Windows XP Guest - Shared Folders "request not supported"

[TheMadMan]

Tried the same thing in XP, with XP as guest.
Same error.

My solutions (which works for me): In VirtualBox/Settings/Network, don't use NAT, but use Bridged adapter (is a little bit slower, but shares work). Create share on Host (or use C$, or whichever drive).
Don't use the Shared Folders option, but instead in GuestOS create (persistent) mapping to shared folder (XP: Net use bla, bla, or rightclick MyComputer, Map network drive, etc.).

Make sure you use \\IP-address for host, NOT NetBios-name.

[danf84]

I agree the problem is sporadic. I have 2 base VMs. For one set of them, there're no problems, but for the other, all of the above exist.
My recent VM Guests have been Windows XP stripped with nLite. I have 2 cut-down XP VMs, one showing the problem, and other doesn't. Even if I do spend a few hours figuring what the difference is, I remember having the mentioned problems randomly, once in a while. It's never been working consistently and it's so frustrating now.

P.S. Anyone else having problems on Windows Guests + having used nLite for those installs?

[danf84]

I've done some investigating of my own and here's what I found. This might be unrelated, but there might be a bug in NAT IP allocation - both of my VMs have the same IP address!

I'll name the VMs used for the sake of clarity.

BASEVM: Currently experiencing the problems discussed.
OFFICEVM: Doesn't have any problems with shared folders whatsoever. Although network configuration isn't supposed to affect the shared folders functionality, I changed the network configuration nonetheless to see if I can make it bomb out. I tried Host-Only Network, NAT, Bridged Mode and Not Attached. All worked.


I used Wireshark to see if there are any errors reported on the protocol level regarding the "Interface Not Supported" message. I started Wireshark on BASEVM and on the host. In my attempt to delete a folder in a mapped drive on the Guest, after a short delay I get "Interface Not Supported". The packets captured on the host are of this nature:
DNS requests to the DNS server that the host is using for "vboxsvr" prepended to the domain name. In short, the guest tried to resolve "vboxsvr" name using DNS. The DNS server responded with "No such name" as expected. The guest then persisted to resolve that name using the Netbios Name Service by broadcasting to 255.255.255.255. After 7 packets (2 different insignificant variations of them) there was no reply to the broadcast and the guest said "Interface Not Supported".
I then turned network off altogether on guest (by setting to Not Attached) and then tried to delete a folder on a mapped drive, I did get "Interface Not Supported" but this time instantly, without delay as opposed to when the network is enabled. Obviously there was no longer a network adapter to run Wireshark on, but the Host captured the attempts to resolve vboxsvr name to an IP.

So it seems that the configuration of the Guest forces the mapped entries for VBOXSVR to be resolved to an IP address.

What I haven't yet been able to assertain is what exactly is different on my OFFICEVM which is also a stripped nLite configuration (moreso than the BASEVM). In the case of OFFICEVM, no packets are being captured on the Host upon issuing a Delete command on a folder inside the Guest.

It seems the shared folders in the Guest somehow either bypass the VirtualBox filter or intermediately go through the real NetBios interface. I tried mapping the hosts file to my host's IP address (wasn't sure which IP to put, so I used host's IP address, but there are other ones I think) but the result was the same.

I'll be hammering on to establish what's different on my OFFICEVM.

[danf84]

Bugger! I've rebuilt XP installs and installed XP so many times I'm pretty sick of it. I've narrowed down the problem with the Interface Not Supported during deletes and clipboard operations. Definitive answers coming soon.

[ChipMcK]

Considering the apparent lack of progress . . .

Have you checked the Windows Security Policy settings?

[danf84]

I didn't have much time, but I did find that if you disable or remove the Synchronization Manager, you will get the aforementioned problems. I need more time to determine what causes Windows to query the TIME server (time synchronization) because in one of my VMs (which hasn't been updated for about 6 months) the time query is sent every time the PC is booted. On my other VM, the packets are sent the first time you access a shared drive in Explorer, but only once per restart. I think that ties in with the Synchronization Manager which probably tries to keep the time of remote files in sync. Also considering the recent monthly hotfixes related to Time Zone changes, this behaviour is slightly different to the older VM.

