Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 22. Jul 2010, 14:59

Hello,

I have followed the instructions in the "Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions + Xorg config" post to install the VirtualBox guest additions in my Ubuntu guest. Since there was no default xorg.conf setup by my Ubuntu installation, I generated one and modified it to match that in the Howto forum post.

Everything works OK except I can't have the guest display to automatically resize with the guest window. In fact, under the machine menu there is a checked option that reads "Disable Guest Display Auto-resize". Here is my current xorg.conf:

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

Please let me know how to deal with this, or another post that already dealt with it.

Thank you very much!

Post by **Perryg** » 22. Jul 2010, 15:26

What is the version of VirtualBox?
What is the version of the Ubuntu guest?

Depending on the versions it may be that the guest does not require the xorg.conf and by creating it you are preventing the auto resize.
Also you need to make sure that the auto resize is activated. Use the host+g toggle to test that it is enabled.

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 22. Jul 2010, 17:23

Perryg wrote:What is the version of VirtualBox?
What is the version of the Ubuntu guest?

I am using the latest version (3.2.6) of VirtualBox under a Mac OS X 10.6.4 host.
The Ubuntu guest is also the latest version (10.04).

Actually, the auto-resizing did not work at first, that is why I generated the xorg.conf file.

I tried the hotkey you told me, and it still does not work!

Any other ideas? Thanks.

Post by **Perryg** » 22. Jul 2010, 18:09

Ubuntu 10.04 does not need an xorg.conf file for VirtualBox to work.
The usual problems are the guest is not prepared to build external modules.
the necessary additions are linux-headers-generic (desktop version), build-essential, and DKMS

During the install of the guest additions (in the guest) you should be able to see if an error is generated but if you miss it then you can look in /var/log/vboxadd-install.log to see what caused the problem.

Be sure that the kernel and the headers match. uname -r will tell you what kernel you are using and you can look in the synaptic package manager
or $ dpkg-query -l linux-headers-* to see if the linux-headers-generic is loading the right headers. DKMS will help and keep these matched so you do not need to rebuild VBox when the kernel changes.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 22. Jul 2010, 21:49

penyuan wrote:In fact, under the machine menu there is a checked option that reads "Disable Guest Display Auto-resize".

That should not be checked. It's a small box, but there must not be a tick in it, it has to be completely white. Verify this, along with the xorg.0.log stated above and check for resizing.

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 23. Jul 2010, 18:56

Thanks a bunch for the help so far.

I re-installed the whole system and followed the tutorial forum post, unfortunately it is still not working. By the way, this time I DID NOT generate a new xorg.conf file.

My guest additions terminal output looks like this:

Code: Select all

Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 3.2.6 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
tar: Record size = 8 blocks
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules
Building the main Guest Additions module ...done.
Building the shared folder support module ...done.
Building the OpenGL support module ...done.
Doing non-kernel setup of the Guest Additions ...done.
Starting the VirtualBox Guest Additions ...done.
Installing the Window System drivers
Installing X.Org Server 1.7 modules ...done.
Setting up the Window System to use the Guest Additions ...done.
You may need to restart the hal service and the Window System (or just restart
the guest system) to enable the Guest Additions.

Installing graphics libraries and desktop services components ...done.

The install log is:

