How To: Run SpinRite on a UEFI-only machine (Part 3A of 5 - Linux as base OS)

[Scott]

NOTE: These steps will create a portable Linux environment on a USB flash drive that can be moved from machine to machine as needed.

As noted in Part 1 of this series, one can create a VirtualBox environment suitable for SpinRite within a Linux OS environment. That Linux boot drive must be setup in a particular way. This article will outline how to setup that drive, and how to run VirtualBox and then SpinRite from that drive.

This article is split into multiple parts:

1. Introduction
2. Using Windows to Go as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system:
3. Using Kubuntu Linux as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
   1. Part 3A - Setting up the Linux drive, Installing VirtualBox (this article)
   2. Part 3B - Creating a SpinRite Virtual Machine, Mapping the Host drives to the SR Virtual Machine, Steps to take when moving your Linux drive to a new Target Machine
4. Using MacOS as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
5. Downloading or Creating your VM and moving files in and out of the virtual drive

On your Prep PC (which is running Windows 10 or 11):​

NOTE: Instructions have been updated (as of May 9 2024) for Kubuntu 24.04.1 LTS instead of 22.04.4

1. Download and install (or use Portable) version of Rufus; MUST USE AT LEAST VERSION 4.5:
   1. https://rufus.ie/en/
2. Download the Kubuntu flavour of Ubuntu Linux. Get the LTS version 24.04.1 or higher
   1. https://kubuntu.org/getkubuntu/
   2. Get ISO or use the Torrent file to get the ISO
   3. NOTE: versions earlier than 24.04.1 may give an SBAT error if Secure Boot is enabled
3. Insert your USB drive
4. Use Rufus with the following options:
   1. Main screen
      1. If your drive is NOT a flash drive, but is an External USB SSD drive, click on "List USB Hard Drives"
      2. Select your USB drive and the Kubuntu ISO
      3. Partition Scheme: GPT
      4. Set Persistent Partition Size to at least 12 GB
         1. The drive will be split between the Persistent Partition and the Partition for the ISO, which needs be at least 10 GB
      5. All other options default, press Start
   2. Rufus will now make your flash drive
5. Now, go to GRC.com and download your personal copy of SpinRite
6. Run the SpinRite executable
7. Use the option to create an IMG file.
8. By default it's called SpinRite.img, change the name to SPINRITE-FD.img
9. Copy that file to your 2nd flash drive and put it aside, you'll use it later

On your Target PC (on which you will eventually run SpinRite against its drives)​

A. Getting the OS up to date​

1. Boot into your firmware settings:
   1. Ensure Virtualization is turned on, if there is a firmware setting for it (might be called VT-X or AMD-V)
   2. Your Secure Boot settings do not have to change, just make a note of whether Secure Boot is On or Off
2. Boot your PC from the USB using your particular PC's boot option key
3. You should see at least one entry for the USB
4. You will boot to the main Kubuntu boot menu; select the first entry from the Kubuntu boot menu, Try or Install Kubuntu
5. The next screen is a graphical menu to allow WiFi network connection, and for you to decide to Try or Install Kubuntu.
   1. Connect to your WIFi network or select wired Ethernet, whatever is appropriate
   2. You obviously want to Try Kubuntu, not install it!
6. Once you get to the desktop, ensure you are connected to your WiFi network (or ensure you have Ethernet plugged in and working)
7. Go to System Settings | Regional Settings and set:
   • Date and Time, set your Time Zone
   • Region and Language, set your Language to American English and hit Apply
8. Change Power settings so that the system NEVER suspends, goes to sleep or turns itself off
   1. Go to System Settings | Power Management
   2. Energy Saving section
      1. Turn OFF "Screen Energy Saving"
      2. Turn OFF "Suspend session"
      3. Click the "Apply" button
   3. Activity Power Settings section
      1. Define a special behavior
         1. Turn ON "Never turn off the screen"
         2. Turn ON "Never shut down the computer or let it go to sleep"
         3. Click the "Apply" button
9. Reboot. If the system remembered your settings (WiFi network, etc.), then persistence is working, which is required to proceed
10. Open the Discover app and click on the bottom left of the menu where it says “Fetching updates”
11. You should see a list of Updates to apply. Click on Update All in the top right of the window
12. After a while (it may take time for the system to prepare itself for the updates), the system may prompt you with a box saying "Authentication is required to update software" and ask for a password. As we never set an adminstrator / root / sudo password, just leave it blank and click OK. This will remain true for future actions that prompt for a password.
13. If you don't see items start to update, you may have to click "Update All" again
14. After all updates are installed, Reboot the system
15. After reboot, open a Terminal window (called Konsole in Kubuntu)
16. Enter the following:
    1. sudo snap refresh
17. Your system is now up to date
18. Open Firefox and ensure it’s working

