I said, passing a "vga" option through grub does not help.
Any other ideas? Maybe I should parse inittab more closely in the two builds.
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:11:19 -0400 David Liguori wrote:
Any other ideas? Maybe I should parse inittab more closely in the two builds.
All the former console mode stuff is completely gone. All the kernel options about vga=<whatever> are meaningless. Everything has been consumed by the quest for kernel video mode setting which basically happens as soon as linux gets control.
You can get back the old console mode by adding the "nomodeset" kernel option, but all the X drivers are being developed assuming you won't do that, and some of them won't work at all if you have turned on the nomodeset option.
There is rumored to be some kind of new kernel boot option you can use to override the EDID info it normally gets from the monitor, but I have no idea how it works or what you tell it. (Or if it even exists as anything other than a rumor :-).
Stephen Gallagher-2 wrote:
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On 07/22/2010 08:37 AM, David Liguori wrote:
I prefer to boot in non-graphical mode then load the Xwindow system, or not, as desired. To this end I set my default runlevel to 3 and delete the option "rhgb quiet" in grub.conf, as is well documented. In past
Something else that might be tried is adding 'vga=ask' to the kernel boot line, and then trying various modes until you find one that fits for you, then setting 'vga=<mode>'
THere are a couple standard ones (including 80 column mode), but it also allows you to set the vesafb to any resolution that fits for you.
Stephen Gallagher RHCE 804006346421761
Things are in quite a bit of flux. First, in F12 the mode number I've used for a long time didn't work any more, but 'vga=ask' gave a list with a letter index that would select the desired mode.
With F13, Grub gives an error message that it can't parse a number if 'vga=ask' is on the kernel boot line. Haven't yet tried entering one of the old mode codes.
Robert McBroom
On 7/23/2010 10:13 AM, TNWestTex wrote:
Stephen Gallagher-2 wrote:
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On 07/22/2010 08:37 AM, David Liguori wrote:
I prefer to boot in non-graphical mode then load the Xwindow system, or not, as desired. To this end I set my default runlevel to 3 and delete the option "rhgb quiet" in grub.conf, as is well documented. In past
Something else that might be tried is adding 'vga=ask' to the kernel boot line, and then trying various modes until you find one that fits for you, then setting 'vga=<mode>'
THere are a couple standard ones (including 80 column mode), but it also allows you to set the vesafb to any resolution that fits for you.
Stephen Gallagher RHCE 804006346421761
Things are in quite a bit of flux. First, in F12 the mode number I've used for a long time didn't work any more, but 'vga=ask' gave a list with a letter index that would select the desired mode.
With F13, Grub gives an error message that it can't parse a number if 'vga=ask' is on the kernel boot line. Haven't yet tried entering one of the old mode codes.
Robert McBroom
Funny, I had already tried vga=ask and it worked as advertised. Problem was, it then went on its merry way switching to the tiny font as before. Maybe the solution is to buy a bigger monitor.
Thanks to all.
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:58:35 -0400 David Liguori wrote:
Maybe the solution is to buy a bigger monitor.
Nah, I use a 46 inch HDTV as a monitor and the fonts are too small for me there as well. The problem is they are pixel sized fonts, and none of the pixel sizes are very big. You need a crappy low resolution screen, then you could read the console :-).
Anyway, being reminded of this issue made me remember I wanted to submit a bug, so I did that:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=617768
I attached my scaled up font to it as an example.
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David Liguori -
Kwan Lowe -
Robert McBroom -
Stephen Gallagher -
Tom Horsley