VirtualBox Full screen mode

[Paperlantern]

I have a dual monitor set up. OS is Windows 7. Installed VB the other day so I can have a Linux box at my disposal, I use Linux as the main OS on several machines and I didnt want to dual boot this box, or have a second computer running. I use VM Ware at work as well, and with the VMWare tools installed, you can easily drag the VMWare window over to a secondary monitor, click "Full Screen" and it fills that screen, giving you the look and feel of a dual machine setup running Synergy between the two screens and computers. As if the host machine was one monitor, and the VM was another PHYSICAL computer plugged into the other. However, with Virtualbox, it ALWAYS wants to follow the task bar in windows. It doesnt matter what monitor i set as main or anything, whichever screen i put the taskbar on, thats where the VM jumps to in full screen, OR in seamless mode. more than a little irritating, and I was just curious if it was even possible to do what I do in VMWare in VB? Its not the end of the world if not, it would just be nice.

 

[jaydeee]

Another VMware user here...
I also like that feature.

Im wondering why not use VMware instead VB?

 

[Paperlantern]

Another VMware user here...
I also like that feature.

Im wondering why not use VMware instead VB?

My budget for any kind of personal computing luxuries is $0.

After having used this linux box for a while too, ive noticed it is VERY sluggish compared to even a 1.4GHz Celeron with 1GB of RAM laptop I installed the OS on. The VM is the same distro, but with 1.5GB RAM and one core of a 3.00GHz dual core. What gives? Maybe I should slap another drive in the computer and use a separate drive for the VM? Im sure that would help some, but it is REALLY sluggish, it feels like its on a PIII 733 with 128MB of ram. No joke.

 

[Steltek]

My budget for any kind of personal computing luxuries is $0.

After having used this linux box for a while too, ive noticed it is VERY sluggish compared to even a 1.4GHz Celeron with 1GB of RAM laptop I installed the OS on. The VM is the same distro, but with 1.5GB RAM and one core of a 3.00GHz dual core. What gives? Maybe I should slap another drive in the computer and use a separate drive for the VM? Im sure that would help some, but it is REALLY sluggish, it feels like its on a PIII 733 with 128MB of ram. No joke.

Well, vmWare Player is free. And, in the current version, it supports creation of virtual machines. It doesn't provide all the tools included with Workstation, but it is very useable.

What are the specs of your host machine?

 

[Paperlantern]

Well, vmWare Player is free. And, in the current version, it supports creation of virtual machines. It doesn't provide all the tools included with Workstation, but it is very useable.

What are the specs of your host machine?

3GHz Dual Core CPU
3.00GB RAM
250GB HDD


Nothing screaming fast or even new. I might try vmWare Player. For whatever reason I always thought player was simply that, a player. You couldn't create them. I understand it's not as featured as Workstation, but what features does it have? Can you use VMware tools to still do full screen, full control over allotted memory, virtual drive size, etc? How about USB pass through, VB cant even do that unless you get closed source.

 

[Steltek]

3GHz Dual Core CPU
3.00GB RAM
250GB HDD


Nothing screaming fast or even new. I might try vmWare Player. For whatever reason I always thought player was simply that, a player. You couldn't create them. I understand it's not as featured as Workstation, but what features does it have? Can you use VMware tools to still do full screen, full control over allotted memory, virtual drive size, etc? How about USB pass through, VB cant even do that unless you get closed source.

The current major version of Player is the first one that can actually create VMs - the creation wizards are the same as those in Workstation, so you won't see anything new. Player does include USB pass-through and also supports installation of vmware tools in the guest OS (plus partial 3-d video acceleration in Windows guest OSes only).

Concerning your host, the processor is probably plenty fast but 3GB isn't much memory in which to run both Win7 and a VM -- Win7 itself really needs 2GB (or more, depending on what other software you are using) just to run well itself.

Are you running 32 bit or 64 bit Win7? If you are running 32 bit, how much memory do you have on your video card?

 

[Paperlantern]

The current major version of Player is the first one that can actually create VMs - the creation wizards are the same as those in Workstation, so you won't see anything new. Player does include USB pass-through and also supports installation of vmware tools in the guest OS (plus partial 3-d video acceleration in Windows guest OSes only).

Concerning your host, the processor is probably plenty fast but 3GB isn't much memory in which to run both Win7 and a VM -- Win7 itself really needs 2GB (or more, depending on what other software you are using) just to run well itself.

Are you running 32 bit or 64 bit Win7? If you are running 32 bit, how much memory do you have on your video card?

Win7 Doesn't NEED 2GB to run well, this install USES around 1.25GB for my daily tasks. Right now, listening to music and surfing its hovering around 900MB. Allotting between 512MB and 1.5GB to a VM, leaves the host OS with between 1.5GB and 2.5GB, more than enough. My Wife's laptop has 768MB of RAM and it runs fine.

This version is 32Bit, so I really could only squeeze another half a gig in even if I had the modules to do so. As for the vid card, it is 512MB. nVidia 8600GT.

