Unable to mount the CD/DVD image on VirtualBox
I’m trying to develop a website in Python, and have installed VirtualBox on my Ubuntu 13.04 host. The VirtualBox is running an Ubuntu 13.04 Django stack. I need to be able to edit the files within my VirtualBox from my Host. From what I unerstand, I need to install Guest Additions in order to share my folders from Guest to Host. When trying to install Guest Additions, after downloading the ISO file, I get the following error : I’ve seen a lot of people reporting a similar issue, but have not found a clear fix yet.
6 Answers 6
The error you get is likely because the Guest Additions CD image is already mounted.
To see all mounted drives open a terminal in the guest to issue mount . This will give you (among others) a line similar to this:
/dev/sr0 on /media/takkat/VBOXADDITIONS_4.2.12_849801 type iso9660 (ro,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,mode=0400,dmode=0500,uhelper=udisks2) In the Unity Launcher you will see a CD-ROM icon. To unmount the CD right click on this icon and select «Eject».
We can not unmount the Guest Additions CD from the command line when mounted with the help of then Virtual Box Manager. Please select «Devices -> CD/DVD Devices -> Remove disk from virtual drive» and choose «Force unmount» to remove the CD iso.
To install guest additions we will have to load the CD again from Virtual Box Manager and select the Icon from the Unity Launcher.
See also the following questions which also has a command line method for installing guest additions:
Is it possible to insert a physical CD into a VirtualBox machine?
I have CDs for Age of Empire III and I would like to play it in a Windows 10 VM. Is this possible? I know how to insert virtual CDs (i.e., ISO files) into a VirtualBox VM (via the «Storage» settings), but physical CDs are a different story. The best solution I can think of is to add where I’ve mounted the CDs on my Linux system to the system via shared folders.
It depends on the legislation that apply to your country/state/. In general, copying a physical asset is legal as long as you keep the copy for yourself. Moreover in your particular situation, you do it for the sake of interoperability.
It’s possible to use the physical CD drive as the virtual machine’s CD drive. However this may or may not work the way you want, depending on how the game is reading the CD.
Ripping doesn’t necessarily work with certain games’ copy protection; I don’t know about AoE III, but AoE II needs the physical disk, it doesn’t work with an image (unless you use a cracked version or the Steam re-release).
4 Answers 4
Yes you can, but you need to have DVD passthrough active.
Go to VirtualBox’s Machine > Settings > Storage > Enable Passthrough for the DVD drive.
To allow an external DVD drive to be recognized by a VirtualBox Virtual Machine (VM) it must be configured in such a way that «passthrough» is enabled. Enabling Passthrough allows the underlying operating system to pass the required commands through to the device that is connected to the Virtual Machine as opposed to the host operating system instance.
Best solution by far. VirtualBox makes it kinda subtle how ya do this, but now you’ve saved me from the dramas of ripping.
What are the disadvantages of enabling pass-through? And @BrentonHorne I would suggest ripping anyway; your CD might eventually deteriorate at some point.
Today it is called «Live CD/DVD» not «passthrough» You have to add an empty CD and it will give you that Live option. Then click the shiny CD icon just above and to the right of the Live checkbox and select the host device.
You should be able to use optical drive directly from VM. If it’s Virtualbox then just in devices you have option to mount physical drive. Just the same as you can install os in VM without iso image.
Um this answer I’m afraid isn’t helpful at the moment unless you show me what you’re talking about (preferably using screenshots) or be very specific as to where I can find the physical drives. i.imgur.com/q1542cW.png is all I see in the storage section of the VM options (which I’m guessing you’re referring to by «In devices»). I even showed the right-click menu for ya. Sorry for my confusion, I really want an answer here but I can’t see what you describe, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked this question.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZFhvY-8xxM/UaZDA0eVY4I/AAAAAAAADZk/… under this CD/DVD Devices shoudl be option to mount optical drive. this CD/DVD Devices you should find :, which you should find in menu bar cdn.sysprobs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/…
Yep I know how to add optical drives but all that mentions are ISOs and other files not physical CDs. All I get when I open the add optical drives option is imgur.com/bEaWftK.png
The is no option with the GUI to do it but on the command line, you can create a pseudo disk image (vmdk) that refers to a physical disk.
If you attach that disk to your VM, you should be able to directly access it, e.g.:
VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename /home/user/vbdisks/cd.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdc VBoxManage storageattach VMname --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 0 --device 1 --type dvd --medium /home/user/vbdisks/cd.vmdk Beware not accessing any r/w disk with more than one OS, but with a read-only media like a CD or DVD, there should be no issue.
As SessionR answered, there is a much simpler alternative option for CD/DVD, just check the live CD/DVD checkbox and the physical drive will be accessible: