Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: I took the plunge with kde

["Dmitri Pogosyan" <pogosyan@phys.ualberta.ca>]

> On 09/05/2009 02:43 PM, Paul Stear wrote:
> > By the way does anybody know how to use a smaller font for the boot up screen?
> 
> What monitor do you have?  If it's a TFT, use its native resolution in 
> the kernel parameters.  Though some widescreen resolutions aren't 
> supported by some graphics cards' VESA BIOSes, sadly.

Actually, most of them are, but may have non-standard codes.
I run laptop 1440x900x16 (vga=0x36a) and desktop monitor at 1680x1050x32
(vga=0x369). 

vbespy from the bottom of 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_BIOS_Extensions

allows the detection of supported VESA modes on your card.

Be careful to convert VESA mode codes reported by vbespy to kernel codes
that vga= parameter takes.   Transformation is to add 512, and, optionally
convert to hex.

i.e for me vbespy reports 1680x1050 (8,8,8) vesa mode as 361 (decimal). Kernel
mode is 361+512=873=0x369 in hex


> 
> Another solution is to change the kernel font (in the kernel 
> configuration, somewhere in the console framebuffer settings) and 
> console font (/etc/conf.d/consolefont) since the kernel font will be 
> replaced after the kernel has booted an init is run.



--
Dmitri Pogosyan            Department of Physics
Professor                  University of Alberta
tel 1-780-492-2150         11322 - 89 Avenue
fax 1-780-492-0714         Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G7, CANADA