Hi,
On a Linux (Ubuntu Gutsy) host with a Windows XP guest, the "VirtualBox shared folders" system more or less works, but it is dreadfully slow (first opening of the folder from within the guest takes more than 10 seconds to show directory contents...)
Also, after having created a file in the shared folder (from the guest), trying to access this file (still from the guest) most of the times results in an error message stating that the file is currently locked by another process. It seems the file doesn't become accessible until the guest has been rebooted.
I've also noticed that supplementary files gets created in the "shared folder", i.e. if a file "something" exists, another file called "something:Zone.identifier" or "something:Zone.identifier:$DATA" gets greated.
Any clue ?
VirtualBox "shared folders" dreadfully slow
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frank
- Oracle Corporation
- Posts: 3362
- Joined: 7. Jun 2007, 09:11
- Primary OS: Debian Sid
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Linux, Windows
- Location: Dresden, Germany
- Contact:
About the files: http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/zoneident.shtml
About the speed of the shared folders on your host: Do you have any security extensions running at your host and/or at your guest? Disable any virus scanner in the guest.
About the speed of the shared folders on your host: Do you have any security extensions running at your host and/or at your guest? Disable any virus scanner in the guest.
Thanks for your reply Franck. No, the guest is a fresh WinXP SP2 install with not any supplementary security software nor antivirus added...Frank Mehnert wrote:About the speed of the shared folders on your host: Do you have any security extensions running at your host and/or at your guest? Disable any virus scanner in the guest.
hi mbouissou,
I'm having the same exact problem on v1.5.4 with my WinXP guest. I also believe it's the reason why one of my apps keeps failing (compiler for LabVIEW). The application behaves normally on vmware but run it in vbox and it fails. The long delay after the right click on folders in a share makes me think that failure is related in some way.
I've at least found a work around for my LabVIEW failure. When compiling my LabVIEW source code into an executable, it only fails when it attempts to save that exe to a location on the shared folder. Seems to fail at the creation of the subfolder. My temporary work around is to save all exe's to the WinXP Desktop. btw, the source code is on a share so apparently reading from the share doesn't create a problem with this app.
I only mentioned my problem in such detail because you may be seeing similar issues in some of your apps.
I'm having the same exact problem on v1.5.4 with my WinXP guest. I also believe it's the reason why one of my apps keeps failing (compiler for LabVIEW). The application behaves normally on vmware but run it in vbox and it fails. The long delay after the right click on folders in a share makes me think that failure is related in some way.
I've at least found a work around for my LabVIEW failure. When compiling my LabVIEW source code into an executable, it only fails when it attempts to save that exe to a location on the shared folder. Seems to fail at the creation of the subfolder. My temporary work around is to save all exe's to the WinXP Desktop. btw, the source code is on a share so apparently reading from the share doesn't create a problem with this app.
I only mentioned my problem in such detail because you may be seeing similar issues in some of your apps.
Shared Folders
Hi,
I had the same problem in an XP guest. I added the shared folder through the menu on the main details screen. When in XP it took an age to open up the network browser and to connect to the shared folder.
I deleted the shared folder from the menu and added it back using the command line:
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "WinXP" -name "shared_files" -hostpath "/home/shared/VirtualBox/shared"
When I went back into the guest XP, command prompt and did a:
net use z: \\vboxsvr\shared_files
it connected ok and was almost instantaneous. No more delays.
Remember to change WinXP in the above for the name of your guest and the share name to whatever you want and the path to the path of your shared files.
Hope this helps.
I had the same problem in an XP guest. I added the shared folder through the menu on the main details screen. When in XP it took an age to open up the network browser and to connect to the shared folder.
I deleted the shared folder from the menu and added it back using the command line:
VBoxManage sharedfolder add "WinXP" -name "shared_files" -hostpath "/home/shared/VirtualBox/shared"
When I went back into the guest XP, command prompt and did a:
net use z: \\vboxsvr\shared_files
it connected ok and was almost instantaneous. No more delays.
Remember to change WinXP in the above for the name of your guest and the share name to whatever you want and the path to the path of your shared files.
Hope this helps.
hi bezdomny,
It's possible your suggestion helped the OP. Not me. Just went through the process and still get the same behavior. I've seen the sluggishness when accessing the share for the first time. However, on my system that has disappeared completely. My 10 second delay is from right clicking on a file or folder in the share. Problem only goes away if I disable networking either from the guest setup or from within the guest itself.
I'm starting to think my problem is completely different from the OP's. I guess I'll push my questions/comments to a new thread.
It's possible your suggestion helped the OP. Not me. Just went through the process and still get the same behavior. I've seen the sluggishness when accessing the share for the first time. However, on my system that has disappeared completely. My 10 second delay is from right clicking on a file or folder in the share. Problem only goes away if I disable networking either from the guest setup or from within the guest itself.
I'm starting to think my problem is completely different from the OP's. I guess I'll push my questions/comments to a new thread.
VB Version
VirtualBox: 1.5.4
Guest Additions: 1.5.4r27032
Incidently, how have you set up the host/guest networking?
Guest Additions: 1.5.4r27032
Incidently, how have you set up the host/guest networking?
I've got simmular problems..my windows explorer does't work when i've created en shared a folder.. when i delete shared folders windows explorer runs like a charm, but when i share folders again..it doesn't work anymore..it jams en i have to shut down my Virtual machine of XP :S
anybody got an idea how i can fix this?
anybody got an idea how i can fix this?
I've had a similar (same?) problem on w/ Gutsy host/XP guest. As near as I can tell the slowdown has something to do with the XP guest making network calls to \\vboxsvr.
But it's apparently not so simple. Just defining shared folders does not cause XP to run slowly when making network calls (e.g., opening explorer). It slows down when you define a network place in My Network Places (i.e. when the guest is forced to become aware of the network location). Further, the more network places you define, the slower XP runs (this seems to reinforce my idea that the issue is in making network calls). What surprises me is that if you map a network location to a drive letter, XP doesn't seem to slow down, which is quite the opposite of a native XP installation on the same machine, where defining network places as opposed to mapping them to drive letters results in the fastest system.
Paul
But it's apparently not so simple. Just defining shared folders does not cause XP to run slowly when making network calls (e.g., opening explorer). It slows down when you define a network place in My Network Places (i.e. when the guest is forced to become aware of the network location). Further, the more network places you define, the slower XP runs (this seems to reinforce my idea that the issue is in making network calls). What surprises me is that if you map a network location to a drive letter, XP doesn't seem to slow down, which is quite the opposite of a native XP installation on the same machine, where defining network places as opposed to mapping them to drive letters results in the fastest system.
Paul
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ThomasNovin
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 18. Jan 2008, 16:29
Not sure I would call this a true solution, but after I upgraded to v1.6, I noticed that the slowdown seems related to the number of shared folders I have. With four, the XP guest is almost unusable. With one shared folder I almost can't notice a delay, but of course the consequence is lack of access to host directories and therefore somewhat limited use of resources from the guest side
Paul
Paul
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ThomasNovin
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 18. Jan 2008, 16:29
FYI; Issue still present with VirtualBox 1.6.2 which was released 080606. Had a couple of shared folder fixes but obviously not for this.
http://virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog
For me this issue can be seen if I open up MS Excel, choose a file on a shared folder and then click open. I have a 8-10 second delay before the document opens. If I choose a document on C: it opens < 1 s.
http://virtualbox.org/wiki/Changelog
For me this issue can be seen if I open up MS Excel, choose a file on a shared folder and then click open. I have a 8-10 second delay before the document opens. If I choose a document on C: it opens < 1 s.
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HellBoyz77
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 6. May 2008, 10:30