Some questions about running Linux under Virtualbox

[hajime]

Hi, I installed VirtualBox 6.0 on a MacBook Pro 2019 15" (2.3GHz Intel i9, 16GB RAM, Intel UHD 630).

When I launched the Ubuntu virtual machine, I see a very small window with the login screen. Manually enlarging the application window by dragging the bottom right corner only enlarged the application screen. The Ubuntu virtual machine still occupies a very small are in the middle. Pressing CMD-F to make it full screen does not help. How do I make it bigger?

With my computer hardware configurations, what do you recommend me to change in the settings of the virtual machine? For example, RAM side, number of processor and use ratio, chipset (default to PIX3), video RAM, graphic accelerator (default to VMSVGA), storage type (default to PIX4), etc.
Is it better to enable PAE/NX under processor?

Thanks.

 

[Shirasaki]

You can play around with graphics accelerator but you still need to install drivers come with virtualbox for better support.

 

[hajime]

Thanks. Do you mean Guest Additions?

I went to Devices->Install Guest Additions to install some additional capability but after reboot, I can make the desktop bigger by dragging the application window. However, there are still a lot of white boundary surrounding the purple Linux desktop.

 

[Shirasaki]

Thanks. Do you mean Guest Additions?

I went to Devices->Install Guest Additions to install some additional capability but after reboot, I can make the desktop bigger by dragging the application window. However, there are still a lot of white boundary surrounding the purple Linux desktop.

Looks like guest addition support is not good for Linux somehow. If you try to use VMware Fusion or even parallel desktop, it should perform better.

with that being said, virtualbox hasn’t been properly updated to support Mojave for a while now. So issues can happen.

 

[hajime]

Looks like guest addition support is not good for Linux somehow. If you try to use VMware Fusion or even parallel desktop, it should perform better.

with that being said, virtualbox hasn’t been properly updated to support Mojave for a while now. So issues can happen.

Thanks for your important information. I will try Parallels and see how it goes.

I am just testing if the MBP could be my laptop for the next few years. Not being able to install Linux directly due to the T2 chip is a problem. I don't think Apple will remove such limitation in the up-coming MBP 16". At least under VirtualBox, the performance is not very good. I can see lags even dragging a window across the screen. Maybe the iPP+Jump Desktop option is a better option.

 

[pshufd]

The approach for Guest Additions is painful. I used to use VirtualBox for Linux on my Macs but don't need to anymore. I eventually bought Parallels and Parallels is so much easier to use - you just pay for it.

 

[762999]

Thanks for your important information. I will try Parallels and see how it goes.

I am just testing if the MBP could be my laptop for the next few years. Not being able to install Linux directly due to the T2 chip is a problem. I don't think Apple will remove such limitation in the up-coming MBP 16". At least under VirtualBox, the performance is not very good. I can see lags even dragging a window across the screen. Maybe the iPP+Jump Desktop option is a better option.

You can install linux on a macbook with t2 chip, you just need to disable SecureBoot.
[doublepost=1566739132][/doublepost]

Hi, I installed VirtualBox 6.0 on a MacBook Pro 2019 15" (2.3GHz Intel i9, 16GB RAM, Intel UHD 630).

When I launched the Ubuntu virtual machine, I see a very small window with the login screen. Manually enlarging the application window by dragging the bottom right corner only enlarged the application screen. The Ubuntu virtual machine still occupies a very small are in the middle. Pressing CMD-F to make it full screen does not help. How do I make it bigger?

With my computer hardware configurations, what do you recommend me to change in the settings of the virtual machine? For example, RAM side, number of processor and use ratio, chipset (default to PIX3), video RAM, graphic accelerator (default to VMSVGA), storage type (default to PIX4), etc.
Is it better to enable PAE/NX under processor?

Thanks.

For best experience, you need the guest addition. What most people don't understand is that the addition have requirements. If you just click on the menu and expect it to be done, it won't, you'll have an error message.

On ubuntu/debian :
sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

then install the addition.

Parallels it's different, for do you really want to pay the licence fee every year?
For Microsoft hyper-v, the guest extensions are built into the kernel, so nothing to do.

For RAM, CPU and hard disk, you need to follow the specific's distro requirements. For heavier desktop, more video ram will help.

With virtualbox and vmware, you can move VM from one OS to the other and you have nothing to do. With parallel its locks you to host the VM on a Mac (which is fine if you're ok with that).

 

[S.B.G]

You can install linux on a macbook with t2 chip, you just need to disable SecureBoot.

From what I've seen that is only partly true. I've never tried it, but thought about. Apparently once you disable secure boot, the T2 chip cuts off access to the internal drive and therefore the Linux installer will not see the internal drive.

The only solution is to run Linux on the Mac by disabling secure boot and running it from an external drive.

If anyone has figured out how to do this on an internal drive on a Mac with a T2 chip, I'll be very interested in seeing a video/article on it.

 

[762999]

From what I've seen that is only partly true. I've never tried it, but thought about. Apparently once you disable secure boot, the T2 chip cuts off access to the internal drive and therefore the Linux installer will not see the internal drive.

The only solution is to run Linux on the Mac by disabling secure boot and running it from an external drive.

If anyone has figured out how to do this on an internal drive on a Mac with a T2 chip, I'll be very interested in seeing a video/article on it.

it was partly true at one point: https://github.com/roadrunner2/mbp-2016-linux

the nvme drive was not showing up because of a bad disk id but from there was a patch for it, depending on the distro, it may requires a manual intervention. Refer to the link for what's working (or not).

PS: I sold my last mac last month, can't test anything.

most people only follow the guide for the external drive thing which is also not a bad idea. Parallel and vmware allow to boot a non-vm boot disk as a VM, so it gives the possibility to use the drive as a VM or a dedicated box (if you need more powa).

Cheers