VirtualBox virtual drive not staying at desired fixed size.

[yk7]

I'm trying to install Ubuntu 12.10 on VirtualBox with a fixed size of 30 GB. However, when I start up the VM, it says I don't have the required 4.9GB of space to install and in the settings it says there's only 4MB. I've tried Googling around but I couldn't find an answer.

 

[Kari]

This is a typical error you might get when installing Ubuntu on a vm.

A workaround is to boot to live CD and install Ubuntu from Live Desktop.

1. Boot to Live CD:



2. Install Ubuntu:



Kari

 

[yk7]

I prefer installing it on VirtualBox though. Is there any fix?

 

[Kari]

I prefer installing it on VirtualBox though. Is there any fix?

Did you not understand me? I answered you telling how to install it in VirtualBox.

My last post shows exactly how to install it in VirtualBox. Boot your vm to Live CD desktop, install. Those screenshots in my previous post are from installing Ubuntu to a virtual machine.

Kari

 

[yk7]

Did exactly that but it still says I don't have enough space.

 

[Kari]

Delete your vm, create a new, use dynamic vhd instead of fixed size.

 

[yk7]

No luck with dynamic size.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
might be obvious but how much disk space do you actually have available ON THE HOST BEFORE installing / creating the VM -- from the OP it seemed you only had 4 MB spare !!!


......................says I don't have the required 4.9GB of space to install and in the settings it says there's only 4MB........................................................


Cheers
jimbo

 

[Kari]

Good point, Jimbo.

OP could alternatively try VMware Player instead of VirtualBox.

 

[yk7]

Host as in my C drive? I have 250 gb.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Try this first -- I only have VMware player it's free so use VMware player - otherwise use equivalent comm ands in VBOX.

start your VM software - VBOX or vmplayer

1) use VM Wizard to create Virtual Machine
2) Allocate storage space
3) Choose I will install OS later.

4) now you need to "Initialize" the Virtual disk -- download something like GPARTED - create ISO and attach this to the new VM you've just created. If you don't do this you'll find the Disk will just be "RAW" without a partitiuon on it.

5) Boot GPARTED in the Virtual machine
6) Create your Disk -- ensure there's a primary partition on it -- doesn't matter if it's Linux or NTFS or even FAT32.
7) Now re-boot the vm with the Linux distro
8) you should be able to install it.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[yk7]

VMware player made it work right out of the box.

 

[WyattLaman]

Fix the 4MB thing

Took me a bit but I figured out what fixes the 4MB virtual disk image thing that I was having. This sounds like what the OP was having.

I was typing the size that I wanted instead of using the slider. When typing the size of the .vdi file you are creating, you have to make sure you put the decimal and GB in the box. The slider to the left will adjust to match when done correctly.

If you just enter the number of the size you want and hit next, it results in a very low sized disk file.

Hope this helps.