In short, currently, with the latest updates and the penultimate version of VirtualBox this happens:
1) When you access a Shared Folders mapping for the first time after rebooting the VM, a DNS query is sent to time.windows.com, then a DNS SRV query on _LDAP.TCP
2) When you access a Shared Folder mapping for the first time after you installed XP, a bunch of DNS queries are being sent for vboxsvr (that explains the delay when you first access the mapped drive). Simultaneously, NetBios Name Service queries are sent for vboxsvr. Both get no response, and after a short delay (about 5 seconds) the files appear in Explorer. This only happens once per installation. Maybe there's a huge interval when this behaviour is supposed to re-occur, but I tried a few things, such as flushing the DNS and ARP cache, changing MAC addresses.. all works a lot better after that first delay after installation.

The Synchronization Manager has something to do with it all because in previous nLite builds, I had it taken off, but it caused Interface Not Supported error when trying to copy files from the mapped drive using the clipboard, or when trying to delete files/folders.

I will confirm this later on with the latest version of VirtualBox, and when I get more time, I'll try to see where this Synchro Manager fits in.

[danf84]

Correction: I got muddled up in my explanation. Windows XP WITH Synchronization Manager is what's causing the issues (not lack thereof). I suspect this sync manager a file system layer which intercepts file I/O but fails since "vboxsvr" is a special name that only gets handled by VirtualBox's Shared Folders layer, and it's likely that Synchronization Manager isn't passing the calls to the remaining layers since it encounters an error first and bombs out. Taking Synchronization Manager off isn't ideal as some domain configured machines use this to synchronize offline files (I actually hate this configuration). If I am right, the delay for fixing this (over a year) is understandable as the fix is likely to be a rewrite of whatever's responsible for Shared Folders on Windows Guests.
The fact that name resolution queries are being made on "vboxsvr" using DNS and NBNS suggest that the Guest driver isn't installed in the right place in the chain or simply isn't adequate for the job.
I suggest not to use Shared Folders much, or not to rely on it because in the future, an update to Windows could break it because there're many links down the chain which may not like the fake folder mappings which get intercepted.
I will send another update once I tested the latest version

[danf84]

Saying not to use Shared Folders was probably a bit harsh from me. It does definitely feel as if the Shared Folders module is a hack, some kind of proxy/redirector, probably implemented in a way that XP doesn't natively support. Having said that, it's common for supported mechanisms to be also problematic, so it doesn't mean a few clever hacks can't work well. I could be well talking out of my ass here...let's hope these problems get ironed out.

[danf84]

Here's one (possibly the only) contributing factor to this problem:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AllowMultipleTSSessions (DW)
Set to 1, restart the XP Guest.

If you use custom Windows installs, and you chose to have a Classic Windows Logon style, it disables multiple logons to the station. I think this is also set from Control Panel -> User Accounts.

[danf84]

Another way is:

in Explorer, in the menu, Tools -> Folder Options, select the "Offline Files" tab, and turn it off.

[danf84]

I definitively can confirm that Offline Files, if Enabled in Explorer, will cause the problem.
When you install XP from a CD, Welcome Screen logon type is enabled by default (along with Fast User Switching capability). Whilst Fast User Switching capability is enabled, Offline Files is disabled (they cannot work together). However, Windows decides to switch Offline Files on the second you disable Fast User Switching capability.

Basically, after installing Windows, go to Tools -> Options -> Offline Files and disable it.

P.S. Do not completely remove System Restore service if you use utilities like nLite (OS stripper). Installs of Guest Additions takes about 2 minutes if System Restore is physically removed (disabling it is OK, and the install should take about 30 seconds, otherwise, 2 minutes).

[halnovemila]

Same problem here.
VBox ver. 3.2.8 r6
Host WinXP SP3 and SP2

On attempt to copy a file that is on a (shared folder)SUBfolder and paste it on desktop, I got an error when giving the paste command: "request not supported"
Then the whole shared folder become inacessible for a while, few seconds, like if it is disconnected.

Same behaviour on attempt to delete or cut the file.

Drag operations works fine.
For example, I can "drag (move) the file to the root of the shared folder and then delete it.
Or I can copy that file to desktop dragging it from its folder window to DT.

It's not a file/folder permissions related issue as Fat32 filesystem, the one I'm using, doesn't support permissions attributes.

I confirm that disabling offline files, solves the issue.

Thanks danf84

[danf84]

The problem seems to have disappeared in VirutalBox 4. There're still initial delays when accessing a share for the first time upon first boot (the usual DNS lookup queries done trying to resolve "vboxsvr")

[haifa]

If you need DNS query means try this site http://www.whoisxy.com/ and also get the ip to domain,domain to ip,ping test,etc......

[aamr]

Disabling the Offline files from Tools->Folder Options->Offline Files solved the problem for me, thanks a lot!