Code: Select all

make KBUILD_VERBOSE=1 -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build SUBDIRS=/tmp/vbox.0 SRCROOT=/tmp/vbox.0 modules
test -e include/linux/autoconf.h -a -e include/config/auto.conf || (		\
	echo;								\
	echo "  ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid.";		\
	echo "         include/linux/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing.";	\
	echo "         Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it.";	\
	echo;								\
	/bin/false)
mkdir -p /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_versions ; rm -f /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_versions/*
make -f scripts/Makefile.build obj=/tmp/vbox.0
  gcc -Wp,-MD,/tmp/vbox.0/.test.o.d  -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.3/include  -Iinclude  -I/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/arch/x86/include -include include/linux/autoconf.h -Iubuntu/include  -D__KERNEL__ -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -Werror-implicit-function-declaration -Wno-format-security -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -O2 -m64 -mtune=generic -mno-red-zone -mcmodel=kernel -funit-at-a-time -maccumulate-outgoing-args -fstack-protector -DCONFIG_AS_CFI=1 -DCONFIG_AS_CFI_SIGNAL_FRAME=1 -pipe -Wno-sign-compare -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -mno-sse -mno-mmx -mno-sse2 -mno-3dnow -Wframe-larger-than=1024 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -pg -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -fno-strict-overflow -fno-dwarf2-cfi-asm -fconserve-stack -I/lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/ -I/tmp/vbox.0/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/r0drv/linux -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -DRT_OS_LINUX -DIN_RING0 -D_X86_ -DIN_RT_R0 -DIN_SUP_R0 -DVBGL_VBOXGUEST -DVBGL_HGCM -DVBOX_WITH_HGCM  -DMODULE -D"KBUILD_STR(s)=#s" -D"KBUILD_BASENAME=KBUILD_STR(test)"  -D"KBUILD_MODNAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test)"  -c -o /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_test.o /tmp/vbox.0/test.c
  set -e ; perl /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/recordmcount.pl "x86_64" "64" "objdump" "objcopy" "gcc" "ld" "nm" "" "" "1" "/tmp/vbox.0/test.o";
  ld -m elf_x86_64   -r -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.o /tmp/vbox.0/test.o 
(cat /dev/null;   echo kernel//tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.ko;) > /tmp/vbox.0/modules.order
make -f /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/Makefile.modpost
  scripts/mod/modpost -m -a -i /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/Module.symvers -I /tmp/vbox.0/Module.symvers  -o /tmp/vbox.0/Module.symvers -S -w  -s
  gcc -Wp,-MD,/tmp/vbox.0/.vboxadd_test.mod.o.d  -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.3/include  -Iinclude  -I/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/arch/x86/include -include include/linux/autoconf.h -Iubuntu/include  -D__KERNEL__ -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -Werror-implicit-function-declaration -Wno-format-security -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -O2 -m64 -mtune=generic -mno-red-zone -mcmodel=kernel -funit-at-a-time -maccumulate-outgoing-args -fstack-protector -DCONFIG_AS_CFI=1 -DCONFIG_AS_CFI_SIGNAL_FRAME=1 -pipe -Wno-sign-compare -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -mno-sse -mno-mmx -mno-sse2 -mno-3dnow -Wframe-larger-than=1024 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -pg -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -fno-strict-overflow -fno-dwarf2-cfi-asm -fconserve-stack -I/lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/ -I/tmp/vbox.0/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/r0drv/linux -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -DRT_OS_LINUX -DIN_RING0 -D_X86_ -DIN_RT_R0 -DIN_SUP_R0 -DVBGL_VBOXGUEST -DVBGL_HGCM -DVBOX_WITH_HGCM  -D"KBUILD_STR(s)=#s" -D"KBUILD_BASENAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test.mod)"  -D"KBUILD_MODNAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test)"  -DMODULE -c -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.mod.o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.mod.c
  ld -r -m elf_x86_64 -T /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/module-common.lds --build-id -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.ko /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test.mod.o
/tmp/vbox.0/Makefile.include.header:87: Ignoring unknown BUILD_TYPE value '_BUILDTYPE_'.
make KBUILD_VERBOSE=1 -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build SUBDIRS=/tmp/vbox.0 SRCROOT=/tmp/vbox.0 modules
