Solved VB guest console display too small, needs more lines

[bgroper]

Hi forum
I'm having FreeBSD 13.2 with KDE plasma on my desktop. This is installed to bare metal.
This is also my Virtualbox host. All good so far.
I've just installed a small version of FreeBSD (without any GUI) as a VB guest.
Now when I start the guest, the console is too small. 25 lines only, and no scrollback.
So when I install any package, I cannot see all the messages and installation instructions that roll off the top of console.
Yes, I have installed the Virtualbox-ose guest additions package, and rebooted.
Please, is there some config setting that will enable a larger console ?

 

[yuripv79]

80x25 is the standard console "resolution" for text mode.

Try setting up the EFI booting (probably will need to reinstall?) to make console use graphics mode with hopefully better resolution, at least try booting the installation ISO in UEFI mode.

PS: "no scrollback" part is not correct, press the "ScreenLock" button and use PgUp/PgDown to scroll.

PPS: you can use `pkg info -D package` to display its pkg-message.

 

[covacat]

or you can just ssh to the guest from the host....

 

[im]

"ScreenLock"

Scroll lock

 

[yuripv79]

Scroll lock

Yep, thanks for fixing that, looks like someone needs some sleep

 

[T-Daemon]

Try setting up the EFI booting (probably will need to reinstall?) to make console use graphics mode with hopefully better resolution

It's also possible to set the Virtualbox VM's VESA framebuffer to a higher resolution without having to rely on EFI framebuffer. Although, the VESA framebuffer resolution is not going so high as the EFI framebuffer. I believe the maximum for VESA is 1280 x 800, and EFI 2560 x 1600 (I don't have Virtualbox installed to check).

At the FreeBSD boot menu "3. Escape to loader prompt", enter vbe list to list all possible resolutions (for EFI framebuffer execute gop list), modify with vbe set <resolution number>.

To make it permanent, set in /boot/loader.conf. Example:

exec="vbe set 0x11b"

 

[SirDice]

Also:

           efi_max_resolution

           vbe_max_resolution
                     Specify the maximum desired resolution for the EFI or VBE
                     framebuffer console.  The following values are accepted:

                     Value           Resolution
                     480p            640x480
                     720p            1280x720
                     1080p           1920x1080
                     2160p           3840x2160
                     4k              3840x2160
                     5k              5120x2880
                     WidthxHeight    WidthxHeight

From loader.conf(5). The efi_max_resolution works on VirtualBox (provided you enabled UEFI boot), for some reason vbe_max_resolution doesn't work with VirtualBox, it should work on actual physical machine.

There's also:

     kern.vt.fb.default_mode
             Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode
             picked by the vt backend.  The mode is applied to all output
             connectors.  This is currently only supported by the vt_fb
             backend when it is paired with a KMS video driver.

     kern.vt.fb.modes.connector_name
             Set this value to a graphic mode to override the default mode
             picked by the vt backend.  This mode is applied to the output
             connector connector_name only.  It has precedence over
             kern.vt.fb.default_mode.  The names of available connector names
             can be found in dmesg(8) after loading the KMS driver.  It will
             contain a list of connectors and their associated tunables.  This
             is currently only supported by the vt_fb backend when it is
             paired with a KMS video driver.

See vt(4).

 

[T-Daemon]

... for some reason vbe_max_resolution doesn't work with VirtualBox

Have you tried one of the vbe list'ed resolutions at the loader prompt with the vbe_max_resolution setting (I don't remember if I tried)?

But loader.conf exec="vbe set <mode number>" works definitively.

 

[SirDice]

Have you tried one of the vbe list'ed resolutions at the loader prompt with the vbe_max_resolution setting (I don't remember if I tried)?

Nah, I just used the UEFI boot. Install was done with BIOS+EUFI any way.

 

[bgroper]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Much appreciated, and good to begin to understand how this works.
For this small VM project, I need to firmly apply the KISS principle.
I'll just keep using ssh ( and some fish: ) from host to guest, which is perfectly suitable.

 

[Cath O'Deray]

… efi_max_resolution works on VirtualBox (provided you enabled UEFI boot) …

It's effective for the console, thanks.

For beyond the console (an SDDM screen, for example): additional configuration might be required.