​

B. I have a Mac, is there anything else I need to do?​

My limited testing is that Macs can work from the base Linux drivers; there are no Linux drivers from Apple, but feel free to read up on running Linux on your particular Mac (or any PC!!) to ensure that you have the drivers you need

C. Installing VirtualBox​

Unlike installing on Windows or MacOS, installing VirtualBox on Linux is not straightforward, and varies among the different distributions, mainly due to differing prerequisites (which are not well documented). There is a pre-built version in the Ubuntu repository, or you could seek out the most current version. At this writing (January 2025), the Ubuntu repository hosts VirtualBox version 7.0.16, while the most current is 7.1.4.

If you want the most current version, you can follow the directions at:

1. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
2. Do not install the pre-built binary; follow the directions for a Debian based install. When typing in the commands, replace <mydist> with noble .
3. If the install goes well and Secure Boot is on, you should follow the instructions from Step 6 and onwards below to enroll the MOK.
4. You may need other prerequisites, you're on your own for finding what those are!
5. Because of the complexity of this approach, I don't recommend it but if you're comfortable with Linux, by my guest!
6. After installation, the program will be listed on your Application list as Oracle VirtualBox, not VirtualBox.

For simplicity's sake, I recommend using the older but viable VirtualBox version included in the Ubuntu Repository.

1. Open a Terminal window (called Konsole in Kubuntu)
2. You should be in the home directory for the kubuntu user; enter the command:
   1. pwd
3. Should show:
   1. /home/kubuntu
4. Make the Virtual Machine directory:
   1. mkdir 'VirtualBox VMs'
5. From the terminal command line:
   1. sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   2. sudo apt update
   3. sudo apt upgrade
      1. There will probably be no upgrades to apply but it's fine either way
   4. sudo apt install virtualbox
   5. Enter Y when prompted to proceed
6. If you have Secure Boot On:
   1. The system will throw up a text dialog box telling you that you need a password (at least 8 characters) to generate a signing key. That password must be entered on special screens on the next reboot in order to have VirtualBox work with SecureBoot On.
   2. I used something simple like “spinrite”; whatever you choose, remember it!!
7. After the install finished, exit the terminal
8. If you have Secure Boot On, you must now Reboot:
   1. You’ll see the following prompts:
      1. A “Perform MOK management” screen
         1. You may have to press Enter to proceed into MOK Management
         2. Select “Enroll MOK”
      2. At the “Enroll MOK” screen
         1. Select “Continue”
      3. At the “Enroll the key(s)?” screen
         1. Select “Yes”
      4. You’ll be prompted for the password from before; enter it
      5. At the final screen
         1. Select “Reboot”
9. Now we need to edit the VirtualBox entry on the Application Menu
   1. Find the “VirtualBox” entry in the Application list menu
   2. Right click on it, select “Edit Application”
   3. Select the Application tab
   4. Click on the Advanced Options button
   5. In the User section, click the box that says "Run as a different user":
      1. Username: root
   6. Click OK
   7. Click OK
   8. Start VirtualBox by selecting it off the Application Menu
10. Go to the File | Preferences menu
11. Change Default Machine Folder to:
    1. /home/kubuntu/VirtualBox VMs
12. Exit VirtualBox

And now VirtualBox is installed. On to Part 3B, setting up the Virtual Machine and installing SpinRite

 

[leonfeng]

Thank you so much, Scott, for these incredible instructions! I just successfully ran SpinRite 6.1 on my UEFI-only laptop following your guide

outdated comment

Two small corrections:

7.1. There should be two dashes in front of dearmor, otherwise gpg complains "can't open '-dearmor'". Unfortunately, the error message ends with the word "(success)". I suggest people double check if the keyring file is actually created using the following command:

ls -l /usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

17.5.1. There should be a U after %, otherwise KDE complains "invalid syntax".

Cheers~

 

[Scott]

Thank you so much, Scott, for these incredible instructions! I just successfully ran SpinRite 6.1 on my UEFI-only laptop following your guide

Two small corrections:

7.1. There should be two dashes in front of dearmor, otherwise gpg complains "can't open '-dearmor'". Unfortunately, the error message ends with the word "(success)". I suggest people double check if the keyring file is actually created using the following command:

ls -l /usr/share/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

17.5.1. There should be a U after %, otherwise KDE complains "invalid syntax".

Cheers~

Hi @leonfeng, if those two items were my only mistakes, I’m happy! I’ve fixed them both, and thanks for finding them.

