Failing to get correct resolution on old Linux VM

[oshunluvr562]

Ok, this is kind of a mess but here it goes;

Host OS is Kubuntu 18.04, VirtualBox 5.2.10_Ubuntu r121806
Xorg: Protocal version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.8.2, Build 03 May 2007

This VM is a conversion from VMware. I have uninstalled the VMware tools rpm and installed VboxGuestAdditions (and re-installed). Upon installation of the guest editions, it works until it encounters D-Bus because this distro doesn't have it. At this point the VM seems to run fine except for this one issue.

I am attempting to set the resolution of an old CentOS 4.5 guest but no matter what I try, it defaults to 800x600. I can easily re-size the screen with xrandr but I believe I am running into an old xorg bug that leaves the mouse at the startup resolution. I.e. the mouse stays "locked" to 800x600 not matter what the screen resolution is.

Here's what I've tried (in various combinations)

• VBoxManage setextradata "MyVM" "CustomVideoMode1" "1920x1080x32", VBoxManage controlvm "MyVM" setvideomodehint 1920 1080 32.
  Recreating and editing xorg.conf to add Modeline and Modes for 1920x1080.
  Adding "vga=" to grub.conf (this is grub legacy not grub2).
  Changed "Preferences > Display > Maximum..." to None/Auto/Hint (using 1920x1080).
  Changing resolution to 1920x1080, going full screen, shutting down and restarting.

Xorg.0.log currently shows 800x600 and 1920x1080, but has in the past also shown 1920x1200 when I had it in the xorg.conf file - so at least it's reading it. The only warning is "VBoxVideo(0): Failed to set up write-combining range (0xe0000000,0x8000000)" and no errors

Xrandr currently shows:

• *0 800x600
  1 720x400
  2 1920x1080

No matter what combination of the above, it always boots to 800x600 and I've run out of ideas. In VMware, this machine starts at 1920x1200.

In a perfect world, I could start it at 1920x1080, reset it to whatever resolution I want and have the mouse work as expected. Assuming the mouse issue is in fact an xorg bug, I could live with 1920x1080 all the time. 800x600 is a no-go and not having a full screen mouse is also a problem (obviously).

I'd appreciate any ideas of what to try next.

[socratis]

VirtualBox 5.2.10_Ubuntu r121806

It looks like you're using the distro's fork version of VirtualBox. You can either ask in their forums for help, or completely remove/uninstall/delete/purge their version and install the official version from the Downloads section of VirtualBox.

You can even add VirtualBox as a repository, so you could use your traditional install/upgrade/uninstall tools. See the instructions...

[oshunluvr562]

Well, actually I did that but clearly hadn't noticed that it didn't automatically offer the upgrade from the default VirtualBox install. So I've manually upgraded to VirtualBox version 5.2.18 r124319 (Qt5.9.5) from the "factory" repo. I also upgraded the Additions and the Expansion pack.

I rebooted and the behavior is slightly different but still problematic. Now when I boot the client (CentOS 4.5), the Guest Additions has removed my xorg.conf edits (as expected) and the screen starts at 800x600 as before. The change is I can now use the "View > Virtual Screen1" menu (it was greyed out before) and change the screen dimensions to 1920x1200. However, the client still remains at 800x600 until I adjust the client using "xrandr --screen0 -s 1920x1200" and the mouse is still "trapped" at 800x600 as before.

I went back and edited xorg.conf and put 1920x1080 and 1920x1200 modes in the Screen section, then rebooted. The client currently boots to terminal mode and starts X at log in. I manually resized the window hoping this would force a new size at log in (when logging in, the Xserver starts) but it did not and started at 800x600. However, xrandr now reports 800x600, 1920x1080, 1920x1200, and whatever size I drag the window to. The previous size of 720x400 is gone.

I think if I can somehow force the display size I will be OK. Setting the Display Size in preferences to "Hint 1920 1200" or "None" or "Automatic" does not change the behavior. I randomly see a message at boot referring to D-Bus (see below) but it is not consistent with any particular group of settings that I can discern. I know that at least part of the Guest Additions worked because the mouse is behaving as expected - not being captured.

I'm not at all sure this is relevant but here is dmesg output from installing the Guest Additions shows D-Bus failing. I assume that CentOS 4.5 does not have dbus;

Code: Select all

VBoxService 5.2.18 r124319 (verbosity: 0) linux.x86 (Aug 14 2018 13:51:03) release log
00:00:00.000135 main     Log opened 2018-08-16T18:09:28.532994000Z
00:00:00.001215 main     OS Product: Linux
00:00:00.001551 main     OS Release: 2.6.9-55.ELsmp
00:00:00.001958 main     OS Version: #1 SMP Wed May 2 14:28:44 EDT 2007
00:00:00.002435 main     Executable: /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-5.2.18/sbin/VBoxService
00:00:00.002440 main     Process ID: 6591
00:00:00.002444 main     Package type: LINUX_32BITS_GENERIC
00:00:00.004951 main     5.2.18 r124319 started. Verbose level = 0
00:00:00.018521 vminfo   rtldrNativeLoad: dlopen('libdbus-1.so.3', RTLD_NOW | RTLD_LOCAL) failed: libdbus-1.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
00:00:00.019009 vminfo   Error: Unable to connect to system D-Bus (1/3): D-Bus not installed
00:00:05.031300 vminfo   Error: Unable to connect to system D-Bus (2/3): D-Bus not installed
00:00:10.016634 timesync vgsvcTimeSyncWorker: Radical guest time change: -14 388 427 599 000ns (GuestNow=1 534 428 580 120 933 000 ns GuestLast=1 534 442 968 548 532 000 ns fSetTimeLastLoop=true )
00:00:10.034656 vminfo   Error: Unable to connect to system D-Bus (3/3): D-Bus not installed

at this point the installation just ended and returned the prompt.

However, on subsequent reboot it appears Guest Additions are installed at some level;

Code: Select all

vboxguest: misc device minor 62, IRQ 177, I/O port d020, MMIO at 00000000f0000000 (size 0x400000)
vboxguest: Successfully loaded version 5.2.18 (interface 0x00010004)
vboxsf: no version for "VBoxGuest_RTMemTmpFree" found: kernel tainted.
vboxsf: Successfully loaded version 5.2.18 (interface 0x00010004)
NET: Registered protocol family 10
Disabled Privacy Extensions on device c0346240(lo)

[oshunluvr562]

I've tried a bunch of stuff with no joy. I can't get X to launch at a higher resolution when loading the desktop.