Overview

Issue

When attempting to attach a built-in sdcard reader to a virtual machine, like you would any other usb device, I discovered it is not recognized as a usb device anymore.

Solution

Since the built-in readers are no longer recognized as a USB device, you have to map it to a vmdk file and access the raw disk. Although you can create stand alone vmdk files in Virtualbox, the UI itself does not have a vmdk-to-sdcard mapping option. However, the documentation does provide a way to manually do this via VBoxManage.exe. This scripted tool automates and simplifies this process by making a user friendly console application to handle this scenario.

🔴 NOTE: Script finalization is still in progress.

Purpose Of Script

1. I seen this issue as an opportunity to learn and advance my powershell capabilities.
2. There should be an available option for this in Virtualbox UI if VBoxManage.exe has the capability and is providing a way.

Youtube Source Describing Problem

https://youtu.be/hXIP97sBCXg

Related VirtualBox Documentation

VB Manual - VirtualBox Advanced Storage Configuration

Screenshots:

VM Menu:

Device Menu:

Action Menu:

Commands:

• Discard Saved State:
  • .\VBoxManage discardstate vm-guid
• Remove Attached:
  • .\VBoxManage storageattach vm-guid --storagectl controller-type --port # --device # --type hdd --medium none
• Close Disk:
  • .\VBoxManage closemedium disk path-to-file.vmdk -or- device-guid
• Delete By Filename:
  • @('path-to-file.vmdk','path-to-file-pt.vmdk') ForEach-Object { Remove-Item $_ --force }
• Delete By Extension:
  • Get-ChildItem -Path "target-dir" -Recurse -Filter "*.vmdk" | ForEach-Object { Remove-Item -Path $_.FullName -Force }
• Create New VMDK:
  • old version: .\VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename "desired-path-to-file.vdmk" -rawdisk \\.\PHYSICALDRIVEX -partitions 1
  • latest version: .\VBoxManage createmedium disk --filename "desired-path-to-file.vmdk" --format=VMDK --variant RawDisk --property RawDrive=\\.\PHYSICALDRIVEX --property Partitions=1
• Create Controller:
  • .\VBoxManage storagectl vm-guid --name "controller-name" --add controller-type --controller controller-bus
• Add Attached:
  • .\VBoxManage storageattach vm-guid --storagectl "SATA" --port # --device # --type hdd --medium path-to-file.vdmk -or- device-guid

Physical Disk Information ( Windows )

• Get the entire physical disk path via cmd prompt:

  • wmic diskdrive list brief

• Get the disk drive number via powershell:

  • Get-Disk

• Get other information via diskpart utility using either cmd prompt or powershell:

  • diskpart
  • list disk
  • select disk #
  • detail disk
  • exit

Physical Drive Addresses

• This is a DeviceID used to directly access a physical disk on a windows system:

  • \\.\PHYSICALDRIVEX

• Indicates a local device path:

  • \\.

• Denotes the physical disk connected to the system. X will be replaced with the number for the desired physical disk. ( 0, 1, 2, etc ):

  • PHYSICALDRIVEX