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Author Topic: CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?  (Read 3049 times)

Offline labeas

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  • Posts: 266
CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?
« on: September 20, 2020, 08:11:57 PM »
The 2018 December laptop to which I failed to install TC64 Wifi,
also has too small characters.
I started installing a minimal 32B system, to be able to run my old
[non TC] apps, but the font is similarly too small.
The relevant code of our UEFI-grub-installer is:----
----- I suspect grub.cfg's <header> sets the font/size ? :---
Code: [Select]
loadfont unicode
insmod efi_gop
set gfxmode=1280x720x32
set gfxpayload=keep
set gfxterm_font=unicode
terminal_output gfxterm
---I tried: 1366x768x32 , 800x600x32 but no change -----

menuentry "coreB" {
linux /boot/vmlinuz waitusb=10:UUID="bfe6116c-473a-4ee9-bbac-3638039dc9ad"
initrd /boot/rootfs.gz /boot/modules.gz
}

menuentry "TC64Fix2" {
linux /boot64/vmlinuz64Fixd waitusb=10:UUID="bfe6116c-473a-4ee9-bbac-3638039dc9ad"
initrd /boot64/corepure64.gz
}
----
Please advise how to get bigger char size.
BTW I'm writing this with TC64 V10, via `sudo openvt`, to be
transfered to Win10 to post, and our BLACK background with bold chars
is superb compared with M$pooks's balerina fine blue chars against
grey background.
PS. Did anyone manage to use our opera-12 to access Usenet?

    [EDIT]: Added code tags.  Rich
« Last Edit: September 20, 2020, 11:03:41 PM by Rich »

aus9

  • Guest
Re: CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2020, 09:52:16 PM »
I thought this sub-forum was for members to post their tips or tricks?

anyhow I use a bootloader from a debian based distro.

1) To discover what your output can do
at the boot menu...press c for command mode
then type
Code: [Select]
vbeinfo and press enter.
-> if your version of grub2 does not output a list of resolutions etc then try
Code: [Select]
videoinfo
ref
https://askubuntu.com/questions/54067/how-do-i-safely-change-grub2-screen-resolution

For me, the asterisk is against 1024x768x32 but it can go as high as 1920x1080x32

2) If you are using a /etc/default/grub....remove any competing lines from grub.cfg then
use root powers to edit the line for (and remove any # at beginning)
Notice I do not set the bit rate...I used 1024x768 and it set the bitrate for me
GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600
then
Code: [Select]
sudo update-grub
3) if you have no /etc/default/grub then adjust your grub.cfg so that it has at least
Quote
insmod all_video
set gfxmode=800x600
insmod gfxterm
terminal_output gfxterm

plus your menu stuff plus your efi stuff (I can not verify efi stuff)

4) Where did you get gfxpayload setup from?
its safer to delete this line as per
https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/gfxpayload.html

5) you are better off just setting font by
Quote
font=unicode

If fonts still plays up for you ...then at command mode try
Code: [Select]
lsfontsnormally you can see your font range in the grub2 dir

good luck
« Last Edit: September 20, 2020, 10:14:49 PM by aus9 »

Offline mocore

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Re: CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2020, 02:39:47 AM »

anyhow I use a bootloader from a debian based distro.


same hear

... after some searching

i found the method mentioned
hear -> https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/31672/can-grub-font-size-be-customised/599859#599859

to be effective in my case *

* afaik should work on core , if necessary dep's / font files can be satisfied / located
 

(I can not verify efi stuff)

also same ... as i don't have that box to hand at the moment ...

see also : https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/HiDPI#Boot_managers

Offline labeas

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  • Posts: 266
Re: CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2020, 10:29:36 PM »
Wow: nice fix-info. Thanks!

>I thought this sub-forum was for members to post their tips or tricks?
Yes: I can't find my way around the M$pook-styled forum - vs Usenet.
I should have realised that since GRUB's menu had tiny-chars,
it didn't only set its entry's char-size but also its own/GRUB size.
Your list fixed it:
> insmod all_video
> set gfxmode=800x600
> insmod gfxterm
> terminal_output gfxterm
although, the grub-entry-list appears as rows of "?", which I
suspect is unicode related; I only use the Core32 & TC64 entries,
so I can just select the 1st & 2nd lines of "?".

> 4) Where did you get gfxpayload setup from?
It's part of our <TC inhouse UEFI booter>?

lsfonts , videoinfo just show "Can't find".

> (I can not verify efi stuff)
!! This whole problem is about efi-stuff.
That's what my 2018 December model laptop needed.
My older laptop can handle UEFI without "our TC-special-grub"
which eg. is abnormal in having Partn1=ext4 & Partn2=vfat.
---
OMG ! it now runs LinuxNativeOberon with clear *.jpg,gif,
and the ability to <wipe & color-dab selected text strings
in multiple - on the same/single screen - TextFiles> like
scholars might koki-pen mark papers. And load/save/transform
the files to/from Oberon/DOS/*nix.
 Since with laptop-usage the scarcest resource is screeen area,
I'm confident that I can now get TC's wifi working.
--Thanks for fix-info !

aus9

  • Guest
Re: CharacterSize for our UEFI installs?
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2020, 11:16:13 PM »
at menu list...press C for command mode
vbeinfo and videoinfo on my machine gives me a big list of resolutions etc

lsfonts output is
Quote
loaded fonts:
Unifont Regular 16

Now set a scroll pager by....then lsmod and page down to check if font is showing
Code: [Select]
set pager=1
lsmod # for me font shows dep of bufio and video and is on first page
# press escape to quit scroll function

Now there is something wrong with your font. Either we need more commands, or your font files are corrupt or missing.

I do not use TC grub, where are your font files?
at command mode....when you know pathway ....adjust the next command and see if any error occurs
(if you get a normal prompt you have succeeded)
Code: [Select]
loadfont /boot/grub/fonts/unicode.pf2
In above command, the TAB key can be used to show a range of options
eg loadfont /b (gives options of bin and boot --remember I am using a debian boot loader)

file /pathway2/font not found is not good
on TC64 we have
http://tinycorelinux.net/11.x/x86_64/tcz/grub2-multi.tcz.list
original pathway /usr/local/share/grub/unicode.pf2
This file needs to be somewhere either
/boot/fonts/unicode.pf2
/boot/grub//fonts/unicode.pf2 or
/grub/fonts/unicode.pf2

or it might be OK without a fonts dir?

2) It might be better if you post the full contents of your grub.cfg please
« Last Edit: September 21, 2020, 11:45:25 PM by aus9 »