Unable to exchange data with IcarosLive on VirtualBox (Linux)

[PortablE]

So far I've been unable to find a way to (usefully) transfer any files to IcarosLive running in VirtualBox on my Ubuntu 20.04 system:

* I was please to find I could get MarranoFTP to connect to the FTP server I run on my computer, but then found that any files copied across are randomly truncated to about 50KB in size, which is useless!  If I copy it a few times then sometimes the whole 1MB file will occasionally get transferred, but this seems rare.  Very frustrating!  I'm not sure if this is a MarranoFTP bug, but I tried two different FTP servers with the same result, and no other computers (inc. OS4) have any trouble transferring files by FTP. 

Has anyone else found MarranoFTP to be unreliable?  Are there any other FTP programs I could try with AROS?  (MarranoFTP seems a bit basic anyway.)

* I managed to create a virtual FAT16 drive that AROS could access, and that I could mount on the Linux side...  But any files written on the Linux side are lost as soon as I unmount it!  Not AROS's fault, as it seems to be a known bug with the version of VirtualBox available to me, but still leaves me stuck! 

Otherwise AROS works really well in VirtualBox, with both sound & networking working fine (unlike with Gnome Box).  Can anyone recommend any other x86 emulators for AROS?

* VirtualBox seems to allow mounting of USB devices (e.g. flash drives), but I haven't yet worked out how to get it to work... and I'm not sure if AROS would see it even if I did?

Does anyone have any other suggestions/ideas?

[AMIGASYSTEM]

The best choice for AROS is VMware, with a few steps you have everything working, USB, Audio, Network, CD, ISO etc..

[amigamia]

So far I've been unable to find a way to (usefully) transfer any files to IcarosLive running in VirtualBox on my Ubuntu 20.04 system:

* I was please to find I could get MarranoFTP to connect to the FTP server I run on my computer, but then found that any files copied across are randomly truncated to about 50KB in size, which is useless!  If I copy it a few times then sometimes the whole 1MB file will occasionally get transferred, but this seems rare.  Very frustrating!  I'm not sure if this is a MarranoFTP bug, but I tried two different FTP servers with the same result, and no other computers (inc. OS4) have any trouble transferring files by FTP. 

Has anyone else found MarranoFTP to be unreliable?  Are there any other FTP programs I could try with AROS?  (MarranoFTP seems a bit basic anyway.)

* I managed to create a virtual FAT16 drive that AROS could access, and that I could mount on the Linux side...  But any files written on the Linux side are lost as soon as I unmount it!  Not AROS's fault, as it seems to be a known bug with the version of VirtualBox available to me, but still leaves me stuck! 

Otherwise AROS works really well in VirtualBox, with both sound & networking working fine (unlike with Gnome Box).  Can anyone recommend any other x86 emulators for AROS?

* VirtualBox seems to allow mounting of USB devices (e.g. flash drives), but I haven't yet worked out how to get it to work... and I'm not sure if AROS would see it even if I did?

Does anyone have any other suggestions/ideas?

Hi Chris,

I have the same exact problem with MarranoFTP. I also use VirtualBox on my MAC and files get truncated when transferring files between the VM and the Host OS. It does seem to be a bug that has been there since earlier versions of software: https://github.com/mOoNsHaDoOo/MarranoFTP-Amiga/issues/1

I have been using the Download section from my site at www.arosworld.org to transfer files between them as it is accessible from OWB under AROS without issues. However, I am looking for a better way. Unfortunately, I do not seem find another FTP client app for AROS but Marrano FTP. Another way I am trying is to turn on the web service on my Mac and set a simple page with links to files to be clicked from OWB/AROS. USB is something to explore for sure. I will let you know if I have any success.

[amigamia]

Martin's Server Suite is another option you may try. It is a HTTP and FTP server. This gives you the option to set the FTP server on AROS side and the client from Linux

http://archives.aros-exec.org/index.php?function=showfile&file=network/server/http/mss_13nov2011.zip

The FTP server supports all the basic things one can expect from an FTP server.
The HTTP is a little bit more advanced and support virtual hosts, basic
authentication, index pages and so on.
Both servers can automatically use a valid IP address. The default configuration
is based on the current Icaros distribution and getting the servers up and
running is a one-banana job! Simply click on their respective icons and your
AROS system is ready to serve files on the network!

[AMIGASYSTEM]

PortablE, if you need to exchange AROS/Linux data, you can do it conveniently through a Mountlist, we talked about it here:

https://ae.amigalife.org/index.php?topic=971.msg12527#msg12527

 

[magorium]

* VirtualBox seems to allow mounting of USB devices (e.g. flash drives), but I haven't yet worked out how to get it to work... and I'm not sure if AROS would see it even if I did?

You are required to have installed the extension package in order to mount USB >1.x devices with VirtualBox.

