Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

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JIJD
Posts: 13
Joined: 27. Jun 2022, 18:25

Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by JIJD »

My apologies for adding to what basically has been a thread a day with different technical issues. I've tried to make my earlier posts clear to others so if they face similar issues, they can see how to deal with it.

Issue: VM doesn't mount a shared folder.
Host: VirtualBox 6.1.35 with Guest Additions on Debian 11
Guest: Windows 10

Steps to replicate the issue:
  • Go to terminal, type:

    Code: Select all

    VBoxManage sharedfolder add TradBox --name=TradNua --hostpath "/home/USER/Nexos/TradNua" --automount
  • Open VM (TradBox)
  • The guest OS doesn't mount the shared folder (TradNua).
Log highlights:
The log offers this information:

Code: Select all

VMMDev: Guest Log: 22:51:37.262647 automount Error: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'TradNua' to 'Z:': 0
Note:
I tried to set this first through the GUI and the log showed similar results. While other tickets in the bugtracker show issues with the VB automounter service, I couldn't find anything close to "Failed to Attach '<SharedFolder>' to '<SystemLetter>'

The full log is attached below.

I'd really appreciate your feedback.
Attachments
VBox.zip
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Last edited by JIJD on 30. Jun 2022, 21:18, edited 1 time in total.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by mpack »

Did you already have some other share attached to "Z:"? Check in the guest Settings.
JIJD
Posts: 13
Joined: 27. Jun 2022, 18:25

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by JIJD »

Nope, there's no other share there, as this is a fresh VM and I was trying to make its first share.

All in all, even if I did had a share using z:, the documentation states that the automount service should look for unused letters, starting from z:, as I didn't indicate that it should be in z: and only z:, there's no --auto-mount-point flag (that's the name for the "--" option stuff in terminal, right?).

ADDENDA: Removing the previous mount point through a command and trying to force a particular point (e.g.: "x:") doens't help either.
Last edited by JIJD on 30. Jun 2022, 15:22, edited 1 time in total.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by mpack »

I can't answer detailed questions since I never bother to map share folders to drive letters myself. I find that concept too "1990s", and also way too much trouble. All of the software I use is happy to use UNC paths directly, i.e. \\hostname\sharename.
JIJD
Posts: 13
Joined: 27. Jun 2022, 18:25

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by JIJD »

But take a look at the code I provided. I'm just giving VirtualBox a) the host location of the folder to be share, and b) asking it to choose any location it prefers to mount the share. The standard way explained in Guest Additions documentation.

How would you go around doing what you suggested? Is there any guide I could follow?
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by mpack »

No, there is no guide, just don't automount - and don't mount it manually either.

To find the share inside the guest, go to file explorer, open the "Network" branch, then "VBOXSVR", then click your share name there (*). If you use the share a lot then right click the share name in the list just mentioned, and select "Pin to Quick access": after which (as the name suggests) it can be accessed as quickly as any drive letter mapping. If you wanted to type a file path directly then it would be "\\VBOXSVR\sharename\filename".

Seriously, unless your software is from the 90s too then I don't know why anyone would care about faking drive letters onto network paths. It irks me that drive letters still exist at all - Windows could have given friendlier names to local drives decades ago.

(*) If the share isn't listed then you didn't configure it share properly in the VirtualBox Shared Folder settings, or the Guest Additions are not installed (that's a note for other readers - your log says the 6.1.34 GAs are installed).
JIJD
Posts: 13
Joined: 27. Jun 2022, 18:25

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by JIJD »

To be honest, I don't really have an opinion on whether fake letters as network paths are better or worse than other networking solutions. "It works" is quite enough for me.

The shared folder doesn't appear on Networks. I tried again in different ways through the GUI and nothing happens. Windows Explorer gets noticeable slower, though. I guess I'm still stuck.

I just don't know where to look at to try to solve this issue. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I've set a shared folder before, in another VM i had to delete, and it was really easy.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by mpack »

Try creating a share name that doesn't mix case. That can be a problem in many implementations. Share names should be all one case, or capitalize the first letter only.
JIJD
Posts: 13
Joined: 27. Jun 2022, 18:25

Re: Shared folder can't be mounted: vbsvcAutomounterMountIt: Failed to attach 'share' to 'Z:'

Post by JIJD »

I tried doing it with no capitalization, still nothing.
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