Frame buffer is useful, if you want to change your resolution under Linux console.
The word framebuffer means a part of video memory containing a current video frame, and the Linux framebuffer means “access method to the framebuffer under the Linux kernel”, without relying on system-specific libraries such as SVGALib or another user space software.
Activating Framebuffer in Linux
The default installation of CentOS-5 comes with framebuffer support but it is not activated. To activate it edit your grub.conf and append to the kernel line with the vga parameter:
# vi /boot/grub.conf
...
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-194.32.1.el5 ro root=LABEL=/
vga=0x305
...
After that reboot your machine and you will have a commandline resolution of 1024x768. Or you use one of these values:
0x307 1280x1024
0x305 1024x768
0x303 800x600
0x301 640x480
If you use lilo as your bootloader, then expand the configuration file with this option for a resolution of 1024x768:
# vi /etc/lilo.conf
...
vga=791
...
Or use another value:
vga=791 1024x768
vga=788 800x600
vga=785 640x480
Then reinstall lilo and reboot:
# lilo
Added Linux
...
# shutdown -r now
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