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[Resolved] Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 14:03
by paul12345
I have installed the virtual box guest additions and tried pretty much everything google throws up to enable full screen display to no avail.

I am not able to get a full screen resolution in the vm, going to view >> virtual screen all the display settings are greyed out.

The guest additions seemed to install fine so is there something else that I need to do to get running in full screen?

I have increased the memory allocation for the graphics card, although strangely when I try to enable 3D Acceleration when I log into the VM I get a black screen instead of graphical display.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:22
by Perryg
Post the guests log file ( as an attachment ). Right click on the guest in the Main Manager then click show log. Save and post as an attachment. Compress if it is too large to post.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:31
by paul12345
Hi Perry I have added the log file. I am trying to use the guest additions version 5.1.6 as this matches the version of virtual box that I am using but maybe this isnt the right version to be using.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:40
by paul12345
Log with 3D Acceleration checked.

On examining the log (not much of it makes sense) I do see this:

00:00:19.473645 VMMDev: Guest Additions capability report: (0x0 -> 0x0) seamless: no, hostWindowMapping: no, graphics: no

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:48
by mpack
The Guest Additions are not installed. All you've done is mount the CD. Please see the user manual section 4.2 for installation instructions.

The log lines you refer to only concern the (host side) GAs API which the guest OS GAs (once installed and running) will talk to.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:50
by paul12345
I ran the script to install them and it tells me the install happened successfully and I also get an additional linux version now?

Are you sure they are not installed? I just ran the uninstaller successfully too?

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:53
by mpack
paul12345 wrote:Are you sure they are not installed? I just ran the uninstaller successfully too?
You commented too soon. I made the mistake of reading the (now redundant) first log. The second log shows the GAs installed.

Unfortunately the log is truncated (please do not grab open files, close the session first), so I can't see what display size you're trying to get. I see that the graphics RAM is only 64MB, I guess you could afford to double that.

Also did you fully reboot the guest since installing the GAs?

I'll leave your remaining queries for Linux experts to handle.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:57
by paul12345
I have reinstalled (I think..) the guest additions now.
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Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 15:59
by paul12345
I will grab a new untruncated log for you now, I have tried increasing the memory right up to 128mb as this was suggested on another forum post I read but it didnt have any effect.

I have rebooted the VM after applying the guest additions to install.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 16:00
by paul12345
I have attached the log file after reinstalling the guest additions and then shutting down the vm.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 17:46
by Perryg
Actually you would have better success finding the issue if you looked at the guests /var/log/vboxadd-install.log. But I think you will find that 5.1.6 is too old for CentOS 7. You probably need at least 5.1.30 and maybe the newest 5.2.* development build for better results.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 12. Dec 2017, 17:53
by paul12345
I tried to completely recreate the VM and then reinstall the additions and just get the same issue. I have attached the new log as there is a lot of GUI related information in it that I hope will enable someone to point me in the right direction for getting the window to resize.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 13. Dec 2017, 09:51
by paul12345
Perryg wrote:Actually you would have better success finding the issue if you looked at the guests /var/log/vboxadd-install.log. But I think you will find that 5.1.6 is too old for CentOS 7. You probably need at least 5.1.30 and maybe the newest 5.2.* development build for better results.
Ok I guess I have 2 options then, either upgrade the version of virtual box that I am using and hope that my old VM's that I use for other projects still work ok, or roll back to Centos 6 which I know works because I already use a development VM running Centos 6 with this version of virtual box.

Thanks

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 13. Dec 2017, 12:09
by socratis
paul12345 wrote:upgrade the version of virtual box that I am using and hope that my old VM's that I use for other projects still work ok
  1. Why wouldn't they? Are you basing your fear on VirtualBox experience or other programs? Remember that the VMs are "data" and VirtualBox is the program that deals with that data.
  2. You can always downgrade if things go bad. They usually never do, but you never know if you might hit a regression in audio or networking or another important (to you) area.

Re: Centos 7 - Cannot enlarge screen size

Posted: 13. Dec 2017, 12:17
by paul12345
The fear is born out of past team experiences and the fact that I don't have free time in this sprint to do that and recover from the issue. Call it a fear of not being able to deliver my work because I had to spend so much time trying to get my system back up and running and its an area I don't have a whole lot of experience with (hence my basic questions on this forum)!

Needless to say, my fears were unfounded as I have successfully upgraded to 5.1.30 this morning, and then installed the guest additions to the Centos 7 VM and it works ok! I have got full screen display and the options to resize are now selectable.

I am *now going to upgrade my project development VM to the new version of guest additions.