Linux fbset Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, we will explore the fbset command, which is used to set and display the frame buffer device parameters. The lab covers understanding the fbset command, adjusting screen resolution and depth using fbset, and customizing display settings with fbset. We will learn how to check the current frame buffer device information, list available frame buffer modes, change the screen resolution and color depth, and customize various display settings. The fbset command is a useful tool for configuring the display settings on Linux systems.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Skills Graph

Understand the fbset Command

In this step, we will explore the fbset command, which is used to set and display the frame buffer device parameters. The frame buffer is a memory buffer that represents the screen, and the fbset command allows you to configure the display settings.

First, let's check the current frame buffer device information:

sudo fbset -i

Example output:

mode "1024x768-60"
    geometry 1024 768 1024 768 32
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode

This command displays the current frame buffer mode, including the resolution, depth, and other display settings.

Next, let's list all the available frame buffer modes:

sudo fbset -l

Example output:

mode "640x480-60"
    geometry 640 480 640 480 8
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode
mode "800x600-60"
    geometry 800 600 800 600 8
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode
mode "1024x768-60"
    geometry 1024 768 1024 768 32
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode

This command lists all the available frame buffer modes, which you can use to configure the display settings.

Adjust Screen Resolution and Depth Using fbset

In this step, we will learn how to adjust the screen resolution and depth using the fbset command.

First, let's check the available screen resolutions using the fbset -l command:

sudo fbset -l

Example output:

mode "640x480-60"
    geometry 640 480 640 480 8
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode
mode "800x600-60"
    geometry 800 600 800 600 8
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode
mode "1024x768-60"
    geometry 1024 768 1024 768 32
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode

Now, let's change the screen resolution to 800x600 and the color depth to 32-bit:

sudo fbset -mode 800x600-60
sudo fbset -depth 32

Example output:

mode "800x600-60"
    geometry 800 600 800 600 32
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode

The fbset -mode command sets the screen resolution, and the fbset -depth command sets the color depth.

Customize Display Settings with fbset

In this final step, we will learn how to customize the display settings using the fbset command.

First, let's check the current display settings:

sudo fbset -i

Example output:

mode "800x600-60"
    geometry 800 600 800 600 32
    timings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    accel false
    rgba 8/16,8/8,8/0,8/24
endmode

Now, let's try to customize the display settings. For example, we can adjust the vertical and horizontal timings:

sudo fbset -depth 32
sudo fbset -xres 800 -yres 600 -vxres 800 -vyres 600 -left 0 -right 0 -upper 0 -lower 0

This command sets the screen resolution to 800x600, the color depth to 32-bit, and adjusts the vertical and horizontal timings.

You can also set the frame buffer acceleration:

sudo fbset -accel true

This command enables frame buffer acceleration, which can improve the performance of graphical applications.

Finally, let's save the current display settings to a configuration file:

sudo fbset -save /etc/fb.modes

This command saves the current display settings to the /etc/fb.modes file, which can be used to restore the settings later.

Summary

In this lab, we first explored the fbset command, which is used to set and display the frame buffer device parameters. We learned how to check the current frame buffer device information, list all the available frame buffer modes, and understand the output of these commands.

Next, we focused on adjusting the screen resolution and depth using the fbset command. We checked the available screen resolutions, and then demonstrated how to change the screen resolution to 800x600 and the color depth to 32-bit. Finally, we customized the display settings by modifying the frame buffer mode parameters, such as the geometry, timings, and color depth.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet