Stuck in full screen mode forever

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by hyperact, Mar 19, 2007.

  1. hyperact

    hyperact Junior Member

    Messages:
    12
    Two problems. I installed Ubuntu. When I shut it down, Parallels does not revert to its initial startup window. Instead, Ubuntu hangs at "Will halt now" and nothing else happens. I can only Command-Q to quit Parallels. When I do that, it suspends rather than shuts down the virtual machine.

    The reason this is a problem is that I made the mistake of entering full screen mode and I can't get out of it. If I shut down Ubuntu and quit Parallels when it hangs, and then restart, Ubuntu still opens in full screen mode (presumably because it is still suspended.) Pressing Alt-Enter does nothing. I can Cmd-tab to get to other apps, but the parallels menu or other controls never appear. Note there are no Parallel Tools for Linux for me to install -- or at least, that menu item is dimmed.

    What I need is a way to set the screen to windowed mode *before* I start the virtual machine, because no keyboard shortcuts are working and I can't get access to any of the Parallels controls while Ubuntu is running. Is there some prefs file I can delete or edit?

    Ideas? This is Parallels 3188 on OS 10.4.8. It was working fine before I made the mistake of going full screen.
     
  2. dotcomjunkie

    dotcomjunkie Member

    Messages:
    51
    Try editing the machine

    I have had this problem before (not with Ubuntu). If you start Parallels, then choose the Ubuntu VM, before you launch it, go into edit mode of the machine. Parallels will warn you that the machine is suspended, but go ahead anyway...

    Once in edit mode, change the default boot option to NOT go into full screen when you boot up.

    You should be fine from there...reboot

    Hope this helps.
     
  3. hyperact

    hyperact Junior Member

    Messages:
    12
    Many thanks

    Thanks so much, it works perfectly. I had just spent hours upgrading and was afraid I would have to start over in a new VM. I am much relieved. :)

    Am I right that all the keyboard shortcuts (except for Alt-Control, which does work) are nonfunctional in a Linux installation?
     

Share This Page