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Rpi5 update leads to small font

Open ZebMcKayhan opened this issue 10 months ago • 56 comments

Hello and thanks for your great work. I have been on 3.8.9d on my rpi5 for some time now without issues. Updated a couple of days ago to 3.8.9f but then all fonts went crazy small. I can't even see what the text says even if I put my nose to the TV. I can press + a maximum of 3 times and I can start reading the text but just barely. But it won't let me increase size more. Windows size seems fine though. I've tried setting various cmdline.txt resolutions and I can see it changes aspect and such but the font stays really small. And at the next reboot font size adjustment with + have been forgotten. Have something gone wrong or am I missing some setting?

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 02 '24 18:04 ZebMcKayhan

The latest version now uses the KMS video drivers, which resulted in fonts that were a point or 2 larger, so I compensated by dropping the font size down similarly so the font size should be the same as before. I see you have already tried using the '+' and '-' keys to adjust the font size. This is not remembered. What resolution are you running at? Check your config.txt file. It should have have the following lines at the end:

[board-type=0x17]
kernel=kernel8.img
overlay_prefix=overlays6/
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

What happens if you remove the dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d line ?

procount avatar Apr 02 '24 19:04 procount

I didn't specify resolution just now, but probably 1080x720 since that's my tv resolution. How could I tell which pinn uses currently?

Removing that line makes the fonts proper size. Altough I get white border on each side (both splash screen and in menu). Perhaps wallpaper_resize would fix that?

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 02 '24 19:04 ZebMcKayhan

It sounds like KMS is not setting the right resolution. Without KMS, you can use fbset or tvservice to find out the current resolution, then maybe try setting that on the cmdline when switching back to KMS.

I've changed the wallpaper to reduce the size of the installation, but the aspect ratio is not ideal. Use wallpaper_resize to fix it for now.

procount avatar Apr 02 '24 21:04 procount

I have the same problem. Ridiculously tiny font when I use the Raspberry Pi 5 On a Raspberry Pi 4 everything looks normal, except for the creepy background with white stripes left and right At the end if config.txt I see:

[board-type=0x17]
kernel=kernel8.img
overlay_prefix=overlays6/
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

mkreisl avatar Apr 03 '24 13:04 mkreisl

I'm not seeing this ☹️ Let me do a fresh install later and I'll check. Removing the vsc-kms-v3d overlay seems to fix it temporarily.

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 14:04 procount

I'm not seeing this ☹️ Let me do a fresh install later and I'll check. Removing the vsc-kms-v3d overlay seems to fix it temporarily.

Strange, but once again as usual: everything works for the developer :smile: Deleting the line in question also brings the characters back into readable form for me

mkreisl avatar Apr 03 '24 14:04 mkreisl

I've opened the terminal within pinn and tried tvservice -s But I only get [E] Failed to initialize VCHI (ret=-1) I also tried other options but with same reply.

So I tested "fbset" which gives: mode "1920x1080" So I put in video=HDMI-A-1:1920x1080M@60D In cmdline.txt as first in the line and added back the removed line in config.txt. The result are similar as before, except I now get the white borders (which I didn't have before when using kms). Tiny unreadable fonts. Back to removing dtoverlay option again.

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 03 '24 17:04 ZebMcKayhan

I should have mentioned, tvservice will not work on the Pi5 - you'll need to run it on another Pi model. The aim is just to see what the real resolution of your TV/Monitor is.

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 17:04 procount

Could someone post a picture of the screen with the "ridiculously tiny fonts", please? A photo would do, (but you may have to shrink it), or maybe connect to PINN via VNC and do a screen capture.

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 17:04 procount

Here you go, sorry for the bad quality, downsizing didn't treat this picture well: 20240403_195952

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 ZebMcKayhan

This is what I see with all the default settings (i.e. using KMS) on my 1920x1080 HDMI monitor. This is just a clip of a 1920x1080 screen. It has the white bars at the side of the screen, Screenshot 2024-04-03 191822

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 procount

By contrast, this is what mine looks like when I comment out the KMS overlay Screenshot 2024-04-03 192712

Here the font size is a couple of points smaller as PINN is compensating for the larger font in KMS that is not present, but it is still readable and easily fixed by one or two presses of the '+' key.

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 procount

I don't know what to say.

If I don't specify resolution in cmdline.txt and use KMS I don't get the white borders.

If I don't use KMS I can push + probably 8 times to get really big fonts. But when using KMS it stops increasing the fonts after 3 pushes (for some reason i need to wait 1-2 seconds between pushes or it wont take). It's readable but just barely.

I don't know why it differs between us. Could we have different revisions of rpi5 boads? Or could it be the TV?

I don't have any issues with raspberry pi os which also uses KMS right?

I'm perfectly fine disabling KMS and I don't need perfectly sized fonts but I would like to contribute to this fine development wherever I can.

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 ZebMcKayhan

I think the font is also a bit smaller on a raspberry pi 5 without the kms line than on a raspberry pi 4. With kms line it looks like you can see in the first picture

mkreisl avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 mkreisl

Slightly better picture to compare with yours: 20240403_204840

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 ZebMcKayhan

I think the font is also a bit smaller on a raspberry pi 5 without the kms line than on a raspberry pi 4.

This is because PINN is assuming that KMS is in use on the Pi5 and is dropping the point size regardless.

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 procount

Slightly better picture to compare with yours:

That font is SOOOO tiny! But why?

