[arch-releng] size of the "display" (framebuffer?) on our images

[Gerhard Brauer]

Am Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:46:49 +0100
schrieb Dieter Plaetinck <dieter at plaetinck.be>:

> Hi all,
> I find that the size of our "display" (this is the framebuffer
> resolution, right?) is quite small.

No framebuffer. During install we use a normal 80x25 setup.
Only the bootloader (splash)screens have an other resolution.

> Most distro's that I know of have a bigger size/resolution when
> booting their isos.
> Is there a reason we keep it so small? compatibility with older
> systems?

Then we must use either a VGA or VESA framebuffer mode. VGA modes
offers IMHO only modes with more lines (ex. 80x50) and look ugly
without other console fonts.
Framebuffer mode (640x480, 600x600, 1024x768 pixel size than char/line
count) is mostly used by other installers, selectable by the user
fitted their hardware. Same could be done by our users by adding a vga=
parameter in the bootloader.

For us maybe a grub entry with parameter vga=ask is the best, so users
could select their resolution.
But IMHO we should "design" our bash dialogs in a way that they also be
usable on a normal 80x25 console..

> Dieter

Gerhard