Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

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jubla
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Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by jubla »

Hi all,
I use Virtualbox since years without major problems.
now I've got a strange problem:
the virtualbox manager comes up with (German) text like: "Welcome .. the left part of the window .. ",
but there is just ONE part of the window with this welcome text, the list of my virtual machines has disappeared..
- see attached hardcopy -
But they are still "registered":
When I try to add an existing machine, I get the message that it can't be added because a machine with the sam ID already exists..
As a test I created a new linux client.
now the "welcome text" has gone, but the configuration parts of my brandnew machine (general, system, display,...) are visible and usable..
----
before I did:
Yesterday I upgraded from version 6.1.40 to 7.06 on my MAC Laptop.
After the upgrade, my virtual client (linux mint) did not start, just a black square window came up ..
So I thought, my client is not "ready, prepared, .." for version 7.06.
I made a downgrade:
means I used the Virtualbox_uninstalltool to deinstall version 7.06 and (re-) installed version 6.1.40.
----
what can I do to "reset" the virtualbox manager window back to "2 parts" / "split screen"?
thanks in advance,
jürgen
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scottgus1
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by scottgus1 »

Your list of guests on the left has been collapsed to 0 width.

Open a command prompt and execute these commands:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/SplitterSizes
jubla
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by jubla »

scottgus1 wrote:Your list of guests on the left has been collapsed to 0 width.

Open a command prompt and execute these commands:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/SplitterSizes
thanks for the quick answer.. (I was offline some days..)
your explanation explains the effect..
but the command did not work.
I tried it as admin ("normal" and with sudo) and as "the user with the window-problem", but no effect.
Do I need a reboot (or somethin else?)
restart of the software did not work either.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by fth0 »

jubla wrote:Do I need a reboot (or somethin else?)
restart of the software did not work either.
It should be enough to quit the VirtualBox Manager before executing the command. But to be absolutely sure, you could reboot the host so that no VirtualBox component is running when executing the command. The setting is written to the ~/Library/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml file, so you can have a look there.
jubla
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by jubla »

jubla wrote:
scottgus1 wrote:Your list of guests on the left has been collapsed to 0 width.

Open a command prompt and execute these commands:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/SplitterSizes
thanks for the quick answer.. (I was offline some days..)
your explanation explains the effect..
but the command did not work.
I tried it as admin ("normal" and with sudo) and as "the user with the window-problem", but no effect.
Do I need a reboot (or somethin else?)
restart of the software did not work either.
fth0 wrote:
jubla wrote:Do I need a reboot (or somethin else?)
restart of the software did not work either.
It should be enough to quit the VirtualBox Manager before executing the command. But to be absolutely sure, you could reboot the host so that no VirtualBox component is running when executing the command. The setting is written to the ~/Library/VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml file, so you can have a look there.
---
due to your command I found a post from 2019 (Re: Hidden Menu on VirtualBox Manager)
there the same command was posted with quotes -> I just tried it and the "left window" apperead again!
--> problem solved!, thanks so much
jürgen
scottgus1
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by scottgus1 »

jubla wrote:the same command was posted with quotes
Did it need quotes? I'll note that in my list, thanks!
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by fth0 »

scottgus1 wrote:Did it need quotes? I'll note that in my list, thanks!
VirtualBox wouldn't need the quotes, but you'll never know what the user's shell interprets beforehand. ;)
jubla
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by jubla »

I'm absolutely NO expert in Virtualbox and especially not in "virtual box cmd-line" ;-)
..
I tried the commands as "normal virtual box user" (means: no special privs) - no reaction.
Then I used an admin (first "no sudo", then with sudo) - no reaction..
then I looked for the command (you gave me), in web and found a version with quotes..
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92084&p=442983&hili ... er#p442983
VBoxManage setextradata global "GUI/SplitterSizes"
--> my list of virtual clients re-appeared.
may be, it depends on my mac version (12.6.4)
or that I use "/bin/zsh" --> zsh 5.8.1 (x86_64-apple-darwin21.0)
-
in parallel I use raspbian and linux mint and found "strange" differences between few/some (zsh-) commands the 2 "unix dialects"
so my "mac-zsh" may be different, too.
fth0
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Re: Virtualbox Manager Window does not show a "left and right part"

Post by fth0 »

That's exactly what I meant: If you're not sure what the shell interprets and what not, it usually doesn't hurt to put quotes (*) around arguments, especially when they contain special characters like "/". ;)

PS: Single quotes ('/') are usually more protective than double quotes ("/").
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