Opened 7 years ago
Last modified 7 years ago
#17138 new defect
Changes to VMDK image on USB Storage Not Preserved
| Reported by: | Joe E Clark | Owned by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component: | virtual disk | Version: | VirtualBox 5.1.28 |
| Keywords: | vmdk | Cc: | |
| Guest type: | other | Host type: | Windows |
Description
I have a VM with a VMDK file mounted on a USB mass storage device (e:\ drive). The Guest OS is CentOS 7.3.1611 (32 bit). I have been using it without issues for about a week.
Yesterday, I modified a few files on the VM and then rebooted the VM --- and the file changes were gone! I thought maybe user error, but I created a test file in my home directory and rebooted, and the file did NOT persist (as if the disk was a ramdisk, even though it's not). I tried this several times, with different ways of rebooting (shutdown -r, manually typing sync first, CentOS GUI, etc), with the same result.
I looked through log files but didn't see anything that looked out of the ordinary.
I have a feeling this has to do with USB -- maybe plugging/unplugging other USB devices confused the OS or VirtualBox -- just a guess. But in any case, there was no warning that my changes were not being saved onto the disk image.
After this testing, I restarted my host PC (Windows 7), and now things appear to be working -- although I have lost some trust with this setup since I don't really know what happened and it caused data loss.
Most probably it's your OS and it's caching (or not) mechanism. But may I suggest something? It's usually better and faster, if issues like this one get first addressed in the VirtualBox forums. More than 95% of the issues are resolved over there, which keeps the developers focusing on the bug fixes and enhancements, and there is no need for another ticket to keep track of.
So, if you can, please open a new thread in the VirtualBox on Windows Hosts section of the forums.
Please be sure to mention that you came from the bug tracker and include the ticket #.