16x9 pixel aspect ratio on Win11 host / WinXP guest

[Techineer]

New VB user here, and I'm going nuts with frustration.

I have set up VB v7.012 on a Win 11 system, and installed a WinXP Pro SP3 guest OS. It does run, but I cannot get it to configure any reasonable video display with 16x9 pixel aspect ratio.

I have installed the Guest Additions package in the XP VM.

I am not limited to a 1920x1080 monitor, but that is the ratio that I would most like to use, as well as possibly other resolutions a bit smaller such as 1600x900, but the only ones available are in the 4:3 ratios except for some insanely high res versions.

I have searched the forums and tried resizing the window to fullscreen, shutting down and restarting multiple times. I have tried it in fullscreen mode. It will do 3141x1816 and 3840x2012, but the content is much too small to be useful. The closest I can some is 1920x1440 and 1600x1200, both 4:3. I have not yet figured out how to use the VBManage app to try to force it.

Stretching the screen distorts the objects in the window. It's not a matter of fitting the monitor; what I want is a full size display to a widescreen monitor with the correct 16x9 pixel aspect ratio. This is important to me because I need to run some DOS graphics applications under XP where the aspect ratio is important.

Can anyone offer a solution that works?

---- Thanks.....

[scottgus1]

Virtualbox only provides a 4:3 monitor to the VM OS. There is a trick discovered by forum guru Mpack that calls for manually adjusting the screen size so it falls to a 16:9 size then shutting down and rebooting the VM a couple times.

Also, try the VM's View menu, there are screen size choices present that may get you where you want to go.

[Techineer]

Virtualbox only provides a 4:3 monitor to the VM OS. There is a trick discovered by forum guru Mpack that calls for manually adjusting the screen size so it falls to a 16:9 size then shutting down and rebooting the VM a couple times.

I have tried that several times with no success. Adjusting the screen size to fit the screen causes distorted icons and text, and rebooting the VM doesn't change anything. No additional resolutions listed in the adapter list.

[scottgus1]

Adjusting the screen size to fit the screen causes distorted icons and text

This will happen if your VM in Scaled Mode. Is it?

Otherwise, please post a VM log:

Please start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the VM with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show in Explorer/Finder/File Manager. In the "Logs" subfolder, zip the VM's "vbox.log", and post the zip file, using the forum's Attachments tab. (Configure your host OS to show all extensions so you can find the "vbox.log", not "vbox.log.1", etc.)

[Techineer]

Yes, the VM is in scaled mode. So the 4:3 aspect ratio causes the icons and text to be stretched horizontally if the window is resized.
I interpreted the MPack instructions to mean that I should resize the window to a 16:9 ratio (essentially full screen on the monitor), shutdown and restart. This process never resulted in any change. Inside the VM, the adapter resolution modes list never provided any reasonable resolutions that were close to 16:9 ratios.

[scottgus1]

OK, thanks. You need to come out of Scaled Mode. Scaled Mode will scale the OS's screen size setting to whatever the window is sized to. It doesn't change the OS's screen size.

If the VM is not in Scaled Mode the icons and letters will all stay the normal un-malformed size, only the actual numbers in the OS's screen size will change.

To come out of Scaled Mode, type Host Key & C. (Host Key is Right Ctrl by default)

Once you're out of Scaled Mode, if Guest Additions are properly installed and running, and the VM's View menu "Auto-Resize Guest Display" is checked, resizing the VM window will change the screen size numbers inside the VM OS, and the View menu > Virtual Screen # > Resize commands will work.

If the last paragraph's settings do not cause the OS's screen size numbers to change, or you get a small OS showing in a box in the middle of the VM window, please provide the requested log.

[Techineer]

I finally got it to work.

After getting out of Scaled mode as described by scottgus1, things still dxidn't come together until I realized something while checking my monitor's native screen resolution, which is 3840x2160. Since that makes type too small to read, I have my Win11 (Host) display scaled at 150% which makes the effective resolution 2560 x 1440.
This triggered the recollection of the 'Scale Factor" settings in VB Manager.

That put me on the track I developed.

1. Under the VirtualBox Manager File / Preferences / Display, set the Maximum Guest Screen Size: to None.

2. There are two Display Scaling controls in the VirtualBox Manager: one under File / Preferences / Display.
The other one is under the Virtual Machine (Guest) Settings / Display / Scale Factor.
I started by setting these both to 100%.
Click OK to apply those.

3. Start the Guest VM (WinXP). On my display it was a small window with very fine print.
I opened Display Properties / Settings / Advanced / Adapter tab / List All Modes.
This gave me a much longer list of resolutions and aspect ratios. None were true 16:9, but I did find one that was 2546x1320, which is 17:9. Close enough. I selected that one and OK'ed out.

4. Shut down the VM.

5. Return to the VirtualBox Manager. In the Guest Settings / Settings / Scale factor, I set it to 200%.

6. Restart the Guest. Now I had a larger window. I was able to resize it to full screen without distorting the icons or text. Stretching it to full screen - still good. Full Screen - Looks great!

Subsequent restarts have continued to open in full screen mode with the proper aspect ratio.

I think I have remembered and included all the steps I used to get there. If I have left any out, please update this thread.

It does seem strange that Oracle apparently didn't provide any driver resolutions that match the most common aspect ratio of modern displays.

Hope this helps others that have been fighting the issue.

Now to get my old DOS design app to work again......