Did you create your own Virtual Machine or download my pre-built one? And did your laptop have Secure Boot on?

 

[leonfeng]

Hi @leonfeng, if those two items were my only mistakes, I’m happy! I’ve fixed them both, and thanks for finding them.

Did you create your own Virtual Machine or download my pre-built one? And did your laptop have Secure Boot on?

I downloaded your pre-built VM because I'm lazy. And I turned off Secure Boot beforehand to keep things a little simpler.

 

[pakal]

NOTE: These steps will create a portable Linux environment on a USB flash drive that can be moved from machine to machine as needed.

As noted in Part 1 of this series, one can create a VirtualBox environment suitable for SpinRite within a Linux OS environment. That Linux boot drive must be setup in a particular way. This article will outline how to setup that drive, and how to run VirtualBox and then SpinRite from that drive.

This article is split into multiple parts:

1. Introduction
2. Using Windows to Go as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system:
3. Using Kubuntu Linux as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
   1. Part 3A - Setting up the Linux drive, Installing VirtualBox (this article)
   2. Part 3B - Creating a SpinRite Virtual Machine, Mapping the Host drives to the SR Virtual Machine, Steps to take when moving your Linux drive to a new Target Machine
4. Using MacOS as the base OS for your bootable VirtualBox system
5. Downloading or Creating your VM and moving files in and out of the virtual drive

On your Prep PC (which is running Windows 10 or 11):​

NOTE: Instructions have been updated (as of May 9 2024) for Kubuntu 24.04.1 LTS instead of 22.04.4

1. Download and install (or use Portable) version of Rufus; MUST USE AT LEAST VERSION 4.5:
   1. https://rufus.ie/en/
2. Download the Kubuntu flavour of Ubuntu Linux. Get the LTS version 24.04.1 or higher
   1. https://kubuntu.org/getkubuntu/
   2. Get ISO or use the Torrent file to get the ISO
   3. NOTE: versions earlier than 24.04.1 may give an SBAT error if Secure Boot is enabled
3. Insert your USB drive
4. Use Rufus with the following options:
   1. Main screen
      1. If your drive is NOT a flash drive, but is an External USB SSD drive, click on "List USB Hard Drives"
      2. Select your USB drive and the Kubuntu ISO
      3. Partition Scheme: GPT
      4. Set Persistent Partition Size to at least 12 GB
         1. The drive will be split between the Persistent Partition and the Partition for the ISO, which needs be at least 10 GB
      5. All other options default, press Start
   2. Rufus will now make your flash drive
5. Now, go to GRC.com and download your personal copy of SpinRite
6. Run the SpinRite executable
7. Use the option to create an IMG file.
8. By default it's called SpinRite.img, change the name to SPINRITE-FD.img
9. Copy that file to your 2nd flash drive and put it aside, you'll use it later

On your Target PC (on which you will eventually run SpinRite against its drives)​

A. Getting the OS up to date​

1. Boot into your firmware settings:
   1. Ensure Virtualization is turned on, if there is a firmware setting for it (might be called VT-X or AMD-V)
   2. Your Secure Boot settings do not have to change, just make a note of whether Secure Boot is On or Off
2. Boot your PC from the USB using your particular PC's boot option key
3. You should see at least one entry for the USB
4. You will boot to the main Kubuntu boot menu; select the first entry from the Kubuntu boot menu, Try or Install Kubuntu
5. The next screen is a graphical menu to allow WiFi network connection, and for you to decide to Try or Install Kubuntu.
   1. Connect to your WIFi network or select wired Ethernet, whatever is appropriate
   2. You obviously want to Try Kubuntu, not install it!
6. Once you get to the desktop, ensure you are connected to your WiFi network (or ensure you have Ethernet plugged in and working)
7. Go to System Settings | Regional Settings and set:
   • Date and Time, set your Time Zone
   • Region and Language, set your Language to American English and hit Apply
8. Change Power settings so that the system NEVER suspends, goes to sleep or turns itself off
   1. Go to System Settings | Power Management
   2. Energy Saving section
      1. Turn OFF "Screen Energy Saving"
      2. Turn OFF "Suspend session"
      3. Click the "Apply" button
   3. Activity Power Settings section
      1. Define a special behavior
         1. Turn ON "Never turn off the screen"
         2. Turn ON "Never shut down the computer or let it go to sleep"
         3. Click the "Apply" button
9. Reboot. If the system remembered your settings (WiFi network, etc.), then persistence is working, which is required to proceed
10. Open the Discover app and click on the bottom left of the menu where it says “Fetching updates”
11. You should see a list of Updates to apply. Click on Update All in the top right of the window
12. After all updates are installed, Reboot the system
13. After reboot, open a Terminal window (called Konsole in Kubuntu)
14. Enter the following:
    1. sudo snap refresh
15. Your system is now up to date
16. Open Firefox and ensure it’s working

