SOLVED - VBox resolution problem

[Maurice]

I have Pclinuxos dual booting with WindowXP. I also have XP as a Virtual Box guest in the PcLinuxos.

The XP guest works fine but for a small problem .....

I use a forex charting program and find difficulty in reading the finer details and tiny fonts. There is no facility in the program for increasing them so I have to reduce the screen resolution from 1680x1050 to 800x600. I do this by editing the registry so the settings stick.

This works OK except that the screen itself is reduced to a small 6"x4" box. If I try to drag this box out to a workable size the settings immediately revert to 1680x1050.

I have taken a screenshot but don't know how to transfer it here.

I have the same forex program in the real XP and that works fine - the reduced resolution works as it should and occupies the full screen. However I prefer the VB version as it is easier to hop back and forth into PcLos without rebooting.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[kjpetrie]

You cannot use screen resolution tricks to change the size of the display in virtualbox. As you've discovered, you will just resize the window.

You will have to use the accessibility features in the guest OS to change the font sizes instead.

[Maurice]

You cannot use screen resolution tricks to change the size of the display in virtualbox. As you've discovered, you will just resize the window.

You will have to use the accessibility features in the guest OS to change the font sizes instead.

Thanks KJP - I thought there might be a limitation like that in Virtualbox

I already checked on Accessibilities but there's no facility for changing font size - all I can do there is change the contrasts.

Reckon that solves it.

[menotu]

Do you have Guest Additions installed in your VBox VM?

That will allow you to make the VM screen bigger whereby you can then increase the font size to suit.

I normally just grab the VM and drag it to the top/left of my screen and that auto resizes the VM to the size of the main desktop (minus main "panel" of course  )

BTW, which version of Virtualbox are you using? Version 4.0.x?  If it's one of the version 4 releases you may want to install the extension pack as well.

Note: I believe Texstar mentioned that with the new 4.0.6 version the getvirtualbox installation script will install the extension pack at the same time.

[pags]

You cannot use screen resolution tricks to change the size of the display in virtualbox. As you've discovered, you will just resize the window.

You will have to use the accessibility features in the guest OS to change the font sizes instead.

Thanks KJP - I thought there might be a limitation like that in Virtualbox

I already checked on Accessibilities but there's no facility for changing font size - all I can do there is change the contrasts.

Reckon that solves it.

Actually, you can.

When the Virtual Machine is running, under the "Machine" menu, select "Switch to Scale Mode" (Host+C).  This will let you change the size of the window, without changing the resolution (so everything gets "bigger" or "smaller").  You will lose access to the menus, so to switch out of it, you to use "Host+C" (where "Host" is usually the "Right-CTRL" key).

EDIT:
You can also "force" a specific resolution (in linux, anyway...haven't tested in XP, but I presume it should work) by specifying a monitor.
To test PCLOS on an EeePC (800x480) in VirtualBox first, I selected a Generic LCD - 800x480, and set the resolution accordingly.  This let me see how the elements would all fit on screen.  I then used Scale Mode to set the window to approximate the physical dimensions of the EeePC, so I could get a feel for how the display would look in actuality...

Hope that helps a little...

[Maurice]

Do you have Guest Additions installed in your VBox VM?

That will allow you to make the VM screen bigger whereby you can then increase the font size to suit.

I normally just grab the VM and drag it to the top/left of my screen and that auto resizes the VM to the size of the main desktop (minus main "panel" of course   )

BTW, which version of Virtualbox are you using? Version 4.0.x?  If it's one of the version 4 releases you may want to install the extension pack as well.

Note: I believe Texstar mentioned that with the new 4.0.6 version the getvirtualbox installation script will install the extension pack at the same time.

Thanks menotu.

Yes I have Guest Additions. XP only offers 3 font sizes and that is not enough for the very small fonts in the charts.

I have version 4.0.4 and didn't know about extensions. I think I'll update to 4.0.6 - that will stop the reminder every time I open VB.

[Maurice]

Actually, you can.

When the Virtual Machine is running, under the "Machine" menu, select "Switch to Scale Mode" (Host+C).  This will let you change the size of the window, without changing the resolution (so everything gets "bigger" or "smaller").  You will lose access to the menus, so to switch out of it, you to use "Host+C" (where "Host" is usually the "Right-CTRL" key).

EDIT:
You can also "force" a specific resolution (in linux, anyway...haven't tested in XP, but I presume it should work) by specifying a monitor.
To test PCLOS on an EeePC (800x480) in VirtualBox first, I selected a Generic LCD - 800x480, and set the resolution accordingly.  This let me see how the elements would all fit on screen.  I then used Scale Mode to set the window to approximate the physical dimensions of the EeePC, so I could get a feel for how the display would look in actuality...

Hope that helps a little...

That did it pags - the Scale Mode that is. I lost the menus, which would have made it rather unworkable but, after restarting VB, they came back.

Just restarted again to make sure and - yes - still works. Magic. 

I haven't tried the second method yet, I'll keep it in reserve.

Thanks a lot pags.

Well - this problem is now well and truly solved.

Many thanks to all.
Maurice

[Maurice]

It appears that VB 4.0.4-2 is the latest version available in Synaptic.

Where do I find the extension pack?

[pags]

It appears that VB 4.0.4-2 is the latest version available in Synaptic.

Where do I find the extension pack?

Actually, 4.0.6 is in Synaptic (I installed it yesterday), so you should check that you're fully updated, and then run getvirtualbox (which now includes the Extension Pack).

The Extension Pack for 4.0.4 is here.

[MCP]

Note: I believe Texstar mentioned that with the new 4.0.6 version the getvirtualbox installation script will install the extension pack at the same time.

That's good to know.  But I've noticed that the extension pack that is loaded after I installed 4.06 is still numbered 4.04.  Is this by design? Or do I still need to download the new pack?   

MCP

[pags]

Huh!

So it is...I never thought to check...everything seemed to work OK.

I'll go and try installing the latest...be right back.

[pags]

Downloaded and installed the 4.0.6 Extension Pack...booting a VM now...

Seems to be OK.

Nice catch.  Not sure if that is the intended behaviour.

[Maurice]

Just downloaded the extension pack and -- I'm a bit ashamed to ask this --  but I've forgotten how to open a gzip file.

[MCP]

Just downloaded the extension pack and -- I'm a bit ashamed to ask this --  but I've forgotten how to open a gzip file.

You don't have to open the extension pack to use it.  Just go to preferences in VBox, go to the extensions page and tell it to load the pack.  It will then automatically install.

Hope this is helpful,
MCP

[Maurice]

You don't have to open the extension pack to use it.  Just go to preferences in VBox, go to the extensions page and tell it to load the pack.  It will then automatically install.

Hope this is helpful,
MCP

Thanks MCP but -- I think I'm being a bit dumb here -- it wants an administrative password. Where do I get this? I've tried a few including just a return.