I wondered if the font size was normal, but the resolution is crazily big....?

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 18:04 procount

I wondered if the font size was normal, but the resolution is crazily big....?

Adding video=HDMI-A-1:1920x1080M@60D To cmdline.txt have no/little effect on my font size. But I get the white borders so it seems to affect something.

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 03 '24 19:04 ZebMcKayhan

A photo would do, (but you may have to shrink it), or maybe connect to PINN via VNC and do a screen capture.

BTW, VNC does not work on Raspberry Pi 5, at least with previous versions I used on Pi 5. Black screen gotten on TV and on VNC window. Raspberry Pi 4 is ok

mkreisl avatar Apr 03 '24 19:04 mkreisl

Works for me 🤷‍♂️ My pictures above are from screenshots using VNC from my laptop. (You did enable vncshare in the options?)

procount avatar Apr 03 '24 19:04 procount

(You did enable vncshare in the options?)

Of course I did. Pi5 -> black screen, Pi4 working. With the Pi 5, just setting the option in the cmdline.txt meant that the picture no longer appeared on the TV. And CEC didn't work on the Pi 5 either, but that doesn't really belong in this thread. But as I said, all this was with 3.8.9e and before. I can't say how it is with the current version, I haven't tested it. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow

mkreisl avatar Apr 03 '24 19:04 mkreisl

It remains the same, neither with vncshare nor with vncinstall I get a picture in the VNC client. I have tried it with and without dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d in config.txt. The VNC server is also really started, but it only transmits black pixels. By the way, a TV with 1920x1080p resolution is used.

It seems to me that we are working with completely different PINN versions

mkreisl avatar Apr 04 '24 10:04 mkreisl

I downloaded the 3.8.9f beta from sourceforge to be sure I was using the same version and not some development version. You can see the version and build date in my screenshots.

I really don't understand why vnc is not working for you.

procount avatar Apr 04 '24 10:04 procount

I'm working on the update procedure to include the PI5 beta version in the released version of PINN. Once done, I'll put some debugging information in the logs to see if we can find out what is going on with fonts and vnc,

procount avatar Apr 04 '24 10:04 procount

Once done, I'll put some debugging information in the logs to see if we can find out what is going on with fonts and vnc,

That should be helpful. I looked in /tmp/messages and couldn't find anything enlightening

mkreisl avatar Apr 04 '24 11:04 mkreisl

I just released p3.8.9j beta. Hopefully the last beta before I merge it to mainline. This just has a couple of debug messages in /tmp/debug. The first, fairly early on, indicates the geometry of the screen that has been detected. The second indicates the fontsize whenever you use +/- to change it.

( You can view the log in the GUI if you go to the maintenance menu, check the box next to PINN and select the fix up menu. There's an option there to display the debug log which will pop up in a separate window. Rearrange/resize your windows to see them appropriately. It doesn't refresh, so click the refresh button to update the log.)

procount avatar Apr 15 '24 10:04 procount

( You can view the log in the GUI if you go to the maintenance menu, check the box next to PINN and select the fix up menu. There's an option there to display the debug log which will pop up in a separate window. Rearrange/resize your windows to see them appropriately. It doesn't refresh, so click the refresh button to update the log.)

Thanks! I've updated and the fonts stay the same. I've viewed the debug log but it's extremely hard to read, even the biggest fonts I can set. Here are what I imagine to be relevant (from the top) error during vchi_initialize() ... Geometry: QRect(0,0 1360x768) ... Default display mode is "0" ... Using fontsize 11 Using fontsize 12 .... Using fontsize 20

The first part after Geometry is fuzzy, I'm not 100% sure it's correct, it what it looked like to me.

I don't have a proper keyboard connected so I cannot get to ssh to save the log. Maybe I could try later this evening but it's difficult working with the tiny fonts.

A button when viewing the log to save it would be nice. Perhaps in the future?

ZebMcKayhan avatar Apr 15 '24 18:04 ZebMcKayhan

Please try adding video=HDMI-A-1:1366x768@60 to cmdline.txt

I don't have a proper keyboard connected so I cannot get to ssh to save the log.

You need the keyboard to get to the command shell, but SSH is a network protocol to access the command shell over the network from another computer. It's the best way to capture the log.

procount avatar Apr 15 '24 23:04 procount

I have started 3.8.9j briefly, fonts still look tiny as expected. To make it look normal, I have to use the '+' button to maximize the font size. What remains, however, is the font in the header, which does not change. By the way, the wallpaper just looks creepy, it takes me back to the early 70s. But that's just my personal opinion

mkreisl avatar Apr 16 '24 13:04 mkreisl

I've not done anything with the fonts except output some debugging info about the fontsize and screen geometry. What values do you get in /tmp/debug? If those values are as expected, I'm not sure why your fonts are coming out so tiny.

Sorry about the wallpaper, but the addition of the Pi5 kernel has really filled up the recovery partition so I am saving space where I can so everyone can upgrade to include the Pi5 support. A new PINN installation will use a 128MB partition instead of a 64MB partition. If the upgrade procedures detects this larger partition, it will revert to the old familiar wallpaper.

If you choose to add the runinstaller option in the config, then PINN will expand its partition size to 128MB on its next boot, but this will also repartition your drive and wipe out any installed OSes.

If you have space on your partition, you could always extract wallpaper.jpg from pinn-lite.zip and copy it across manually.

procount avatar Apr 16 '24 13:04 procount