virtualbox.org

I am running on Snow Leopard trying to get a Linux Fedora 64bit virtual machine working.
It keeps on giving an error when I try to declare the hard drive, saying...


Failed to open the hard disk /Users/duksjhd/Desktop/VM/Fedora_64-bit.vmdk.

The medium '/Users/duksjhd/Desktop/VM/Fedora_64-bit.vmdk' can't be used as the requested device type.
Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: Medium
Interface: IMedium {29989373-b111-4654-8493-2e1176cba890}
Callee: IVirtualBox {3b2f08eb-b810-4715-bee0-bb06b9880ad2}
Callee RC: VBOX_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND (0x80BB0001)

I am running Snow Leopard with a 64bit Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

Please let me know if you can help!

Did you create this VMDK?

That's a Win7 path isn't it? Not something I'd expect to see on a Mac host.

How exactly are you "trying to get it working"? For example, have you copied this VM from a Win7 host and are now trying to get Machine|Add... to work?

I am taking a online class and they require that you have this hard drive installed. That's why it is not a default virtual box format. It is a Linux OS, and is not windows. But it is a VMware format which is a windows software. But I am pretty sure that it should be compatible with virtual box, it is even an option in the drop down .vmdk. I have not tried this from a windows host, only on a mac with no success. I have been reading a lot of people that have been trying this same thing with Mountain Lion and have had success though. So I'm thinking maybe I can upgrade.... But I was wondering if you guys noticed anything before I try that option.

Did they provide a .vmx also?

If all you have is a VMDK then it can't be a stand alone VMDK.

VMDK is unusual in that it consists of a text descriptor plus one or more image files called "extents". In some versions of VMDK the descriptor and extents are separate files all with the vmdk extension, in other versions the small text descriptor is embedded near the the start of a single compound file. Another booboo I've seen is the person not noticing that the file is just a couple of K in size, in which case the separate text descriptor (useless on its own) is all they have.

Whether separate or embedded, the descriptor contains paths to necessary extent files. Your problem seems to be that the descriptor contains an absolute path to a linked file, and even worse it uses a Windows format path. So who is user "duksjhd" anyway? Is that not you? Because that person is the source of this VMDK, which is unreadable by anyone except him on the original Win7 PC!

Actually, you could try cloning this VMDK with CloneVDI. I seem to remember putting in code to ignore the path to the first VMDK extent if the header was embedded. You'll need Wine to run CloneVDI on a Mac host. If it works, the clone will come out in VDI format which will not have the problem. If it doesn't work then it probably means that the VMDK is differential based on the parent file it gives you the error about.

duksjhd is just what I replaced with my user name.I think the vmdk file I have must have been a larger combination file. There was no other file that came with it and the zip file it came in was 1.4 gigs.

Ok, if duksjhd does indeed mean you, then you must know where this VMDK came from, right? E.g. if you created this VM on a Win7 machine then you surely must know that, and whether or not it was linked to some other VM.

Yes, I believe it was made on a windows. But it was intended for different platforms. As I said earlier this is a file given to me for a course on coursera. And I don't think there is a link to another virtual box because nobody in the forums at coursera has mentioned that, nor did the instructors. It was also a large file at 1.4 gigs if I remember right. The instructor also ran this same image on mountain lion using a macbook air and even gave us instructions as to how he did it. But unfortunately it doesn't work for me, even after upgrading to mountain lion....