virtualbox.org

ThinkPad R61 1.8 Centrino CPU + 2Gb memory

Host OS - WIN XP Pro = SP3 (Japanese)
Guest OS - Kubuntu 8.04 (32-bit)
VBoxGuestAdditions are installed.

Problem: Guest screen will not expand to full screen size.

Prior to this, under VirtualBox 1.5.5 (which was the version available in August, 2008) Host + F would bring the Kubuntu screen to full screen and Host + A / Host + G would expand the image to full screen size.

When starting Kubuntu, it would boot directly into full screen mode, at about 70% of full screen size, then expand to full screen, automatically.

The machine has been offline but in daily use for about four weeks. When I installed our new LAN, I updated both WIN XP and Kubuntu 8.04 (NOT 8.10) to latest versions using their respective update features. Kubuntu 8.04 _did_ receive a kernel update. I then downloaded and installed VirtualBox 2.0.4 in WIN XP.

The update was automatic and appeared to go without a hitch. However, now Kubuntu boots at about 70% of screen size and remains there. Host + G is greyed out and Host + A seems to do nothing. Host + F gives me a full screen, but the Kubuntu image remains at about 70%, syurrounded by black, instead of expanding to the edges of the screen.

How do I get the previous features of auto resizing and full screen viewing back?

NOTE: All of our other six PCs are Kubuntu Host with WIN XP (Japanese) Guest running in a Virtual Box. This machine is the reverse because it is my wife's travel machine. There are a number of travel - related reasons ... like the OS choice getting in the way of getting hardware repaired on an overseas depot (don't ask ...).

I think your video ram is standard,you can change to 16M.[/i]

you can change the resolution to 1024*768, I did it successfully.

Both are wrong. After a kernel upgrade, you need to reinstall the Guest Additions. When installing them, Kernel modules are created and after a kernel upgrade, they are not available for the new one. If you install DKMS, most of the issues should be solved for this. DKMS will check for kernel modules to be installed when you install a new kernel.

Both are wrong.

Thanks. I had suspected that there was a better solution.

After a kernel upgrade, you need to reinstall the Guest Additions. When installing them, Kernel modules are created and after a kernel upgrade, they are not available for the new one.

I may need to clarify a couple of things, here:

Guest Additions were reinstalled in the Kubuntu guest after the kernel upgrade. This is what has me puzzled as it made no difference in performance and Host + G continued to be grayed out while Host + A did nothing useful.

When Kubuntu is the host, as on our other machines, we had to issue /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup after a kernel upgrade in order to normalize the kernel with the current VBox level, but the need for doing so vanished after we upgraded to v.1.6.2 and (in Kubuntu hosts) it has been automatic ever since.

Do I need to issue this in Kubuntu when it is a Guest, as well?

If you install DKMS, most of the issues should be solved for this. DKMS will check for kernel modules to be installed when you install a new kernel.

I am not familiar with this program. Is it WIN or Debian? Or an add-on package to VBox? Looks as though I'll need to Google some.

Thanks for your advice.

tokyotea wrote:

Both are wrong.

Thanks. I had suspected that there was a better solution.

After a kernel upgrade, you need to reinstall the Guest Additions. When installing them, Kernel modules are created and after a kernel upgrade, they are not available for the new one.

I may need to clarify a couple of things, here:

Guest Additions were reinstalled in the Kubuntu guest after the kernel upgrade. This is what has me puzzled as it made no difference in performance and Host + G continued to be grayed out while Host + A did nothing useful.

When Kubuntu is the host, as on our other machines, we had to issue /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup after a kernel upgrade in order to normalize the kernel with the current VBox level, but the need for doing so vanished after we upgraded to v.1.6.2 and (in Kubuntu hosts) it has been automatic ever since.

Do I need to issue this in Kubuntu when it is a Guest, as well?

If you install DKMS, most of the issues should be solved for this. DKMS will check for kernel modules to be installed when you install a new kernel.

I am not familiar with this program. Is it WIN or Debian? Or an add-on package to VBox? Looks as though I'll need to Google some.

Thanks for your advice.

DKMS is the kernel module manager for Linux.

If you update the kernel of the Guest, it needs the kernel modules of the GA again before they can work. If you installed the GA after the whole upgrade, then check your xorg.conf file and see if the vboxvideo driver is listed for the videocard.

With the help of someone fro our local LUG, I was able to solve the problem. The correct commands are:

sudo mount -o ro /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
cd /media/cdrom
sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run
# restart the guest after adding the additions
sudo shutdown -r now

The installation is working fine. I think that the issue here was that every other problem I have had with VirtualBox has required a repair of the Host, where the program resides ... and that has been Kubuntu in all other cases. It seemed counterintuitive to fix Kubuntu when it was the Guest, also.

Thanks also for the DKMS suggestion. After Googling it was located and installed with Synaptic. Hopefully, there will be no repeat.