NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

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stevesatori
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Joined: 5. Feb 2020, 01:58

NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

Post by stevesatori »

MacOS 10.15.7 (though I might upgrade to Big Sur this week)
VirtualBox 6.1.18 r142142 w/ VBoxGuestAdditions and VirtualBox Extension Pack 6.1.18 (installed via homebrew)

I have a WD Passport I bought several years ago when I was running only Linux, and used the NTFS format because it's better than FAT32 for most purposes since I was only using Linux.

Now I use primarily use my 16" Macbook Pro and I want to access that data again, but the drive won't even show up in MacOS (not even in Disk Utility). I think I was able to get it to work with a Mac once before by installing a 3rd party NTFS plugin for MacOS, I can't find any open source/freeware options. I was already running an Ubuntu 20.10 VM via VirtualBox which should be plenty capable of reading NTFS so I'm thinking I should be able to just access it in my Ubuntu VM. However the drive doesn't show up--possibly because the host OS doesn't even see it right now.

Does anyone have any experience with this? How can I get my VM to see the drive? Is it even possible if Disk Utility on the host can't see it?

Thanks for any help!
mpack
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

Post by mpack »

stevesatori wrote:Is it even possible if Disk Utility on the host can't see it?
In general it's possible, but you would normally need admin/root permission to access the drive at sector level. I'm not an expert on MacOS, so someone else would have to give advice on how.
granada29
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Re: NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

Post by granada29 »

It's odd that the drive is not visible to Disk Utility. Usually Disk Utility shows all attached devices even if macOS cannot recognise the partitions on the disk.

Check carefully that the USB cable (assuming it is a USB attachment) is properly connected - maybe try it in an alternate port.

If you look in System Report (from the About This Mac window) are you able to see the USB connection?

If you have a real linux machine handy, can that see the disk?

If the drive is in fact visible to macOS (even if you can't see the volumes on that drive) you can probably make it visible to a VM using a USB Device Filter in VirtualBox.
stevesatori
Posts: 7
Joined: 5. Feb 2020, 01:58

Re: NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

Post by stevesatori »

So this is fun.

Testing on my work Macbook it sees the drive right away. Strangely can even see the folder structure (didn't try to open any files).

But on mine it doesn't see it. I'm wondering if this is because I installed and later deleted that NTFS utility.

Thankfully though, it IS showing up in the System Report. No idea why Disk Utility nor Finder can seem to find it, but it's there.

Is this Product ID and Vendor ID in the System Report, by chance, the Product ID and Vendor ID I need for VirtualBox?
granada29
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Re: NTFS WD Passport on Linux vm

Post by granada29 »

stevesatori wrote: Is this Product ID and Vendor ID in the System Report, by chance, the Product ID and Vendor ID I need for VirtualBox?
Yes they are. You should be able to recognise the correct drive when you click the Add icon in VirtualBox USB Device Filters. You may find that you need to unmount any mounted volumes on the drive, but it sounds as if you have none.
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