​

B. I have a Mac, is there anything else I need to do?​

My limited testing is that Macs can work from the base Linux drivers; there are no Linux drivers from Apple, but feel free to read up on running Linux on your particular Mac (or any PC!!) to ensure that you have the drivers you need

C. Installing VirtualBox​

Unlike installing on Windows or MacOS, installing VirtualBox on Linux is not straightforward, and varies among the different distributions, mainly due to differing prerequisites (which are not well documented). These instructions are specifically for this Kubuntu release. Virtualbox installation for Kubuntu 24.04 is MUCH easier than it was for version 22.04.

1. Reference:
   1. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
2. Open a Terminal window (called Konsole in Kubuntu)
3. You should be in the home directory for the kubuntu user; enter the command:
   1. pwd
4. Should show:
   1. /home/kubuntu
5. Make the Virtual Machine directory:
   1. mkdir 'VirtualBox VMs'
6. From the terminal command line:
   1. sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   2. sudo apt update
   3. sudo apt upgrade
      1. There will probably be no upgrades to apply but it's fine either way
   4. sudo apt install virtualbox
   5. Enter Y when prompted to proceed
7. If you have Secure Boot On:
   1. The system will throw up a text dialog box telling you that you need a password (at least 8 characters) to generate a signing key. That password must be entered on special screens on the next reboot in order to have VirtualBox work with SecureBoot On.
   2. I used something simple like “spinrite”; whatever you choose, remember it!!
8. After the install finished, exit the terminal
9. If you have Secure Boot On, you must now Reboot:
   1. You’ll see the following prompts:
      1. A “Perform MOK management” screen
         1. You may have to press Enter to proceed into MOK Management
         2. Select “Enroll MOK”
      2. At the “Enroll MOK” screen
         1. Select “Continue”
      3. At the “Enroll the key(s)?” screen
         1. Select “Yes”
      4. You’ll be prompted for the password from before; enter it
      5. At the final screen
         1. Select “Reboot”
10. Now we need to edit the VirtualBox entry on the Application Menu
    1. Find the “VirtualBox” entry in the Application list menu
    2. Right click on it, select “Edit Application”
    3. Select the Application tab
    4. Click on the Advanced User button
    5. In the User section, click the box that says "Run as a different user":
       1. Username: root
    6. Click OK
    7. Click OK
    8. Start VirtualBox by selecting it off the Application Menu
11. Go to the File | Preferences menu
12. Change Default Machine Folder to:
    1. /home/kubuntu/VirtualBox VMs
13. Exit VirtualBox

And now VirtualBox is installed. On to Part 3B, setting up the Virtual Machine and installing SpinRite

I have a 2 years old Dell Precision 7750, Zeon Processor, 64GB RAM, Mobile Workstation. I was working through Parts 3A and 3B to run SpinRite through Kubuntu. I started trying to install to a 64GB flash drive (USB 3.0 on a USB 3.1 port. When I started rufus I did not see any way to load the Kubuntu iso. The only options available were a list of stck bootable images provided by Kubuntu. The same thing happened when I tried to install to a 2TB SSD external drive. I tried doing the install with the rufus anf Kubuntu in the c:| root directory but that made no difference. What am I missing. Thank - pakal

 

[pakal]

I have a 2 years old Dell Precision 7750, Zeon Processor, 64GB RAM, Mobile Workstation. I was working through Parts 3A and 3B to run SpinRite through Kubuntu. I started trying to install to a 64GB flash drive (USB 3.0 on a USB 3.1 port. When I started rufus I did not see any way to load the Kubuntu iso. The only options available were a list of stck bootable images provided by Kubuntu. The same thing happened when I tried to install to a 2TB SSD external drive. I tried doing the install with the rufus anf Kubuntu in the c:| root directory but that made no difference. What am I missing. Thank - pakal

I forgot to mention that I am running Windows 10 Pro Workstation (UEFI Only) and just finished a complete reinstall of everything on the laptop so its all up to date. I also downloaded all of your recommended versions for rufus and Kubuntu. Thanks.

