Ubuntu Lucid guest XP Host=/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting fail

[sf_jeff]

I seem to be having similar issues. I can't get this to work on my system with the following errors:

Code: Select all

sudo /sbin/mount.vboxsf vbs /winshare
/sbin/mount.vboxsf: mounting failed with the error: No such device

I have tried uninstalling 3.2.6 and installing 3.2.4 and still get the same error.

Code: Select all

jeff-desktop% lsmod | grep vbox
vboxvideo               1932  1 
drm                   198770  2 vboxvideo
vboxguest             175131  7 

jeff-desktop% sudo modprobe vboxsf
[sudo] password for jeff: 
FATAL: Error inserting vboxsf (/lib/modules/2.6.32-21-generic/updates/dkms/vboxsf.ko): Invalid module format

Host: Windows Vista
Guest: Ubuntu 10.04

I have tried to set permissions on the mount folder liberally and you can see it's empty:

Code: Select all

jeff-desktop% ls -al /
total 108
drwxr-xr-x  23 root root  4096 2010-07-13 10:09 .
drwxr-xr-x  23 root root  4096 2010-07-13 10:09 ..
...
drwxrwxrwx   2 jeff root  4096 2010-07-13 10:09 winshare
jeff-desktop% ls -al /winshare 
total 8
drwxrwxrwx  2 jeff root 4096 2010-07-13 10:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 23 root root 4096 2010-07-13 10:09 ..

I am not seeing any errors in the install log, but it is greek to me...

vi /var/log/vbox-install.log

Code: Select all

...
vboxnetadp.ko:
Running module version sanity check.
 - Original module
   - No original module exists within this kernel
 - Installation
   - Installing to /lib/modules/2.6.32-21-generic/updates/dkms/

depmod....

DKMS: install Completed.

interestingly, searching for sf (substring of vboxsf) returns nothing:

Code: Select all

jeff-desktop% grep -i sf /var/log/vbox-install.log 
jeff-desktop% 

[sf_jeff]

Ok, after spending the better part of a day on this, I finally got folders to work by starting from scratch and ignoring the main install instructions. From what I can tell the only differences between my new linux install that works and my original one that doesn't are:

* I configured zsh in the original one.
* I installed the VirtualBox kernal module in the original guest per http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#id2621615 "Installing the Linux Guest Additions" item 1.
* I installed dkms in the original one (same item)
* lots of troubleshooting steps after I already realized I have the problem.

As you might expect, I assume that #2 above is the problem. Would it be possible to replace the "official" installation instructions with the ones in the forum that work (but only if you start from scratch) to avoid heartache for the next user?

[Raistlin]

Seizing a chance to update my SUSE, I gave up Mint ( , it looked nicer than Ubuntu), and downloaded the brand-new SUSE 11.3.
After installing and updating the OS, and running the Guest Additions uneventfully, I was able to mount the shared folder. That seemed to prove that the problems mentioned earlier in this thread could be solved with a fresh start... but the process unveiled some new obstacles. Let "share" be a sharename for a normal folder on my Vista host, configured in Virtualbox as a "full" access one. Let "Intercambio" be the mountpoint folder, located on my SUSE Escritorio (desktop). This is what happened:

-1) Add to fstab:

Code: Select all

share /home/<my name>/Escritorio/Intercambio vboxsf defaults       0 0

Result: nothing.

-2) 1) + "mount -a". Result: successful mount, but permissions for Intercambio set to

Code: Select all

dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  8192 jul 23 11:26 Intercambio 

All files in the folder show rwxrwxrwx, but real and effective permission is that of the folder because I can’t modify any of them.

-3) Discard any changes made to fstab (=return to the original one), open boot.local and write (following instructions mentioned in another forum thread):

Code: Select all

mount -t vboxsf -o rw,gid=100,uid=1000,exec share /home/<my name>/Escritorio/Intercambio

Result: successful mount, and the owner of Intercambio and its contents has changed, but permissions haven’t: the folder shows

Code: Select all

dr-xr-xr-x 1 <my name>   users 8192 jul 23 11:26 Intercambio

and its files show the same owner and rwxrwxrwx, but are not modifiable, as previous.

-4) 3) + attempt to change permissions, either through the Properties tab or using chmod. Result: permissions are untouchable and I can’t get the “w” in rwx to work properly in the files.

Conclusion: certainly my situation is better than before, because now I have a successful mount that allows me to read the shared files. However, there must be some kind of solution that enables the writing / creating / erasing of the files. Any help would be most appreciated.

[Perryg]

You need to share a folder outside your Windows user space to be able to have granular control of permissions. Windows see these as protected and lock the permissions accordingly. Create something like c:\Share and set the permission to everyone and your problems should go away. There is a way to adjust the GPO and be able to unlock the security on the user space but that creates a massive security issue.

[Raistlin]

Jajejijoju...

I tried changing the windows permissions for the shared folder, to no avail.

But then, on the verge of surrendering, I tried something else: a) create another normal folder in Windows; b) configure it as "read-only" in Virtualbox; c) achieving a succesful mount via boot.local on my SUSE guest, which showed the normal limitations of "read-only"; d) shutting down SUSE and reconfiguring the folder as "full access" in Virtualbox; e) restart SUSE and find a fully-functional shared folder!

Happiness is not forever on this earth, but for now...

[Perryg]

Jajejijoju...
I tried changing the windows permissions for the shared folder, to no avail.
But then, on the verge of surrendering, I tried something else: a) create another normal folder in Windows; b) configure it as "read-only" in Virtualbox; c) achieving a succesful mount via boot.local on my SUSE guest, which showed the normal limitations of "read-only"; d) shutting down SUSE and reconfiguring the folder as "full access" in Virtualbox; e) restart SUSE and find a fully-functional shared folder!
Happiness is not forever on this earth, but for now...

Like I said you needed to put it outside of your user space. I don't think that the read only first then change to full has a lot to do with it though.