Arch Linux

gry0

Member

Registered: 2015-08-10

Posts: 8

[SOLVEDChange Arch (guest) screen resolution in Virtualbox to 1280x800

Hello again!  So, I was able to get booted into Arch (x64) on Virtualbox.  I installed X.org and then Openbox, some Intel drivers (for Macbook Pro), and several other packages.  Since the beginning of my install the Virtualbox window has been 800x600, and has never changed.  I installed virtualbox-guest-utils, loaded the kernel modules with

modprobe -a vboxguest vboxsf vboxvideo

, and added  /etc/modules-load.d/virtualbox.conf  file to run these at boot time. I've tried launching this with VBoxClient-all, but nothing has changed.

The only way I've been able to change the resolution, so far, is using xrandr.  I determined my display settings, added this line to xrandr, and changed the output.  This gets me to 1280x800.  If I set these xrandr commands to run in ~/.xinitrc at boot time - is this a "proper" way to set the resolution.  I've also read in other posts/forums that you can change the resolution in the GRUB config file.  Would this be more appropriate?  If this makes GRUB show at 1280x800 I'd rather do that.  If someone has an appropriate link to instructions to do this it would be much appreciated to post here.

I guess I'm looking for advice on the "best' way to set my resolution to 1280x800 by default at boot time.

Last edited by gry0 (2015-08-12 17:22:12)

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,590

Re: [SOLVEDChange Arch (guest) screen resolution in Virtualbox to 1280x800

If I set these xrandr commands to run in ~/.xinitrc at boot time [...]

~/.xinitrc is read when starting an X session. It shouldn't be used for other things. But using it as a place for setting the resolution upon launching X seems to be alright to me.

If you installed the VBoxGuestAdditions, you should also be able to simply resize your VirtualBox window from OS X, and the WM (if written correctly) should adapt to the changes, thus rendering the xrandr invocation unnecessary.

This is true for X only, though. For the TTY, setting the resolution via GRUB approach seems OK - but then again, I don't think it's worth the hassle (I mean: how much do you plan to work in the TTY? )

By the way:

I installed X.org and then Openbox, some Intel drivers (for Macbook Pro), and several other packages.

There is no reason to install MacBook Pro-related packages; your guest system sees VirtualBox's (virtual) hardware. On the other hand, it is still possible that you need the Intel graphics driver for the VirtualBox hardware, so it's fine.

Last edited by ayekat (2015-08-11 15:01:40)

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pkgs │ hacks │ cfg │ blag

gry0

Member

Registered: 2015-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: [SOLVEDChange Arch (guest) screen resolution in Virtualbox to 1280x800

If I set these xrandr commands to run in ~/.xinitrc at boot time [...]

~/.xinitrc is read when starting an X session. It shouldn't be used for other things. But using it as a place for setting the resolution upon launching X seems to be alright to me.

If you installed the VBoxGuestAdditions, you should also be able to simply resize your VirtualBox window from OS X, and the WM (if written correctly) should adapt to the changes, thus rendering the xrandr invocation unnecessary.

Thanks for the feedback.  Any idea why VBoxGuestAdditions isn't working, or is there a way to find out if I did something wrong here?  When I resize VirtualBox, Arch just stays at 800x600.  In the VirtualBox menu bar under "View" I do have options to change the resolution, but when I click on 1280x800 (or any other option) nothing changes.

I guess if all else fails I can use the xrandr commands in /.xinitrc, but I'd rather Arch resize when I resize the VirtualBox window.

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,590

Re: [SOLVEDChange Arch (guest) screen resolution in Virtualbox to 1280x800

Have tried launching the `vboxservice` service? And putting

/usr/bin/VBoxClient-all

in your .xinitrc (so that it is executed before you launch the WM).

I don't use VirtualBox, so I'm running out of ideas...

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pkgs │ hacks │ cfg │ blag

gry0

Member

Registered: 2015-08-10

Posts: 8

Re: [SOLVEDChange Arch (guest) screen resolution in Virtualbox to 1280x800

I rechecked my virtualbox.conf to make sure vboxguest/vboxsf/vboxvideo were in there (they were), and simply relaunched the guest services with

VBoxClient-all

...and I was immediately up and running with a resizeable VirtualBox window.

Who knows...?

Last edited by gry0 (2015-08-12 17:25:04)