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Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 12. Jul 2010, 21:01
by farahm2
Hey people, is there a way I can get it so that it is completely full screen when I use Mac through Virtualbox? When I click the full screen option now, I get it so that its not completely full screen because the sides are not all the way at the edges.

And I cant turn off the guess screen resolution option either. Any help?

Thanks!

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 12. Jul 2010, 22:38
by Sasquatch
You can increase the resolution using an EFI setting (should be in the manual, but definitely mentioned here on the forums before) so that it's 1024x768. You can't get higher I think. Other resolutions are only available when the Guest Additions are done. These don't exist at the moment.

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 24. Jul 2010, 01:23
by NotAnAddict
Actually, you can arbitrarily adjust the screen resolution of your virtual machine.

In your MacOS X Server virtual machine, edit the file /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add (or change) the graphics mode line, which should look like this:

<string>"Graphics Mode"="1920x1200x32"</string>

Where the resolution given matches the resolution of your screen.

Depending on your configuration, you may also need to edit the VirtualBox machine file. On Linux hosts, this will be in a subdirectory of the ~/.VirtualBox/Machines/ directory. You may need to add a line to the ExtraData section that looks like this:

<ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1920x1200x32" />

This will allow VirtualBox to support extra video modes (widescreen video modes in particular).

Good luck!

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 13. Aug 2010, 10:35
by saul
NotAnAddict wrote:Actually, you can arbitrarily adjust the screen resolution of your virtual machine.

In your MacOS X Server virtual machine, edit the file /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add (or change) the graphics mode line, which should look like this:

<string>"Graphics Mode"="1920x1200x32"</string>

Where the resolution given matches the resolution of your screen.

Depending on your configuration, you may also need to edit the VirtualBox machine file. On Linux hosts, this will be in a subdirectory of the ~/.VirtualBox/Machines/ directory. You may need to add a line to the ExtraData section that looks like this:

<ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1920x1200x32" />

This will allow VirtualBox to support extra video modes (widescreen video modes in particular).

Good luck!
I tried that yesterday with VB 3.2.8 and OSX 10.6.4. It doesn't work. At least on my hardware, which is Intel Core 2 Duo E6400/Intel DP965LT. Also, every time I added the "CustomVideoMode1" tag, VirtualBox kept deleting it from the XML configuration file.

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 13. Aug 2010, 11:21
by paulscode
saul wrote:Also, every time I added the "CustomVideoMode1" tag, VirtualBox kept deleting it from the XML configuration file.
I don't know about the rest of it, but to avoid having VirtualBox delete stuff you add to the configuration file, you must shut VirtualBox down entirely (not just the guest - the whole program). Then make the change, save it, and then start Virtual Box back up again.

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 13. Aug 2010, 12:29
by saul
paulscode wrote:I don't know about the rest of it, but to avoid having VirtualBox delete stuff you add to the configuration file, you must shut VirtualBox down entirely (not just the guest - the whole program). Then make the change, save it, and then start Virtual Box back up again.
Thanks. Now the data stays in the configuration file but it didn't change the screen resolution. Still the same, 1024x768.

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 14. Aug 2010, 15:05
by jstevenson72
Sounds like you are editing the wrong file on OS X. If you are using any of the booters out there, they make a copy of the com.apple.Boot.plist file in the /Extra folder off the root of your boot volume.

I suggest you add the resolution settings to that file.

The easiest way (bare in mind I'm new to Mac) that I have found is to drag the file from the folder to your desktop. Open it and make the change, and then drag it back to the folder. That way you will only need to "Authenticate" your login to allow the file to be updated. (The file is protected otherwise)

The section you need is the <key>Graphics Mode</key><string>1680x1050x32</string>

Good Luck,

Jake

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 16. Aug 2010, 12:39
by saul
jstevenson72 wrote:Sounds like you are editing the wrong file on OS X. If you are using any of the booters out there, they make a copy of the com.apple.Boot.plist file in the /Extra folder off the root of your boot volume.

I suggest you add the resolution settings to that file.

The easiest way (bare in mind I'm new to Mac) that I have found is to drag the file from the folder to your desktop. Open it and make the change, and then drag it back to the folder. That way you will only need to "Authenticate" your login to allow the file to be updated. (The file is protected otherwise)

The section you need is the <key>Graphics Mode</key><string>1680x1050x32</string>

Good Luck,

Jake
That the hint I was looking for 8)

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 1. Oct 2010, 22:03
by gotchay
I've tried doing the above and it seems I have two copies one in username/Extras and one in Libary/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ and editing either one doesn't work.

