# Console resolution



## AtariAvenger (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi,

I recently installed FreeBSD 10.0-RELEASE (amd64) on a Samsung NP-N145-JP03AU netbook.  I am attempting to configure a high resolution console (1024x600) and also wanting to use that same resolution (native) in x11/xorg.  However, when performing `vidcontrol -i mode` it only reports a maximum resolution of 800x600.

I also have this problem in x11/xorg whereby if I attempt to configure /etc/X11/xorg.conf with a resolution of 1024x600, it only displays in 800x600.  I have confirmed the display can run at 1024x600 as it previously ran Windows 7 and I have successfully tested X.Org operation via a Xubuntu live-USB boot and by installing OpenBSD.  There are also issues with using the intel driver in x11/xorg but I assume this just requires a kernel rebuild with KMS enabled.

I have also looked at the syscons(4) man page but nothing seems to pop-out at me.  Can anyone please help? 

Regards.


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## wblock@ (Mar 14, 2014)

Support of VESA resolutions in console mode depends on the VESA BIOS, and options VESA in the kernel.

For X, yes, the KMS drivers are needed.

Soon, or maybe already, the vt(9) code will be MFCed to 10-STABLE, and then higher resolutions will be available for the console.  These require a custom kernel with options as shown in /usr/src/sys/amd64/conf/VT.


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## AtariAvenger (Mar 18, 2014)

Thank you for the reply.


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## wblock@ (Mar 18, 2014)

Over the last couple of days, I've been trying the new console driver on a couple of systems, and it works.  There is no man page yet, so I'm not sure how to change resolutions.  On startup, it uses a default, maybe 640x480 or 800x600.  After X has been started, it uses the same resolution as X.  It still needs some polishing, but is getting there.


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## srobert (Mar 18, 2014)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Support of VESA resolutions in console mode depends on the VESA BIOS, and options VESA in the kernel.


For a laptop or netbook, it might be better to load VESA as a module since having it enabled in the kernel may interfere with suspend/resume.


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## wblock@ (Mar 18, 2014)

vt(9) is a replacement for the VESA modes.


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## AtariAvenger (Mar 24, 2014)

Ok, I might checkout vt(9) in the 10-STABLE branch.  Cheers.


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## wblock@ (Mar 24, 2014)

I've been running it for a while now.  There's no way to set console resolution yet, although it keeps the mode that X was using.


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## SirDice (Mar 25, 2014)

How is the speed of the console at resolution? That was one of the reasons for me to ditch the whole graphical console (sc(4) and vidcontrol(1)), it was just too slow.


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## wblock@ (Mar 25, 2014)

It's difficult to judge.  A week ago, I'd have said it's slow.  Trying it today, it seems acceptable, although not as fast as a text-based console.  Last week, I installed a faster Radeon card, and that may be the difference.  I don't know if vt(9) uses 2D acceleration, although that seems technically possible.


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## AtariAvenger (Apr 3, 2014)

I gave up on the high resolution console idea.  I ended up installing x11/xorg from ports to get the Intel driver working and now just use x11-wm/dwm with an x11/xterm and sysutils/tmux session running full screen.

On a netbook with 1 Gib of RAM, I still have close to 800 MiB available with all that running.


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