I'm trying to change the resolution of a linux console (under VirtualBox). However I don't have the VESA BIOS extension installed. Grub tells me this much when I run vbeprobe. It seems the graphics driver for Virtual Box doesn't include a VESA interface.
I also ran dmesg and it confirms no VESA BIOS is ever loaded.
Can I do something about this? This is a major turn down for me and will probably make me give up on VirtualBox (and now that I was getting all excited about switching from VMWare).
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
You're trying to change the res of the text mode console?
Code://try //{ if (a) do { f( b); } while(1); else do { f(!b); } while(1); //}
Did you install "Guest Additions"? It used to sort resolution problems for me back in the day.
Yes, brewbuck. By setting GRUB_GFXMODE in /etc/default/grub.
Yes, glo. Guest additions are installed and running correctly.
Trying to load the module myself with insmod vbe results in "insmod: can't read 'vbe': No such file or directory". So it appears definitely there's no VESA extension.
Last edited by Mario F.; 07-27-2010 at 07:04 AM.
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
Did you try the VirtualBox forum? Linux is officially supported, so answering this shouldn't be a problem. You would also be welcome to put in a ticket to fix it if it actually was an issue. Regardless, I'd assume the answer is quite a head-smacker.
Better places to ask:
VirtualBox Forums - Officially supported, you should get help from mods here.
Ubuntu Forums - Very active and helpful people here.
Sent from my iPadŽ
Yeah. You are right. Guess that I will need Yet Another Forum Account. Was hoping to have it quickly solved here and avoid adding another entry to my password saver
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
Hehe. There are some things that we don't know here.Was hoping to have it quickly solved here
I have the same problem too, but didn't really care so I didn't try as hard you.
Maybe this thread could be of help: Help! Can't enable custom screen resolutions for linux? (View topic) • virtualbox.org
Specifically, the "VBoxManage setextradata" command.
Under Gnome I do get that resolution. It's not a problem that VBox can't find it, Yarin.
But I went away and did as you suggested. I also changed GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT to "quiet text vga=ask". But it did nothing. As it didn't changing it to "vga=0x160". 'ask' also doesn't pop a menu during boot as it should. I suspect, exactly because VESA isn't being loaded.
Then I went the extra mile:
1. Set GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="vbe" in /etc/default/grub
2. Follow the tips here
3. sudo update-grub
4. Boot
5. Thinking of ditching VBox
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
This console your talking about, is it within a GUI? (like konsole or something) You could try running in seamless mode then.
I think he's talking about the command-line outside of X server.Originally Posted by Yarin
I haven't researched, but I do believe I had attempted something similar for FreeBSD a year or so back (which isn't officially supported, so required more research) and found that the adjustment had to be made in the XML of the virtual machine you created. I know you can manually add additional properties not available in the GUI to the display settings such as the native resolution and EDID related data. I can't even remember if I was successful or not, but it might be something you'd want to look into.
Sent from my iPadŽ
err... no?
If I want to change the GUI console resolution I just resize the window. Besides the GUI console runs on X. It doesn't require me to alter grub settings.
Hehe, can it be that we are already so wrapped in GUIs that when saying "console", even in this context, no one equates that to the linux console mode? I don't know what else to call it. It's, you know, a console. Call it text-mode terminal, if you will.
Yeah, I might. I'm giving it a rest, for now. There's so many reboots you can do a day before your head explodes or the family gets the blame.I haven't researched, but I do believe I had attempted something similar for FreeBSD a year or so back (which isn't officially supported, so required more research) and found that the adjustment had to be made in the XML of the virtual machine you created. I know you can manually add additional properties not available in the GUI to the display settings such as the native resolution and EDID related data. I can't even remember if I was successful or not, but it might be something you'd want to look into.
Last edited by Mario F.; 07-27-2010 at 01:18 PM.
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
I would typically say CLI (Command Line Interface) as apposed to GUI. However, for some this is as easily confused with a GUI console application as saying "Console" or "terminal."
The thing is that most of the kids these days assume that if you know how to use the CLI, then you probably know everything there is to know about computers and wouldn't be asking about it or anything else.
Sent from my iPadŽ
Well that explains why you're having so much trouble.
I've never even heard of changing the resolution of the text-mode, I've always thought text-mode as the "resolution-less" mode.
Oh, man. I wished!
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