 

[Scott]

I forgot to mention that I am running Windows 10 Pro Workstation (UEFI Only) and just finished a complete reinstall of everything on the laptop so its all up to date. I also downloaded all of your recommended versions for rufus and Kubuntu. Thanks.

From the Rufus UI click the Select button, it opens a standard Windows file picker dialogue box and you can select the ISO file

 

[pakal]

Thanks Scott. I must have been "click challenged" when I first tried that. I could have sworn that I clicked on "SELECT" but nothing happened - i.e. no DownArrow for additional selections. Anyway, it worked properly when I went back in and did it again. So, everything was proceeding along as expected until I got to the step in Part 5C where (for Linux) you open Konsol and change to the 'VirtualBox VMs' directory with the command:

cd ~/'VirtualBox VMs'

where I recieve the response - "Permission Denied"

I'm guessing it has something to do with "root" being the owner and maybe the password the was set up earlier but I don't know how to procceed from here.

Thanks.

 

[Scott]

Thanks Scott. I must have been "click challenged" when I first tried that. I could have sworn that I clicked on "SELECT" but nothing happened - i.e. no DownArrow for additional selections. Anyway, it worked properly when I went back in and did it again. So, everything was proceeding along as expected until I got to the step in Part 5C where (for Linux) you open Konsol and change to the 'VirtualBox VMs' directory with the command:

cd ~/'VirtualBox VMs'

where I recieve the response - "Permission Denied"

I'm guessing it has something to do with "root" being the owner and maybe the password the was set up earlier but I don't know how to procceed from here.

Thanks.

That’s odd and I’m not sure where you’ve gone wrong

From a command line, ido the following commands to go to your home directory and print the full path. What does it say?
cd ~
pwd

Then do a list directory and what’s there?
ls -al

 

[pakal]

Hi Scott - Had an inspiration (substitute for knowledge about Linux here) to try the same commands you listed for changing the Permissons of SRDOS - "sudo chmod 777 'VirtualBox VMs'" to start and "sudo chmod 666 VirtualBox VMs'" to end. That seemed to work. I'm hoping the chmod 666 at the end is proper. Was able to change the SRDOS image file to SRDOS.img and run it in a VM in VirtualBox. No errors and I got a FreeDOS c:\ prompt. I did use your SRDOS.ova file. Assuming that is all correct, the last issue I have is how to get Spinrite into the system. I have a registered copy of 6.1 and created a spinrite.img image file. Assuming that I need the spinrite.img file (which should have FreeDOS incorporated) it seems I would have to import and mount the image and just run spinrite from there - but I'm guessing here. I cannot figure out how to import the spinrite.img file. Copied (using Wndows) spinrite.img to the flash drive (just like I did with SRDOS.ova - which Kubntu was able to find and import) but Kubuntu/Gnome does not see it. Where to go from here? Thanks.

 

[Scott]

Assuming that is all correct, the last issue I have is how to get Spinrite into the system. …. Where to go from here? Thanks.

You go here, Part 5C: https://forums.grc.com/threads/how-...ing-files-to-and-from-the-vm-hard-drive.1659/

 

[pakal]

OK - I didn't realize that Kubuntu would recognize a flash drive and its contents as soon as it was plugged in - made file tansfer of spinrite.img a breeze to where ever you want. In SRDOS VM I was able to copy spinrite.exe from the a:\ drive (spinrite.img) to the c:\ drive (after deleting dummy spinrite.exe from SRDOS.ova). I'm now at Part 3B, Steps D.3.1 through D.3.4 - "Configuring Access to Target Drives". I was in Konsol and ran "lsblk". The listing that came back was a bunch of Loop0 thru Loop13 (installed apps it looks like) devices but only one drive (sda - disk0 with two partitions) which is the flash drive. Neither one of my laptop drives (2 - 1TB Kioxia NVMe SSD) show up. Does this mean that the actual SSDs I wanted to run spinrite on are not recognizable by Kubuntu? Or do I have to do some kind of extended search? Thanks.

