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Environment: Lenovo T530 running Windows 7. Have installed Ubuntu 14.04 on a virtual machine using VM Virtual Box. Have installed all the updates from both Virtual Box and Ubuntu.

Problem: While in Ubuntu's desktop and other Ubuntu initiated programs, the window is reduced to about 3x4 inches showing in the middle of the rest of my regular Virtual Box window. I am seeing only the upper right hand of the screen output of what I would normally see.

I've seen How do I install Guest Additions in a VirtualBox VM?

But, none of these answers works in 14.04.

Alexis Wilke
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user3341257
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    I don't think this is a duplicate. When installing the Guest Additions with Ubuntu 14.04 I get "Warning: unknown version of the X Window System installed. Not installing" – mjaggard Apr 22 '14 at 15:31
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    This is definitely not a duplicate question (even if the answer is the same). I found this only via searching about screen res problems, and learned here that "guest additions" is the answer. (If I already knew to ask about "guest additions", I wouldn't have had a question/problem.) – Greg Hendershott Jun 22 '14 at 00:56
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    The answers aren't even the same. Generally you would use the guest additions iso that can be mounted from the host, but it seems to be specific for 14.04 that you must install via the apt repo for it to work properly. – flungo Jul 26 '14 at 09:22
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    possible duplicate of cannot change screen size from 640x480 after 14.04 installation on VirtualBox OSX – user123444555621 Aug 31 '14 at 11:33
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    I've been having problems with this as well. Guest additions appears to have installed correctly but full screen mode still has a small os display. kraxor, where are you seeing system settings? –  Sep 01 '14 at 05:33
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    @BrianBarrick I had the same problem after installing the Guest Additions from the VB menu (Devices -> Install Guest Additions). But after explicitly running the command from the 1st answer below (sudo apt-get install ...) and restarting the VM, everything was Ok. – Stefan Buynov Nov 25 '14 at 16:00
  • Simply go to System Settings -> Displays -> Scale for Menu and Title Bars )and adjust accordingly (after installing guest additions – Peter Kelly Mar 12 '15 at 00:44
  • I too got "Warning: unknown version of the X Window System installed. Not installing" error, and none of the solutions here worked except updating Virtualbox to 5.0.8 (and getting latest extensions), then trying again and finally reboot (the guest). – Munawwar Nov 04 '15 at 16:21

9 Answers9

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You basically need the Guest additions, log into the Virtual Machine to install the following packages:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-dkms

Finally restart the VM to complete the installation.

