Virtualbox doesn't work with a real partition

Solution 1:

The VirtualBox user should be the owner of .vmdk file and have read & write permissions for both .vmdk and the device it refers to (like /dev/sda). Everything in /dev/ is owned by root, so you have two options:

1. Run VirtualBox as root. I wouldn't suggest it because such a huge application as VirtualBox potentially have bugs that are capable to crash your system being rooted.

2. Grant your user the permissions for the .vmdk file and the /dev/sdX device:

   a. Make sure .vmdk is somewhere in your home directory

   b. Make sure that your user is the owner of .vmdk and have read and write permissions for it (right click -> Properties -> Permissions)

   c. Grant your user the permissions for the device:

   sudo chmod 666 /dev/sdX

   (place the required device instead of /dev/sdX)