Problem working with files from both guest and host.

[pzakielarz]

I'm having a problem simultaneously working with a shared file on a guest and host. I just started noticing this problem a few days ago, but I've been operating in the following mode for a while without noticing the problem.

My host is Mac OS X v. 10.6.8. My guest is ubuntu 11.04. I'm running VirtualBox 4.0.12 r72916.

The scenario is this: I have a set of files open in an editor on the host, and I'm using the files on the guest via terminal + ssh running on the host. I can edit the files on the host, save changes, and run the files on the guest. The folder where the files are stored is mounted as a shared folder on the guest.

Sometimes, when I create a new file on the host in the shared folder, or copy/move the file into the shared folder, something strange happens the next time I try to access the file from the guest. The guest knows about the file, but doesn't know much about the file --

Host directory listing

Code: Select all

user@host:~/shared$ ls -la
total 554064
drwxr-xr-x   5 user  staff        170 Sep 16 11:30 .
drwxr--r-x+ 25 user  staff        850 Sep 16 08:12 ..
drwxr-xr-x   4 user  staff        136 Sep 16 08:12 Session1
-rw-r--r--   1 user  staff  141876224 Sep 16 11:25 ebus.h5
-rw-r--r--   1 user  staff  141802536 Sep 16 11:24 load.h5

Guest directory listing

Code: Select all

user@guest:/media/sf_shared$ ls -la
ls: cannot access load.h5: No such file or directory
total 138552
drwxrwx--- 1 root vboxsf       170 2011-09-16 11:30 .
drwxrwx--- 1 root vboxsf       850 2011-09-16 08:12 ..
-rwxrwx--- 1 root vboxsf 141876224 2011-09-16 11:25 ebus.h5
?????????? ? ?    ?              ?                ? load.h5
drwxrwx--- 1 root vboxsf       136 2011-09-16 08:12 Session1

load.h5 in the above example is the file that is giving me problems, but the problem is not specific to this file.

I don't really know where to start on this one...i assume it's some detail of filesystem or permissions that is beyond my ken. Any help understanding this, or ideas of where to look for more clues would be appreciated.

[Sasquatch]

It's quite possible the problem is the auto-mounted shared folder. Disable the auto-mount option and use my guide to mount them manually. Then see if you get the same problem.