Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORTS)

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birdie
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Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORTS)

Post by birdie »

I'm not sure if it's a bug or not but if I'm not mistaken it used to work in VirtualBox 5.1.X, so I have to mention it.

Host: CentOS 7 64, VirtualBox 5.2 beta 3.
Guest: Windows XP SP3 x86 with a USB2 controller.

When I try to attach a USB3 flash drive (connected to a USB3 port of my PC) to my guest I receive this error message:

Code: Select all

Failed to create a proxy device for the USB device. (Error: VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORTS).
Result Code:  NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: ConsoleWrap
Interface: IConsole {872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed}
.

Please, advise.
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Last edited by birdie on 23. Sep 2017, 18:51, edited 2 times in total.
mpack
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by mpack »

Log file?
birdie
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by birdie »

mpack wrote:Log file?
Sorry, I've just attached it.
mpack
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by mpack »

Ok, so what's your question? Obviously, in order to successfully pass through a USB3 drive to the guest, the guest has to understand USB3. That's way after XP's time, though you can try (1) installing the Renesas drivers, (2) plugging the drive into a USB2 port, (3) access it as a shared folder instead.

It has always been thus - so this has nothing to do with the beta.

Consider that, in order to redirect USB traffic to the VM, it has to insert a USB filter into the USB3 stack. Also the device is either talking USB3 or USB2. There is no translation layer.
birdie
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by birdie »

I had the impression that VirtualBox is capable of degrading or upgrading the USB version, or otherwise I don't understand what's the point of choosing the USB controller version in a guest. Please elaborate.

I really don't understand how it all works in regard to virtualization.
mpack
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by mpack »

The point of choosing a USB controller in a VM is the same as choosing a USB controller in a physical PC - to enable you to give a PC/VM a recipe which suits your needs. I'm not sure I even understand the question.
birdie
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by birdie »

The point is I don't understand how USB compatibility is implemented in the real world.

When you insert a USB2 device into a USB3 host controller, will the controller start operating in the USB2 mode and thus present itself to the OS as a USB2 device? Or it will operate in a limited USB3.0 mode (reduced bandwidth and disabled features)? I can imagine that if you insert a USB3.0 device into a USB2.0 port, the device will start working using USB2.0 protocol, that's obvious.

And this is just over my head: if my host PC only has USB2.0 ports and USB2.0 devices connected to them, is there any point or benefits in choosing USB3.0 mode for a guest OS?

Edit: anyways, the current error message is just bad. VirtualBox should says something like, "Error: you're trying to connect a USB3.0 device to a guest OS which doesn't have USB3.0 support enabled".
mpack
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by mpack »

You need to get it clear in your head: VirtualBox has no idea what guest OS you installed, nor what drivers it has. The OS selection in the VM settings selects a default template compatible with a certain OS, nothing more. It doesn't grant VirtualBox with godlike powers to know what you did in the VM. YOU are the one who is supposed to know how to use your tools, the tool is not supposed to know how to use you.

In an earlier post I gave you three different ways to use a USB3 device in an XP VM, so even if VirtualBox assumed that the selected profile indicates the OS you actually installed, it would still be incorrect to tell you that you can't use USB3 devices.
michaln
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by michaln »

birdie wrote:When you insert a USB2 device into a USB3 host controller, will the controller start operating in the USB2 mode and thus present itself to the OS as a USB2 device? Or it will operate in a limited USB3.0 mode (reduced bandwidth and disabled features)?
USB2 and USB3 are two separate and physically/electrically completely incompatible protocols; on a logical level the protocols are similar but different enough to not be quite compatible. A USB3 device supports both protocols, and a USB3 port does too. So a USB2 device in a USB3 port or a USB3 device in a USB2 port will use strictly USB2 and completely ignore the USB3 connectors.

The problem is that when a USB3 device is plugged into a USB3 port, VirtualBox can't force it to operate in USB2 mode, so the guest needs to support USB3 to deal with it.
birdie
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Re: Cannot attach a USB3 flash drive to a guest OS which has a USB2 controller (VERR_PDM_NO_USB_PORT

Post by birdie »

Thank you for the explanation! It made everything clear.
Last edited by socratis on 3. Oct 2017, 20:06, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Removed unnecessary verbatim quote of the whole previous message.
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