virtualbox.org

I have setup Windows XP SP3 in ubuntu and I have created a shared folders for my java code.

The problem I have is that I have full read/write access to everything except all the .properties files. I cannot open those file with any program.

Mathieu

After a little more research, I have found that Windows change certain file to an invalid date.

1913-05-09 05:38

Some program can open the file (notepad) and some program are not able (eclipse, notepad++)

Is the filename just '.properties' or does it have something before the '.'? By default, .-ed files are hidden. I believe this property is passed to the Guest with Shared Folders. I tested it myself with the .bashrc file in my profile. The Windows Guest sees the file, but is unable to open it properly. There is no filetype or size, just a date like yours.

I also am seeing this magic 9 May 1913 date on some of my files. Which developer is has their birthday on 9th May?


Explanation.
The date on some of my files changes but not always. There are 2 common types of file. a) clamav signature files both daily and main and b) database index files should I forget to zip the files before transfer. I have never had a problem when I zip the database files before transfer. No I have not tried zipping the signature files. I am not able to predict when the creation date will change and when it will not. Clam has always been able to open the signature file and I can see the date the system was updated correctly from within clam (about screen). The database files can not be opened when the date changes. The DB complains the index file is corrupt.

Sequence of events.
In the case of the signature files I down load them from the clamav site and copy them to a USB disk (fedora box). Copy the files into a shared directory on another fedora box that does not have internet access. When I look at the modified date it never changes after coping to the host shared directory. Next open the file in win XP guest and copy onto XP virtual disk. Often but not always when look in windows explorer the date is blank. When look at the properties of the file the data is always 9 May 1913. I suspect the reason the date shows as blank is it a remnants of the Y2K bug in windows where it can only show dates after 1930 and before 2029 (default values). When I go back to the host system and look at the file in the shared folder the date will have magically changed to 9 May 1913 but only when the date in the guest directory has also changed. ie it either changes in both places or does not change anywhere.

The name of the file is not modified anywhere during the transfer process.

This problem has been happening since I first looked at vb (about version 1.54) I have not tested on the latest version as xp would not start and I have rolled back to the previous version. (Yes I see others having this problem but have not tried the suggestions). I try each new version of VB in the hope that the bug has been fixed but alas still broken. The host os is always fedora but happens on both Fedora 8 and fedora 10. I did not use F9. Win XP has been upgraded to SP3 but the problem existed with SP2.

I have spent more time explaining the clam scenario as it will be easy for a developer to download the small daily file and test for themselves. The main file is 20MB.

I see that there is another post like this which is more recent but no suggestion as to why there is a problem or what can be done to fix the problem. I would appreciate some help solving this problem.

Thanking you in advance.

Was hoping to report that very new version 2.2.4 had fixed the problem. But alas have had to roll back to 2.1.4 to get a functioning system.


Anyone with a suggestion as to why 1913 is a favoured year.

This is just a guess. Not checked thoroughly.
the epoch in some filesystems start 1/1 1980 maximum minus from that would with a 32 bit value be 2^31-1 seconds. Then we reach about 1912-1914, could it be?

Interesting thought baf.

Provided my maths is good 2^31 would be 68.0962 etc years. This would make it 1912.

Thank you for looking