Screen resolution in Virtual Box with Ubuntu

[whs]

This is not really a windows7 issue, but maybe someone knows the answer. I am running Ubuntu in Virtual Box. The best screen resolution I can get is 800x600 which is kind of small for a 22" screen. Does anybody know how to up that screen resolution.

 

[Lemur]

I love Ubuntu!

You can use gedit, vim or vi to edit the conf file found in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Back it up first just in case.

Specify the resolution. Hope that works.

 

[whs]

I love Ubuntu!

You can use gedit, vim or vi to edit the conf file found in /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Back it up first just in case.

Specify the resolution. Hope that works.

Thanks Lemur. One day when I have aquired minimum Ubuntu skills I will try that. At this point I have to figure out how to use gedit.

 

[Lemur]

Actually, I used vi going back to Solaris. I'm guessing vi and vim are pretty similar. There's a learning curve but, once you learn it, you can go global searches, page up, page down, find, replace, fixed transposed letters, etc. I think someone experience with vi is faster than a gui interface. LOL.

VI and VIM editor: Tutorial and advanced features

 

[whs]

Actually, I used vi going back to Solaris. I'm guessing vi and vim are pretty similar. There's a learning curve but, once you learn it, you can go global searches, page up, page down, find, replace, fixed transposed letters, etc. I think someone experience with vi is faster than a gui interface. LOL.

VI and VIM editor: Tutorial and advanced features

Thank you very much for the link. More to learn. It never ends - but that's the fun of it.

 

[rap33042]

Have you installed the Guest Addons of VirtualBox?
Until you do, you won't have control of the VBox window size.

 

[whs]

Have you installed the Guest Addons of VirtualBox?
Until you do, you won't have control of the VBox window size.

Hmm, "Guest add-ons" - no idea what those are. Can you help me find them? Between vBox and Ubuntu I feel like an ignorant. Maybe I should not experiment with such stuff at my age - LOL.

 

[Lemur]

Keep in mind I have VMWare Player. I did have virtualbox, but I couldn't get my webcam to work under it. Hopefully it plays nicer with USB devices now.

Anyhow, this might be helpful for virtualbox:

How to install VirtualBox Guest Additions - Tutorial

 

[whs]

Great, thanks Lemur. I will work on that when I am back to the vBox.

 

[rap33042]

Mount a CD/DVD and choose the GuestAdditions.iso (this is 'packaged with VBox- you'll have no trouble...)
You'll have to reboot the VBox guest afterwards, but the rewards are tremendous...
Enjoy!

 

[whs]

Thanks rap, but there are no guest additions on my CD,

 

[fseal]

The guest additions are part of virtual box, not Ubuntu. Lemur's link should get you through it.

Afterwards you can just resize the virtualbox window an dthe ubuntu desktop will resize automatically, including full screen.

 

[whs]

Yeah, you are right. I must have sleeping on the wheel. I must have a look at their website because I only downloaded the VB.exe

 

[whs]

Those buggers were not easy to find. But in case someone else is looking for them, look here: VirtualBox Guest Additions ISO Download? - Petr Dvorak

 

[Kari]

Wolfgang, just for your information: VirtualBox Guest Additions are an integrated feature in VirtualBox. You don't have to download them separately. Whatever OS you install on VirtualBox, go to Devices menu and click Install Guest Additions. This adds the integrated Guest Additions ISO as a CD/DVD drive, and in most cases installs guest additions automatically, or you can start the installation by opening this (ISO) CD/DVD. You can also mount Guest Additions ISO by pressing right CTRL + D (right CTRL is the defaul VBox Host-key).







You can also add Guest Additions manually from virtual machine's settings. Choose Storage from the left pane, choose CD/DVD, click the folder symbol (browse button), and select Guest Additions ISO:




Kari

 

[whs]

Thanks Kari, that was very easy - after the usual hickups (like I had to make my account Admin first). But my original problem: (more than 800x600 screen resolution) is still not resolved.

 

[rap33042]

whs:
All you should have to do after installing the Guest Additions is to re-size the window.
That's not working?!

 

[Kari]

Ubuntu 10.10, Guest Additions installed. Resolution changes automatically when windows size changed, as Rap33042 here above mentioned:

 

[whs]

I guess I have to play around with it some more. Under "Preferences > Monitor, it is still showing 800x600 as maximum size. But I am sure we'll get there.

 

[fseal]

In VMware the settings are somewhat bogus, 0Hz refresh and half the items greyed out. My resolution list is some geneeric default list with resolutions far higher than my monitor could ever support.

In other words, If the desktop is resizing with the Virtual Box window then forget what it says under there