Font or Resolution before Gnome is loaded

[xzwerm]

when you first start up your computer it is in command line, before the gui has loaded. Just like when you type ctrl alt f1 it goes to a similar screen. in both those cases my fonts are twice the size they normally are. I've used ubuntu and slackware, installed them both on different occasions, and the font in the terminal was always small and looked like what i came to see as normal. but now they are stretched out and twice the size. i am wondering if there is a command or way to change either the font or the resolution or the display settings of the terminal.

[MikeTbob]

I think you need to try setting the framebuffer...by editing your /boot/grub/grub.conf or /boot/grub/grub.cfg file, depends on which version of grub you have installed. Add something like this, to the end of the kernel line.

kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.35-gentoo-r4 root=/dev/sda2 vga=791

This is just an example, you can read more here...although it is on an Arch Linux forum, it should still apply to your case.
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=68123

[devils casper]

Which version of Ubuntu are you using? If you are using 9.04 or later, add vga=791 option in GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line of /etc/default/grub file.

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash vga=791"

Execute sudo update-grub command to generate new grub.cfg file.