Shared folder getting read errors in guest

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wearyofallthiscrap
Posts: 34
Joined: 8. Nov 2011, 16:10
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Ubuntu/Debian

Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by wearyofallthiscrap »

Using 4.1.4 on a Windows XP host running a Debian 6 wheezy/sid guest. Setting up a couple of shared folders was one of the first things I did, and they've worked wonderfully for a few weeks now.

Earlier today I made some changes to some dirs/files in a shared folder; I was using programs on the host to make the changes. When I switched into the guest, the changed directories gave read errors when trying to do a simple directory listing. On the host (actually inside a cygwin terminal; thus the *nix-y appearance even though it's an XP host), I can access the subdir with no trouble:

Code: Select all

% cd .svn/pristine
% ls -g
total 0
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 14/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 20/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 37/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 59/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 69/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 7e/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 c8/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 d3/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 ee/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 f6/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 fb/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 fc/
drwx------+ 1 None 0 Nov 30 00:04 fe/
%
Inside the Linux guest, trying to see the same subdir just pukes:

Code: Select all

$ cd /media/sf_remtssd/TestOne/.svn/pristine
$ /bin/ls -l
/bin/ls: cannot access 14: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access 20: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access 37: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access 59: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access 69: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access 7e: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access c8: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access d3: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access ee: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access f6: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access fb: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access fc: No such file or directory
/bin/ls: cannot access fe: No such file or directory
total 0
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 14
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 20
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 37
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 59
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 69
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 7e
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? c8
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? d3
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? ee
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? f6
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? fb
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? fc
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? fe
%
The name of the shared folder in question only shows up once in VBox.log, when it's initially registered. Nothing odd appears in the guest's syslog. Accessing files on the shared folders that weren't touched today is fine (presumably the host-side programs rewriting the files have done something odd).

Is there a way of prodding the VM to resync or refresh or re-whatever its shared folder data, without restarting the guest?
wearyofallthiscrap
Posts: 34
Joined: 8. Nov 2011, 16:10
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Ubuntu/Debian

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by wearyofallthiscrap »

wearyofallthiscrap wrote:Is there a way of prodding the VM to resync or refresh or re-whatever its shared folder data, without restarting the guest?
I should add: alternatively, are there guest properties that I can set to disable or change whatever caching is in use? Ideally on a per-share basis, I guess, but if not then not.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by Perryg »

You might want to try using the manual mount instead of the auto-mount. Lots more control.
wearyofallthiscrap
Posts: 34
Joined: 8. Nov 2011, 16:10
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Ubuntu/Debian

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by wearyofallthiscrap »

Sounds good. Is there anything host-side I need to do other than unchecking the Auto-Mount option?

On the guest side, are there any VB-specific mount options that I can use in the fstab?
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by Perryg »

Nothing on the host side really, You will need to remove the auto-mount (I have not had great success with editing it) and create it new.

Code: Select all

sudo mount -t vboxsf -o rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 <sharename> <mount-point>
Once you see this working and if you want it to mount at boot, put it in /etc/rc.local. Make sure it is above exit 0

Note: replace uid, gid to match yours.
wearyofallthiscrap
Posts: 34
Joined: 8. Nov 2011, 16:10
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Ubuntu/Debian

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by wearyofallthiscrap »

For those reading this in the future: this is the same behavior reported over in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=46021

I've turned off the automount and am doing it manually instead, so that if/when this happens again, a umount and remount inside the guest should hopefully be enough. (Well, not really manually; it's in /etc/fstab instead of rc.local, and is mounted at boot time. It's "manually" in the sense of the guest OS doing the steps instead of the hypervisor being all magical.)

Thanks for the uid=/gid= tip, I'd forgotten about those.
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: Shared folder getting read errors in guest

Post by Perryg »

Just to clarify why the suggestion to use /etc/rc.local in Ubuntu or other debian distros.

There are times when fstab is loaded before the vbox services starts, and putting the mount in the fstab will cause a double mount statement (runs again) and slows the boot up and even cause the mount to fail. /etc/rc.local is always loaded at user login so this does not experience the same behavior.
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