I'm gonna download Player now and check it out.

 

[Paperlantern]

I'm diggin this. I am disappointed there is no seamless mode, but I guess the line had to be drawn somewhere as far as features, this is still far better than even Virtual Box was, and I like virtual box, i just dont get why it was so sluggish. This is the same settings I gave the VB VM and this screams, its responsive, snappy. How linux SHOULD be in this environment. how i'm used to it being. 1GB of memory alloted, and i'm thinking i can get away with half or three quarters of that.

The only other gripe i have is the menu bar at the top of the screen doesnt fold completely away, theres still a thin bar there. What is the point of that?

 

[Steltek]

The only other gripe i have is the menu bar at the top of the screen doesnt fold completely away, theres still a thin bar there. What is the point of that?

Never quite figured that one out myself. I do agree that it is annoying at times, though.

 

[Lorthreth]

I just tried Virtualbox 4.0.4 full screen mode on a Win7 host and Ubuntu guest.
It was incredibly simple for me.
The little vm bar thingy that appears in the bottom, has a View menu, under which Virtual Screen 1 and from there Use Host Screen 1 and Use Host Screen 2.
Just switch from 1 to 2 and now Ubuntu is running merrily in my secondary screen.
The menu also pops up by pressing Host+Home in the VM.

 

[Paperlantern]

I just tried Virtualbox 4.0.4 full screen mode on a Win7 host and Ubuntu guest.
It was incredibly simple for me.
The little vm bar thingy that appears in the bottom, has a View menu, under which Virtual Screen 1 and from there Use Host Screen 1 and Use Host Screen 2.
Just switch from 1 to 2 and now Ubuntu is running merrily in my secondary screen.
The menu also pops up by pressing Host+Home in the VM.

AHA! I never saw that before, excellent work Watson! Thanks Lothreth. Yes, both setups ARE incredibly simple. Virtual machine software definitely inst rocket science, though that one menu eluded me when I was trying to figure out how to move it from one screen to another. Though my VB still isn't quite as snappy as the EXACT same setup in VMWare Player. Knowing that, I think i may stick with VMWare player. The only reason I like VB is seamless mode anyway, and since VB doesn't pass through USB devices, and VMP does. VMP I think it is. Despite the fact that it feels like a kids toy, which irks me just a little, but you can't dispute the performance.

 

[Steltek]

AHA! I never saw that before, excellent work Watson! Thanks Lothreth. Yes, both setups ARE incredibly simple. Virtual machine software definitely inst rocket science, though that one menu eluded me when I was trying to figure out how to move it from one screen to another. Though my VB still isn't quite as snappy as the EXACT same setup in VMWare Player. Knowing that, I think i may stick with VMWare player. The only reason I like VB is seamless mode anyway, and since VB doesn't pass through USB devices, and VMP does. VMP I think it is. Despite the fact that it feels like a kids toy, which irks me just a little, but you can't dispute the performance.

A USB device can only be connected to either the host or guest, not both at the same time. In Virtualbox, you can use USB Devices submenu under the Device menu to connect/disconnect a USB device to or from the VM. vmWare Player (and even Workstation, which I run on my home machine) requires you to do something similar.

Do you have the Virtualbox Guest Additions installed in your VM? If not, this might give you a little performance boost.

BTW, I was just looking and noticed that I somehow missed the release of VirtualBox 4.0 - downloading it (v4.04, anyway) to check it out now.

 

[Paperlantern]

A USB device can only be connected to either the host or guest, not both at the same time. In Virtualbox, you can use USB Devices submenu under the Device menu to connect/disconnect a USB device to or from the VM. vmWare Player (and even Workstation, which I run on my home machine) requires you to do something similar.

Do you have the Virtualbox Guest Additions installed in your VM? If not, this might give you a little performance boost.

BTW, I was just looking and noticed that I somehow missed the release of VirtualBox 4.0 - downloading it (v4.04, anyway) to check it out now.

Yeah I realize it cant be accessed by both, thus the terminology "Pass through". But you need closed source for this to work on VB, i do not have the closed source version. Yes guest additions are installed, its still sluggish. VMP is noticeably faster than VB overall, at least with this installation of Mint. I ended up deleting the VM i made for VB, but I didnt uninstall VB, it's still a sound virtualization platform, just, for what i'm going for, VMP works better on my setup.

 

[sep]

I'm currently using Virtualbox 3.x (yes need to upgrade to the latest) and find it very easy to use. I use headless (batch file) and remote to my vm. I have dual monitor setup and haven't had an issue.

 

[sep]

Paperlantern, not trying to steal your post. Just asking more questions about VMP because I'm a VB user too with my funding for this the same as you $0.

I'm willing to try VMP;
a. Can I make a copy of my Virtual Disk (WinXP & Win7) and use that to try VMP?
b. I have a VB running headless on my server that I can remote in to from any pc on my network. Can I remote in to a VMP running on my server?