How do I change the screen font size when using a virtual console?

Question

Using LDXE and Ubuntu, I can log into a virtual console via Ctrl+Alt+F1.

The text is far too small. How do I change the screen resolution to get a larger font?

Solution 1

You should edit the file /etc/default/console-setup and change the FONTSIZE variable. Once you've made your changes you must reconfigure your terminal by running:

$ sudo service console-setup restart

Solution 2

@Spack's answer didn't work for my raspberry-pi, but I found a set of instructions that did work for me here

To sum it up

sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup
#select "UTF-8"
#select "Guess optimal character set"
#select "Terminus"
#select 16*32 (my selection for a 7 inch monitor on raspberry pi)

Comments

[Kshitij Saraogi]

This might help : askubuntu.com/a/173221/434885

[Keith Thompson]

I tried this (on Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS). It just sends a + character.

[Tim Tisdall]

This answer is correct, but the problem is knowing what possible settings are allowed. The default font is "Fixed" and its largest size is 8x16. sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup allows you to see what the options are. (answer from @boulder_ruby)

[Tim Tisdall]

This only sort of worked for me... :( I seem to have to type setupcon in the virtual terminal to get it to be used (on each reboot and on each terminal!).

[Pablo A]

When he says "Ctrl+Alt+F1" makes clear he doesn't mean a terminal emulator, more info here.