I'm using Virtual Box Windows 10 VM in Zorin 17.3.
I plug a USB drive and it is visible in Disks and Files app.
Then, I start up my Windows VM.
Now, the usb drive is visible in the VM, but it disappears from Zorin OS disks and files.
When I shutdown the VM, the USB drive is back in Disks and Files.
Is this expected? If not, how do I resole this?
thanks
This is normal for any VM software. If you need access to the USB whilst using your Windows VM. Personally I much prefer virt-manager over VB as when it runs a VM of Windows it looks like a bare metal install compared to VB. Additionally, virt-manager has a 'USB-redirect' function. This means that if you have not added a device to be part of the VM, you can do so by using the menu option of 'USB-redirect' function, including hardware such as a secondary mouse. USB storage devices cannot be present on the host and the VM at the same time, it is how all VM software works. I always found it great that this functionality occurs. If you make the USB storage device to be added to the VM and it is not present in the host machine your VM will not launch - this is why USB redirect in virt-manager is superior to anything VB has to offer.
Thanks for confirming that this is expected.
I wanted to try virt-manager, ran apt-get install virt-manager, started virt-manager and got an error that it cant connect to virtd, resolved after restarting Zorin, though no such instructions on their website.
I'll check on what else I need to do as part of install, but right away, VB is a much more user friendly tool.
Actually just logging out and backi in normally resolves this issue. I found the resolution much better in virt-manager than VB. Additionally I always had issues with VB failing to pick up USB 3.0 ports, no such issue in virt-manager. The only other advice I would give to you is to creat a folder in your /home folder if you wish to run mutiple VM's, as the default location for virt-manager is in /var. If this gets filled up you won't be able to boot. You can see how I do this in this video on my Vimeo channel:
Although this is not exactly on my original topic, but wanted to let you know. I installed virt-manager and following your advice placed VM in a non-default location. I did it by creating a symbolic link. I first tried to use a storage management option but had to deal with several issues due to permissions, resolved them step by step, but really didn't like that there was no clear documentation on this.
The windows10 VM under virt-manager seems slower than under VB. Also, virt-manager shows it as Windows11, even though it is 10.
I also found some discussions on quickemu/quickgui and now in process of trying it too.