Need help with testing system image on VM

Studynxx · 06 Jan 2023

I have 2 external USB 3.0 HDDs:

HDD-A contains the system image, with the ,ADI extension becasue it was made with AOMEI, and the AOMEI WinPE ISO

HDD-B contains nothing, it's what the VM is running on.

When I boot into the AOMEI WinPE on the VM, I can't access the AOMEI system image even tho both the WinPE and the AOMEI system image are on the same HDD

How can I solve this issue? I need to test the system image before deploying it on my PC

NavyLCDR · 06 Jan 2023

What VM software are you using? The problem is likely that you have only passed the ISO file to the VM as a virtual DVD but you have not passed the USB hard drive to the VM as an actual disk drive.

And then it complicates further because once you pass the USB hard drive to the VM as a physical disk, the ISO file stored on that drive will not be available to the hypervisor to mount as a virtual DVD.

Studynxx · 06 Jan 2023

NavyLCDR said:

What VM software are you using? The problem is likely that you have only passed the ISO file to the VM as a virtual DVD but you have not passed the USB hard drive to the VM as an actual disk drive.

And then it complicates further because once you pass the USB hard drive to the VM as a physical disk, the ISO file stored on that drive will not be available to the hypervisor to mount as a virtual DVD.

VirtualBox

NavyLCDR · 06 Jan 2023

I am not familiar with how VirtualBox works, but my hunch still stands that you have not designated the USB HDD as a physical drive in the VM. You might want to restore the backup image to the second USB HDD, and also manually create a bootable system partition on it, then attach that as a drive to the VM.

Bree · 06 Jan 2023

Studynxx said:

HDD-A contains the system image, with the ,ADI extension becasue it was made with AOMEI, and the AOMEI WinPE ISO....
When I boot into the AOMEI WinPE on the VM, I can't access the AOMEI system image even tho both the WinPE and the AOMEI system image are on the same HDD

NavyLCDR said:

I am not familiar with how VirtualBox works, but my hunch still stands that you have not designated the USB HDD as a physical drive in the VM...

I assume you have set up the VirtualBox VM to boot from an AOMEI WinPE ISO. To give a VirualBox VM access to a physical drive so it can read your image from it go to the Settings of your VM and add it as a Shared Folder. The Add button is the top one on the right.

Need help with testing system image on VM-image.png

Studynxx · 06 Jan 2023

Bree said:

I assume you have set up the VirtualBox VM to boot from an AOMEI WinPE ISO. To give a VirualBox VM access to a physical drive so it can read your image from it go to the Settings of your VM and add it as a Shared Folder. The Add button is the top one on the right.

I still can't access that drive - on which the system image is - in the AOMEI WinPE

cereberus · 07 Jan 2023

You have to use usb passthrough to see the usb drives.

VirtualBox USB passthrough guide | Connect USB to VirtualBox.