[Solved] USB Generic Smart Card Reader Interface not working on Ubuntu Guests (#18902)

[razzy]

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ModEdit; related ticket: #18902: USB Generic Smart Card Reader Interface not working on Ubuntu Guests

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Sent here from the bug tracker: Ticket # 18902

I have a USB smart card reader (also known as PIV/CAC reader) that works as expected in native Ubuntu and as expected in Ubuntu under other virtual environments (e.g. VMWare). The card reader also works fine in Windows 10 guests in VirtualBox. I have reproduced the same behavior on both MacOS and Windows 10 hosts.

In Ubuntu under VirtualBox, the card reader shows up, but the PIV card always shows as "unresponsive".

opensc-tool -av
Using reader with a card: Generic Smart Card Reader Interface [Smart Card Reader Interface] (20070818000000000) 00 00
Connecting to card in reader Generic Smart Card Reader Interface [Smart Card Reader Interface] (20070818000000000) 00 00...
Failed to connect to card: Unresponsive card (correctly inserted?)

I have the latest Virtual Box tools installed in the guest, and have the latest VM VirtualBox Extension Pack installed.

Guest OS

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS
Release:        18.04
Codename:       bionic

[socratis]

works as expected in native Ubuntu and as expected in Ubuntu under other virtual environments (e.g. VMWare)

Do you have another host that's running Ubuntu? Because the log you sent me is from an OSX host, where there's no VMware, just Fusion...

Did you read USB basics and troubleshooting » #4: USB Filters regarding the use of the filters?

Index:         0
Active:        yes
Name:          Generic Smart Card Reader Interface [6123]
VendorId:      0bda
ProductId:     0165
Revision:      6123
Manufacturer:  Generic
Product:       Smart Card Reader Interface
Remote:        0
Serial Number: 20070818000000000

You need to get rid of the values except Name, VendorID and ProductID, generally speaking. However, it seems to work in your case, I see the USB device being attached:

00:01:06.575428 VUSB: Attached '00007fd3933f4ac0[proxy 0bda:0165]' to port 1 on RootHub#0 (HighSpeed)
00:03:17.333235 VUSB: Detached '00007fd3933f4ac0[proxy 0bda:0165]' from port 1 on RootHub#0
00:03:18.442033 VUSB: Attached '00007fd390e25400[proxy 0bda:0165]' to port 1 on RootHub#0 (HighSpeed)
00:03:59.441345 VUSB: Detached '00007fd390e25400[proxy 0bda:0165]' from port 1 on RootHub#0

Finally, I see that you're using USB2 in the VM Settings. Have you tried USB3?

OHCI USB: enabled
EHCI USB: enabled
xHCI USB: disabled

PS. BTW, you don't need the 'id' for an OSX host, only for Linux hosts...

[razzy]

Enabling the USB 3.0 (xHCI) Controller resolved my issue. I missed that note when I went through the troubleshooting thread.

Thanks for your help!

[socratis]

Glad I could help. Marking as [Solved].

Updating the ticket with your comment...