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Sylvain Pineau
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    Thanks, I misunderstood this step before I read your answer and thought I was supposed to install Guest Additions on the host machine. d'oh. – Aaron Dec 29 '14 at 18:08
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    @symphonyblade: Those packages are meant to be installed on the Guest OS indeed. – Sylvain Pineau Dec 29 '14 at 18:50
  • Does this work for ubuntu 12 also? – carter Jan 26 '15 at 17:57
  • @carter The same set of packages also exist for 12.04.5. Once installed you should be able to set higher resolutions manually (e.g 1600x1200) – Sylvain Pineau Jan 26 '15 at 20:49
  • Was enough for me to install just virtualbox-guest-dkms – AlikElzin-kilaka Jan 27 '15 at 07:45
  • That worked like butterfly ... easy solution like 123 .. Thanks :) – user1427944 Feb 06 '15 at 11:15
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    Doesn't work on my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installation. I get The following packages have unmet dependencies: virtualbox-guest-x11: Depends: xorg-video-abi-15 Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.14.99.902) – THelper Mar 04 '15 at 12:09
  • @Antonio I think you'd better write your own answer instead of editing an existing one. So far 1 user has approved your edit, but another has rejected it for deviating too much from the original content. The edit may get rejected all together. – THelper Mar 10 '15 at 15:46
  • @THelper I don't think you should install the x11 part. I suggest you take a look to the answer I just posted. – Antonio Mar 10 '15 at 17:23
  • If anyone runs into this comment: Use the answer with Devices -> Insert Guest Additions. Simple and works. – Breedly Apr 16 '15 at 13:22
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    @THelper On ubuntu 14.04 I also got The following packages have unmet dependencies. virtualbox-guest-x11 : Depends: xorg-video-abi-15.... The solution by @conradk under here worked for me: sudo apt-get remove libcheese-gtk23, then sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-core and finally sudo apt-get install -f virtualbox-guest-x11 – snark May 11 '15 at 14:31
  • None of the solutions in the comments worked on 14.04.3 - I still had unmet dependencies. – Elden Abob Nov 02 '15 at 14:22
  • I am unable to do this on my Umbuntu 14.04 install because my network requires a proxy. I am unable to set the proxy because the GUI tool to do so requires more screen space than 640x480. Nice little catch-22 there. – T.E.D. Dec 30 '15 at 15:45
  • ...figured out how to set the proxy, but this still doesn't work. It looks like the virtualbox stuff is just incompatible with too much of 14.04.3's X stuff. The only solution I could find was to use 15.10 instead. Still can't change the resolution, but its 1024x768 now, so its at least usable. – T.E.D. Dec 31 '15 at 15:05
  • Fails miserably on Ubuntu 14.04. You should probably revise or delete this answer. – Luís de Sousa Jan 21 '16 at 13:23
  • This worked for me for one reboot of the machine, then it was back to small size forever. – rschwieb Feb 25 '16 at 03:20
  • The 2nd answer here worked for me with 14.04.3, this one didn't do it. – Alexandr Kurilin Apr 18 '16 at 23:29
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    This didn't work for me at all. Still a tiny screen. – Rafael_Espericueta May 15 '16 at 17:34
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On virtualbox you have to install "Guest Additions". There is no need to set a resolution via Ubuntu settings. With your guest window in the foreground select from the top menu:

VirtualBox -> Devices -> Insert Guest Additions CD image

In Ubuntu open a terminal, navigate to cd folder (usually /media/VBOXADDITIONS*) and run 

sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Note that you should have a working compiler gcc/g++

Jay
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mahmood
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    This fails with an error saying it looks like guest additions had been installed from a different installer or package. The only solution is the answer saying to use apt-get to install the three packages. – Jistanidiot Jun 25 '14 at 20:00
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    Exactly the same here trying to install Xubuntu 14.04 64bit on VirtualBox. Installing Guest Additions from mounted CD image is not working - it breaks X Server installation. Instaling with apt-get from public repositories as advised by Sylvain works. – azec-pdx Jul 31 '14 at 11:36
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    +1 This is the only solution that worked for me. As a preliminary step, it was very important to update the VirtualBox Manager to the latest version available. I have posted here a new answer with some additional details. – Antonio Mar 10 '15 at 17:26
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    Though an error appeared that says guest additions has been installed from a different installer..etc do you want to continue,answer with a Yes , after it finishes reboot and it will work – Ala' Alnajjar Jun 17 '15 at 11:11
  • This worked for me! Using VirtualBox 4.3.26 and Ubuntu 14.04 downloaded from osboxes.org – Tim Büthe Jun 17 '15 at 14:50
  • This is the only answer that worked for me, on win8... – sed Aug 07 '15 at 16:11
  • worked for me on VirtualBox 5.0.8 r103449, xubuntu-14.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso image – arturomp Nov 10 '15 at 02:37
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    +1 worked for me - Virtualbox 5.0.10 Mac – Michal Gallovic Jan 14 '16 at 21:12
  • +1 Although the CD was mounted under /media/{username}/.. Ubuntu 14.4 LTS on Windows 7 VBox – Gishu Feb 05 '16 at 01:37
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    The previous apt-get solution failed for me with Ubuntu 14.4 but this solution works for me with VirtualBox 5.0.16 and 5.0.17 Linux Guest Additions after I used the CD button to load the iso Guest Addition image. The script itself was detected automatically and ran after prompting. – ozborn Apr 04 '16 at 16:38
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I had the same problem as you. I did these steps, maybe helps you too:

  1. Go to System settings → Software and Updates → Additional drivers
  2. Use x86 virtualization solutions...
  3. After that reboot your VirtualBox

My VirtualBox is working perfectly.

msrd0
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Rustam
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    Oh my gosh. After trying so many other things and wasting so much time, this easy solution did the trick. – Adrian Carr Jan 26 '15 at 22:51
  • Simple as 1,2,3 - works. – acme Feb 20 '15 at 16:55
  • Verified on Ubuntu Mate 14.04.1 – Elder Geek Feb 28 '15 at 21:38
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    Setting this option seems to go ok on my Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installation, (no error messages) but after the reboot I still have 640x480 resolution and no option to change it. – THelper Mar 04 '15 at 12:20
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    On a fresh image of 14.04.2 desktop (retrieved from osboxes.org), when I boot I'm in 640x480. I then open System Settings -> Software and Updates -> Additional Drivers. There is no option to choose 'Use x86 virtualizations solutions'. Is it simply hidden because of resolution? Do I have to install the Guest Additions first? – Ezward Jun 07 '15 at 20:22
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    Did not help for me – Daniel Jun 10 '15 at 06:01
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    On my Unbuntu 14.04 LTS installation there is no "Software and Updates" under System Settings". I see two categories of stuff there, "Personal" and "Hardware". Perhaps there is a third category I'm not seeing because ... my screen is too small? – T.E.D. Dec 30 '15 at 15:42
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    Indeed you don't see it at the bottom because your resolution is too small, but you can scroll down. – Aurélien Jan 12 '16 at 21:35
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    In my Additional Drivers both InnoTek options say "This device is not working." – David Doria Jan 25 '16 at 22:09
  • Did not work here (ubuntu 14.04 VB 5.0.14) – rschwieb Feb 25 '16 at 03:27
  • @T.E.D. Try to enable workspaces to virtually enlarge your screen: System Settings -> Appearance -> Behavior -> Enable workspaces. You can switch the workpaces with Ctrl+Alt+Cursor, so you can see everything (with moving the windows a bit). – Tino Jul 25 '16 at 15:32
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After having first tried installing the Guest additions, which didn't work, I found another solution elsewhere: linuxbsdos.com.

Use Xdiagnose from the Dashboard. Search for and launch Xdiagnose, then enable all the options under the Debug section. Click the Apply button, then close the window and restart the system.

That's what finally did the trick! Now I get 1024 x 768 resolution instead of 640 x 480.

I never uninstalled the Guest additions, so it might be I needed to take both these measures.

enter image description here

---------- EDIT ---------

I have come to realize that the solution described above is just a fallback, in case installing the Guest Additions failed for some reason. I have finally managed to successfully install them, and can now choose from a bigger range of resolutions in the display settings. Here is how I did it, after having tried all of the above.

One thing I had already tried earlier was 


sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-dkms virtualbox-guest-utils virtualbox-guest-x11
This is not enough in itself, but might be a necessary prerequisite for the following steps (of which some might not be necessary...).
  1. Update Virtualbox to the latest version (currently 4.3.24)
  2. In Terminal in the Guest system type:

    sudo apt-get install dkms
    sudo apt-get install build-essential module-assistant
    sudo m-a prepare

If you have no top menu in the Guest system, it's because you're in scale mode which causes it to be hidden. In that case, press Host + C to toggle scale mode (where Host is Right Control by default)

  1. In the Guest system, go to the top menu, and click Devices->Insert Guest Additions CD Image. This should mount the CD image.
  2. In my case, Autostart worked, and the installation started with a prompt. If it doesn't autostart, you can do the following

    cd /media/<username>/VBOXADDITIONS_4.3.10_93012
    sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

Just be sure to replace <username> by the logged in user's username.

