Constant Shift

Ubuntu 9.04 on VirtualBox

With the release of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) this week, I gave the new version a shot with VirtualBox. VirtualBox is Sun’s free virtualization application which works well in OS X. There are already quite a few articles out there about how to install Ubuntu on OS X however there were a few quirks that required some tweaking.

Start up Ubuntu and log in. In VirtualBox, click Devices > Install Guest Additions and Ubuntu will mount the the .iso file. Open Terminal and run the following command:

$ sudo /media/cdrom/VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run

You’ll need to reboot, but before doing so, you’ll also need to edit the xorg.conf file. Use the following command in Terminal to edit the file:

$ gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Look for the “Device” section, which should look like this:

Section "Device"
Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Replace it with the following to enable to the VirtualBox video driver:

Section "Device"
Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
Driver		"vboxvideo"
EndSection

This worked great. However I was still unable to enter full screen mode after the reboot. Keep the xorg.conf file open and find the “Screen” section. You can use your monitor’s current resolution and change this manually. This what the “Screen” section look like by default:

Section "Screen"
Identifier	"Default Screen"
Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
Device		"Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Replace that with the following. Be sure to change 800 x 600 to your preferred resolution:

Section "Screen"
Identifier		"Default Screen"
Device			"VirtualBox graphics card"
Monitor			"Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth	24
SubSection "Display"
Depth		24
Modes		"800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Save the file and restart the VM. When you log back in, you should have a nice big VirtualBox window!