virtualbox guest display does not auto resize with ubuntu 12.10

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Just installed Ubuntu 12.10 as guest in virtualbox. I find that after I shutdown the VM and start it later, the display does not resize to the window frame that I had set for it. Please let me know any pointers on how the issue can be fixed.

posted Mar 20, 2013 by Natarajan Venkatraman

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2 Answers

Best answer

Even with guest additions and latest virtual box, I faced the issue. I believe the changes made in Ubuntu 12.10 relating to Xorg / video drivers is leading to this problem. I fixed it using the below work around:
1. Found the resized monitor resolution by resizing the window and pressing HOST+G and then going to "Display Settings" under "System Settings" (It was 1280x676 in my case)
2. Created a file 10-monitor.conf under "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/" with following contents:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "vboxvideo"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Device0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Modes "1280x676"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

With the above work around, I got the display to come up fine to the required resolution each time I restart.

answer Mar 31, 2013 by Natarajan Venkatraman

Have you installed the Virtualbox guest additions?

Ubuntu comes with a basic version of the FOSS ones preloaded but for
full functionality the real thing seems to work a bit better.

answer Mar 20, 2013 by anonymous

Agreed. Download from here, or better yet, add the repository to
Ubuntu:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

commented Mar 20, 2013 by anonymous

Yes. Guest additions is installed and I am able to resize manually by pressing the HOST+G key. But the resized setting should be sticky and the next time I start the same VM, it should automatically resize to the window size. That does not happen. I am forced to use HOST+G each time I start the VM.

commented Mar 21, 2013 by Natarajan Venkatraman

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