# Enlarge Fonts



## fvs (Mar 24, 2020)

When I start first boot install, I have trouble with the small fonts. Is there a way to enlarge the font?


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## meine (Mar 24, 2020)

You have to look for `vidcontrol`

First look up the possible modes on your machine with `vidcontrol -i mode`

Then choose one to be used with `vidcontrol MODE_<number>`, where <number> is the graphics mode you chose in the step before.

See the Handbook, 3.2.3. Changing Console Video Modes


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## SirDice (Mar 24, 2020)

meine that works for the sc(4) console. The console has been set to vt(4) for quite some time. The handbook hasn't been updated for this, unfortunately.


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## meine (Mar 24, 2020)

SirDice said:


> meine that works for the sc(4) console. The console has been set to vt(4) for quite some time. The handbook hasn't been updated for this, unfortunately.



Excuse, I'm working on an older machine, indeed using sc(4).

Might be solved for the moment by putting 'kern.vty=sc' into /boot/loader.conf ?


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## T-Daemon (Mar 24, 2020)

fvs said:


> When I start first boot install, I have trouble with the small fonts.


If you mean having trouble reading the text on screen during installation, then you can try following: At the boot menu _Escape to loader prompt_, press key "3", enter `gop list`, choose a resolution mode, enter `gop set <set here mode number>`, ex.: 10, then enter `boot`.


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## meine (Mar 24, 2020)

From `man vt`

To set a 1024x768 mode on all output connectors, put the following line in /boot/loader.conf:

kern.vt.fb.default_mode="800x600"

or any other preferred resolution.

See for examples https://lme.postach.io/post/changing-console-resolution-in-freebsd-10-with-vt-4


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## mickey (Mar 24, 2020)

T-Daemon said:


> If you mean having trouble reading the text on screen during installation, then you can try following: At the boot menu _Escape to loader prompt_, press key "3", run `gop list`, choose a resolution mode, run `gop set <set here mode number>`, ex.: 10.


This will only work on UEFI machines and changes the display resolution, the text size is only changed indirectly. A better alternative is to use the `mode` command at the loader prompt to find out about supported text modes. You can try out any of the supported text modes at the loader prompt using `mode <n>` where _n_ is the number of the text mode. Both `gop` and `mode` are only available on UEFI machines and the change does not persist across reboots. To make it persistent you would need to add either:

```
exec="gop <n>"
```
or

```
exec="mode <n>"
```
to your /boot/loader.conf file. Another alternative is to set _efi_max_resolution_ in your /boot/loader.conf:

```
efi_max_resolution
                     Specify the maximum desired resolution for the EFI
                     console.  The following values are accepted:

                     Value           Resolution
                     480p            640x480
                     720p            1280x720
                     1080p           1920x1080
                     2160p           3840x2160
                     4k              3840x2160
                     5k              5120x2880
                     WidthxHeight    WidthxHeight
```
If you are using a KMS video driver all of the above solutions will only work up to the point where the framebuffer driver gets replaced by the KMS driver during the boot process, at which point the driver will switch to a high resolution graphics mode (so your text might be small from that point onward again). You can specify a different graphics mode to use by setting any of the following in your /boot/loader.conf:

```
kern.vt.fb.default_mode
             Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode
             picked by the vt backend.  The mode is applied to all output
             connectors.  This is currently only supported by the vt_fb
             backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.

     kern.vt.fb.modes.connector_name
             Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode
             picked by the vt backend.  This mode is applied to the output
             connector connector_name only.  It has precedence over
             kern.vt.fb.default_mode.  The names of available connector names
             can be found in dmesg(8) after loading the KMS driver.  It will
             contain a list of connectors and their associated tunables.  This
             is currently only supported by the vt_fb backend when it is
             paired with a KMS video driver.
```
If your primary goal is to get a usable text console your best bet might be to load a different font using vidcontrol(1). Font files for use with vt(4) are located in /usr/share/vt/fonts and can be loaded using `vidcontrol -f <file>` i.e.

```
vidcontrol -f terminus-b32.fnt
```
Once you are satisfied with a specific font, you can make the change persistent for all virtual consoles by adding the following to your /etc/rc.conf file:

```
allscreens_flags="-f <myfont>.fnt"
```
The font loading takes place late in the boot process so it will probably not be of much use to make the kernel boot messages appear larger.


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## fvs (Mar 27, 2020)

mickey said:


> This will only work on UEFI machines and changes the display resolution, the text size is only changed indirectly. A better alternative is to use the `mode` command at the loader prompt to find out about supported text modes. You can try out any of the supported text modes at the loader prompt using `mode <n>` where _n_ is the number of the text mode. Both `gop` and `mode` are only available on UEFI machines and the change does not persist across reboots. To make it persistent you would need to add either:
> 
> ```
> exec="gop <n>"
> ...


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## fvs (Mar 27, 2020)

Thanks all, Now I have a bigger problem,Can't start my GUI screen, When I enter startx I get an error (1) message and terminates.
I'm running on a 2009 macbook, I tried and installed nvidia and intel drivers, But it still doesn't work, Although my mouse works on
the screen? Any thoughts?


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## meine (Mar 28, 2020)

fvs said:


> When I enter startx I get an error (1) message and terminates.


Follow the instructions in the Handbook, especially 5.4 Xorg Configuration. You need to either trust the automatic recognition or make/edit several config files, as described in the Handbook. The devil is in the details...

Foremost it is important to know what graphics card is on your machine, since it needs the specific driver. You could also try the generic VESA driver. On the Nvidia (when inside), you could try the x11-drivers/xf86-video-nv instead to avoid any trouble installing the larger driver for it. Here it works well, although I don't need any graphic frills.

There are numerous threads on this forum discussing and explaining making your GUI work, maybe start or continue existing discussions in the graphical threads...


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## SirDice (Mar 30, 2020)

fvs said:


> When I enter startx I get an error (1) message and terminates.


Look in /var/log/Xorg.0.log for clues why it doesn't work.



fvs said:


> I'm running on a 2009 macbook, I tried and installed nvidia and intel drivers,


Which NVidia model does it have? You may need to use the 'legacy' NVidia drivers: x11/nvidia-driver-390 or x11/nvidia-driver-340.


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## fvs (Mar 30, 2020)

SirDice said:


> Look in /var/log/Xorg.0.log for clues why it doesn't work.
> 
> 
> Which NVidia model does it have? You may need to use the 'legacy' NVidia drivers: x11/nvidia-driver-390 or x11/nvidia-driver-340.


I install all three of them, put them in /etc/rc.conf, tried each out, no joy?


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## SirDice (Apr 1, 2020)

Install misc/pastebinit and run `cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | pastebinit`, post the URL here.


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