800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

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Zexston
Posts: 5
Joined: 16. Mar 2009, 18:51

800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Zexston »

Running Linux - DebianKDE guest

This resolution doesn't even allow me to see setup programs.

There is only 1 option in display settings.

How do I get more resolutions to show up?

This is the first time that I have had this problem, even did not have this problem with other version of Linux.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Perryg »

Zexston wrote:Running Linux - DebianKDE guest

This resolution doesn't even allow me to see setup programs.

There is only 1 option in display settings.

How do I get more resolutions to show up?

This is the first time that I have had this problem, even did not have this problem with other version of Linux.
When you installed the guest additions did you get an error message saying that it was not going to do something ?

Anyway you need to edit your xorg.conf file and comment out the lines that have mode = 800x600
Also if you see a line that says preferred mode you need to comment that out as well.
Then you should have something that looks like this. You should still reload the guest additions after that to make sure you have it properly installed.

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
   Identifier   "Configured Video Device"
   Driver      "vboxvideo"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
   Identifier   "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
   Identifier   "Default Screen"
   Monitor      "Configured Monitor"
   Device      "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier  "vboxmouse"
        Driver          "vboxmouse"
        Option          "CorePointer"
        Option          "Device"        "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier      "Default Layout"
        Screen          "Default Screen"        0 0
        InputDevice     "vboxmouse"
EndSection
Zexston
Posts: 5
Joined: 16. Mar 2009, 18:51

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Zexston »

Gave it try with no luck, but thanks anyway. I just don't understand, every other time I ever installed VBoxAddtions, I could just drag the window size around, did not have to worry about screen res settings.

Any other suggestions?
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Perryg »

Zexston wrote:Gave it try with no luck, but thanks anyway. I just don't understand, every other time I ever installed VBoxAddtions, I could just drag the window size around, did not have to worry about screen res settings.

Any other suggestions?
What version of Debian are you using?
If it is 4 you must manually put the resolution you want in the xorg.conf.
If it is 5 (Lenny) it should work just fine. Make sure that you have the right header files for the kernel.
I have Gnome and KDE both in Lenny doing the resize thing.
Also look in the VBox machine tab and make sure the auto resize is selected. Turns blue around it when it is active.
Zexston
Posts: 5
Joined: 16. Mar 2009, 18:51

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Zexston »

Downloaded the netinstall iso from http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kde3.html.

About half way down - Download KDE CD for Debian testing "Lenny" i386. This is what was suggested to be as the easiest way to get Debian with KDE.

The box is checked. Maybe because this is "testing" is the problem?
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
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VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
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Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Perryg »

Zexston wrote:Downloaded the netinstall iso from http://pkg-kde.alioth.debian.org/kde3.html.

About half way down - Download KDE CD for Debian testing "Lenny" i386. This is what was suggested to be as the easiest way to get Debian with KDE.

The box is checked. Maybe because this is "testing" is the problem?
I bet that is it. Snag the release version
debian-500-i386-kde-cd-1.iso
Do a search or just get it from Debian.
Zexston
Posts: 5
Joined: 16. Mar 2009, 18:51

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Zexston »

After much experimentation, I have found that the KDE desktop environment is what is causing the problem. It doesn't seem to work with VBoxAddtions.

Regular Debian works fine, but after installing KDE, the screen resolution problems occur.

I have found that whatever size the screen is when KDE is installed, is what it will be at forever on. So I just made sure it was very large when installing KDE.

I still can't drag the screen size in VM, but its a work around for now.

If anyone has something to add, please do.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Perryg »

Zexston wrote:After much experimentation, I have found that the KDE desktop environment is what is causing the problem. It doesn't seem to work with VBoxAddtions.

Regular Debian works fine, but after installing KDE, the screen resolution problems occur.

I have found that whatever size the screen is when KDE is installed, is what it will be at forever on. So I just made sure it was very large when installing KDE.

I still can't drag the screen size in VM, but its a work around for now.

If anyone has something to add, please do.
Could you post the content of your xorg.conf?
logicdi
Posts: 1
Joined: 19. Mar 2009, 00:26

Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by logicdi »

I have the same problem on CentOs 5.2, I can only use the 800 x 600 resolution also after installing guest additions, my Mac host is the last Macbook.

thank you for any suggestion
Alessandro
Perryg
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Re: 800x600 only resolution after installing VBoxAddtions

Post by Perryg »

logicdi wrote:I have the same problem on CentOs 5.2, I can only use the 800 x 600 resolution also after installing guest additions, my Mac host is the last Macbook.

thank you for any suggestion
Alessandro
From what I have read (and I have tested this) The only way that you will get your screen resolution higher is to add it to the xorg.conf file.
The reason is they are using an older version of X11 that is not supported by VBox.

PLEASE be sure to make a copy of your xorg.conf before editing it. If someting goes wrong you can put it back like it was!

In the screen section of the xorg.conf add the following line

Code: Select all

Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
You can change the numbers to match you screen disply by adding or changing.

Another way I resolved this was to set the display and the monitor in the CentOS software to the size I wanted.
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