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VirtualBox Hackintosh - Changing Resolution

After installing Mac OS X Mountain Lion as a virtual machine in VirtualBox, I boot it and made it full-screen. The Asus G46VW that I'm running the VirtualBox on has a resolution of 1366x768. But the iATKOS ML2, whichI installed, defaults to 1024x768, wasting plenty of space on its sides. Spending some time, I figured the following method to change screen resolution.

To change the screen resolution, you have to edit two files. One for the VirtualBox, the other for the Mac OS X boot loader. When you change the first file, VirtualBox cannot be running. When you change the latter file, Mac OS X has to be running. Once you have changes the files as stated below, reboot the virtual machine and enjoy full resolution.

File 1 - VirtualBox Configuration on Linux

You have to add a line to the configuration for your Mac OS X virtual machine. On Ubuntu 12.10, the file is "${HOME}/VirtualBox VMs/[virtual machine name]/[virtual machine name].vbox". Once you find that file, add the following line to it under "<ExtraData>":

  <ExtraDataItem name="CustomVideoMode1" value="1366x768x32"/>

My laptop's resolution is 1366x768, so that's the value I used. You need to substitute your own value. The "x32" at the end tells VirtualBox how many colors to allocate for the virtual machine.

File 2 - Mac OS X Boot Configuration

The second file you have to edit is the boot configuration file. On a standard Apple distribution, that would be "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist". However, on the iATKOS ML2, the file is "/Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist", because iATKOS ML2 uses the Chameleon boot loader. Add the following two lines into the file:

  <key>Graphics Mode</key>
  <string>1366x768x32</string>

Jake
Sat, 06 Apr 2013 05:55:07 +0400

File 3 - VirtualBox Configuration on Windows

If you installed VirtualBox on Windows and are accessing the Mac OS X virtual machine, then use this instruction to change the resolution on the host side. Remember you must still perform the change using "File 2 - Mac OS X Boot Configuration" instructions on the guest side.

Open a command prompt and change to the VirtualBox directory. You can do that with the following commands:

  c:
  cd "\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox"

Once you are in the VirtualBox directory, issue the following command to change the screen resolution:

  VBoxManage setextradata "[virtual machine name]" "CustomVideoMode1" "1366x768x32"

My laptop's resolution is 1366x768, so that's the value I used. You need to substitute your own value. The "x32" at the end tells VirtualBox how many colors to allocate for the virtual machine.

Jake
Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:26:08 +0400

Thank you so much for this ! Works very well

Daubi
Fri, 27 Sep 2013 17:06:21 +0400

It should be
<string>1366x768x32</string>
It should be "/string" not just "string" in com.apple.Boot.plis

kenken
Sat, 22 Mar 2014 20:24:18 +0300

Thanks for catching that, kenken. I fixed the post above so that no one would get confused.

Moderator
Sun, 23 Mar 2014 04:38:41 +0300

Excuse my ignorance but how does one find that org.chameleon.Boot.plist? It is not in my Extra folder.
Also, is it org.chameleon.Boot.plist or com.apple.Boot.plist as per the comment above?

Vasi
Mon, 12 May 2014 12:17:16 +0400

The path is stated in the OP above. Which one depends on your Mac OS X distribution. You can use the following command in the root directory to find all Boot.plist on your hard drive:

  find . -name "*.Boot.plist"

Mel
Mon, 12 May 2014 21:54:22 +0400

Sorry, it cannot find it.

I'm running Iatkos ML2...Any suggestions?

I've applied the VMsvga2 patch and nothing. No full screen. Everything else works fine. It just drives me crazy (I'm on a Dell Inspiron 15 7000 with a 750m Nvidia card in it, if that helps).

Vasi
Tue, 13 May 2014 12:56:41 +0400

So you've changed your directory to root before you searched? Here is my search commands and search results:

$ cd /
$ find . -name "*.Boot.plist" 2> /dev/null
./Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist
./Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

Mel
Tue, 13 May 2014 22:30:18 +0400

I found the Library com.* one but not the Extra one...
Could you post the exact contents of your ./Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist file? I'll just make one. F* it!...

Vasi
Tue, 13 May 2014 23:55:43 +0400

nevermind...went the kernel params route instead of the Graphics Mode one, and it worked that way.

Vasi
Wed, 14 May 2014 02:50:04 +0400

Guys, come on - you can't just stop there! That file also doesn't exist on my install, and I don't have any idea what the "kernel params route" is. Can you elaborate??

Kael
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 20:28:52 +0400

Thank you, this helped me set resolution with VirtualBox running iAtkos ML2 under Windows 7. The install instructions for this did not include modifying /Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist, and of three top Google hit web pages I consulted on the subject this is the only one that covers this subtle difference with iAtkos.

Carson
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 20:10:55 +0400

If anyone is still wondering why they can't see the file, it's because it is a hidden one.
To show hidden files open the terminal, then type
: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1
Then type enter.
Afterwards, relaunch the Finder, and go back to Extra, you should be able to see the file.

Kohm
Wed, 25 May 2016 02:47:00 +0400

I dont's have permission to edit the boot file. (I'm admin) Help?

aidan9030
Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:59:49 +0400

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