I am trying to make the screen resolution sticky. I am a long term user of Parallels Desktop Mac V 2 for running windows XP. A long time ago I starting using VMWare V 2 for Ubuntu. I want to consolidate so I wanted to try Parallels Desktop Mac 5 for Ubuntu. So I down loaded a trial of PDM 5 and got the latest Ubuntu 9.10 from the Ubuntu website. I installed PDM 5 and it went ok. I then tried to install U9.10 from the ISO and it was kind of strange. The screen resolution on my MB is 1280x800 but the window opened by PDM 5 to install U9.10 was huge - about 1/3 taller and 1/3 wider than the screen. This required me to cmd+alt to move the sliders around to answer the questions. Eventually i got U9.10 to boot and I got Parallel Tools to install (I think because the cmd+alt reminder in the status bar is gone and the mouse cursor moves in and out of the vm window fine.) When the machine boots it defaults to 800x600 resolution. In the Display Preference I get no other resolution/size options. I can drag the lower right corner and resize. And this makes a new entry in the resolution/size options in Display Preferences (in fact I can drag and release the lower right corner and make what seems to be infinite resolution options for Display Preferences.) But when I turn off the machine and resume, it defaults back to 800x600 and the other options are gone. What is going on?
persistent 1280x800 Not a direct answer on what's going on for you, but this works for me: I have got ubuntu 8.04.1.1 (Hardy), the predefined parallels vm on parallels desktop 4 on my macbook. The only way I managed to get 1280x800 as persistent screen resolution, was by editing the Modes line, subsection Display, Section Screen in /etc/X11/xorg.conf: Modes "1280x800"
Not exactly the symptoms I've encountered, but the screen resolution problems I had went away when I gave it more video memory in Parallels Desktop > Virtual Machine > Configure > Hardware > Video.
T.J.d, Thanks. That worked. I suppose that Parallels overwrites the xorg config file. When this machine boots up, and until I log in, the screen resolution is HUGE, maybe 2000x2000? The Ubuntu login prompt is way down in the lower right vs in the middle of the screen. Not sure what that is about.
I still have this question about the humongous screen that appears when Ubuntu boots up. Does everybody experience that? What causes it?
pgflrob, When Xorg starts it chooses the maximum resolution available which may be as large as 2560x1600 if VM has enough video memory. You can limit it to whatever you like by editing /etc/xorg.conf. On the other hand, Parallels Tools should have already written 800x600 into xorg.conf during installation process. Your xorg.conf was probably overwritten somehow.
Not sure if I understand. I had to edit xorg.conf to allow 1280x800. Once Ubuntu boots up and AFTER I log in it goes to 1280x800, but while it is booting up it goes huge. Are saying there are two xorg.conf's? The one I edited as per suggestion above is /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I am on a trail so the sooner you reply the better.
