Syslinux resolution help

brandon88tube · 2012-09-03 16:01:54

Problem:
Trying to get a graphical menu with a background image at a 1920x1080 resolution, but nothing seems to be working as I get black borders around the screen. It's just like BIOS and won't scale properly probably because it's a 16:9 aspect ratio and not a 4:3, 16:10 or whatever it supports.

Questions:
1. Do I need to set the vga mode to something like vga=845 and if so, where does this go in the config file? (Note: This is DVI/DisplayPort so I'm not sure if VGA modes apply)
2. Do I need to set the MENU RESOLUTION to MENU RESOLUTION 1920 1080 as well?
3. Can the splash image be greater than 640x480?

I would greatly appreciate if someone could help me figure this out as all of my Googling hasn't produced any real results.

bgc1954 · 2012-09-03 16:28:12

AFAIK you have to use a 640x480 splash.png. There is a link in the syslinux wiki to a sample splash.png or you can come up with your own but I believe it has to be 640x480. My desktop is 1280x1024 and I have a vga=773 in the boot section of syslinux.cfg at the end of the APPEND line. But my netbook is 1024x600 and I have no vga= setting. The background just stretches to fill in the sides with no black borders that I can see but my background is also black so maybe I wouldn't notice. I'm sure I read it has to be 640x480 but I can't find it now.
I didn't touch anything for menu resolution on either desktop or netbook, they just worked.

brandon88tube · 2012-09-03 16:33:55

It would be nice to just get the menu to fill the screen instead of having black borders.

Gusar · 2012-09-03 16:51:14

The syslinux vesamenu can use all resolutions that are in the vbios of your graphic card (just a fyi, this is no different in grub). To set the resolution, use

MENU RESOLUTION width height

in syslinux.cfg. The background picture needs to match this resolution. To find out which resolutions you can use, install hwinfo and do

hwinfo --framebuffer

as root.

Now whether the resolution will fill the screen, that's up to the display to determine. If it's an external display, check its built-in settings for how it should behave with non-native resolutions. If it's a laptop, maybe there's a bios option, and if there isn't you're out of luck.

bgc1954 · 2012-09-03 17:11:38

@gusar:
Thx for the clarification. I've just been using 640x480 and I've never thought to check into it further as it works ok for me. I think I'll just have to change it now.

edit: I knew I read it somewhere. From syslinux.org wiki

MENU BACKGROUND background

        For vesamenu.c32, sets the background image. The background can either be a color (see MENU COLOR) or the name of an image file, which should be 640x480 pixels and either in PNG or JPEG format.

But it does work for my native resolution 1280x1024. I just have to fiddle with the size and position of the menu now as they are smaller than when it was 640x480.

Last edited by bgc1954 (2012-09-03 17:30:46)

brandon88tube · 2012-09-03 17:49:38

Wow, thanks gusar this really helps. Quick question about it filling the screen. If I make it the native resolution, shouldn't it fill the screen perfectly?

EDIT:
Even though it supports resolutions at 1920x1080 8,16 and 32 bit from looking at hwdetect, it still gives me black borders. It only fills in when the drivers seem to load and the only options I have on this Dell U2311H are Fill and 4:3. Why is it failing to display the 1920x1080 properly on a digital input?

Last edited by brandon88tube (2012-09-03 18:26:25)

Gusar · 2012-09-03 18:24:06

brandon88tube wrote:

If I make it the native resolution, shouldn't it fill the screen perfectly?

If the native resolution is in your vbios, sure. But in many cases it isn't, especially when it comes to widescreen resolutions.

brandon88tube · 2012-09-03 18:28:47

Gusar, is there any good references you can point me to on this info? I can understand things like BIOS having black borders because I can't control that, but I thought that I could at least control this in syslinux.

Gusar · 2012-09-03 18:52:29

brandon88tube wrote:

but I thought that I could at least control this in syslinux.

It's a bootloader. It doesn't contain any graphics drivers. Controlling graphics not its job.

brandon88tube · 2012-09-03 19:17:35

Damn... Thanks for the info though. Wish my monitor would scale...

Arch Linux

#1 2012-09-03 16:01:54

Syslinux resolution help

#2 2012-09-03 16:28:12

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#3 2012-09-03 16:33:55

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#4 2012-09-03 16:51:14

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#5 2012-09-03 17:11:38

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#6 2012-09-03 17:49:38

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#7 2012-09-03 18:24:06

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#8 2012-09-03 18:28:47

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#9 2012-09-03 18:52:29

Re: Syslinux resolution help

#10 2012-09-03 19:17:35

Re: Syslinux resolution help

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