Adding CD-ROM Drive Windows 10??

[tm3]

I am using a 2016 MacBook Pro running Monterey. I have successfully installed Windows 10 64 bit on the current version of VBox. Attached is the log. I have Windows software on a CD that I would like to run. The CD drive is attached to the Mac via the USB port. Windows10 neither sees the CD drive, nor the disk when inserted. I've gone through a lot of trial and error, have read the manual, and have seen similar discussions yet none of the solutions have worked for me. This is frustrating as I once installed VM on a 2011 iMac, installed WinXP, and ran the same software without a hitch. I'm not sure what to do here.

Any help appreciated!

[mpack]

The provided log shows that the virtual CD/DVD drive is currently mapped to an ISO file ("/Users/tommilton/Desktop/Win10_22H2_English_x64.iso"), not to a host physical CD/DVD drive.

[tm3]

The provided log shows that the virtual CD/DVD drive is currently mapped to an ISO file ("/Users/tommilton/Desktop/Win10_22H2_English_x64.iso"), not to a host physical CD/DVD drive.

Thank you for replying and for looking at the log!

Can you tell me how to map to the physical CD/DVD drive, or where to look to find instructions? I don't understand the instructions in section 3.7 of the user manual because the image provided and the buttons it says to select are not what show on my VBox software. It says "click the Add Disk button below the tree. You can then either select Optical Drive or Hard Disk." If I click on "controller SATA" and the button that says "Add hard disk" then a window opens with the choices "add disk image file," "create disk image file," and "refresh disk image." No button option for optical drive or hard disk. I see the ISO file on that page which is what I used to load Windows 10.

I'm wondering if section 3.7 is written with an older software version in mind and the settings have changed?

Thanks again!

[mpack]

If the VM is shut down then simply go into the storage settings, highlight the CD drive (not the parent controller, which may own many drives), then use the right panel (icon on extreme right) to select the ISO file or host drive you want to associate this virtual CD/DVD drive with.

[tm3]

If the VM is shut down then simply go into the storage settings, highlight the CD drive (not the parent controller, which may own many drives), then use the right panel (icon on extreme right) to select the ISO file or host drive you want to associate this virtual CD/DVD drive with.

Thanks again for helping!

Here is what I see in storage. I don't see the CD drive to highlight:

Attempted image post

Oops, I am getting the warning: You must be a member for 1 days and have 1 posts before you can post urls.

I think I meet that requirement, but anyway I see no CD drive to highlight under Storage Devices. I have Controller: Floppy and nested under that is Unattended with a long character string, Controller: SATA and nested under that is Windows1064.vdi and the Win10 iso file.

I apologize if I am missing something that is very obvious, but both your instructions and the user manual seem to be saying that I should see CD drive listed under devices and I do not.

Thanks again!

If needed I can start over from scratch and build a new machine. Whatever you think is best.

[tm3]

But before I do a new machine let me point out that before this one I did a 32 bit Windows 10 and no CD drive showed on that one either.

[mpack]

Oops, I am getting the warning: You must be a member for 1 days and have 1 posts before you can post urls.

We don't need no steenkin URLs (*). Attach files locally. You already know how - you already did it with the zip above.

(*) That's a movie reference in case you didn't recognize it: Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

[tm3]

Here is a screen shot

Screen Shot 2023-05-11 at 7.40.00 AM.png (122.93 KiB) Viewed 1698 times

[mpack]

That image shows the virtual CD drive highlighted. So now you click on the CD icon (circular blue icon) on the extreme right, after where it currently says "USB Port 1".

[tm3]

Thanks but I'm still not getting it.

If the VM is shut down then simply go into the storage settings, highlight the CD drive (not the parent controller, which may own many drives), then use the right panel (icon on extreme right) to select the ISO file or host drive you want to associate this virtual CD/DVD drive with.

Here is what happens when I click the disk icon:

Screen Shot 2023-05-11 at 1.22.38 PM.png (98.93 KiB) Viewed 1646 times

I've tried selecting each of those options and can't find the CD drive that is attached via the USB port on the Mac (which is where I will load the CD containing the software that I want to put on the Win10 virtual machine).

Thanks for any additional help.

[mpack]

Ok, on my Windows PC that menu includes any host drives that are present.

I can only conclude that VirtualBox doesn't see any host optical drives. That would mean that you have the drive in a USB caddy, and the host OS considers it to be mass storage, not an optical drive.

To make it work you'll have to image any CD/DVDs to ISO and mount the ISOs. It's worthwhile doing this anyway since ISO's are much nicer to work with (quieter and not subject to scratches).

[tm3]

Thanks for bearing with me and all of your suggestions. VBox just informed me of an "error" and it would neither boot up nor run so I ended up uninstalling it. So it looks like I would need to start over from scratch, and making ISOs would involve dancing with MacDOS (terminal) without a clear picture of what to do beyond that point. I think I'm going to admit defeat and bag it. It's a shame as the WinXP VBox that I set up on an iMac is still running great and went together (with the same software CD) pretty easily.

Thanks again!