In your AROS Virtual Machine you need to enable that USB support but, your mileage may vary wrt which USB-version works best for your setup. In my experience the smartest thing to do is to start with USB 1.x and work your way up and see what happens.

When a USB device is inserted at your machine the HOST os mounts it for you so that your host is able to access it.

Then, in VirtualBox, in one of the menu's there is a list of devices from the host that you can 'insert' into your (running) VM. You simply can select the device you wish to insert. Once the USB device is inserted into the AROS VM, then poseidon should be able to pick that up and automatically mount the device for AROS so that you can access it.

Having said that, do realize that AROS only (automatically) mounts devices that it is able to understand,e.g. FAT32 works but don't try a ext4 formatted USB device.

Does anyone have any other suggestions/ideas?

SMB is also an option. Icaros Desktop manual has a chapter about that, if not mistaken.

When i was using VB on windows I ran a second VM that ran a very tiny (non graphical) linux distro (around 80-100 MB) and installed the native VN extension package for that. That allows you to acces a host directory, which can then be mounted with using SMB, or you could run a FTP server on the Linux VM (but i guess the latter that will give you the same issues you have right now).

Instead of a second VM you can also use a small machine such as a raspberry Pi that runs in the local network as a server that can be accessed from the AROS VM using SMB. Having said that, i do not run AROS in a VM that often anymore as i prefer running AROS hosted.

[AMIGASYSTEM]

I did a test on the fly with VirtualBox on Windows installing AROS One, USB devices mount without the need to install extension package, to mount the 8GB pendrive "automatically" I simply selected "Generic Mass Storage", see screenshot.

[magorium]

I did a test on the fly with VirtualBox on Windows installing AROS One, USB devices mount without the need to install extension package

It depends on your (Linux) distribution whether or not the extensions package is installed by default. Note: On Linux it usually is not because of the restrictions that go with those extensions.

Linux users/distribution do not like closed source or restricted licenses. The OSE version used to (do not known if it stil is) require you to install closed source USB drivers.

Your Windows screenshot shows that you have the extension installed, probably done so by the VirtualBox installer by default (might be a checkbox that is checked by default).

See also documentation, https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/UserManual.html#usb-support

OHCI is present by default and does not come with those restrictions and/or the requirement to install anything extra.

@PortablE
Don't miss the parts about the vboxusers group that your used user account needs to be part of. It not listed very prominent.

[AMIGASYSTEM]

On Windows I did a standard installation just to see what it installed.
 Windows users also like free, portable or standalone programs; I have been using only those for many years, or commercial ones released for free.

[magorium]

@AMIGASYSTEM:
It is not about liking free programs. Those USB drivers for VirtualBox are free to use for non-commercial use as well (if that still is the case).


Linux distributions are open source (although there are (sometimes even closed source) commercial ones as well) and use a (special) license model. If your Linux distribution is GPL then it is not allowed to distribute non GPL used drivers or use software that uses another conflicting license.


That is why there are usually special repositories for Linux distributions that have commercial or license conflicting software that you have to configure and install manually yourself. These days there are special front-ends such as steam that take care of such things automatically. And there are even distributions that don't care as much anymore about being fully open source or license compliant through all software that is offered (and have these special repositories configured by default)


In the particular case of the USB drivers for VirtualBox these drivers used to be closed source and as such are not allowed to be distributed. Doing so breaches that license. Windows software is not open source by default and as such do not have to take this into consideration, unless you installed the OSE (Open Source Edition) version of VirtualBox on your Windows machine.

For your reading pleasures the license of the VirtualBox extension package (PUEL) : https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/VirtualBox_PUEL

[AMIGASYSTEM]

Thanks for the Info, I as said for many years on Windows use only free portable/standalone or Commercial free Distributed programs like THESE.

As VM I use an old VMware v6 (last working 32bit) which is very fast and the latest free version of VirualBox

[PortablE]

I have the same exact problem with MarranoFTP. I also use VirtualBox on my MAC and files get truncated when transferring files between the VM and the Host OS. It does seem to be a bug that has been there since earlier versions of software: https://github.com/mOoNsHaDoOo/MarranoFTP-Amiga/issues/1

Thanks for confirming this.  I've found that limiting my FTP download speed to 1MB/sec seems to make MarranoFTP mostly reliable, although it does seem to vary depending on the size of the file (oddly smaller files are less reliable!), so I can't be 100% sure it's a complete solution.  I'm going to give this a go before trying other solutions.

[paolone]

So far I've been unable to find a way to (usefully) transfer any files to IcarosLive running in VirtualBox on my Ubuntu 20.04 system
...
Does anyone have any other suggestions/ideas?

Icaros Desktop provides a file share option through FTP. You just have to run prefs/Icaros Settings and flag "FTP file sharing", then restart the system.


On the host side, just head to you virtual machine's IP address with any FTP client. You'll have to enable active mode and maybe disable security options to successfully connect to the system. Icaros by default shares the content of MyWorkspace.