How do I add Audio CD image to VirtualBox CD/DVD drive?

[Polda18]

I'm testing out Windows 98 and want to listen to an Audio CD image I got from my friend, or just listen to CD I create from WAV files. How do I add them? Audio CD image has extension .mdx and even when renamed to have different extension, it doesn't load. VirtualBox doesn't recognise it. The same happens with CUE sheets. How do I add virtual image of Audio CD into VirtualBox virtual CD/DVD drive? Is there any way to achieve this? Is it possible?

EDIT: It doesn't work even when I connect the virtual image to Daemon Tools Lite (which should interpret it then as physical disc)! Does it support real physical Audio CDs at least? I'm using latest VirtualBox: version 5.1.22 r115126 (Qt5.6.2).

[michaln]

How do I add virtual image of Audio CD into VirtualBox virtual CD/DVD drive? Is there any way to achieve this? Is it possible?

In VirtualBox 5.1.x, no. In some future version, it could happen.

[michaln]

Oh, and audio CDs may work with CD-ROM passthrough. As image files, definitely not in VirtualBox 5.1.

[towo2099]

There is no relation to vbox.
Vbox only provides virtual hardware.

[Polda18]

So the only way to play Audio CD image is to burn it to physical CD and let it run in virtual machine? Damn. My CD/DVD drive is not working. My laptop fell down when I was in bus. It bounced several times until it finally stopped by the door. Hard drive was okay, but something must have been broken in CD/DVD drive (which is also burner, but I never used it to burn CDs or DVDs). I have to replace it in order to use it to Windows replacement (for Linux, to be honest, I'm using Windows only for support of programs that do not run under Linux and do not have Linux equivalent).

But wait. If I let the Audio CD image be inserted in Daemon Tools, it should work. Daemon Tools creates a virtual CD/DVD/BD drive, which may work exactly as a physical drive (and VirtualBox should see it as physical drive). It's pretty interesting that hosting Windows 10 can play from that virtual drive well, but VirtualBox messes it up and loaded Audio CD is corrupted. Is that because VirtualBox doesn't support Audio CDs images at all? Then how would it work with physical CD? I'd understand if it didn't support Audio CDs at all (and therefore even physical CD would be unplayable in guest OS), but you said it has nothing to do with Vbox, it only provides virtual hardware. I have virtual optical discs drive Daemon Tools installed on my computer - that provides virtual hardware to be able to play virtual images on host computer. But Windows itself see it as physical drive and therefore play it as it was a physical CD. And VirtualBox takes physical drive and virtualize it to the guest's virtual drive. Maybe the double virtualization may corrupt the image while on transfer? I do not know...

[mpack]

AFAIK, an "audio CD image" is a contradiction in terms. All images are of data CDs using the ISO-9660 filesystem (or later derivatives). Audio CDs don't have a filesystem, so any file would just be seen as random data.

[mpack]

The question also occurs: why would anyone want an image of an audio CD? Just rip the CD tracks to pcm files, like people have been doing since the '90s. Or rip and encode to MP3.

[Polda18]

The question also occurs: why would anyone want an image of an audio CD? Just rip the CD tracks to pcm files, like people have been doing since the '90s. Or rip and encode to MP3.

Because it's sometimes better solution 'cause it's a lot quicker if you just extract raw data from Audio CD into it's exact copy in image file to maybe later convert. Conversion is time consuming and sometimes it's not so much time to wait until it converts into MP3. Because when you don't want to wait for burning a copy (it's pretty much time consuming and in little time it would be impossible to make it), you simply copy it to image file and then transfer it to USB stick for example - it's a lot quicker and you can burn it later. It only consumes disk space, that's all. Also my CD/DVD drive doesn't work - it won't load up any disc. I think the laser reader is dead (or offset)...

I obtained an Audio CD image from friend - it's educational CD for English. I wanted to try to play it using CD Player in Windows 98 (guest OS), but it doesn't work even when I mount it using DAEMON Tools on my host Windows (so system see it as a physical media, and so should VirtualBox). But double virtualisation makes wrong results maybe, so that's why it doesn't work. Will try to load up a movie (an ISO file) using DAEMON Tools (double virtualisation) and I'll say what it does to the image...

EDIT:

AFAIK, an "audio CD image" is a contradiction in terms. All images are of data CDs using the ISO-9660 filesystem (or later derivatives). Audio CDs don't have a filesystem, so any file would just be seen as random data.

To reply to this message: Audio CD image is what you get from grabbing physical Audio CD. Using ImgBurn, it results in two files: a binary file, which contains pure audio data, and textual CUE sheet file, which contains timestamps - that's together represented as Audio CD. Binary file is unmountable. You actually mount the CUE sheet file, which then interprets the information in the text code and translates it to the actual CD image.

Audio CD has a file system (from Windows point of view). If you ever looked into file tree of Audio CD - you find that it has *.cda files named Track 1.cda etc. These are in fact timestamps, which are on a separate track (in guide track, at the beginning of the disc). These are informations used by CD players to count number of tracks and to easily switch between tracks. The second track are actual audio data, from Windows Explorer invisible.

DAEMON Tools Lite on the other hand use another form of grabbing. Just pure grab the whole damn thing. So the resulting *.mdx file is in fact exact raw copy of the physical Audio CD in order of the bitstream (which is in fact what the driver see when it reads the CD). So no, it's not true that Audio CDs do not have file format. They have, it's called CD-DA - It stands for Compact Disc Digital Audio. Files are those *.cda timestamps, while the actual audio data remain invisible from files exploring. They are notable only while played back, which is why simple copy of *.cda files to the hard drive doesn't work.

See attached screenshot if you don't believe me...

[michaln]

I'd understand if it didn't support Audio CDs at all (and therefore even physical CD would be unplayable in guest OS), but you said it has nothing to do with Vbox, it only provides virtual hardware.

Not everything that's posted on this forum is necessarily correct.

And VirtualBox takes physical drive and virtualize it to the guest's virtual drive. Maybe the double virtualization may corrupt the image while on transfer? I do not know...

I don't know what you're doing exactly. I do know that in VirtualBox 5.1, you can't mount an image file with audio tracks, and the normal host drive support is data-only as well.

Regardless of whether people consider an image of an audio CD a contradiction in terms or useful, the fact is that a) such things do exist, and b) VirtualBox 5.1.x does not support them.

[mpack]

AFAIK, an "audio CD image" is a contradiction in terms.

I was attempting to be concise and not too technical, so perhaps as a result I did not express myself very well: I'm well aware that any storage device can be imaged. I meant that <since most people assume ISO images when talking about a CD image, especially in the VirtualBox context, therefore>, an <ISO> image of a music CD was a contradiction in terms.

[michaln]

An ISO image of a music CD indeed does not exist, because "ISO" implies an ISO9660 filesystem, which music CDs don't have. CUE/BIN, MDS/MDF, NRG, and other formats can represent audio CDs or mixed data/audio CDs. VirtualBox 5.1 does not support any of those.

[mpack]

because "ISO" implies an ISO9660 filesystem

Which is what I said above.

[AnrDaemon]

According to https://blogs.oracle.com/virtualization/vbox52 , Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Oracle VM VirtualBox 5.2 is now available!

Storage
* Support for CUE/BIN images as CD/DVD media including multiple tracks

However,

Code: Select all

Failed to open the disk image file C:\arc\games\Dungeon Keeper\Dungeon_Keeper_Gold.cue.

Callee RC: RPC_E_SERVERFAULT (0x80010105)

[michaln]

You have the source code and the failing CUE file, so you're going to fix it, right? Otherwise I'm not sure what you expect.