External Monitor on Linux Guest

[anfho]

You want your guest desktop to span both the internal and external monitor, as if it were running natively on your PC?

Thanks wotan!

That is exaclty what I want and exactly what I need.

I guess it is time to update to VB4.

[anfho]

Hi wotan,
I have updated to VB 4.0.4 and everything seems to be working fine except for some issues with the USB subsystem... posted that problem on a different thread (http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic. ... 15#p176146)

I still don't know how to extend the guest desktop over both of my screens, the laptop one and the external monitor.

Any help is greatly appreciated...
Thanks!

[wotan]

You have to set the guest to have two monitors. It is in the Display panel of the guest settings. When you boot the guest after that you should get two screens that will show as two monitors to the guest. For the full effect you will have to run in full-screen mode.

[anfho]

I have tried that, but it won't work for me.
Yes, I am getting the two guest windows. But If I go to full screen mode, both windows will extend over both monitors (one over each) however, the main monitor (the laptop one) shows a smaller resoluion of my guest OS and wont let me move guest windows to the other screen...

Not sure what I am doing wrong here... Could it be the guest additions are not properly installed? Maybe need to be reinstalled?
Thx!

[wotan]

You desktop is probably picking 1 screen as the default and making the other a clone of it. You need to go to the display properties app of your desktop and fix it there, or if you know how to use xrandr on the CLI, then some form of xrandr --output VBOX# {--left-of,--right-of} VBOX# will accompish the same thing.

[anfho]

that's probably whats happening...

which display properties app?
host? guest? where ist that?

xrandr=?
CLI=?

??

[wotan]

The display properties app in your guest desktop. In KDE it is call krandrtray (which is a module in systemsettings). I'm not sure what it is in GNOME.

[anfho]

it is called the monitor preferences. I have attached a view of that settings window above. Its behavior is still the same as before with 3.2.12. does not detect the second monitor/display... I have 2 displays enabled in the settings for the guest...

[wotan]

You are running the version 4 additions, correct? With the proper additions it should see both monitors.

[anfho]

OK... got a little further there... thanks!

Everything works fine now in fullscreenmode or with two separate VBox windows...

I am not completely happy yet, because the seemless mode causes some issues:
In seemless mode, it would allow me to position the external monitor to the right of my laptop monitor, but not to the left of my laptop monitor, which is when the seemless mode only wants to use half of my laptop monitor but the full external monitor... I am confused...

How does the seemless mode look for you?
Thanks!

[wotan]

I don't use seemless mode, so I'm afraid I can't help you there.

[anfho]

OK noted... but could u please check if your seemless mode causes such kind of weird behavior (thats two mouse clicks...).