Can't get fullscreen resolution on Ubuntu hosted on VirtualBox

Question

I'm running Ubunutu 13.04 in VirtualBox. I have it set up to run in fullscreen mode, but its resolution is much less than what my monitor is capable of and is set up to display on the host machine. When I open up Settings -> Displays, the highest possible resolution setting is still less than what I want it to be to get the most out of my monitor.

I've already installed Guest Additions. What should I do to fix this issue?

I already know the answer to this question (see my answer below), but I couldn't find the solution to my specific situation online, so I figured I'd put it here so others can find it =) — Kevin, Jun 19 '13 at 21:43
If above answers doesn't work than try this out. https://askubuntu.com/a/1359881/1357742 — Vashishth Patel, Aug 25 '21 at 03:28

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 19 '13 at 21:45

12

Go to the VirtualBox options while in your VM (the same place you went to to install Guest Additions) and select View -> Auto-resize Guest Display. This should automatically set your VM's resolution to the proper screen size.

answered Jun 19 '13 at 21:45

Kevin

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14

I can't believe it was this simple for me. I literally spent hours trying to fix the same issue for my setup. Anyway, thanks! – Dan Jun 22 '13 at 14:18
Didn't work for me – Christian Vielma Sep 24 '13 at 22:26
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Occasionally, I need to reinstall Guest Additions on my virtual machine before this will work. Does that help you? – Kevin Sep 25 '13 at 03:42
I think we can do like this .. https://askubuntu.com/a/1359881/1357742 – Vashishth Patel Aug 25 '21 at 03:26

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 07 '19 at 01:22

7

In my case, I could get this fixed by changing following setting. VM needs to be shut down to change the setting.

Settings (of the VM) > Display > Graphics Controller > and select "VBoxVGA"

answered Jun 07 '19 at 01:22

Lahiru Chandima

171

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You are the real MVP. This is what worked for me with my win10 host and my kubuntu 20.04 on vbox 6.12 – mrbolichi Aug 18 '20 at 16:20
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+1 THIS HELPED ME! I tried everything from modifying other settings to installing guest additions multiple times. – Hackinet Feb 22 '21 at 20:09

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 05 '21 at 06:35

3

If you are facing a similar issue, and none of the above worked check this:

Machine settings -> Display -> Screen -> Video memory

Set it to the maximum.

This worked for me, all the others simply didn't work at all.

edited Oct 05 '21 at 06:35

Artur Meinild

26,018

answered Oct 05 '21 at 06:20

crazy nandan

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+1 The default 32MB memory is not enough to run higher resolutions. – assylias Feb 21 '24 at 06:45

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 03 '14 at 16:05

After struggling over and over and over .... uninstalled all virtualbox guest stuff and reinstalled dkms FIRST and then guest additions, and then was able to do View->Auto-resize Guest Display.

What finally worked:

Either substitute to root or use sudo for each apt-get:

$ sudo su -
Password: **********

apt-get remove virtualbox-guest-dkms
apt-get remove virtualbox-guest-additions

You might be told it has already been done ...

shutdown -r now

REBOOT ... NOTE: you will most likely need to powerdown from Virtualbox to reboot

apt-get update
apt-get install virtualbox-guest-additions-iso

shutdown -r now

Now in full screen mode:

Virtualbox Menu: VIEW -> AutoResize Guest Display (Host+G)

You may have to rinse-repeat until it works - took me half a dozen times! The last sequence worked, but no telling ...

Note that sometime during earlier repetitions of the process I upgraded to the most recent version of VirtualBox (which BSOD'd my PC) but I don't think that was a factor in getting the VM to finally recognize my actual screen size.

I tried this but with no effect. I upgraded to 14.04 and since then the screen is not switching to full screen. — Sam007, Jul 18 '14 at 05:11

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

3

Not enough rep to comment on user1665886 & danijelc's post so I wanted to add the following:

That solution uninstalls dkms, you need to reinstall it and reconfigure it:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-dkms
sudo dpkg-reconfigure virtualbox-guest-dkms

Once I that was complete, VirtualBox automatically displayed desktop at full resolution of my monitors.

Credit to Dr. Windows this post.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community

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answered Jan 02 '15 at 16:27

N0rdacian

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worked like a charm ! ))) – Altenrion Dec 25 '16 at 18:28
This method did not work on my system in Ubuntu 16.04LTS – user1665886 Jan 28 '17 at 19:08
Doesn't work on Focal Fossa 20.04 – Eyad Bereh May 28 '21 at 00:55

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 22 '18 at 14:29

This problem has puzzled me for two weeks and I just finally solved it. And now features provided by the GuestAdditions such as full-screen, shared-clipboard, Drag'n'Drop all work.

The most important thing, do not use THE "GUEST ADDITIONS CD" come along with the Oracle VirtualBox, which you usually find in the menu "Devices" - "Insert Guest Additions CD Image". But download the latest VBoxAdditions iso file from the official webpage, mount the image file in your virtual machine and then run the shell file "VBoxLinuxAdditions.run":

    sudo sh  VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Type in the password when prompted. Restart your virtual machine, then everything should work now.

When do you see the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run? I can only find it on /tmp/VBoxLinuxAdditions.run — q0987, Jan 15 '24 at 16:47

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 16 '22 at 23:11

The answer may need some updates as time goes to year 2022. For Vbox 6.1, Ubuntu 20 LTS host and guest OS, most time the non-resize-able VM screen issue results from the so-called "Seamless Mode", which provides a miniature screen for ease-of-use by the administrators.

To avoid this issue, one can first change the "Maximum Guest Screen Size window" from "Automatic" to "Hint", then set "Width" and "Height" to the Maximum Screen sizes the host machine allows, e.g. 3840x2160 for 4K display. This change should be done when one is starting the VM.

After that, switch VM to use "scale mode". The switch option is available under "View" menu item of the VM when it is on the way of starting.

This should solve the screen resize issue for nowadays systems. Don't worry about the Guest Addition, it has been embodied into Virtualbox package already. Check "File"->"Preference"->"Extensions" and one can find it.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 27 '20 at 16:21

0

If you are facing a similar issue, and none of the above worked check this:

Machine settings -> Display -> Screen -> Video memory

set it to the maximun

answered Aug 27 '20 at 16:21

Jonathan Ruiz

101
1

Can't get fullscreen resolution on Ubuntu hosted on VirtualBox

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