VirtualBox: have higher guest resolution than host resolution
Solution 1
Yes it's possible. My old machine was only capable of 1024x768 as it was a 15" LCD. Fedora worked fine on max resolution under VirtualBox (much higher than 1024x768), albeit I had to scroll the window over a lot to view things.
I would think this has to do with VirtualBox somewhat emulating a graphics adapter using your existing video memory. You will see the adapter labeled "VirtualBox graphics adapter".
Solution 2
I did not find a way to get a higher resolution on a Linux host with a Windows XP guest - using VirtualBox only.
What I did was the following:
- I started a virtual X server with a huge resolution:
xinit -- /usr/bin/Xvfb :1 -cc 4 -screen 0 4000x3000x16
- I made the virtual X server available via VNC:
x11vnc -display :1
- Connecting to VNC server:
xtightvncviewer localhost:1
- After connecting to the virtual X server, I started VirtualBox and my machine, and set it to fullscreen.
That way I can set the screen resolution as high as I need it.
About the use case:
We use proprietary software to make a photo book. It costs quite some money to get the book printed - and the software does not offer PDF export of course.
So to get multiple cheap copies, I could buy the photo book once, disassemble it, scan all pages and print them as often as I need them. Alternatively, I could set the virtual box screen resolution really high and make screenshots of each page and print them :)
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Claudiu
Updated on September 17, 2022Comments
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Claudiu over 1 year
Is there any way to have a guest machine have a huge resolution (like 3000x2000 or something) in VirtualBox? I'd like to be able to move around the desktop by scrolling around. It seems like it would be possible. Most importantly, I don't want the windows that are not currently being shown in the guest machine to think they are being hidden. I just want to support a very large virtual desktop.
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STW over 14 yearsIt probably is; it's been possible on real machines for quite a while--but personally I think it's a complete load of crap and a terrible feature. Can I ask why you think it would be so nice?
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Claudiu over 14 yearswhere can i change the resolution past my screen's resolution? the guest machine doesn't let me do it
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John T over 14 yearsMake sure
dynamic resizing
is turned on in the settings menu. You could also just drag the guest window larger instead of setting the resolution manually. -
Joey over 14 yearsYou can't make a window larger than your screen by dragging at the corners.
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John T over 14 yearsyes you can.
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zildjohn01 over 14 yearsCould be for testing, to see how software behaves in a large screen, to test web layouts, etc...
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stdcerr over 8 yearsthat would probably be
xtightvncviewer localhost:1
, wouldn't it?