Poor TTY resolution with nVidia driver

terminal grub2 nvidia tty

13,739

Solution 1

Add the following after your GRUB_GFXMODE line in /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep

Solution 2

I had a similar issue. Installed the nvidia graphics drivers on Debian and suddenly the TTY resolution went awry. I was not particularly worried about the resolution of GRUB itself though, only the console I would get from it.

With such simplifications of the problem the following portion from the OP worked perfectly for me:

sudo vi /etc/initramfs-tools/modules

Adding/editing line:

uvesafb mode_option=1680x1050-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap

Finally update the configuration files:

sudo update-initramfs -u

I did also try the suggestion to simply add the vga=0x0369 parameter to the kernel command line. This did not work for me with the 3.2.0 kernel though

13,739

DanCat

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

DanCat over 1 year
The resolution of the TTY1-6 is poor ~ 640×480

Ubuntu 11.10 | Grub2 | nVidia | NVIDIA GT215 Board

I went through the process on this site and after the edit the GRUB menu appears in the correct (more refined resolution). But after it boots into GNOME (via gdm3) and I attempt to view terminal 1-6 the screen is barely or completely unreadable.

I am able to revert my changes but I am looking to restore the fine resolution the terminal screens are capable of.

To determine the screen resolutions avail. to me, I used:
```
hwinfo --framebuffer | grep "Mode"
Mode 0x0369: 1680x1050 (+6720), 24 bits
```
These are the steps I went through. edit 1) grub config 2) initramfs modules, then 3) update
```
sudo vi  /etc/default/grub
```
Find the following three lines.
```
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet  splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
...
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640×480
```
Change them to:
```
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1680x1050-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="vga=0x0369"
...
GRUB_GFXMODE=1680x1050
```
Then:
```
sudo vi  /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
```
Adding/editing line:
```
uvesafb mode_option=1680x1050-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap
```
Create a new file:
```
echo FRAMEBUFFER=y |  sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash
```
Finally update the configuration files:
```
sudo update-grub2
sudo update-initramfs -u
```
Again, the GRUB menu in the beginning of the boot-up process shows the more refined resolution (including small font size), but small refined focused resolution disappears for terminals after boot up.
- jasonwryan about 12 years
  
  In earlier versions (Maverick), I forced the TTY resolution with this in /etc/default/grub: GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=1680x1050. Also, if you are using uvesafb have you installed v86d?
- jasonwryan about 12 years
  
  This was my /etc/default/grub from Maverick: codepad.org/vkufRCcb
- DanCat about 12 years
  
  Are you also using the edits in uvesafb?
- jasonwryan about 12 years
  
  I'm no longer running Ubuntu: and at the time I didn't use uvesafb - the above config was all I needed to set the correct console resolution.
jasonwryan almost 12 years

Apparently it does for @DanCat...
xunien almost 12 years

I use grub, grub2 supports buffers upper than 16M ? (0x31B)