vbox VirtualBox; Unable To Enter Full Screen Mode

[SilverC3ll]

Hello everyone,

I'm a FreeBSD neophyte, with FreeBSD being basically my careful first steps into more-advanced computer usage and allowing it to be a learning experience.
I wanted to experiment with FreeBSD in VirtualBox, and document/video-record my installation experience from out a neophyte's perspective. I was hoping that, as I document my progress form out a neophyte's perspective, that this will be of benefit to others in a similar situation as myself. Hand-in-hand with ChatGPT3 (and additional community verification-of-content), the video will discuss some basic nomenclature and principles presented in the installation process (typical things neophytes like myself might ask), something that present installation video tutorials on FreeBSD (as found on YT) do not take in consideration because the process is viewed from out the lens of more advanced and experienced users (of Unix-like operating systems).
I will not be able to make this recording properly if I cannot enter VirtualBox's full screen mode. Please see the three screenshots attached: FBSD01.png, FBSD02.png, FBSD03.png. You will see that the small rectangular box containing the virtualised version of FreeBSD will not scale into full resolution.

Respecting general forum conduct, I have first searched these forums for topics that might have already dealt with my issue but could find none. [1]
Respecting the forum's code of conduct, rule number 7 disallows me to post tech-requests for other operating systems, so I felt a bit dubious about whether or not I should ask my question here but did so for the following reasons:

1. The question concerns VirtualBox, not an operating system.
2. It's about running/installing FreeBSD on VirtualBox.
3. I confess VirtualBox is in my instance ran on Linux Mint 21.1 Cinnamon, kernel 5.15.0-67-generic, but the question is not really a tech-help support for said Mint installation.
4. Having searched for YT-videos about this full screen issue, revealed to me the issue is OS-relative; meaning trying to run FreeBSD full screen in VirtualBox will require a different approach than trying to run Kali Linux full screen in VirtualBox; hence it would be relevant for me to ask my question here, in the FreeBSD forum. [2]

I run VirtualBox 6.1.
The ISO image used for virtualisation is "FreeBSD-13.1-RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso" (which may not be the right image to use for virtualisation, perhaps?)
I would not mind trying different virtualisation software, but would like to follow the recommendation of more-experienced users than myself in that regard.

I wish to video-record the installation process but the solution to the full screen issue may require me to first fully install FreeBSD. This will of course make it impossible for me to record the installation process. Your advice will be appreciated.

Thank you for your time, patience and expertise.
I am grateful to the open-source community (its my first post here, and have only recently began experimenting with open-source OS.)

SilverC3ll

 

[SirDice]

I will not be able to make this recording properly if I cannot enter VirtualBox's full screen mode.

Guest OS has no influence on this.

 

[SilverC3ll]

Guest OS has no influence on this.

If I understand you correctly, you say that the virtualised OS does not hinder my ability to record because the main OS that runs the virtual machine still allows me to run recording software, such as OBS.
The issue is not that; the issue is that if the virtual machine cannot be run in full screen mode, the recording will be of poor quality. People watching the video will not be able to see what transpires in the virtualised environment well because it is scaled too small. Hence, I need to run the virtualised OS full screen.

Thank you for your patience with my issue.

SilverC3ll

 

[VladiBG]

Try using EFI on VirtualBox

 

[SilverC3ll]

Try using EFI on VirtualBox

VladiBG Thank you indeed for your wisdom. I needed to see what EFI means and how to use it. I asked ChatGPT3 and was able to solve the problem, thanks to your advice. Allow me to quote my interaction with ChatGPT for the benefit of others who may run into the same problem as I.

Me:
Hello ChatGPT . I'm trying to run FreeBSD in VirtualBox (on Linux Mint). I cannot scale the virtualised environment to full screen, or any size greater than the rather small rectangular box it presents me with. On the FreeBSD forum someone suggested: "Try using EFI on VirtualBox." What is EFI, and how do I use it with VirtualBox to attain full screen size?

ChatGPT:
Hello! I'd be happy to help with your question.

EFI stands for Extensible Firmware Interface. It is a modern replacement for the traditional BIOS firmware found in older computers. EFI is a standard interface between the operating system and the firmware, and it is designed to be more flexible and extensible than BIOS.

To use EFI with VirtualBox, you will need to enable it in the virtual machine settings. Here are the steps to do so:

1. Start VirtualBox and select the virtual machine that you want to modify.
2. Click on the "Settings" button to open the virtual machine settings window.
3. Click on the "System" category in the left-hand pane.
4. In the "Motherboard" tab, check the box labeled "Enable EFI (special OSes only)".
5. Click "OK" to save the changes and close the settings window.
6. Start the virtual machine and boot into FreeBSD.

With EFI enabled, you should be able to resize the virtual machine window to any size you want. If you still have trouble resizing the window, you may need to install the VirtualBox guest additions in the FreeBSD virtual machine. The guest additions provide additional drivers and tools to improve the integration between the virtual machine and the host system, including support for resizing the window.

Kindly,

SilverC3ll