SCSI card in guest machine

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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graic
Posts: 2
Joined: 21. Nov 2021, 09:34
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows 7, Linux
Location: Italy

SCSI card in guest machine

Post by graic »

I have a Windows 11 system and a SCSI card which is not supported (adaptec aha-2940uw). However, I would like to use the card to connect an old, but still efficient, film scanner. I would have thought about installing a Linux virtual machine to do this using VirtualBox. Can this work, can the virtual machine see the SCSI card?
Can anyone show me how to proceed?
Thanks to those who will give me any information
Gianni
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: SCSI card in guest machine

Post by mpack »

No, there is no way for a Virtual Machine to support host hardware except through USB or network. All of the hardware directly used by a VM is virtual, i.e. simulated. Only the CPU is real.

Host hardware can be indirectly used in a VM, this requires a virtual proxy for the device in the VM and some way to map it to a host device. Unfortunately, while there are virtual SCSI adapters in VirtualBox, they are not proxies and can't be mapped to host SCSI adapters. In fact I can't think of any instance of a host disk controller that can be used in a VirtualBox VM in any way.

I can't think of any way to map your film scanner to a VM, unless such a thing as a USB/SCSI adapter exists - and since I believe SCSI is a protocol, not a piece of hardware, I don't think it will exist. Anything that does exist will require guest drivers and perhaps specific app support.

Sorry, but the only solution I can think of for you would not involve VMs. It would involve a small form factor PC with a dedicated SCSI card, allowing the film scanner to be accessed as a share over your LAN network.
graic
Posts: 2
Joined: 21. Nov 2021, 09:34
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows 7, Linux
Location: Italy

Re: SCSI card in guest machine

Post by graic »

Thank you very much @mpack for the information, unfortunately I suspected this was the situation. I will move on to the solution you recommended, or, more simply, to a solution created with a Windows / Linux dual boot
Gianni
Eighty percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen
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