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#1 2010-09-10 09:52:37

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

I've noticed this on a few distros, and now that I'm planning to use Arch long-term I'd like to find a solution.

After installing the latest nvidia drivers, the terminal will not change to the native resolution during boot.
While configuring my install, the system would boot at 1024x768, and then switch to my native resolution of 1366x768 presumably after the generic video driver loaded.

I've tried using hwinfo to find the code for a 1366x768 video mode for the kernel, but it does not report one.

A 1366x768 terminal looked really great, and there is obviously a way to do it. How can I get it to work with the nvidia drivers?

Last edited by Slax (2010-09-10 09:53:33)

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#2 2010-09-10 10:16:42

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Try uvesafb. While uvesafb is running 'cat /sys/bus/platform/drivers/uvesafb/uvesafb.0/vbe_modes' will show you supported resolutions. If your preferred one isn't there, you're screwed.

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#3 2010-09-10 12:12:47

karol
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Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Or you can use nouveau, which has nouveaufb if you don't really need nvidia ;P

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#4 2010-09-10 15:07:33

Mad Fish
Member
Registered: 2009-09-22
Posts: 295

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

NVIDIA official drivers do not support kernel mode setting, that's why you're not getting native resolution on boot.

Last edited by Mad Fish (2010-09-10 15:08:13)

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#5 2010-09-10 15:17:28

Anntoin
Member
Registered: 2009-08-10
Posts: 42
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

If you're using Grub2 these lines in /etc/default/grub will set the kernel framebuffer resolution:

...
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=1366x768x24

# Uncomment to allow the kernel use the same resolution used by grub
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
...

See here for Grub version one instructions:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRU … resolution

Edit: The code for 1366x768 is vga=866

Last edited by Anntoin (2010-09-10 15:19:57)

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#6 2010-09-10 15:22:03

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Anntoin wrote:

If you're using Grub2 these lines in /etc/default/grub will set the kernel framebuffer resolution:

...
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=1366x768x24

# Uncomment to allow the kernel use the same resolution used by grub
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
...

See here for Grub version one instructions:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRU … resolution

Edit: The code for 1366x768 is vga=866

But with nvidia driver you don't get the resolutions OP wants.

Last edited by karol (2010-09-10 15:22:27)

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#7 2010-09-10 16:08:18

Anntoin
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Registered: 2009-08-10
Posts: 42
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

But with nvidia driver you don't get the resolutions OP wants.

Sorry, misread OPs post. Thought it was the framebuffer resolution that needed changing.

With regard to the OPs problem what GPU do you have? If it's more recent setting the mode in your Xorg.conf may work. But for older GPUs you're out of luck. See: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=150359

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#8 2010-09-10 16:13:35

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Anntoin wrote:

But with nvidia driver you don't get the resolutions OP wants.

Sorry, misread OPs post. Thought it was the framebuffer resolution that needed changing.

With regard to the OPs problem what GPU do you have? If it's more recent setting the mode in your Xorg.conf may work. But for older GPUs you're out of luck. See: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=150359

Framebuffer is not X, you're mixing things up.

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#9 2010-09-10 16:20:27

Anntoin
Member
Registered: 2009-08-10
Posts: 42
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

I realize that the framebuffer is not X. The nvidia driver doesn't have a framebuffer driver.

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#10 2010-09-10 20:14:54

Mr.Elendig
#archlinux@freenode channel op
From: The intertubes
Registered: 2004-11-07
Posts: 4,092

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

When you are using the propiary drivers, you are stuck with whatever the vesa bios on your card supports, which usually does not include "fancy" things like 1366x768.


Evil #archlinux@libera.chat channel op and general support dude.
. files on github, Screenshots, Random pics and the rest

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#11 2010-09-10 22:46:19

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Ok, because a hi-res terminal is important to me. I decided to use nouveau.
I'm writing to you from firefox on dwm on nouveau!

However, in the future I'm going to want full opengl support.
This just isn't possible right now with a hi-res terminal?

I may be misinterpereting this, but I don't need "kernel level modesetting", as long as whatever is NOT "kernel level" can set my initial mode to 1366x768.

Also, even before installing nouveaux explicitly, the default driver was giving me a hi-res and high performance console. What driver is this? The version of nouveaux that was rolled into the kernel?

Last edited by Slax (2010-09-10 22:47:43)

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#12 2010-09-10 22:54:57

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

I think nvidia can give you high resolution (e.g. 1280x1024 and even higher), but not 1366x768, because it's not VESA standard, but some widescreen.

I'm not sure what do you mean by "default driver".

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#13 2010-09-11 09:59:35

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Nouveau has both a framebuffer console driver (for a hi-res console) and an X driver. Nvidia only has an X driver. That's all there is to it.
If you want to use nvidia driver for X, you can only use vesafb or uvesafb for the console, in which case you're limited to resolutions in the graphic card's vbios. Some cards do have widescreen resolutions in the vbios, some don't.

