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(Solved) How get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 15:32
by loukingjr
I managed to get OSX 10.6.8 installed as a guest in VB 4.3.12, running on OSX 10.9.3. I remember there was a post about a code you could change in the .vbox file to use a larger screen for the guest but I can't find it. Any one know what it is?

TIA

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 15:37
by loukingjr
I may have spoke too soon. :lol: I had Snow Leopard running as a guest until I updated it to 10.6.8. :(

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 15:56
by mpack
Can't you just drag the window to a new size? Other than that you'd be looking at "Custom VESA Resolutions" in the manual.

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 15:59
by loukingjr
mpack wrote:Can't you just drag the window to a new size? Other than that you'd be looking at "Custom VESA Resolutions" in the manual.
as far as I knew there were no guest additions for OSX.

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 16:03
by mpack
I didn't mention any GAs, or anything that needs them.

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 16:19
by loukingjr
mpack wrote:I didn't mention any GAs, or anything that needs them.
no you didn't. as soon as I get this reinstalled I'll try it.

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 20:29
by rpmurray
From the manual:
EFI provides two distinct video interfaces: GOP (Graphics Output Protocol) and UGA (Universal Graphics Adapter). Mac OS X uses GOP, while Linux tends to use UGA. VirtualBox provides a configuration option to control the framebuffer size for both interfaces.

To control GOP, use the following VBoxManage command:

VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode N
Where N can be one of 0,1,2,3,4,5 referring to the 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1920x1200 screen resolution respectively.

Re: What do I edit to get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 20:56
by loukingjr
rpmurray wrote:From the manual:
EFI provides two distinct video interfaces: GOP (Graphics Output Protocol) and UGA (Universal Graphics Adapter). Mac OS X uses GOP, while Linux tends to use UGA. VirtualBox provides a configuration option to control the framebuffer size for both interfaces.

To control GOP, use the following VBoxManage command:

VBoxManage setextradata "VM name" VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode N
Where N can be one of 0,1,2,3,4,5 referring to the 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1920x1200 screen resolution respectively.
yes, I had found it. thanks though :)
now that I have OSX 10.6 installed as a guest I'm wondering why. lol I've been messing around trying to update it to 10.6.8 but everything I have tried makes it fail to boot. Plus trying to play videos is a lost cause. well, at least I got it running. :roll:

Re: (Solved) How get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 21:02
by loukingjr
I find it more than a little ironic that every guest I have runs better than OSX as a guest. :P

Re: (Solved) How get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 29. May 2014, 23:31
by rpmurray
All your other guests probably have Guest Additions and aren't still something that is still "experimental" according to the devs. :(

Have you tried 4.3.6? Something the devs did starting is 4.3.8 has broken some of the functioning of OS X guests.

Re: (Solved) How get better resolution in OSX guest?

Posted: 30. May 2014, 01:11
by loukingjr
rpmurray wrote:All your other guests probably have Guest Additions and aren't still something that is still "experimental" according to the devs. :(

Have you tried 4.3.6? Something the devs did starting is 4.3.8 has broken some of the functioning of OS X guests.
no I haven't. mainly because other guests do seem to work better with 4.3.12 and I really have no use for OSX guests. I just was curious how they worked. I have Macs with 10.7-10.9 running natively.