Screen size and color depth for TinyCorePure64

[georgp24]

I made a CD with TinyCorePure64-6.4.1. When I boot using MBR and enter fbset in the terminal window I retrieve a 1024x768x16 resolution. However, when I boot using EFI and enter fbset in the terminal window I read a 800x600x32 resolution. And I can see that the icons are bigger than they are when booting with MBR.

How can I get a 1024x768x16 resolution when booting using EFI?

In both cases there is the kernel parameter vga=791 specified, in isolinux.cfg and grub.cfg. But that only works when booting using MBR.

[curaga]

EFI uses the native resolution (ignoring the vga= code), which with LCDs is usually correct. Are you using a CRT?

[georgp24]

I have a 1920x1200 LCD connected to an Intel HD 4600 graphics card.

I tried setting in grub.cfg: video=vesafb:mode_option=1024x768-16,ywrap,mttr=3 but no change. (mttr=3 or mttr:3 as in the existing grub.cfg?)

Would it be possible to add an "etc/default/grub" file to the ISO image and set parameters in there?

[Juanito]

Can you use this:

Code: [Select]

set gfxmode=1024x768x16..in grub.cfg?

[georgp24]

I think TinyCore should boot into the same screen resolution and color depth independent whether it is booted via MBR or EFI.

As suggested by Juanito I tried:

Code: [Select]

if loadfont unicode ; then
    set gfxmode=1024x768x16
    set gfxpayload=keep
    set gfxterm_font=unicode
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

menuentry "tc" {
  linux /boot/vmlinuz64 loglevel=3 cde vga=791 video=vesafb:ywrap,mtrr=3
  initrd /boot/corepure64.gz
}

and then:

Code: [Select]

if loadfont unicode ; then
    set gfxmode=1024x768x16
    set gfxpayload=1024x768x16
    set gfxterm_font=unicode
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

menuentry "tc" {
  linux /boot/vmlinuz64 loglevel=3 cde vga=791 video=vesafb:ywrap,mtrr=3
  initrd /boot/corepure64.gz
}

both did not help.

However, if I set gfxpayload without color depth:

Code: [Select]

if loadfont unicode ; then
    set gfxmode=1024x768x16
    set gfxpayload=1024x768
    set gfxterm_font=unicode
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

The resolution changes to 1024x768 but the color depth is still 32.

[Juanito]

I think TinyCore should boot into the same screen resolution and color depth independent whether it is booted via MBR or EFI.

Wouldn't that be hardware/bios dependent?

[georgp24]

This is a hybrid ISO. When I boot using MBR the isolinux.cfg contains:

Code: [Select]

APPEND loglevel=3 cde vga=791
and I always end up with 1024x768x16 as long as that is supported by the graphics card.

When I boot the same ISO using EFI, grub2 selects a resolution for me and I cannot set it as I would like.

Usually the user selects the resolution/depth that he would like to use and does not let the hardware or bios do that for him.

Other distros manage to specify the selected resolution even when booting with grub2 and I think TinyCore could allow the user to do that too.

So I hope for some advice how to set the desired resolution/color depth when using EFI.

[Juanito]

What do other distros put in grub.cfg to facilitate this?

[georgp24]

The other distros have a set of helper scripts in /etc/grub.d and a grub config file in etc/default. Then grub-mkconfig uses this information to generate a grub.cfg file. Also there are a lot of modules for the insmod commands.

TinyCore uses a much smaller EFI setup and it is difficult to compare the grub.cfg files.

[Juanito]

Do you have a particular reason to use the iso?

You could always install corepure64 and modify grub.cfg to suit.

[georgp24]

The CorePure64 ISO image I downloaded does not contain an EFI directory, just isolinux. So there is no grub.cfg file.

[Juanito]

Sorry, I was thinking of the tinycorepure64 iso, which is dual boot.