Ubuntu Linux Guest: Burning CDs?

HalNineThousand · Post by **HalNineThousand** » 22. Feb 2009, 21:35

I'm running VB on OS X with a Linux (Ubuntu Intrepid) guest. I've actually found it easier to set it up in VB than trying the same thing in the demo version of Parallels (it kept crashing on me!).

The one thing I cannot do from Linux that I'd like to do is to use K3B to burn CDs. Is this possible? I know I can use K3B and create image files, then burn from the Mac, but it'd be much easier to just do it in one step.

Is this possible? What would I have to do?

Thanks!

eviltwin · Post by **eviltwin** » 22. Feb 2009, 21:41

Shall I google that for you?

Quick answer: yes. Go to virtualbox, select your vm you wish to burn from. go to settings, and select the cd drive options. Select your host drive as an option and tick "enable pass through". This is undoubtedly in the manual.

HalNineThousand · Post by **HalNineThousand** » 22. Feb 2009, 22:10

Actually, I did Google it, but got way too high a signal to noise ratio -- it was hard to separate issues about Mac, Windows, and Linux, with one has a host, one as a guest, and so on.

I tried that before and K3B never acknowledged that there was a CD available at all. It did seem to know there was a CD drive, but when I stuck a CD in, it didn't see it.

I was concerned because I had to click "Mount CD" to be able to select "Pass Through," and, as I said, it didn't work the first time I tried it. I closed down the VM, changed the settings again and this time it did see the CD, but it is unable to erase the CD-RW I inserted to write to.

It's having a similar problem with the blank CD-RW I put in after that: It simply does not write to or is unable to write to the iMac drive.

eviltwin · Post by **eviltwin** » 22. Feb 2009, 22:17

Oh, I wasn't aware that you had tried that already. I can't offer much help as I've never actually wanted to burn cds from a guest vm so I've never tested it - I just knew that the option existed. And yes, you have to mount it in order to get it to pass through because without mounting it the guest doesn't have access to the drive at all (note that is not the same as the linux guest then subsequently mounting the cd to a folder in its directory structure, they're two different uses of the word "mount")

HalNineThousand · Post by **HalNineThousand** » 23. Feb 2009, 05:07

eviltwin wrote:Oh, I wasn't aware that you had tried that already. I can't offer much help as I've never actually wanted to burn cds from a guest vm so I've never tested it - I just knew that the option existed. And yes, you have to mount it in order to get it to pass through because without mounting it the guest doesn't have access to the drive at all (note that is not the same as the linux guest then subsequently mounting the cd to a folder in its directory structure, they're two different uses of the word "mount")

The different use of the word mount is confusing -- considering the nature of the product and the awareness the developers would need when writing it, it is a poor choice of words in VirtualBox. It did confuse me at first.

The main issue may be resolved in another way though, which would mean I don't need to run programs in VB after all -- at least not these programs.

Does anyone have other experiences or ideas that could help?

Thanks!

eviltwin · Post by **eviltwin** » 23. Feb 2009, 05:44

It's actually not an inappropriate use of the term "mount" as it is actually the same usage (just different context). If by "resolved in another way" you mean get a k3b equivalent for OS X, then google is your friend - I've got no experience in that area.