Have you tried uvesafb and checked /sys/bus/platform/drivers/uvesafb/uvesafb.0/vbe_modes, as I said in my first reply? Maybe you're lucky and 1366x768 is actually there.

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#14 2010-09-11 10:31:21

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Gusar wrote:

Have you tried uvesafb and checked /sys/bus/platform/drivers/uvesafb/uvesafb.0/vbe_modes, as I said in my first reply? Maybe you're lucky and 1366x768 is actually there.

I'll try that.

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#15 2010-09-14 00:46:21

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Update:

It took me a while to figure out that I had to start uvesafb with modprobe.

uvesafb reports 1280x720 as my max resolution from BIOS, which I should have guessed as this is what other operating systems  that I've used that don't have KMS will start with before nvidia's drivers.

I had been using vga=891 (1280x720 for me) based on a hwinfo output from when I was using Mint.
I'm back to using the nvidia binary drivers due to some x crashing with nouveau and vesa vga mode of 891. It's fine for now.
Can't wait for a version of nouveau that fully supports my hardware.

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#16 2010-09-14 00:51:54

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Slax wrote:

I'm back to using the nvidia binary drivers due to some x crashing with nouveau and vesa vga mode of 891. It's fine for now.
Can't wait for a version of nouveau that fully supports my hardware.

What do you mean by "some x crashing"? What resolution you get with nouveau w/o any 'vga='?

Last edited by karol (2010-09-14 00:52:31)

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#17 2010-09-14 04:55:39

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

karol wrote:

What do you mean by "some x crashing"? What resolution you get with nouveau w/o any 'vga='?

I mean that with nouveau, my xorg server crashes. Also, as I've written multiple times, with nouveau I have a terminal framebuffer at 1366x768 because of nouveau-fb.
Nouveau has been part of the main linux kernel since 2.6.33.

I'm now using the nvidia binary drivers and am forced to use vesafb.

Last edited by Slax (2010-09-14 04:59:45)

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#18 2010-09-14 09:20:01

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Slax wrote:
karol wrote:

What do you mean by "some x crashing"? What resolution you get with nouveau w/o any 'vga='?

I mean that with nouveau, my xorg server crashes. Also, as I've written multiple times, with nouveau I have a terminal framebuffer at 1366x768 because of nouveau-fb.
Nouveau has been part of the main linux kernel since 2.6.33.

I'm now using the nvidia binary drivers and am forced to use vesafb.

OK, I wanted to make sure I understand: nouveau works great in the terminal, but fails in X, so it's a showstopper for you.
Just curious: what card do you have?

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#19 2010-09-14 10:57:35

Slax
Member
Registered: 2010-08-11
Posts: 39

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

A GeForce 240M running on an Intel core i7 laptop purchased last December.

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#20 2010-09-14 18:34:02

maevius
Member
From: Greece
Registered: 2009-09-10
Posts: 135
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

For Intel cards there is 915resolution which is actually really cool. Combined with kernel26-fbcondecor I have a really nice and fun to work 1366x768 framebuffer on my netbook. It would be nice to see an implementation of this project for other cards as well.

Last edited by maevius (2010-09-14 18:34:51)

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#21 2010-09-14 18:37:29

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

maevius wrote:

It would be nice to see an implementation of this project for other cards as well.

Really unlikely. nouveau has it's own nouveaufb.

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#22 2010-09-14 19:45:16

Gusar
Member
Registered: 2009-08-25
Posts: 3,605

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

maevius wrote:

For Intel cards there is 915resolution which is actually really cool. Combined with kernel26-fbcondecor I have a really nice and fun to work 1366x768 framebuffer on my netbook. It would be nice to see an implementation of this project for other cards as well.

Why would you do that, when you can use KMS?

The real solution would be for nvidia to provide a framebuffer console driver, but they have no plans to do so, they only care about X.

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#23 2010-09-14 19:48:27

kazuo
Member
From: São Paulo/Brazil
Registered: 2008-03-18
Posts: 413
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Slax wrote:

Ok, because a hi-res terminal is important to me. I decided to use nouveau.

Uhh, can I ask what is your need for a hi-res terminal? For me I only use the terminal for text, so hi-res mean small fonts with good legibility (and fast too), in my case I put my terminal at 1280x800 (using uvesafb) and run fbterm with a small font, works great for me (but to be sincere I dont use it too much, as I'm always at a terminal emulator inside X). Fbterm supports freetype so I really like the text rendering. And ever if this is not really what you want take a look at fbterm, its very fast (a lot more than the default terminal).

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#24 2010-09-14 20:02:45

maevius
Member
From: Greece
Registered: 2009-09-10
Posts: 135
Website

Re: Terminal framebuffer low res after installing nvidia drivers.

Gusar wrote:

Why would you do that, when you can use KMS?

The real solution would be for nvidia to provide a framebuffer console driver, but they have no plans to do so, they only care about X.

You're right, all I meant was for the time being where KMS is not supported by nvidia, a side project like 915resolution would be nice.

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