diff --git a/common.nix b/common.nix
index 5486a24..b959dda 100644
--- a/common.nix
+++ b/common.nix
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ in
   boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
   boot.loader.efi.efiSysMountPoint = "/boot";
 
+  # use a high resolution
+  boot.loader.systemd-boot.consoleMode = "max";
+
+  # use systemd early
+  boot.initrd.systemd.enable = true;
+
+  # setup the console stuff early
+  console.earlySetup = true;
+
   # zfs & NTFS for Windows stuff
   boot.kernelPackages = config.boot.zfs.package.latestCompatibleLinuxPackages;
   boot.supportedFilesystems = [ "zfs" "ntfs" ];
diff --git a/neko/hardware-configuration.nix b/neko/hardware-configuration.nix
index de7c08f..8678efa 100644
--- a/neko/hardware-configuration.nix
+++ b/neko/hardware-configuration.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     ];
 
   boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "xhci_pci" "ahci" "nvme" "usbhid" "usb_storage" "sd_mod" ];
-  boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ ];
+  boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "i915" ];
   boot.kernelModules = [ "kvm-intel" ];
   boot.extraModulePackages = [ ];