unable to resize fedora 9 guest, installed guest additions

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 15. Sep 2008, 01:17

I am unable to resize the virtual desktop after installing guest additions in fedora core 9. I understand that guest additions are only certified to work up to fedora core 8. Is my fedora version the problem? I had to make sure gcc, make and kernel sources were installed first before installing guest additions.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 15. Sep 2008, 21:17

Did you get any errors during the installation of the GA? Any logs of the installation that provide some insight why it doesn't work? Is you Xorg.conf file using the vboxvideo driver and not vesa?

Post by **dmcgraw** » 15. Sep 2008, 21:22

When I tried to install Fedora 9 with VB 1.6.2, there was an error when installing the GA because F9 was using a not yet released version of X.

Is this still true?

Dave

Post by **Sasquatch** » 15. Sep 2008, 21:26

That depends, is F9 using Xorg 1.5 rc? Then yes, it still applies.

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 16. Sep 2008, 03:57

I remember reading the progess of building kernel modules, but I do not recall seeing any errors, however, I could have missed them. If an error log file was created, where would I find it? Also, does it matter if I run the guest additions script a second time?

Post by **Sasquatch** » 16. Sep 2008, 18:56

Logs are saved by default in /var/log. Installing the GA a second time won't hurt the system and you will see the errors then.

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 20. Sep 2008, 04:07

I finally decided to go with fc8 and am posting from it now. However, my new problem is trying to install gcc and make so I can install the guest additions. I try software update, enter my root password and then I am asked to install the fedora disk in the drive. I make sure the disk is mounted, I see the fedora disk icon on the desktop, but it keeps asking me for the disk when I click ok. I get the same problem when I try the package manager to add software. Am I missing a configuration in virtual box or in fedora?

Post by **Sasquatch** » 20. Sep 2008, 19:52

No, you need to disable the CDROM repository check. Open your package manager and go to Repositories, from there disable the cdrom. It will now get all packages from the internet.

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 21. Sep 2008, 14:51

Yes, disabling the cd rom fixed the problem, however, I have another problem of disk space. The updates failed because of lack of virtual hard drive space. I made my virtual hard drive fixed at 4.5gig so I could back it up to a dvd. Can it be easily resized?

Post by **Sasquatch** » 21. Sep 2008, 23:08

See the VirtualBox FAQ for increasing the disk size. You need to create a new VDI file and copy your current install to the new one. There is more explained there.
With a VDI of fixed 4,5 GB, it wouldn't fit a single layer dvd anyway, as that can fit up to 4,37 GB.

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 22. Sep 2008, 01:28

I reinstalled the virtual fedora core 8 because my first set up did not have enough space for updates. I am used to using suse linux and have installed just make, gcc and kernel source when I had to the nvidia driver. I find that fedora is a little different and would like to know what updates I need in order to install the virtual box linux additions. Do I also need to update the kernel when I do the updates and what would the bare minimum of updates be?

Post by **Sasquatch** » 22. Sep 2008, 20:18

virtualboxuser wrote:I reinstalled the virtual fedora core 8 because my first set up did not have enough space for updates. I am used to using suse linux and have installed just make, gcc and kernel source when I had to the nvidia driver. I find that fedora is a little different and would like to know what updates I need in order to install the virtual box linux additions. Do I also need to update the kernel when I do the updates and what would the bare minimum of updates be?

You only need a few packages, as described in the VirtualBox FAQ. In Fedora, the kernel-headers are called kernel-dev IIRC. You don't have to update your kernel, but it is advised to do so because of bugs and security issues that might be a problem for your system. You're free to update any time, but keep in mind that with a new kernel, you also need to reinstall the GA.

virtualboxuser · Post by **virtualboxuser** » 23. Sep 2008, 03:25

I have guest additions installed. I followed your instructions and it went smoothly. I started using Linux with Fedora Core 1, then switched to Suse because of the yast interface that made installing software less painful (dependency issues). Now I see Fedora has come a long way since Core 1. Thank you for the help.