test -e include/linux/autoconf.h -a -e include/config/auto.conf || (		\
	echo;								\
	echo "  ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid.";		\
	echo "         include/linux/autoconf.h or include/config/auto.conf are missing.";	\
	echo "         Run 'make oldconfig && make prepare' on kernel src to fix it.";	\
	echo;								\
	/bin/false)
mkdir -p /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_versions ; rm -f /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_versions/*
make -f scripts/Makefile.build obj=/tmp/vbox.0
/tmp/vbox.0/Makefile.include.header:93: Using BUILD_TYPE='release' from the environment.
  gcc -Wp,-MD,/tmp/vbox.0/.test_drm.o.d  -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.3/include  -Iinclude  -I/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/arch/x86/include -include include/linux/autoconf.h -Iubuntu/include  -D__KERNEL__ -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -Werror-implicit-function-declaration -Wno-format-security -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -O2 -m64 -mtune=generic -mno-red-zone -mcmodel=kernel -funit-at-a-time -maccumulate-outgoing-args -fstack-protector -DCONFIG_AS_CFI=1 -DCONFIG_AS_CFI_SIGNAL_FRAME=1 -pipe -Wno-sign-compare -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -mno-sse -mno-mmx -mno-sse2 -mno-3dnow -Wframe-larger-than=1024 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -pg -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -fno-strict-overflow -fno-dwarf2-cfi-asm -fconserve-stack -I/lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/ -I/tmp/vbox.0/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/r0drv/linux -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -DRT_OS_LINUX -DIN_RING0 -DIN_RT_R0 -DIN_SUP_R0 -DVBOX -DVBGL_VBOXGUEST -DVBOX_WITH_HGCM -DLOG_TO_BACKDOOR -DRT_WITH_VBOX -DIN_MODULE -DIN_GUEST_R0 -DRT_ARCH_AMD64 -DVBOX_WITH_64_BITS_GUESTS  -DMODULE -D"KBUILD_STR(s)=#s" -D"KBUILD_BASENAME=KBUILD_STR(test_drm)"  -D"KBUILD_MODNAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test_drm)"  -c -o /tmp/vbox.0/.tmp_test_drm.o /tmp/vbox.0/test_drm.c
  set -e ; perl /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/recordmcount.pl "x86_64" "64" "objdump" "objcopy" "gcc" "ld" "nm" "" "" "1" "/tmp/vbox.0/test_drm.o";
  ld -m elf_x86_64   -r -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.o /tmp/vbox.0/test_drm.o 
(cat /dev/null;   echo kernel//tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.ko;) > /tmp/vbox.0/modules.order
make -f /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/Makefile.modpost
/tmp/vbox.0/Makefile.include.header:93: Using BUILD_TYPE='release' from the environment.
  scripts/mod/modpost -m -a -i /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/Module.symvers -I /tmp/vbox.0/Module.symvers  -o /tmp/vbox.0/Module.symvers -S -w  -s
  gcc -Wp,-MD,/tmp/vbox.0/.vboxadd_test_drm.mod.o.d  -nostdinc -isystem /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.4.3/include  -Iinclude  -I/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/arch/x86/include -include include/linux/autoconf.h -Iubuntu/include  -D__KERNEL__ -Wall -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -Werror-implicit-function-declaration -Wno-format-security -fno-delete-null-pointer-checks -O2 -m64 -mtune=generic -mno-red-zone -mcmodel=kernel -funit-at-a-time -maccumulate-outgoing-args -fstack-protector -DCONFIG_AS_CFI=1 -DCONFIG_AS_CFI_SIGNAL_FRAME=1 -pipe -Wno-sign-compare -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -mno-sse -mno-mmx -mno-sse2 -mno-3dnow -Wframe-larger-than=1024 -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fno-optimize-sibling-calls -pg -Wdeclaration-after-statement -Wno-pointer-sign -fno-strict-overflow -fno-dwarf2-cfi-asm -fconserve-stack -I/lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/ -I/tmp/vbox.0/include -I/tmp/vbox.0/r0drv/linux -D__KERNEL__ -DMODULE -DRT_OS_LINUX -DIN_RING0 -DIN_RT_R0 -DIN_SUP_R0 -DVBOX -DVBGL_VBOXGUEST -DVBOX_WITH_HGCM -DLOG_TO_BACKDOOR -DRT_WITH_VBOX -DIN_MODULE -DIN_GUEST_R0 -DRT_ARCH_AMD64 -DVBOX_WITH_64_BITS_GUESTS  -D"KBUILD_STR(s)=#s" -D"KBUILD_BASENAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test_drm.mod)"  -D"KBUILD_MODNAME=KBUILD_STR(vboxadd_test_drm)"  -DMODULE -c -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.mod.o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.mod.c
  ld -r -m elf_x86_64 -T /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-23-generic/scripts/module-common.lds --build-id -o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.ko /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.o /tmp/vbox.0/vboxadd_test_drm.mod.o
Attempting to install using DKMS

