Java application used in VirtualBox: failure to properly size windows

[erdmann]

I am using versions 6.5.11 of SmartSVN (requiring Java 1.4.2) and 6.6.7 (requiring Java 1.6 -> this new version of Java) in VirtualBox. The VirtualBox host is Windows 7 running with a screen aspect ratio of 16/9 while the VirtualBox guest is OS/2 running with a screen aspect ratio of 4/3.
1.) for SmartSVN 6.5.11 I can properly resize windows: maximizing the window will exactly fill the screen, sizing works as expected
2.) for SmartSVN 6.6.7 I cannot properly resize windows: maximizing the window will cover exactly the screen height but will exceed the screen width. I suspect it tries to scale screen width with a ratio of 16/9 where it should scale with 4/3 of the screen height. I also cannot size at all (even though the sizing pointer symbol is visible) and the window unfortunately is wider than the screen.
3.) both versions of SmartSVN properly work when running under native OS/2
(no window sizing problem).

Therefore, from the 3 components:
Java version,
SmartSVN itself,
VirtualBox yes/no
I suspect that the Java 1.6 somehow queries the wrong screen resolution or the wrong aspect ratio or that it uses "unsuitable" parameters queried from the OS to compute screen width/screen height.

[erdmann]

add. info:
a.) correction for 2.) above: I can always properly size vertically but not horizontally
b.) the sizing problems only occur for the main application window (initial window), for additional windows (for example file diff window) the sizing is always working as expected.

[erdmann]

I still am facing the same problem. I also updated Odin to level 27.6.2011 (0.6.21659).
Since Odin is used to draw the GUI components of a GUI based Java app, is it possible that
Odin has the problem to draw with correct aspect ratio when run in a Virtual machine ?

[dmik]

I have no idea. Which VirtualBox verison is it? What additions do you have installed? I checked this with VirtualBox 4.0.4 running under Ubuntu and eCS 2.0 rc7 (VBox Additions from VirtualBox 3.x). I also have a 16x9 host screen and a 4x3 resolution inside the eCS box. SmartSVN 6.6.7 works just fine. Moves, resizes and maximizes as expected.

[erdmann]

Info: In the meantime, I have updated Odin to version 0.6.21668 as recommended. Nothing has changed with regard to the mentioned problem (but it will hopefully fix the frequent DOSCALL1 crashes that I also experienced :-)

VirtualBox: 4.0.10 (but I also had this problem with VirtualBox 4.0.8). I have also installed the corresponding VirtualBox Extension Pack (for proper USB 2.0 support). Inside VirtualBox, I am using the guest extension for the "seamless mouse pointer" support. I always reinstalled them on each VirtualBox update (but my observation is that they did not change between 4.0.8 and 4.0.10).

[erdmann]

Info: I am using SNAP Build Nr. 505

Funny observation: now that I changed from 1024*768 to 1280*1024 and if I maximize the main window, it will fit horizontally but will exceed in vertical dimensions (with 1024*768 it was just the other way around). SNAP shows "VESA VBE 2.0" as chipset (obviously as VirtualBox emulates a VESA card). Are you using PANORAMA instead of SNAP ?

[dmik]

No, I use SNAP 505 as well.

Here are my OS/2 Additions (afair, 3.1.x):

vboxguest.sys                                      │    262206│01.12.09│ 11:07
vboxmouse.sys                                      │     30387│01.12.09│ 11:07
vboxservice.exe                                    │    474126│01.12.09│ 11:07

Please try to downgrade to these to check if it's the culprit.

[erdmann]

I am using the OS/2 additions you propose above so that's not it.
Nonetheless, now that I found out how to specify a custom resolution in VirtualBox, I was able to define the native resolution of my laptop screen to be usable within the OS/2 guest (SNAP is running in VESA mode). The native resolution of my laptop is 1280 x 800 at 32-bits, the name of the virtual machine is "eComStationV2" so I eventually did this:
vboxmanage.exe setextradata "eComStationV2" "CustomVideoMode1" "1280x800x32"
This resolution would subsequently show up in the SNAP screen object. I selected 1280x800 and now everything scales the way it should and I can see the whole SmartSVN main window (it still can not be made smaller than some rather large minimum size but I guess that's a feature rather than a bug).
In the meantime, version of VirtualBox is now 4.1.4
I closed the ticket as "won't fix" as the problem can easily be worked around.

[dmik]

Okay, so it looks like the video driver problem that is somehow triggered by Odin/Java. Thanks for describing a way to work around it.