Arch Linux

LoLei

Member

Registered: 2015-08-02

Posts: 18

VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

I am on a Windows 7 host and Arch Linux guest in VirtualBox.

I have two physical monitors and selected to use two virtual monitors in VirtualBox.

Typing xrandr in Arch Linux displays both screens, but one appears as disconnected.

When I start Xfce4 with startxfce4 after logging in, the second monitor window opens for a second (black), then closes again.

VirtualBox version: 4.3.30
virtualbox-guest-* version: 4.3.28
If you need other version numbers or information please let me know.

I downgraded the virtualbox-guest-* packages to 4.3.28 after other users reported that the second monitor does not show up in xrandr at all. (Link)
After that the second monitor shows up in xrandr, but as disconnected.
The displays settings in Xfce also show only one monitor.

My question is, do I need to "connect" the virtual second monitor somehow or enable it otherwise?
I want to try everything before I submit a bug report.
A Google search did not provide relevant information.

All help is appreciated, I am very new to Arch Linux.

Images:

LoLei

Member

Registered: 2015-08-02

Posts: 18

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

Bump, anyone?

spydon

Member

Registered: 2015-02-03

Posts: 6

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

I sort of have the same problem, except that the second virtual screen doesn't show up at all in xrandr.
I have virtualbox-guest-utils installed and the vboxservice enabled, if that makes a difference.
EDIT: Guess I'm affected by the bug which you linked to.

Last edited by spydon (2015-09-17 09:29:16)

spydon

Member

Registered: 2015-02-03

Posts: 6

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

If you update to the newest version and run this fix provided by dobo it should work (it worked for me):

sudo pacman -S virtualbox-guest-iso
sudo pacman -S fuseiso
mkdir /tmp/vb_iso && mkdir /tmp/vb_unp
fuseiso /usr/lib/virtualbox/additions/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso /tmp/vb_iso
cd /tmp/vb_iso
./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run --noexec --target /tmp/vb_unp
cd /tmp/vb_unp
tar -xf VBoxGuestAdditions-amd64.tar.bz2 # or x86 one if using 32-bit
sudo cp lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/vboxvideo_drv_117.so /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo.so # in the future check X11 version by invoking "sudo X -version"
# and restart X11 session, enable second monitor in menu and it should work now

LoLei

Member

Registered: 2015-08-02

Posts: 18

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

Thanks for the reply, I will try that.

minimalm

Member

From: Juneau, AK

Registered: 2011-09-08

Posts: 23

Website

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

I don't like 'me too,' but I was having the same problem (no second monitor) and this worked for me - thank you.

spydon

Member

Registered: 2015-02-03

Posts: 6

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

The last command should now be

sudo cp lib/VBoxGuestAdditions/vboxvideo_drv_118.so /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vboxvideo.so

if you have upgraded to latest X11 (if you use 117, X wont start).

Last edited by spydon (2015-11-23 15:57:56)

ilovesocks

Member

Registered: 2010-03-02

Posts: 6

Re: VirtualBox second monitor appears disconnected in xrandr (Xfce)

Thanks for the follow-up, Spydon. I had been keeping my Virtualbox guest packages back at 4.3.28 for a long time due to this issue of the second monitor not being detected by xrandr, and your workaround fixed it.