can't find the device manager

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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Kiro723
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Joined: 3. Apr 2021, 12:08

can't find the device manager

Post by Kiro723 »

I have set up a number of VMs, but I can't find the devices menu to go through them.
Please find a screenshot attached.
Attachments
imgonline-com-ua-CompressToSize-t66C9BdJQN.jpg
imgonline-com-ua-CompressToSize-t66C9BdJQN.jpg (112.5 KiB) Viewed 3828 times
Last edited by Kiro723 on 3. Apr 2021, 12:25, edited 1 time in total.
mpack
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by mpack »

Uh... let's not confuse things!

"Device Manager" is a dialog found inside Windows, it has nothing to do with VirtualBox.

The "Devices" menu is a menu on the VM window when the VM is running.

p.s. It would be good if you shrank images by 50% before posting. I really don't need to see your dialog screenshot in the full cinerama experience on my 4K monitor!
Kiro723
Posts: 5
Joined: 3. Apr 2021, 12:08

Re: can't find the device manager

Post by Kiro723 »

Post is locked so here is a smaller size image.
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imgonline-com-ua-CompressToSize-t66C9BdJQN_2_21.jpg
imgonline-com-ua-CompressToSize-t66C9BdJQN_2_21.jpg (9.89 KiB) Viewed 3824 times
mpack
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by mpack »

Thanks, but in fact I didn't ask for a replacement image, since it doesn't tell me anything I need to know. My comment on the picture was just for future reference.

Anyway it looks like you took the already heavily compressed image, reduced the size, then compressed it again: so now the image is only 9K and rather hard to read. Best practice is to take the uncompressed image, reduce the DPI to something reasonable (usually just scale down to 50%), and then save as a PNG rather than a JPG. This is NOT a request that you do so this time - your question has already been answered.
Kiro723
Posts: 5
Joined: 3. Apr 2021, 12:08

Re: can't find the device manager

Post by Kiro723 »

mpack wrote:Thanks, but in fact I didn't ask for a replacement image, since it doesn't tell me anything I need to know. My comment on the picture was just for future reference.

Anyway it looks like you took the already heavily compressed image, reduced the size, then compressed it again: so now the image is only 9K and rather hard to read. Best practice is to take the uncompressed image, reduce the DPI to something reasonable (usually just scale down to 50%), and then save as a PNG rather than a JPG. This is NOT a request that you do so this time - your question has already been answered.
Well, I'm sorry about that!
I didn't really get the answer... What I meant by the question is that I can't find the list of virtual machines to choose from after I set them. I used to have a tab on the left that had my VMs (ubuntu and linux Mint), but I can't seem to find this tab again.

Again, please accept my apologies. It's my first using the forum and I'm a bit clueless.
mpack
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by mpack »

I see, you want the list of VMs.

I don't use Macs, but I'm guessing that you have accidentally hid the panel that should appear on the left of the dialog, by moving the splitter column all the way left.

If you hover the mouse cursor near the left edge of the remaining window then the cursor should change to something resembling <][>, allowing you to drag the splitter bar back towards the center of the dialog.
Kiro723
Posts: 5
Joined: 3. Apr 2021, 12:08

Re: can't find the device manager

Post by Kiro723 »

mpack wrote:I see, you want the list of VMs.

I don't use Macs, but I'm guessing that you have accidentally hid the panel that should appear on the left of the dialog, by moving the splitter column all the way left.

If you hover the mouse cursor near the left edge of the remaining window then the cursor should change to something resembling <][>, allowing you to drag the splitter bar back towards the center of the dialog.

I have tried this many times but unfortunately to no avail
scottgus1
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by scottgus1 »

Close the Virtualbox window. Open a terminal window and run this command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/SplitterSizes

This should reset the split between the VM list and the Settings. Open Virtualbox again and see what happens.
Kiro723
Posts: 5
Joined: 3. Apr 2021, 12:08

Re: can't find the device manager

Post by Kiro723 »

scottgus1 wrote:Close the Virtualbox window. Open a terminal window and run this command:

VBoxManage setextradata global GUI/SplitterSizes

This should reset the split between the VM list and the Settings. Open Virtualbox again and see what happens.
I genuinely can't thank you enough! You're an actual life-saver!!! Hope you have an amazing rest of your day
fth0
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by fth0 »

FWIW, some details on how to get into the problem:

When the VirtualBox Manager window has its default layout and you drag the vertical splitter far to the left, at some point it will jump straight to the left window border, presumably to prevent the left column from getting too small. If you keep the left mouse button pressed and drag the vertical splitter back to the right, all is well. If you let go of the mouse button, then it can get more difficult.

On my Windows and Linux hosts with a 1920x1080 display resolution, I can grab the invisible, one pixel wide vertical splitter right next to the left window border. On my macOS host with a 5120x2560 Retina display, I cannot grab the vertical splitter. In consequence, changing the global GUI/SplitterSizes setting seems to be the only way to get out of this situation.
scottgus1
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by scottgus1 »

fth0 wrote:grab the invisible, one pixel wide vertical splitter
Invisible GUI controls < an oxymoron? :lol:
fth0 wrote:On my macOS host with a 5120x2560 Retina display, I cannot grab the vertical splitter.
Sounds like an off-by-one runtime bug.

5.y.x had a visible bar, maybe the devs should put it back in?
fth0
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by fth0 »

scottgus1 wrote:Sounds like an off-by-one runtime bug.
It could be something like that: In macOS High Sierra, the window borders displayed are only one pixel wide, but you can grab them in a symmetrical, approximately +/-5 pixel area, which combines a clean look with good usability. The vertical splitter of the VirtualBox Manager is also displayed only one pixel wide, but you can grab it only in an asymmetrical, approximately -5/+1 pixel area. On a Windows host, both the window border and the splitter have an asymmetrical area where they can be grabbed. I'd guess that on macOS, the vertical splitter can be kind of overshadowed by the window border and therefore is not being accessible.

PS: Using Windows, Linux and macOS for many many years, I never did notice this difference before. ;)
mpack
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Re: can't find the device manager

Post by mpack »

In Windows I think it was in Win8.x that they separated the width of a window frame for rendering purposes from its width for mouse grabbing purposes. I believe that the drop shadow on a resizable window still indicates the grabbable area (where the mouse cursor changes to indicate frame resizing). The visible thin frame still indicates the actual beginning of the frame, i.e. the border between the frame and the client area of the window.

In Windows, resizable windows frames with the WS_THICKFRAME style used to be 4 pixels wide, though this was configurable in the theme I believe. I don't know what it is now on a 4K display, I've never needed to check.
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