Increase resolution in Virtualbox

[Dutch70]

Hi all, I am new to the boards as well as Virtualbox.

I have installed Ultimate Edition 2.8 (aka Ubuntu on steroids) into Virtualbox 4.0 with Ubuntu 10.10 as the host. I've given it 1 GiB of RAM & 64 MiB of video memory & I have installed the latest version of guest additions.

I am trying to get Ultimate Edition 2.8 from the small & unusable 800x600 resolution to 1440x900 resolution, which is not offered in the settings. Also, seamless mode is grayed out. That's how I got most of my OSes to my chosen resolution. If anyone knows how to do this or can lead me in the right direction. It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Dave

[Perryg]

From what you describe your guest additions (installed in the guest) are not installed or not installed properly.
look in /var/log/vboxadd-install.log for reason.

[Dutch70]

Thank you Perryg

This is the output of "sudo gedit /var/log/vboxadd-install.log, after I reinstalled GA...

Code: Select all

Uninstalling modules from DKMS
Attempting to install using DKMS

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/vboxguest/4.0.2/source ->
                 /usr/src/vboxguest-4.0.2

DKMS: add Completed.

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area....
make KERNELRELEASE=2.6.32-27-generic -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-27-generic/build M=/var/lib/dkms/vboxguest/4.0.2/build..............................................
cleaning build area....

DKMS: build Completed.

vboxguest.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-27-generic/updates/dkms/

vboxsf.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-27-generic/updates/dkms/

vboxvideo.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-27-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod....

DKMS: install Completed.
Creating user for the Guest Additions.
Creating udev rule for the Guest Additions kernel module.

Thanks again
Dave

[Sasquatch]

Looks good. Did you reboot the Guest already? And does the resolution change when you change the window size?

[Dutch70]

Thank you Sasquatch, I wasn't 100% sure about that.

Yes, I have rebooted the guest.
No, it doesn't change when I change the window size,
and... "Switch to Seamless mode" is still grayed out.

I have followed these tutorials & still...no joy!

Especially the section at the bottom..."Configuring your Xorg/Xserver"
http://forum.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15679

Post #22 on this one. I didn't try post #24 b/c I don't really understand a lot of it.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=720709&page=3

and last, but not least...
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... on#p359554

[Perryg]

If you added the mode configuration to xorg that is why you do not have seamless or auto resize.
xorg.conf has not been needed for some time.
You can rename or remove the /etc/X11/xorg.conf (unless you have multi monitor support) and it should fix your problem.
You will need to reboot after the changes.

One final note. Since you have done all of these changes you may need to turn auto resize on to actually get it to work.
Use the Host+G toggle to turn it on and off. (host = right ctrl key unless you changed it)

[Dutch70]

If you added the mode configuration to xorg that is why you do not have seamless or auto resize.
xorg.conf has not been needed for some time.
You can rename or remove the /etc/X11/xorg.conf (unless you have multi monitor support) and it should fix your problem.
You will need to reboot after the changes.

One final note. Since you have done all of these changes you may need to turn auto resize on to actually get it to work.
Use the Host+G toggle to turn it on and off. (host = right ctrl key unless you changed it)

By "mode configuration" you mean where I used gedit to change the xorg.conf to include my monitor resolution? Can't I just delete
the part that I added to it, save it and update-grub again.

I have never had seamless or auto-resize with this OS, that was the 1st thing I tried. I have 4 other OSes that work in 1440x900.
Linux Mint, OpenSuse, PClinuxOS & Mandriva all work great.

Is it possible that this is an issue with Ultimate-Edition 2.6 ?
I also have Ultimate-Edition 2,8 and have done nothing to it...yet

[Perryg]

What ever makes you happy. But there can not be any default or mode switches in the xorg.conf of auto resize will not work and neither will seamless.
Just going by the original post where you said that it was based on Ubuntu 10.10 which does not need an xorg.conf file.

[Dutch70]

Ok, I've changed it back, this is what my xorg.conf looks like & still no seamless or auto resize, and yes, it is just a super modified version of Ubuntu. really sweet though, you should check it out if you haven't already.

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
	Driver		"vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

I will also boot into UE 2.8 which I have done nothing to, except add the GA. I will also check the /var/log/vboxadd-install.log.

And thanks again for your help, I've spent countless hours on this.

[Perryg]

Driver "vesa"
That will not work at all.
Rename the file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.sav and reboot.

[Dutch70]

Driver "vesa"
That will not work at all.
Rename the file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.sav and reboot.

lol...that did cross my mind & I forgot to mention it. The only problem is...I don't know where to go to,... to rename it.

I do have some really good news though...
I got UE 2.8 into 1440x900 with no problem at all, & it had no output of /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
So, we must be on the right track with this one.

[Perryg]

I know I am. As I have said from the beginning you do not need this file unless you have dual monitors.
rename /etc/X11/xorg.conf to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.sav
If you can't do this then delete it, you simply don't need it these days.

Code: Select all

cd /etc/X11
mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.sav

[Dutch70]

Great!!! It is working, I just deleted xorg.conf.

Thank you very much PerryG & Sasquatch! Not only do i have both OSes in 1440x900 resolution, I also learned a lot.