Yesterday I faced a similar problem with the one presented here: Screen Resolution Problem with Ubuntu 14.04 and VirtualBox only that I was having the issue in VMware.
I provided the answer there but Sylvain Pineau suggested that I should ask the same question and answer it myself.
That's what I will do below...
My configuration is host : windows 7 and vmware guest : ubuntu 14.04. For long time I've seen if I update the vmplayer or some software in vmplayer that screws my display and then in full screen it can no longer capture host display.So today I just followed the instruction provided in this link and fixed it without installing any additional software.I hope it helps other.
At first run :
$ xrandr -q
tanay@ubuntu:~$ xrandr -q Screen 0: minimum 1 x 1, current 1904 x 1070, maximum 8192 x 8192 Virtual1 connected primary 1904x1070+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm 800x600
60.0 + 60.3 2560x1600 60.0 1920x1440 60.0 1856x1392 60.0 1792x1344 60.0 1920x1200 59.9 1600x1200 60.0 1680x1050 60.0 1400x1050 60.0 1280x1024 60.0 1440x900 59.9 1280x960 60.0 1360x768 60.0 1280x800 59.8 1152x864 75.0 1280x768 59.9 1024x768 60.0 640x480 59.9 1904x1070_75.00 74.9* Virtual2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual6 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual7 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) Virtual8 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Then you can see which output is connected,here Virtual1 is connected. Then guess a good resolution for your screen.For me I guessed following configuration.
Eg:cvt <horizontal length> <vertical length> <refresh rate>
$ cvt 1900 1070 75
The output is
# 1904x1070 74.87 Hz (CVT) hsync: 83.85 kHz; pclk: 216.00 MHz Modeline "1904x1070_75.00" 216.00 1904 2040 2240 2576 1070 1073 1083 1120
-hsync +vsync
Then you need to copy the text after "Modelline" and paste that in following command like the example below
$ xrandr --newmode "1904x1070_75.00" 216.00 1904 2040 2240 2576 1070 1073 1083 1120 -hsync +vsync
Then take the screen resolution details from the quote and use it in next command.For me the command is
$ xrandr --addmode Virtual1 1904x1070_75.00
The next command to set it in ubuntu for me is
$ xrandr --output Virtual1 --mode 1904x1070_75.00
If the last command doesn't work for you,you can go back to ubuntu display gui setting and can chose the display you have added just now.For me the option was 1904 x 1070 (16:9)
However if you are fine with this experiment and have found the desired screen resolution and to make that permanent,write the all the last 3 commands starting from xrandr --newmode command in your .xprofile file using following command and then save,exit and restart your ubuntu vm and you will get your desired resolution permanently.
$ gedit ~/.xprofile
Symptom:
Each time you start/restart a virtual machine in VMware it starts in low resolution initially. Then, once you switch to full screen the resolution goes to full-screen (given that VMware tools are installed previously)
Solution:
When the VMware starts in small screen, do not switch to full-screen mode.
Go to Displays settings within your Ubuntu 14.04 Guest: System Settings -> Displays, then try to switch to
the desired resolution from the drop-down menu.
If the screen is too small to press the Apply button, make sure
that your current selection is at the drop-down menu with the
desired resolution.
Now, press Tab key in your keyboard 7 times, this should have
brought your selection to the Apply button.
EnterThis worked for me, hope works for the others as well.
Using the .profile with the commands doesn't work and all reverted back to the original setup.
However, if you place these lines into your .bashrc, these will take effect when you fire up a terminal from the original window.
Problem : Display / Flicker issue in the VMware Ubuntu installation
I had this problem as well. The Problem is not with Ubuntu installation, its the VM ware settings for a particular image which can create this issue
To fix it I went to settings for VMware Workstation>> select the machine >> right click >> virtual machine settings >>Display >> and disabled the 3D Graphics checkbox.
Just reboot the machine.
After this it was fine.