 

[Scott]

OK - I didn't realize that Kubuntu would recognize a flash drive and its contents as soon as it was plugged in - made file tansfer of spinrite.img a breeze to where ever you want. In SRDOS VM I was able to copy spinrite.exe from the a:\ drive (spinrite.img) to the c:\ drive (after deleting dummy spinrite.exe from SRDOS.ova). I'm now at Part 3B, Steps D.3.1 through D.3.4 - "Configuring Access to Target Drives". I was in Konsol and ran "lsblk". The listing that came back was a bunch of Loop0 thru Loop13 (installed apps it looks like) devices but only one drive (sda - disk0 with two partitions) which is the flash drive. Neither one of my laptop drives (2 - 1TB Kioxia NVMe SSD) show up. Does this mean that the actual SSDs I wanted to run spinrite on are not recognizable by Kubuntu? Or do I have to do some kind of extended search? Thanks.

Hmm. Not sure why that’s happening for you. I’ll revisit my directions in the next few days and ensure they still work for me

 

[pakal]

One other indication that may help - I tried using the "DiskUtlil List" command in Konsol (from your Mac OS Section 4A, 4B) and recieved an error message - "Not found".

 

[Scott]

One other indication that may help - I tried using the "DiskUtlil List" command in Konsol (from your Mac OS Section 4A, 4B) and recieved an error message - "Not found".

Well that’s a Mac only command, you need to only do the Linux commands

 

[pakal]

Hi Scott - Quick uodate. While I was waiting for a possible resolution for my internal drives not being recognized by Kubuntu, I went ahead set up (successfully) the Windows OS version of using SpinRite in VirtualBox. Ran SpinRite on my internal drives and it made a real noticable difference - everything is much quicker. Couple of things of note you may be interested in:
1. The latest version of Tiny11 comes with MS Edge now (or it at least showed after installation - could have been from the 230+ updates that occurred after initial install
2. VirtualBox requires MS Visual C++ 2019 (or later) Redistribution Package (needs to be downloaded and installed)
3. There was no IDE Controller available in my installation of VirtualBox (which may be because of my particular hardware configuration - I don't know)
4. I used the AHCI Controller and was real happy with the speed - ran SpinRite Level 3 on a 1TB SSD which took about 45 minutes!
5. After VirtualBox install, the c:\Users\Admin\VitualBox VMs subdirectory was not actually created even though it was specified in VirtualBox. Had to do it manually.

Anyway - very cool to have SpinRite running on my system and seing big improvements. Thanks hugely for all of the work (and it looks like A LOT!) on getting SpinRite working on UEFI systems.

P.S. - if you are able to figure out the issue with Kubuntu not recognizing internal drives, please let me know. I kinda like playing with Linux.

Thanks.

 

[Scott]

Hi Scott - Quick uodate. While I was waiting for a possible resolution for my internal drives not being recognized by Kubuntu, I went ahead set up (successfully) the Windows OS version of using SpinRite in VirtualBox. …

Glad you got it to work! I tried to be thorough in my instructions but it doesn’t surprise me that I missed some of the smaller steps. I’ll (eventually) add them to the documentation, thanks!

And I’ll also (eventually) check that Linux issue too. Thanks again!

 

[Scott]

P.S. - if you are able to figure out the issue with Kubuntu not recognizing internal drives, please let me know. I kinda like playing with Linux.

Thanks.

Hi @pakal , I ran through my Linux instructions from scratch and everything worked as I previously documented. I did not have a permissions problem with the 'VirtualBox VMs' directory, and the lsblk command showed the internal drives on my test system. I did clarify some of the instructions (like noting that when prompted for a password, you should just leave it blank and click OK), but otherwise the instructions worked. Maybe try it again, and be very careful of what you type / click? I'll get around to checking the Windows instructions and updating them with your findings later today or tomorrow.

 

[Scott]

Hi Scott - Quick update. While I was waiting for a possible resolution for my internal drives not being recognized by Kubuntu, I went ahead set up (successfully) the Windows OS version of using SpinRite in VirtualBox.

Hi @pakal , I went through the Windows instructions and hopefully clarified things. Thanks again!

 

[pakal]

Thanks for the Linux update. I think I'll go through the whole Kubuntu install process again slowly and make sure - I could have easily screwed something up. Glad to provide input for an obviously superior volume of work.