Win10 VM lost ability to see shared folders on Debian

[j194]

Using 5.2.14. on Debian Buster. VM is Windows 10.
Had updated to 5.16 but although the shared files entry was in preferences, the VM suddenly could not see my home directory as listed in preferences with Full access. Another poster reported this too.

Today, this behavior started again, was fine yesterday. Still on 5.2.14 , no Linux updates recently.

It seems that Virtualbox has the entry for shared folders, but the VM cannot see them. The VBOXSVR entry no longer appears in Windows File Explorer. Tried removing the entry and putting it in again, but no luck. Restarted VM, restarted Vbox, no luck.

I wondered if this is a Vbox issue, not a VM issue as the preferences are set under Machine.
However, attached a backup *.ova file and it is working properly.

Is this a known problem with Windows10 updates? I have gone into the guest OS (Win10) and used group policy editor to turn off updates, which I have read sometimes does so.

For the future, is 5.2.16 safe to update to now i.e. file sharing is known to work with Windows10 guests, and advisable due to improvements?

Thanks.

[socratis]

Did you re-install the Guest Additions in Win10? You need to do it every time that you update VirtualBox, or every time there's a major Win10 update.

[j194]

Good point. I'm not sure.

I suspect that the update via Oracle ppa with APT did not do that, while in my direct install of 5.2.14 some time ago I was careful to match extensions and guest additions.

BTW, documentation on this is limited and mostly by deduction. I know, clear enough if you have been at this awhile, but for a first time VM user, not so much. The manual could use a clearer updated comment on updating and use of repositories, especially if using APT, as an example, vs. manual update.

Thanks for the question as a help, and I will need to keep better records next time. I am leaning toward a Win10 update causing problems most recently as the VM 'broke' on reuse although it was working earlier, and the attached *ova made in 5.2.14 is working nicely so far with updates turned off (hopefully), but that is only a hunch. As for details, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

In your opinion, any big reason to go through all that reinstallation/configuration to go from 5.2.14 to most recent? As many new to Vbox, I am not facile in reinstallation, so I would lean toward waiting for a prime motivation to do it again.

Thanks again.

[socratis]

We're going to need to see a VM log from a complete VM run:

• Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe error / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
• With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
• Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.