Centos 4.5 screen resolution problem

[Dave8]

Hi,

I am using virtualbox 4.2.6 to run Centos 4.5 as a guest. I have installed successfully the guest addition but the full screen mode feature does not work well. It increase the screen only vertically and I am left with two black stripes on each sides. Also in full screen mode Centos seems to loose track of the windows when they are maximized.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Dave

[mpack]

Minimum information needed for assistance
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=48476

ps. I have deleted your earlier post of the same topic before you switched account names.

[Dave8]

Thanks for your reply. Here is the info:

VirtualBox version: 4.2.6 r82870

Host: HP Pavillon Slimline with 8Go of RAM running 64 Bits Windows 7 Professional version 6.1

Guest: Centos 4.5 32-bits (Kernel 2.6.9-89-EL) 4971MB or RAM.12MB of Video Memory (Tried to increase it without success).

Log file attached.

Appreciate your help!

Dave

[mpack]

The lack of video memory is likely to be the problem. You can't go fullscreen if you don't have enough memory to do it. Shut down (not suspend) the VM, then give it a decent amount of graphics memory.

ps. 4GB system RAM is overkill for a 32bit guest, and frequently causes problems. I suggest reducing this to 2GB.

[Dave8]

Please note that this virtual machine is installed on a USB stick that I am moving back and forth between a HP Desktop and a MacBook Air. The Guest addition was installed while running on the MacBook Air. I am getting the exact same problem (Screen resize) with the MacBook Air and the HP desktop.

Here is the MacBook Air info:

VirtualBox version 4.2.6 r82870

Host: OS X Version 10.8.2, 4GB of Memory.

Log file generated with the macbook Air attached.

Thanks,
David

[Dave8]

Thanks, it looks like our messages have crossed. I just tried it again on my MacBook Air with the following settings:

Memory 1917MB
Video Memory: 128MB.

Same problem as before, attached is the new log.

Thanks,
David

[Perryg]

12 MB is enough to get full screen in a Linux guest. You may need up to 32MB to get 3D to settle down but I almost never go over 12 MB.

CentOS is a funny OS though and to be able to see what might be the reason for the issue you need to post the following (as an attachment):

• /var/log/vboxadd-install.log
  /var/log/Xorg.0.log

I also noticed that you are over committing the RAM on the Mac host. Never a good idea.

[Dave8]

Thanks to all for your input, I've downgraded the guest RAM to 1GB.

Attached are the two logs files you've requested. I've noticed some warnings but I can't make sense of them.

Thanks,

Dave

[Perryg]

When not in full screen, click the view tab at the top. Is auto-resize available and enabled?

Also what does running Xorg -version in a terminal say? Dynamic resolution requires 1.3 or later.

[Dave8]

The view tab shows "Auto-Resized Guest Display" checked.

Attached is what returns Xorg -version.

Thx,
Dave

[Perryg]

That's too old to support dynamic resolution. At this point you would need to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to set the size/s you want. Or update to a newer version of CentOS. For the setting in the config file you would be better to ask the CentOS forums what should be in there. I Used to have a sample config for this but it has been too long ago and gone now.

[Dave8]

Ok, thanks for looking into my problem. Do you know which version of Centos are supported? I would like to use an old version for software compatibility reasons.

Dave

[Perryg]

There is no problem using the version you have it is just that you need to manually configure the video resolution. Used to be how it was done all along. Google centos 4.5 guest additions and you will find a page that has instructions.

The version of Xorg is the key. As long as it is 1.3 you are good to go. Lower than that you need to do it manually.

[Dave8]

Hi,

I still couldn't figure out how to tweak the xorg.conf to have a 1920x1080 display when running centos 4.8 as a guest.
The "VESA driver (generic)" does not seem to support this resolution. Appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,
David

[Perryg]

This should help Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions