virtualbox.org

Hi,

I have a .VDI file that I believe has invalid header. The .VDI was working OK, but my Windows box crashed and now I cannot start the .VDI file (.VDI is for a Linux OS).
I came across this thread that shows how to fix the same exact problem.
In this thread, it appears the user created a file containing the first 2M of data from the .vdi file and sent it to you. You then asked him to follow some steps to fix his problem. In your step 4, you asked for some bytes to changed from "00 00 00 00" to "8A C0 00 00".
I am not sure how you came up with '8A C0 00 00", but my questions are:
a. Does '8A C0 00 00" work for any damaged VDI file? Or just for the .vdi file discussed in this thread?
b. If '8A C0 00 00" does not work for any VDI,
i. If I send you a file for the 1st 2M of my .vdi file, can you provide a similar steps?
ii. If it is easier to describe how to come up with '8A C0 00 00" for my .vdi, that would work for me as well.

Download and read the instructions on Mpack's CloneVDI, especially the "VDI Repair" section. It has an automatic header fixer in it now.

Hi,

I just ran CloneVDI on my damaged VDI file. It detected an error that is shown in the attached pic.

Hi,

The attached file is the first 2M bytes of my damaged VDI file.

Mpack or another forum guru can comment on if your disk's block map errors can be fixed. Your 2MB file will probably have to be mounted to a file-sharing site and provide the share link instead, as the forum has a 128kB size limit.

You should really consider restoring the disk file from your backups.

I see that CloneVDI offers the repair button, so if the release notes have been read then I don't need to add anything. I don't need the 2MB file, but if I did - they typically compress very well since it is mostly 0 bytes.