Old games fullscreen

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

Hello everybody.
The host system is windows 10 pro. The guest windows xp pro. The aim was to use this virtual machine for retro gaming as the 16 bit applications do not start on windows 10. The virtual machine works perfectly but when I run the game in fullscreen it remains small in the center and is not scaled to the screen resolution ( 1080p). Large black borders remain around. This, for example, also happens with the pre-installed 3D pinball game.
Is there any way to fix this or the only way is to use vmware?
Thanks in advance
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by scottgus1 »

Use scaled mode. The screen can then be adjusted to the larger host window size. The guest will remain at the small resolution, but the pixels get bigger.
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

scottgus1 wrote:Use scaled mode. The screen can then be adjusted to the larger host window size. The guest will remain at the small resolution, but the pixels get bigger.
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately, when I start the game (even 3D pinball) in full screen scaled mode it freezes or crashes.
Last edited by Fra990 on 11. Apr 2020, 16:49, edited 2 times in total.
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

I tried to play a 480p video in full screen without scaled mode with vlc and it worked perfectly. I don't know if this can help to understand.
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

Fra990 wrote:
scottgus1 wrote:Use scaled mode. The screen can then be adjusted to the larger host window size. The guest will remain at the small resolution, but the pixels get bigger.
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately, when I start the game (even 3D pinball) in full screen scaled mode it freezes or crashes.
I just found out that this only works with one game than I have. I don't know why with most it doesn't work because they go jerky or crash.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by scottgus1 »

Keep in mind that it's full-screen or scaled mode. If you were doing something to combine the two somehow, issues could develop.

Try turning off 3D acceleration in the guest Display settings, if it is on.

The only other idea I have to get the low-res guest window to display bigger is to make the real PC's resolution smaller.
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

scottgus1 wrote:Keep in mind that it's full-screen or scaled mode. If you were doing something to combine the two somehow, issues could develop.

Try turning off 3D acceleration in the guest Display settings, if it is on.

The only other idea I have to get the low-res guest window to display bigger is to make the real PC's resolution smaller.
virtualbox allows me to select either full screen mode or scaled mode. I never tried to activate them both together. when i wrote scaled mode + full screen i meant scaled mode in virtualbox + run full screen game in windows. and I repeat this trick only worked well with one of my games, all the others get stuck, jerky or crash everything. instead if I use virtualbox set in full screen + game in fullscreen they all work perfectly but remain small in the center. I hope I have explained myself better.
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

scottgus1 wrote:Keep in mind that it's full-screen or scaled mode. If you were doing something to combine the two somehow, issues could develop.

Try turning off 3D acceleration in the guest Display settings, if it is on.

The only other idea I have to get the low-res guest window to display bigger is to make the real PC's resolution smaller.
thanks a lot you were right.
I have disabled 3D acceleration and now it works correctly in scaled mode.
Resolved.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20945
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by scottgus1 »

Fra990 wrote:I have disabled 3D acceleration and now it works correctly in scaled mode.
Glad you got things going!
Fra990
Posts: 7
Joined: 11. Apr 2020, 13:21

Re: Old games fullscreen

Post by Fra990 »

for those with this problem, I specifically solved it by changing the video card from vboxvga to vboxsvga, disabling 3D acceleration and reinstalling the guest additions.
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