Re: ISO To VDI VBoxManage convertfromraw Not Bootable
by mpack » 5. Jan 2011, 17:45
You can't convert an ISO that way.
To use "convertfromraw" your starting point (as the name implies) has to be a raw image of a hard disk - which an ISO image most certainly is not. All that "convertfromraw" does is wrap the input file with a VDI header and block map. The result is "valid" in the technical sense of being legal, but it isn't formatted like a hard disk and the data will not be accessible.
An ISO is just an image of a CD or DVD (so-called because the International Standards Organization defined the data CD file system standard). The correct way to process a CD image depends on exactly what the CD or DVD was intended to do. For example, if it's an image of a OS install disk then you create a VM, mount the ISO file as a virtual CD/DVD, and boot from it. If the ISO is an image of a data CD/DVD (not bootable) then you need to boot some other VM and mount the ISO as a CD - or use a suitable software tool on your host OS to extract files from the ISO.
(*) I note that you said that the ISO was an image of a bootable CD. I'm taking that assertion with a pinch of salt. Maybe you are right, maybe not. I've told you how the ISO should be handled either way.
(**) I also just noticed you say that after using convertfromraw you get a VDI file which you can attach and read. Yes you can mount it (it's a legal VDI file after all), but it contains no valid filesystem for any guest, so I'd be fascinated to know how you can read it!
To use "convertfromraw" your starting point (as the name implies) has to be a raw image of a hard disk - which an ISO image most certainly is not. All that "convertfromraw" does is wrap the input file with a VDI header and block map. The result is "valid" in the technical sense of being legal, but it isn't formatted like a hard disk and the data will not be accessible.
An ISO is just an image of a CD or DVD (so-called because the International Standards Organization defined the data CD file system standard). The correct way to process a CD image depends on exactly what the CD or DVD was intended to do. For example, if it's an image of a OS install disk then you create a VM, mount the ISO file as a virtual CD/DVD, and boot from it. If the ISO is an image of a data CD/DVD (not bootable) then you need to boot some other VM and mount the ISO as a CD - or use a suitable software tool on your host OS to extract files from the ISO.
(*) I note that you said that the ISO was an image of a bootable CD. I'm taking that assertion with a pinch of salt. Maybe you are right, maybe not. I've told you how the ISO should be handled either way.
(**) I also just noticed you say that after using convertfromraw you get a VDI file which you can attach and read. Yes you can mount it (it's a legal VDI file after all), but it contains no valid filesystem for any guest, so I'd be fascinated to know how you can read it!
- mpack
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