How can I get the boot output text resolution as high as when I am booting from the EndeavourOS ISO?

android · February 15, 2023, 1:16pm

Hello,

I had this issue for a long time now:

Every time I boot from the EndeavourOS ISO (e.g. if I want to reinstall my system) the “boot output text” looks very sharp and crisp:

But after I have finished installing EndeavourOS and just boot into my system the resolution is much lower and the text is not as crisp anymore:

I had this happen on both GRUB and systemd-boot.
I use a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card.

I know this is a very minor issue but EndeavourOS is definitely able to show the boot text in a higher (my native 1440p?) resolution as seen when I boot from the ISO so something is changing after installing the system.

My installation is about 2 years old at this point but I try to keep up with the new defaults (e.g. switching to systemd-boot / dracut etc.)

Can someone please help me with this? Thank you.

EDIT: I think the low resolution problem is already starting one step before on the systemd-boot menu where I can select entries.

A few days ago I installed EndeavourOS on a different SSD with the latest ISO as a test but still the same issue:
Boot text has a high resolution and looks crisp when booting into the ISO
but
has a low resolution and looks blurry after I boot into my installed system.

Also the font could be different in both cases?

android · February 16, 2023, 8:57am

So far I tried to configure

“Early KMS start”
by adding nvidia-drm.modeset=1 to /etc/kernel/cmdline
&

# ...
force_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm "
# ...

to /etc/dracut.conf.d/myflags.conf

I also used moninfo.exe (Windows) to get the right Modeline and then used edid-generator to generate a costumized 2560x1440.bin which I then used for https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/kernel_mode_setting#Forcing_modes_and_EDID but nothing changed.

EDIT: But maybe want I want is just not possible on NVIDIA?

Note: The proprietary NVIDIA driver (since 364.12) also implements kernel mode-setting, but it does not use the built-in kernel implementation and it lacks an fbdev driver for the high-resolution console.

But then I still don’t know why it works while booting the EndeavourOS ISO… Does it perhaps use the Nouveau drivers?

LamnaNasus · February 16, 2023, 9:19am

I’m not at my Linux computer right now, but from memory what I did with systemd-boot, was setting the console-mode to “max”.

See “2.1 Loader configuration” here:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-boot

android · February 16, 2023, 10:18am

Thank you for your reply.
I forgot to mention, this is something that I also tried already but with no success.
I tried console-mode max and console-mode auto.

LamnaNasus · February 16, 2023, 10:34am

OK. I’m on a Radeon card, that probably has got something to do with it. It should be possible on Nvidia as well. I’m sure someone has experienced this and found a solution.

petsam · February 16, 2023, 11:17am

Post info and logs:

inxi -SMGIaz
journalctl -b0 -k --no-pager --no-hostname

android · February 16, 2023, 9:07pm

inxi -SMGIaz:

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.12-arch1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
    parameters: initrd=\fd7db8933ea94c5a9ca6443d8d133a53\6.1.12-arch1-1\initrd
    root=UUID=82ddd00a-9b5a-4043-953c-ae91a7d8f83e rw loglevel=3 nowatchdog
    nvidia-drm.modeset=1 systemd.machine_id=fd7db8933ea94c5a9ca6443d8d133a53
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.0 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM
    Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B450M MORTAR MAX (MS-7B89) v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.G0
    date: 05/13/2022
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] vendor: eVga.com.
    driver: nvidia v: 525.89.02 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 525.xx+
    status: current (as of 2023-02) arch: Pascal code: GP10x
    process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: none off: DP-1 empty: DP-2, DP-3, DVI-D-1, HDMI-A-1
    bus-ID: 26:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c03 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.7 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: nvidia gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 108 s-size: 602x342mm (23.70x13.46")
    s-diag: 692mm (27.26")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 mapped: DP-0 note: disabled model: MSI MAG274QRF-QD
    serial: <filter> built: 2020 res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2
    size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 640x480
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 525.89.02 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
    6GB/PCIe/SSE2 direct-render: Yes
Info:
  Processes: 303 Uptime: 17m wakeups: 0 Memory: 15.54 GiB
  used: 4.68 GiB (30.1%) Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 clang: 15.0.7 Packages: pm: pacman
  pkgs: 1835 libs: 421 tools: yay Shell: fish v: 3.6.0 default: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.25

Monitor-1: DP-1 mapped: DP-0 note: disabled
is the missmatch between DP-1 & DP-0 normal?

journalctl -b0 -k --no-pager --no-hostname:
https://0bin.net/paste/QRLFRqMK#5Y9ItkKgJwgizf7pY9Z47aZ6+3xxmcn+7T9FgRq2Vfk

android · February 16, 2023, 9:41pm

I installed EndeavourOS again on different SSD, this time without using the closed source NVIDIA drivers and well the boot log text resolution jumps while booting to the high resolution one I can see when booting from the ISO and when I shutdown the shutdown log text is also in a high resolution.