And then a restart, as JTIM pointed out...

Per Quested Aronsson
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    Well, it did enable 1024x768 for me, that's at least something. It still doesn't allow me to set anything higher though, despite trying all the other solutions. – sp00n Mar 04 '15 at 11:15
  • +1 Your solution solved it for me as well! – THelper Mar 04 '15 at 14:36
  • I got for an instant 1024x768 with the login, then a corrupted window pretty wide... But this was anyway the closest I could get to the solution – Antonio Mar 10 '15 at 10:01
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    I got it to work at any resolution following these steps. – Antonio Mar 10 '15 at 17:24
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    Great update! I'm not sure all steps are necessary (dkms is already up-to-date if you first install virtual-guest-dkms), but it certainly worked for me! The virtual box window with Ubuntu now automatically scales to all resolutions. Oh, and I needed to exclude the virtualbox-guest-x11 in your first step. – THelper Mar 19 '15 at 13:56
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    and then a restart :) – JTIM Apr 08 '15 at 10:08
  • I will personally recommend this solution! – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan Aug 27 '15 at 11:42
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Developing from this answer, and in fact pretty well explained also in this other post. (I really tried everything else posted here but it does not seem to work on my Windows 7 system)

Preliminary steps:

  1. Make sure you have installed the latest version of Virtual Box(*). Be careful that if you ask Virtual Box to update to the latest version it might very likely declare being updated even if a newer version exists!

  2. It might be a good idea to start from a clean distribution, creating a new virtual machine, install there Ubuntu (I allowed downloading updated packages from the network during installation), and cloning it before proceeding, so that if you have troubles you can avoid restarting from the very beginning.

  3. Install build-essential and linux-headers-generic packages. Apparently, it's also reccomended to install dkms, as "Running DKMS in the guest OS will keep Guest Additions installed after a guest kernel update".

How to:

  1. Start your virtual machine

  2. On Virtualbox menu -> Devices -> Insert Guest Additions CD image...

  3. From Ubuntu you should see a popup, allow the CD autorun to install the program. For me, like many times before, it said he could not find Linux headers but, this time, in the end everything went fine.
    If the autorun does not work, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), navigate to folder (usually /media/VBOXADDITIONS*) and run

    sh ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

  4. Shut down and then start again your virtual machine

(*) If, like me, with the new version of the Virtual Box you have trouble with network, take a look at this video (In short: use Bridged network, and select "allow VMs")
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Antonio
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I had the same problem. I fixed it by installing the guest additions as explained in the other answers and jacking the amount of video RAM in the settings as shown. MateConfig

Elder Geek
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    After several hours of try with all other options (installing guest addons, updates etc.) I realized that this is the problem.. – endo64 Apr 21 '16 at 13:56
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    Thanks a lot!! It should be the first thing that the user have to check! I waste half a day to trying to figure out how to fix it and tried a 1000 ways... Eventually, you saved my day, thanks! – Sirop4ik Dec 20 '19 at 12:15
  • @AlekseyTimoshchenko I'm glad it worked for you as well! – Elder Geek Dec 20 '19 at 14:04
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Sometimes, simple solution could be:

enter image description here

T.Todua
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I remained stuck for several days in low screen resolution in a Ubuntu 14.04 guest running on VirtualBox 4.1 on Debian Wheezy. None of the most commonly suggested solutions (e.g. installing virtualbox-guest-dkms, installing guest additions) helped. Installing VirtualBox from the official downloads page worked!

pdp
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-1

To expand on what Sylvain Pineau said, typing the following command is much easier (wildcards are accepted with apt-get):

sudo apt-get install virtualbox*
galoget
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MrAxlee
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    But it will install packages like virtualbox-source, virtualbox-dbg and older versions (such as virtualbox-2.2) depending on your ppa settings – Sylvain Pineau Jan 26 '15 at 20:02