Arch Linux

AK-33

Member

Registered: 2011-07-02

Posts: 9

[SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

Greetings, all:

I'm having a little configuration problem with my Arch frame buffer resolution.

I installed Arch only laptop in VMware. I chose the Xfce 4 WM and slim login manager. I added 'vga=0x34C' to my kernel command line for 1366x768, and the correct resolution is used for the startup process. However, as soon as slim starts up, it goes back to 1024x768 resolution.

I have also installed Ubuntu in VMware on the same laptop, and it boots into the correct resolution.

I installed Arch on another laptop as well (no virtual machines), and it detected my 1366x768 resolution without any problems - I didn't even need to add the 'vga=0x34C' to the kernel command line.

Why won't Xfce boot into the right resolution?

(Yes, I have installed a video drive: xf86-video-vmware.)

Thanks much in advance.

EDIT: I'm not sure if this is a related issue, but my terminal's background transparency option will not work. It doesn't matter if the opacity is at 0 or 100, the background remains black.

Last edited by AK-33 (2011-08-04 05:52:07)

chemicalfan

Member

From: United Kingdom

Registered: 2011-05-25

Posts: 58

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

Can you post up your /etc/X11/xorg.conf please (if it's really large, just the Screen part)?

Also, have you installed the Guest Additions for Arch (I'm only familiar with Virtualbox, I'm assuming VMWare has an equivalent...)?

archlinux2011

Member

Registered: 2011-07-16

Posts: 38

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

slim i think is limited same with the boot messages to a certain resolution but if you install open-vm-tools and add them i think to your daemons it should be fine when you log in.

AK-33

Member

Registered: 2011-07-02

Posts: 9

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

@chemicalfan:

1. No such file exists on my system.

2. I'm not sure what Guest Additions are. If they are the same thing as VMware-user wrapper as indicated here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _in_VMware

Then, yes, that is automatically installed.

@archlinux2011

I have downloaded open-vm-tools and added it to my DAEMONS list in /etc/rc.conf.

Btw, slim works fine (fills up the whole screen) on my Arch laptop. It just won't work on my Win laptop in VMware.

Last edited by AK-33 (2011-08-02 19:42:43)

chemicalfan

Member

From: United Kingdom

Registered: 2011-05-25

Posts: 58

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

Oh yeah, sorry I had similar trouble with X after I upgraded mine. I can't remember off-hand where xorg.conf is now, but it's in there that all available resolutions are listed (these are auto-detected as part of installing X, when Xorg -configure is run)

Edit: Guest Additions seem to be called VMWare Tools under VMWare, and the wrapper package is part of that if I understand correctly. Under Virtualbox, the Guest Additions provide the cut/paste functionality, but also overcomes shortfalls in the X VM video drivers by hooking up with the host's somehow (allowing full-screen, native resolution)

Last edited by chemicalfan (2011-08-02 07:50:34)

AK-33

Member

Registered: 2011-07-02

Posts: 9

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

I'll run a 'locate' command on xorg.conf the next chance I get. However, I can only find /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d last time, which is a directory, not a file.

Yes, the copy/paste functionality is covered by the VMware-user wrapper, which is part of open-vm-tools. I do have that installed.

EDIT: I just verified with both the 'find' and 'locate' commands - xorg.conf does not exist anywhere on my system.

Should I do a 'pacman -Syy' followed by a 'pacman -Syu' (I only installed the image via netinstall two or three days ago)?

Last edited by AK-33 (2011-08-03 00:56:37)

szim90

Member

Registered: 2011-08-01

Posts: 29

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

With the current version of Xorg, an xorg.conf file isn't installed by default. Instead, you put specific sections that you would have manually edited in xorg.conf as individual files in xorg.conf.d
This is explained in more detail here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg#Configuring

I noticed that on my own VMWare install, I can not get 1366x768 even after bootup (I can get other resolutions, but not that specific one). Once your system has started, and you are in Xfce, are you able to do:

xrandr -s 1366x768

If so, you could (I think) add the command to the slim boot script (in /etc/rc.d/slim), at the end of the start section. However, this probably isn't an ideal solution, though it might work (it was recommended here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Resolution ).

Someone else on VMWare did have better luck getting that resolution, though:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=102272

Hope one of these proves helpful. Good luck!

chemicalfan

Member

From: United Kingdom

Registered: 2011-05-25

Posts: 58

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

Oh yeah, specifically here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xo … ng_started

AK-33

Member

Registered: 2011-07-02

Posts: 9

Re: [SOLVED] Xfce 4 Will Not Recognize 1366x768 Resolution in VMware

Guys, thank you so much for the resources.

I'll check them all out when I get the chance (hopefully soon) and post what I did if I solve it.

EDIT: The simplest solution seems to work the best, so thanks to szim90 for the 'xrandr -s 1366x768' command.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to automate this. I tried appending the command to both /etc/rc.d/slim (right above "exit 0") and /etc/inittab; neither worked. It seems I have to enter this command manually or put it in a simple script every time I log in.

Thanks again for the suggestion, though. Hey, if it works, it works.

UPDATE: As of Arch 3.3.2-1, this is no longer an issue. Resolutions (including for SLIM login manager) are successfully auto-detected in VMware.

Last edited by AK-33 (2012-04-23 00:25:29)