USB Device "used exclusively by host"?

[tauchris]

Hi friends,

I have VirtualBox 3.0.10 r54097 installed on Mac OSX Snow Leopard, and I have a Windows NT SP3 guest VM. I've got a USB device (specifically, a Universal Remote Control MX-900 remote) that I want to attach to the Windows guest machine. When I plug in the USB device, it beeps, indicating a good USB connection. The new USB device shows up as "OHSUNG URCHID" on the VM "USB Devices" menu, but it is *grayed out*:



When I tried to attach the USB device through VBoxManage on the command line, I got an error saying that the USB device "is being used exclusively by the host":



Nowhere on the Mac host do I see any evidence that the USB device is attached or usable in any way. I'm not sure if I understand the filtering mechanism correctly, but it sounds like that won't help me get past the Mac host grabbing and holding this device.

How can I get around this problem? Is there a workaround on the Mac host? Or a setting somewhere? Any hints would be greeted with applause and whistles!

Thanks,
Chris

[tauchris]

Ok -- so I am a total N00b, if that wasn't obvious. A wise friend suggested I look again (more closely) at USB filters. I set up a filter for this device, and *bang*, it all works like a charm. Here's what I did (in case others have a similar question):

1. First, I used 'VBoxManage list usbhost' to get info on the device:

Code: Select all

dhcp-uaus07-129-221:bin tauchris$ VBoxManage list usbhost
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.0.10
(C) 2005-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Host USB Devices:

...

UUID:               c8ed4c9a-79c7-4f19-bedf-ec2297bc116f
VendorId:           0x4647 (4647)
ProductId:          0x1000 (1000)
Revision:           2.1 (0201)
Manufacturer:       OHSUNG
Product:            URCHID
Address:            p=0x1000;v=0x4647;s=0x00000acf4822b145;l=0x04100000
Current State:      Unavailable

2. Then, I disconnected the USB device. Next I got the ID of the VM I wanted to use this device on:

Code: Select all

dhcp-uaus07-129-221:bin tauchris$ VBoxManage list vms
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.0.10
(C) 2005-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

"Sun VPN" {b6813458-14f7-4d74-9b38-e2d79dc239bc}
"Update Bare XP Pro SP3" {992ae767-179f-4760-8e23-a9dd711660b8}
"DVD Shrink" {7bbd11c8-6cbd-4355-a5c9-db1105720828}
"Theater and Home Automation" {67fcc3cf-157c-4b97-bbc6-9c76e139191e}

3. And lastly, I added the filter with this command, using the ID of that last VM as the -target (with the VM shutdown, of course):

Code: Select all

dhcp-uaus07-129-221:bin tauchris$ VBoxManage usbfilter add 0 -target 67fcc3cf-157c-4b97-bbc6-9c76e139191e -name "URC-MX-900" -action hold -active yes -vendorid 0x4647 -productid 0x1000
VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.0.10
(C) 2005-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

4. I booted the VM, plugged in the MX-900, and presto!! Everything is perfect.

Hope this helps anyone else who is having similar issues.
Cheers,
Chris

[rpmurray]

You can do this all through the GUI and don't have to use the command line. It makes things a bit easier.

[Gnumpf]

You can do this all through the GUI and don't have to use the command line. It makes things a bit easier.

Wouldnt agree with that.
It's much easier to document things in some commandlines than in plenty of "klick here, then there" and huge screenshots.
And once it's documented, it can easily be scripted.

[tripyrenees]

I am sorry to say I am a NOOB at this.

I am running VB on MAC snow leopard and guest is Windows 7. It seems all the external USB devices i.e plugged into a USB port, are greyed out and Windows 7 is unable to even see them.


How do I get Windows to use the USB device instead of the MAC OS.

Thanks in advance
Ian

[rpmurray]

It seems all the external USB devices i.e plugged into a USB port, are greyed out and Windows 7 is unable to even see them.

How do I get Windows to use the USB device instead of the MAC OS.

If the devices mount on the Mac host desktop, you can eject them on the Mac host side (but don't unplug them) and they should be captured by the guest OS, Win 7 in your case.

[cav]

Hi. I had the same problem and found (by accident) that if I unmount the USB stick (click on its' "eject" icon) then it becomes unavailable to OS X and available to your VM (no longer grayed out)

I am sorry to say I am a NOOB at this.

I am running VB on MAC snow leopard and guest is Windows 7. It seems all the external USB devices i.e plugged into a USB port, are greyed out and Windows 7 is unable to even see them.


How do I get Windows to use the USB device instead of the MAC OS.

Thanks in advance
Ian

[tripyrenees]

Thanks for this - yes, I should have thought of that.

But now it is not greyed out and I can tick it - the Guest Windows 7 loads the files for the device (in this case a Garmin 705) and I see the device come up as a USB mass storage device which is correct - but I can see it as a drive or look at any of the files.

As I said I am new to this and I have read the manual but cannot sort it out. I have loaded the guest additions although I cannot see what this has added to Windows.

If I could share files between the Mac and the guest windows then I would not need to connect the Garmin to the guest, but I can even get that working either.

Struggling

Ian

[jsuereth]

I'm having the same issue with my apple iphone. I tried to upgrade my firmware and got kicked into recovery mode. I'm seeing the "locked by host" message, but have no way to unmount the iphone. any ideas here?

[jsuereth]

I feel like an idiot.... rebooting fixed this. My iphone is now restored with upgraded firmware. Virtual Box is really impressive.

[aardvark]

I was having difficulty accessing a URC MX-900 remote control from WinXP guest OS on Mac OS X Snow Leopard host using VB 3.1.4.
None of the suggestions in this thread solved the problem for me.
Moving to 3.1.6 and *then* following suggestions in this thread did the trick.