virtualbox.org

I have installed ubuntu on my iMac but can only choose between 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions. Nothing seems to be able to change this in ubuntu, is it a VB problem? There does not appear to be any way to define screen resolution in VB, or is there?

I had the same problem as you. I ended up having to patch things by editing the "xorg.conf" file and adding additional supported resolutions. To break it down...

On my Mac, I opened up my "Displays" System Preferences. I took note of some of my favorite supported resolutions (yours may differ).

In the Ubuntu guest OS, I opened up a terminal window and typed...

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

... if necessary, type in your Ubuntu password if prompted. This will open up the file in gedit in a way so that you can save it without worrying about permissions. I found that my "xorg.conf" file was missing some sections, so I added them myself...

Section "Device"
Identifier "VirtualBox Video Card"
Driver "vboxvideo"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
#Virtual 1024
Modes "1440x900@60" "1344x840@60" "1280x800@60" "1024x768@60" "800x600@60" "640x480@60"
EndSubSection
EndSection

... where "Modes" contains all of my optional resolutions and refresh rates. In my case, all I had originally was 640x480@60. I saved my changes and restarted Ubuntu. Do yourself a favor and save off a copy of your original "xorg.conf" file to your desktop or something; just in case.

- Jim