Hello ,
i am constantly annoyed by a video resolution/malfunction issue:
My hardware setup:
A (formerly windows home server) Asus easystore h341(intel Atom with cheap processor integrated graphics) home server with a breakout VGA and PS/2-Mouse/Keyboard cable attached to the onboard port. VGA is connected to a 22-Inch DELL 2208wfp monitor.
Software:
any recent Debian netinst-ISO(happens all the same from Debian 8 -10). Machine is intended for headless screen use with openmediavault(OMV) as a home server.
when I install Debian, all is fine, and have a regular 25 Lines by 80 Characters screen leading me through setup, or flawless graphic setup if I choose to have it .

When I boot the freshly installed linux, bios and grub show up fine, some program finds the boot partition to be fine , and then, after kernel loads(I believe), all the console screen is crammed in a tiny font size , but perfectly readable, in the left and upper two thirds of the screen. I can change font size, with "dpkg-reconfigure console-setup", but cannot use all my screen real estate.
This means, that the lower and the right third is not used by any output, and thus is pitch black.
Even fullscreen programs like midnite commander only use the upper left corner. I can rotate the screen via boot args, but there is no "use all my screen" boot argument, that I know of...
(so I use Two Thirds of Two Thirds of the screen, 66% of 66%, which is 44%, less than half of it!!)
When I connect any other computer to the VGA, or when I install any linux GUI on that very computer, all screen is used.
I am not at this machine right now, but I could try reading the monitor's EDID data via the monitor ID lines in the VGA cable, other than that I am clueless.

any ideas on how to use all my screen?

I have a different Dell display model that has a setup option to display modes other than its native mode without any scaling, which results in partial screen usage with some modes like you describe. Possibly your 2208wfp has similar.

If that's not the cause, IMO either Grub is mishandling video handoff to the kernel, or your 2208wfp has a problem. I'd start by appending video=1680x1050 or video=1440x900 to the end of the line beginning linu (whose end commonly wraps onto the next line) after striking the E key when reaching the Grub menu, then proceeding with boot as that Grub screen directs. If this works, the very same appendage can be included in your normal Grub stanzas via /etc/default/grub. That same file should be able to be used to perform equivalent video handoff function via GRUB_GFXMODE= and/or GRUB_TERMINAL=. Once any modification to that file is made, grub.cfg, which it's responsible for configuring, must be regenerated using grub-mkconfig. If you wish more help regarding the latter method, please copy and paste the content of /etc/default/grub here using code tags ( [#] above the input window ) around it.

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