So I guess this is just something that does not work with the closed source NVIDIA drivers?

BluishHumility · February 16, 2023, 10:41pm

This looks correct. Did you rebuild the initramfs afterward, or reinstall the kernels?

petsam · February 17, 2023, 1:38am

Yes.

Nouveau has better performance in console, nvidia is better outside of console.

Do have a look in the BIOS for some setting that could help. In linked article (from Archwiki), someone said they altered some setting of the vendor’s logo and this triggered a better resolution at console.

Or, just forget it. It is a cosmetic issue, with no impact to the real reason one uses a PC/Laptop. (unless you belong to an edge case… )

android · February 17, 2023, 7:30am

Yes, I ran reinstall-kernels afterwards.

android · February 17, 2023, 9:21am

So I installed Nobara Linux (modified version of Fedora) as a test and the boot log text and shutdown log text had a very high resolution even after installing the closed source NVIDIA drivers.

So I guess there is just something configured differently between Nobara and EndeavourOS by default but I can’t figure out what it is. You probably need to be an expert like @dalto.

This issue seems to be above my pay-grade. So thank you for all the help I received.

BluishHumility · February 17, 2023, 12:02pm

Nobara is using Grub as the bootloader. Did you review the link petsam posted?

Note:

The NVIDIA driver does not provide an fbdev driver for the high-resolution console for the kernel compiled-in vesafb module. However, the kernel compiled-in efifb module supports a high-resolution console on EFI systems. This method requires GRUB or rEFInd and is described in NVIDIA/Tips and tricks#Fixing terminal resolution.[1][2][3].

Grub or rEFInd is required to get a high-resolution console with your GPU.

petsam · February 17, 2023, 12:42pm

Try removing nvidia modules from kernel image (equivalent of MODULES=( nvidia ... ) in mkinitcpio.conf).

Edit: adding dracut related info:

If using dracut, remove nvidia forced modules from /etc/eos-dracut.conf or /etc/kernel-install-for-dracut.conf

you may try this (at your own risk )

Standard sed precautions:

sed  '/^force_drivers+=/s/\bnvidia[a-z_]* /deleted /g' /etc/eos-dracut.conf /etc/kernel-install-for-dracut.conf
# for content: force_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm ", 
# the output should be:
force_drivers+=" deleted deleted deleted deleted "

Actual command:

sudo sed -i '/^force_drivers+=/s/\bnvidia[a-z_]* //g' /etc/eos-dracut.conf /etc/kernel-install-for-dracut.conf

dalto · February 17, 2023, 2:27pm

The wiki has instructions on how to do that:
https://discovery.endeavouros.com/installation/dracut/2022/12/

android · February 17, 2023, 3:44pm

I used omit_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia-drm nvidia-modeset nvidia-uvm " in /etc/dracut.conf.d/myflags.conf as per https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/NVIDIA/nvidia-drivers#Dracut_configuration_.28optional.29

Then I ran sudo reinstall-kernels but it did not change anything about my boot resolution.

android · February 17, 2023, 3:48pm

The Wiki entry only lists:
omit_dracutmodules+=" XYZ " and not
omit_drivers+=" XYZ "

Should omit_drivers be added to the Wiki entry?

omit_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules> ":

Omit a space-separated list of dracut modules to call when
building the initramfs. Modules are located in
/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d.

omit_drivers+=" <kernel modules> ":

Specify a space-separated list of kernel modules not to add
to the initramfs. The kernel modules have to be specified
without the “.ko” suffix.

dalto · February 17, 2023, 4:17pm

Sorry, I misremembered. The wiki has the opposite, how to force the drivers.

This should be the way to omit them

omit_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm "

android · February 24, 2023, 2:31pm

So I finally found a solution to my problem:

efifb

Add video=efifb:list to /etc/kernel/cmdline
Run sudo reinstall-kernels
Reboot
You will see something like this when booting

IMG_38611920×1085 170 KB
Take note of the mode number matching your desired resolution
Edit /etc/kernel/cmdline again and replace video=efifb:list with e.g.: video=efifb:mode=0
Run sudo reinstall-kernels again
Reboot

Now the resolution of my the boot output text is finally in 1440p:

Thanks for the help:
@BluishHumility @petsam @LamnaNasus @dalto

Finding this comment helped me.

EDIT: Well turns out that this here is a simpler solution for me: Stuck with bootresolution being too low - #11 by Melways

Setting the right value for console-mode in esp/loader/loader.conf… in my case systemd-boot was also using a very low resolution and although I used consolde-mode max in the past it did not have the desired effect. In my case the right setting is console-mode 0 and I found it by pressing r in the systemd-boot menu. This made me get rid of video=efifb:mode=0 again.

fred666 · February 24, 2023, 4:40pm

Thanks, i was wondering about this for a long time.
It wasn’t my imagination that the resolution was incorrect during boottime