HOWTO Add 1680x1050 resolution to Windows VMware Server clients
I make extensive use of VMWare Server on my laptop for Flex and Flash development as Adobe haven't released Flash and Flex for Linux yet (hint hint).
When I'm flicking back and forth between Windows and Linux I typically leave the Windows window at 1024x768 which allows it to have no scrolling and still fit on my 1680x1050 screen.
However, there are times when you just need more screen real estate in windows and as the VMWare driver doesn't come with a native 1680x1050 resolution you need to make some minor registry edits to get it working.
A bit of searching got me to an knowledge base article but the instructions didn't work for me, as the registry keys didn't exist there but were located pretty close. So without further ado (there's been quite a bit already I admit).
Start->Run and type regedit - Select the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\{device id}\0000. Note the deviceid is a big horrible uuid, and there may be multiple ones. Use the one that has a key "Device Description" of VMWare SVGA II
- There are a load of Resolution.x lines, add a new "Binary Value" 1 higher than the highest resolution. Eg Resolution.11
- Enter the binary value of: 31 36 38 30 78 31 30 35 30 which is ASCII for "1680x1050"
- Close regedit and reboot.
- After reboot you should have a new resolution available to you.
For other resolutions you can use the following numbers keys:
| ASCII | Value |
|---|---|
| 30 | 0 |
| 31 | 1 |
| 32 | 2 |
| 33 | 3 |
| 34 | 4 |
| 35 | 5 |
| 36 | 6 |
| 37 | 7 |
| 38 | 8 |
| 39 | 9 |
| 78 | x |
Cheers, Mark
The problem with that is that I can't get it to fill the full 1680x1050 screen, as the menu is not available when I'm in full screen mode, and when not in full screen mode there is always a bar or small border around the screen (at least on linux)
Let me know if there is a way around this.
Cheers,
Mark
One thing that people might miss is the Vmware Knowledge Base suggests the new key should be a registry String value. A string will not work, it needs to be binary just as you stated. Thank you, full screen works very well!
Ubuntu Hardy host.
Puts my old windows XP back on track when I need it.
I actually didn't have the <b>Resolution.<i>x</i></b> keys in the registry of my Windows Server 2003 VM, so I couldn't add any keys to that sequence. I tried adding <b>Resolution.0</b> and <b>Resolution.1</b> to support full-screen and maxed windowed resolution, but these resolutions never appeared in the Display panel. I wonder if this registry key isn't valid in all Windows environments. I can't find any reference to it elsewhere.