How can I change console shell's resolution in ubuntu 9.10

Solution 1:

Edit /boot/grub/grub.cfg Identify a block that looks like this (your current running kernel):

menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
    recordfail=1
    if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set e5ce0bc0-d1b0-4802-a6d4-3fd9fc0e7e58
linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=e5ce0bc0-d1b0-4802-a6d4-3fd9fc0e7e58 ro   quiet splash
initrd  /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}

Edit the "linux ..." line and, at the end (after "quiet splash"), leave a blank and add something like "vga=773" or another code, depending on the resolution. Here is a list of codes for various resolutions.

Reboot and the new resolution should be enabled.

The provided link gives a list of modes on one particular system; with the 'hwinfo' utility you can generate a list of modes for your system as follows:

hwinfo --framebuffer

Solution 2:

To add custom boot options to your boot linux from grub 2, you need to edit

/etc/default/grub

find the line that reads

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

and change it to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash vga=ask"

if you know your exact vga= number is, then put that in instead of "ask"

After you edit any of grubs files in /etc you should run

update-grub

to apply the changes