Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Discussions about using Linux guests in VirtualBox.
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placebo398
Posts: 3
Joined: 8. May 2018, 18:45

Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by placebo398 »

Hi all,

I am trying to recover some data from an old hard drive that is using the Linux file system.

I am a Windows User and have installed Ubuntu on an Oracle Virtual Box Virtual Machine.

Is there a way for me to access the Linux hard drive that is plugged in to my Windows machine?

So for clarity, I am trying to go from Ubuntu (on the Oracle VM, installed on my Windows operating system) to the hard drive that is connected to my Windows PC (which is formatted for Linux)?

Right now upon first connecting the drive to my Windows PC, I get loads of errors saying that it is unrecognizable and asks to reformat (which I do not want to do, as the data I am looking for is on the drive).

Hope you all can help!

So far I have been able to access the partitions of the HDD but receive this error when trying to access the main storage partition:

"Unable to access "4.0 TB Volume""

"Error mounting \dev\sbd2 at \media\taylor\daa964cc-627a-4c4e-b46f-adf3ca93af91: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/ sdb2, missing coepage or helper program, or other error"

I found this YouTube video and was able to follow the steps up until the very last part where I am missing the "Use Virtualbox virtualization solution" privilege for my user account.


Any help is greatly appreciated!
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by socratis »

placebo398 wrote:that is plugged in to my Windows machine
How is it plugged in? Directly as a secondary SATA/IDE drive or "indirectly" with a USB/SATA bridge?
placebo398 wrote:So far I have been able to access the partitions of the HDD
How? What did you do? Complete and exact details...
placebo398 wrote:I found this YouTube video
Do you know how many videos YouTube has? Could you at least give the title? Not that I follow them, I follow usually the manual, I simply want to know what you did. Or attempted to do.

Finally, was this disk in good working condition when it was retired?
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
placebo398
Posts: 3
Joined: 8. May 2018, 18:45

Re: Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by placebo398 »

It is connected indirectly with a USB/SATA bridge. This is because I believe the disk was dropped and damaged and unable to connect properly via more conventional method.

This will probably answer your last question as well. I added the USB controller to the Ubuntu VM that I have on my Oracle VirtualBox. This allowed me to access some parts of the drive it seems, but there are other parts that are unable to be mounted. My USB connection is listed as JMicron USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge [0100].

Sorry for being so vague about the video, I was unable to post direct URL links because of my newly created account, the video I watched was "Mount USB Devices in Virtualbox on Ubuntu".

Pretty sure I answered your last question previously as well! But I'm not sure about what kind of condition it was in, but think it has been mistreated/not taken care of properly.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by socratis »

placebo398 wrote:the disk was dropped and damaged and unable to connect properly via more conventional method.
You're not seriously having this conversation, are you? You dropped the HD, and you think that if method A doesn't work, method B will? It would take an act of the 12 gods of Mount Olympus to make that happen! And they don't even know what a HD is. Your HD is dead.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
placebo398
Posts: 3
Joined: 8. May 2018, 18:45

Re: Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by placebo398 »

I mean to be honest I'm not entirely sure what happened to it.

It's an old drive at my company and we are trying to see if there is any data we may need on it. Is there a way to verify that it isn't working anymore? Or inaccessible?
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Accessing Linux Ext4 HDD from Ubuntu VM

Post by socratis »

Well, one thing is for sure; adding another layer of complexity (a virtual machine) will *not* simplify things.

I would take the HD directly to someone with a Linux installed on a physical computer and attach that HD directly on a SATA channel. If that doesn't work, you can save your work from the backups that you have...
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
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