I'm trying to get the resolution of 1920x1200x32 to work. Any tips or suggestions?

I edited the right file now but it seems the highest it will go is 1600x1200 :(

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 6. Oct 2010, 22:49
by apos
I successfully got a resolution of 1680x1050x32 with VirtualBox 3.2.8 and Leopard 10.6.2.
Here's what I did:

A. ALTER THE FILE com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extras

1. Opened Finder. On the left side opened the primary harddisk (the first device where OSX is installed)
2. Went to /Extras/
3. Copied the com.apple.Boot.plist to the desktop
4. Opened com.apple.Boot.plist with TextEdit.
5. Added

Code: Select all

<dict>
    <key>Graphics Mode</key>
    <string>"Graphics Mode"="1680x1050x32"</string>
    [...]
6. Save As
-> Save as: com.apple.Boot.plist
-> Plain Text Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)
-> Turn off... use ".txt"

7. Drag an Drop the file back into the /Extras folder
8. Autenticate with your password

B. NOW DO THE SAME IN THE FOLDER "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/"

C. Shutdown the virtual Machine

D. Close ALL VirtualBox Instances

E. Edit the file PATH_TO_VIRTUALBOX_FOLDER/Machines/OSX/OSX.xml
OSX.xml is the file if your virtual machine is named "OSX", so it could differ from your installation.
Add the following line:

Code: Select all

   [...]
   <ExtraData>
      <ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1680x1050x32" />
     [...]
F. Start VirtualBox and your virtual machine
Enjoy your new resolution :D

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 9. Oct 2010, 08:38
by jamesensor
Hi all fellow users.

I'm having the same problem with full screen.

on a aspire 5740g (core i5, 4gb ram ati hd5650).

Installed and all works smoothly, except sound, but this isn't much of a problem.
At boot i tried to "?video" and checked that only some video modes could work. So, i edited the boot.plist with those resolutions and they actually changed in the OS. But managing the virtualbox config for a res with 1366x768x32 -> " <ExtraData>
<ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1366x768x32" />" didnt work, and simultaneously with the boot.plist. altered. Only 1280, 1024, 1600...

I'll try another iso with diferent settings to see how this goes.. If anyone can't give me hints here or in pm's i'd apreciate.

Thank you.

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 9. Oct 2010, 22:53
by jamesensor
Edited : ---removed----

I've also made the same question in their forum to see whats going on. If this could make sense, my graphics card is a ati hd 5650. (Oddly, vmware grants me the res i want, but everything else sucks.)

Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you.

P.S. sorry Perryg

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 9. Oct 2010, 23:27
by Perryg

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 14. Oct 2010, 23:59
by GENZANO
apos wrote:I successfully got a resolution of 1680x1050x32 with VirtualBox 3.2.8 and Leopard 10.6.2.
Here's what I did:

A. ALTER THE FILE com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extras

1. Opened Finder. On the left side opened the primary harddisk (the first device where OSX is installed)
2. Went to /Extras/
3. Copied the com.apple.Boot.plist to the desktop
4. Opened com.apple.Boot.plist with TextEdit.
5. Added

Code: Select all

<dict>
    <key>Graphics Mode</key>
    <string>"Graphics Mode"="1680x1050x32"</string>
    [...]
6. Save As
-> Save as: com.apple.Boot.plist
-> Plain Text Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)
-> Turn off... use ".txt"

7. Drag an Drop the file back into the /Extras folder
8. Autenticate with your password

B. NOW DO THE SAME IN THE FOLDER "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/"

C. Shutdown the virtual Machine

D. Close ALL VirtualBox Instances

E. Edit the file PATH_TO_VIRTUALBOX_FOLDER/Machines/OSX/OSX.xml
OSX.xml is the file if your virtual machine is named "OSX", so it could differ from your installation.
Add the following line:

Code: Select all

   [...]
   <ExtraData>
      <ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1680x1050x32" />
     [...]
F. Start VirtualBox and your virtual machine
Enjoy your new resolution :D
Hi guys...and apos!! :-)
Great guide, but I cannot rename these files....I don't have privilege!! :-( How can I get them?

Re: Complete Full Screen Mode??

Posted: 15. Oct 2010, 16:59
by karog
GENZANO wrote:Great guide, but I cannot rename these files....I don't have privilege!! :-( How can I get them?
Send $50 to takemymoney@ripmeoff.com. :twisted:

Or use sudo with admin password.