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/vboxguest/3.2.6/source ->
                 /usr/src/vboxguest-3.2.6

DKMS: add Completed.

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area....
make KERNELRELEASE=2.6.32-23-generic -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build M=/var/lib/dkms/vboxguest/3.2.6/build.........

Running the post_build script:
cleaning build area....

DKMS: build Completed.

vboxguest.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod......

DKMS: install Completed.
Attempting to install using DKMS

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/vboxsf/3.2.6/source ->
                 /usr/src/vboxsf-3.2.6

DKMS: add Completed.

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Running the pre_build script:

Building module:
cleaning build area....
make KERNELRELEASE=2.6.32-23-generic -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build M=/var/lib/dkms/vboxsf/3.2.6/build....
cleaning build area....

DKMS: build Completed.

vboxsf.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod....

DKMS: install Completed.
Attempting to install using DKMS

Creating symlink /var/lib/dkms/vboxvideo/3.2.6/source ->
                 /usr/src/vboxvideo-3.2.6

DKMS: add Completed.

Kernel preparation unnecessary for this kernel.  Skipping...

Building module:
cleaning build area....
make KERNELRELEASE=2.6.32-23-generic -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/build M=/var/lib/dkms/vboxvideo/3.2.6/build....
cleaning build area....

DKMS: build Completed.

vboxvideo.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-23-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod....

DKMS: install Completed.
Creating user for the Guest Additions.
Creating udev rule for the Guest Additions kernel module.

Looks like there IS something going on with the kernel (i.e. "ERROR: Kernel configuration is invalid."), but is that a version mismatch or something else? Please let me know what to do.

Also, here are a couple screen shots of what my VirtualBox Machine menu looks like, the auto-resize option is weird in that no matter how I click it. Please see attachment with the images.

: Auto-resize menu item checked, saying auto-resize is disabled.; machine_menu_1.jpg (52.43 KiB) Viewed 13147 times

: After clicking it, the menu item is unchecked, but now says "enable" auto-resizing.; machine_menu_2.jpg (52.17 KiB) Viewed 13137 times

Thanks!

Post by **Perryg** » 23. Jul 2010, 19:03

What happens when you take the check mark out of disable resize and then press host+f?

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 23. Jul 2010, 19:14

Perryg wrote:What happens when you take the check mark out of disable resize and then press host+f?

Glad you are online!
I just did that. VirtualBox entered fullscreen mode, but the desktop DID NOT resize with it. It is still the same size, now centered and surrounded by a black border. Any ideas?

Post by **Perryg** » 23. Jul 2010, 19:21

Open a terminal in the Ubuntu guest and type the following and post here.

uname -r

and

dpkg-query -l linux-headers*

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 23. Jul 2010, 19:39

Here they are:

Code: Select all

uname -r
2.6.32-23-generic

Code: Select all

dpkg-query -l linux-headers*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version        Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
un  linux-headers  <none>         (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>         (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>         (no description available)
un  linux-headers- <none>         (no description available)
ii  linux-headers- 2.6.32-23.37   Header files related to Linux kernel version
ii  linux-headers- 2.6.32-23.37   Linux kernel headers for version 2.6.32 on x
ii  linux-headers- 2.6.32.23.24   Generic Linux kernel headers

Post by **Perryg** » 23. Jul 2010, 19:58

According to the information you have provided you should be able to achieve auto resize. If toggling the host+g and host+f does not work then maybe the generic xorg.conf below will help. Still you should not need it but there must be something with the combination with the MAC host.

Create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf and put this in it

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
	Identifier "VBoxVideo"
	Driver "vboxvideo"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
  Identifier   "Monitor[0]"
  ModelName    "VirtualBox Virtual Output"
  VendorName   "Sun Microsystems Inc"
EndSection

Section "Device"
  BoardName    "VirtualBox Graphics"
  Driver       "vboxvideo"
  Identifier   "Device[0]"
  VendorName   "Sun Microsystems Inc"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth      24
  EndSubSection
  Device       "Device[0]"
  Identifier   "Screen[0]"
  Monitor      "Monitor[0]"
EndSection

Let me know if this does or does not work. Does the mouse integration work properly?

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 24. Jul 2010, 07:30

Just tried that.
Now the screen seems to resize, BUT only the menubar and currently open window. The desktop itself does not resize, and the extra space is filled black still.
By the way, I chose the LXDE desktop as my default for my Ubuntu installation, does this matter? If so, should I tried the above solution with XFCE, KDE or others?
Thanks for your help so far!

Post by **Sasquatch** » 24. Jul 2010, 13:57

What you're seeing is something I saw on my LXDE installation too. It's not a VB issue, but LXDE's. If you log out and back on, it will be ok, or if you refresh the desktop wallpaper.

penyuan · Post by **penyuan** » 24. Jul 2010, 15:34

Sasquatch wrote:What you're seeing is something I saw on my LXDE installation too. It's not a VB issue, but LXDE's. If you log out and back on, it will be ok, or if you refresh the desktop wallpaper.

Ah, yes that seems to be the case. Hope LXDE takes care of this issue soon. Do you know where we could report this issue?

Thanks for all your help, Perryg and Sasquatch!

Post by **Sasquatch** » 25. Jul 2010, 12:50

No idea where to report it, because I no longer see this problem. The desktop wallpaper now scales properly when I change the resolution dynamically. Are you sure you updated all packages to the latest version? I could be that I tinkered somewhere with the preferences/settings of LDXM/OpenBox to fix it, so play around there too. My VM does not have any updates for LXDE packages. It's also running the corresponding GA, 3.2.6 in this case.

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Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

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Re: Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

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Re: Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

Re: Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

Re: Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

Re: Can't dynamically resize display in Ubuntu guest

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