banjora {na+au+uk{auxilium}}

Continuing on with my Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac development and testing, I came across an interesting challenge with Ubuntu. Once Ubuntu is virtualised with Parallels, the login screen resolution remains consistent with the actual display resolution size. However, once Parallels Tools are installed, the login size of the screen becomes 1024×768, regardless of what one sets the display resolution size to.

I suffered this same exact issue with Ubuntu using VMware Fusion, however, the solution for Parallels was much easier and cleaner. After researching the internet for quite some time, I finally found a simple solution which resides in the ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf‘ file.

When Parallels Tools are installed, the ‘/etc/X11/xorg.conf‘ is configured with Parallels standard settings. When Ubuntu is started, it reads the xorg.conf file for instructions on proper display sizing. Specifically for the login display size, it reads the ‘Modes’ values within the ‘Display’ subsection of ‘Screen’.

That in mind, the login display size will always be displayed at whatever the first entry within the ‘Modes’ values settings. By simply adding one’s desired display size to the beginning of the ‘Modes’ values, its sorted.

Dependencies: The Ubuntu versions listed below must be completely installed, and Parallels Tools installed.

Considerations: Installation of Parallels Tools will allow for the proper enablement of Ubuntu’s Visual Desktop Effects, sound and mouse functionality.

Versions Tested:

• Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac
• Ubuntu 9.04 x64 (Jaunty Jackalope)
• Ubuntu 9.10 x64 (Karmic Koala)
• Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS x64 (Lucid Lynx)

Installation Guide:
1. Launch a terminal session within Ubuntu by simply selecting from the toolbar; Applications › Accessories › Terminal.

Using your terminal, the following syntax to edit the ‘xorg.conf’ file is provided as an example.

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2. I have provided my current ‘xorg.conf’ file as an example, where line 49 has my entry for a desired 1920×1200 login display size.

#
# X.Org server configuration file generated by Parallels Guest Tools.
#

# Generic Keyboard section
Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver	"kbd"
	Option	"XkbModel"	"pc105"
	Option	"XkbLayout"	"us"
	Option	"XkbOptions"	"grp:alt_shift_toggle"
EndSection

# Generic Mouse section
Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Mouse"
	Driver	"mouse"
	Option	"SendCoreEvents"	"yes"
EndSection

# Parallels Mouse section
Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Parallels Mouse"
	Driver	"prlmouse"
	Option	"Device"	"/dev/input/mice"
	Option	"Protocol"	"auto"
EndSection

# Parallels Video section
Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Parallels Video"
	Driver	"prlvideo"
EndSection

# Parallels Monitor section
Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Parallels Monitor"
	VendorName	"Parallels Inc."
	ModelName	"Parallels Monitor"
EndSection

# Parallels Screen section
Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Parallels Screen"
	Device	"Parallels Video"
	Monitor	"Parallels Monitor"
	Option	"NoMTRR"
	SubSection	"Display"
		Modes	"1920x1200" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

# DefaultFlags section
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

# DefaultLayout section
Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"DefaultLayout"
	Screen	"Parallels Screen"
	InputDevice	"Parallels Mouse"	"CorePointer"
	InputDevice	"Generic Keyboard"	"CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice	"Generic Mouse"
EndSection