[Solved] Formatting drives as EXT3 via Linux on VirtualBox

[Toke]

Hi

I am new to Virtual Box and Linux.

I have Virtual box running on a Mac. I have installed Linux. It runs.

My purpose of all this is to be able to format an attached USB-drive as Ext3 as this can not be done on Mac OS - and I need it!

But is it possible to see attached drives via Virtual Box - > Linux?? Currently I only see the VM-drive?

Thanks.

[mpack]

If USB2/USB3 support is enabled (i.e. if the extension pack is installed, and the appropriate USB level is enabled in the VM settings) then external USB drives should work.

[Toke]

Thanks for a quick reply. Sorry I am new to all of this.

I installed the extension pack.

Regarding the USB level being enabled in the VM settings. I did this: Setting -> Ports -> USB - here i made sure USB controller was enabled - and i added the drive connected via USB (under USB Device filters) and selected USB3.

Rebooted the Linux VM.

Look under Disk. But USB disk is not there?

What am I missing?

Thanks

[mpack]

Regarding the USB level being enabled in the VM settings. I did this: Setting -> Ports -> USB

? I'm not aware of any "Ports" branch in the VM settings. We are talking about the VM settings right? not settings somewhere on the host or guest OS.

here i made sure USB controller was enabled

You can't just tick the "Enabled" box, you need to ensure that the correct USB controller chipset is selected. The correct value will depend on what USB version the device requires, and what USB version the guest OS supports. USB3 (xHCI) ought to be safe with a recent Linux version.

Look under Disk. But USB disk is not there?

I have no idea what "Look under Disk" means. Are you referring to a file browser inside the Linux guest OS? After creating a USB filter, hopefully one tuned to match your USB flash drive and nothing else, you should wait until the guest OS has booted to its desktop before plugging in the device.

Perhaps you should read:
USB Basics and Troubleshooting.

[Toke]

Thanks! - Got it working!

[mpack]

Thanks for reporting back.

[andyp73]

I'm not aware of any "Ports" branch in the VM settings.

On macOS hosts the "Serial Ports" and "USB" are two tabs under "Ports" on the settings page...

Screenshot 2019-06-14 at 14.03.37.png (107.66 KiB) Viewed 4022 times

My purpose of all this is to be able to format an attached USB-drive as Ext3 as this can not be done on Mac OS

I do something similar for deploying embedded Linux images to uSD cards and paid $40 for extFS for Mac.

-Andy.