Page 1 of 1

"Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 7. Nov 2016, 09:53
by LuigiWriter
My goal is to establish a shared folder between a VirturalBox Windows 10 Guest and the Ubuntu Host.
I have hit a number of road blocks. Have not found these problems in End User Forms.
System Info:
VirtualBox GUI Version 5.0.26 r108824
Ubuntu 16.04
HP Envy14
Windows 10 Home version 1607
VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file: is installed as an Optical Drive on SATA port 1 via VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe
The Windows Drivers are installed in C:/Drivers,

***Tried to Update [Upgrade?] to 5.1 Install halted with error message "Interferes with version 5.0" Instructions seem to assume that one does not have to install a previous version to install the new version. [Is this correct?]*** :?:

Instructions Followed
4.2. Installing and Maintaining Guest Additions
4.3. Shared folders
"4.2.1.1. Installation

Problem 1. Devices Menu does not contain the menu options described in the instructions.

"4.2.1.1. Installation instructions contain:
"Insert Guest Additions CD Image" missing from Devices Menu
In the "Devices" menu in the virtual machine's menu bar, VirtualBox has a handy menu item named "Insert Guest Additions CD image"
And
Step "2. Select "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" from the "Devices" menu in the virtual machine's menu bar and then "CD/DVD-ROM image". This brings up the Virtual Media Manager described in Section 5.3, “The Virtual Media Manager”."

Ubuntu VB version 5.0 installation's Windows 10 Guest Window Devices menu contains:
Optical Drives......> Choose Disk image, Host drive hp DVD RAM ....., Remove Disk ....
Network ..............> Settings .... , Connect .... .
USB................... > ... Settings .....
Webcams.............> Hp Webcam ...
Shared Folders.....> ... Settings
Shared Clipboard..> * Disabled, Host to ...., Guest ....
Drag and Drop......> * Disabled, Host to ...., Guest ....

That's it, No "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" or "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" to select.

Problem 2: Cannot Add VBoxGuestAdditions.iso to the Virtual Media Manager

There is access to the Virtual Media Manager from the VirturalBox Manager Devices button. However, there is No Add button to press as indicated in Step 3 quoted below.
Step 3. In the Virtual Media Manager, press the "Add" button and browse your host file system for the VBoxGuestAdditions.iso file:
On a Windows host, you can find this file in the VirtualBox installation directory (usually under C:\Program files\Oracle\VirtualBox ).
Yet the the file is mounted
Yet the the file is mounted
VirturalBox-Guest Additions not avail 2016-11-06 20-40-43.png (75.63 KiB) Viewed 6831 times
Problem 3: "Entire Network" → "VirtualBox Shared Folders" cannot be found,
* The Host file system cannot be accessed from the the Guest File system
* Nor the Guest File system able to access The Host file system.

Instructions State:
So, to attach the host's shared folder to your Windows guest, open Windows Explorer and look for it under "My Networking Places" → "Entire Network" → "VirtualBox Shared Folders"
By right-clicking on a shared folder and selecting "Map network drive" from the menu that pops up, you can assign a drive letter to that shared folder.
What I get is Network > Computer 1 > [*Only* the Guest file system ], No "Entire Network" → "VirtualBox Shared Folders"

in the Windows command line, entered:
net use e: \\vboxsvr\Share-VirturalBox
Guest Windows Explorer still could only see its own file system

Guest Windows File > Network Operations Manager indicates "No Active Network Operations"

Ubuntu "Files" > Network >
Neither [User] Public files on Envy14, or Windows Network will open.

I am thoroughly confused at this point and will appreciate your knowledge and experience on this.

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 7. Nov 2016, 14:17
by Perryg
It looks like you have installed the distro version of VirtualBox from Ubuntu which we do not support. If you want support from here follow the instructions below or ask the Ubuntu folks what to do.
  • Step one = remove the repo version of virtualbox
    Step two = download the official version from virtualbox.org and install.

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 7. Nov 2016, 23:44
by LuigiWriter
Thanks for your timely reply

I remember downloading and installing from the Oracle site, but then most likely did not notice that the previous Ubuntu version remained in place instead of being replaced.

Just in case the Ubuntu un-install removes the User/VirtualBox VMs file I'm thinking of copying the one VM to a backup file/Directory elsewhere.
Then, after installing the supported VB version copying the VM back into a newly created VirtualBox VMs directory or equivlent and add it using Machine > Add > Open.
Sound reasonable or, are there other files that have to be backed up with the VM as well for it to work in the supported VB version?

30 years in the computer industry; absolutely new at this. LE

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 7. Nov 2016, 23:49
by Perryg
You should always backup and the entire folder is advisable, but you should not loose your guest just because you remove and install the main program. The guests are handled the same and any other data file.

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 8. Nov 2016, 02:44
by LuigiWriter
Thanks, feeling more confidant now. Stashing 79 GBs on a terabyte drive. Thanks again.

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 24. Aug 2019, 23:05
by Kaffeburk
I'm having exact same problem. So i go to virtualbox at org/ wiki/ Downloads

Now i search for "distro", "repo" and "official". But the page has no such things. There is only one download for widows on the page:

And that's the VirtualBox-6.0.10-132072-Win, the's the version with the trouble.

Where is the official version?

Regards, Pär

Re: "Insert Guest Additions CD Image" and "Mount CD/DVD-ROM" missing from Devices, Menu

Posted: 25. Aug 2019, 19:26
by socratis
Kaffeburk wrote:Where is the official version?
» Download VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)