USB 3 Drive not recognized on USB 3 port

[michaln]

OK, none of this is making any sense. What you show there is that VirtualBox does see a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 device, but the VBox.log you provided earlier clearly shows it being attached to a non-USB3 port in the VM (it should have been attached to 'port 1' on the USB3 hub, but instead it's being attached to 'port 2' which must be the USB2 hub; the emulated mouse is attached to port 1). Of course then it can't work.

You're clearly doing something very very special because this is working for lots of users. It's certainly working on my own Windows 7 system, I have no trouble passing USB3 storage devices to VMs, with a similar Intel xHCI controller on the host. I can't spot anything obviously wrong in the logs you provided. Do other USB3 devices behave the same?

[wand3r3r]

I found a Segate USB 3 HDD. That does seem to work on the USB 3 port. The drive shows up and I can access files.

03:15:02.569645 GUI: UIMediumEnumerator: Medium-enumeration finished!
03:17:39.683133 VUSB: Attached '0000000004beb030[proxy 0bc2:ab24]' to port 1

It will even mount a USB 2 device on the USB3 port. Just not this SiliconPower Thumb drive.

I am able to mount the SP thumbdrive as a shared folder.

[erdeslawe]

Have you seen this: https://www.silicon-power.com/web/en_gb/FAQ - Especially the second and fourth FAQ items?

[michaln]

That kind of sounds like a broken device, unfortunately. From the symptoms it sounds like this SiliconPower device has a tendency to switch between USB2 and USB3 operation without provocation. When it's plugged into a strictly USB2 port then there's no problem because it won't be able to change its mind.

It's not clear to me if this is something that could be fixed on the VirtualBox side. I can only say that it won't happen without us having such a strangely-behaving device (and that's hoping it doesn't behave differently in a different system).

[wand3r3r]

Have you seen this: https://www.silicon-power.com/web/en_gb/FAQ - Especially the second and fourth FAQ items?

I'm not sure that really applies here as since that is all about getting the drive to work on the Windows Host.

So I went ahead and purchased a new USB3.0 Flash Drive this weekend and I get the same problem. So my hopes of it being specific to Silicon Power are dashed.

From VBox.log

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22:23:58.255845 VUSB: Attached '00000000134d7480[proxy 13fe:5500]' to port 2

From dmesg

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[45206.644632] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 15 using xhci_hcd
[45206.821079] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[45207.099784] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[45207.375202] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 16 using xhci_hcd
[45207.551249] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[45207.835583] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[45208.123832] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd
[45208.145435] usb 1-2: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
[45208.319839] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 18 using xhci_hcd
[45208.336851] usb 1-2: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
[45208.336892] usb usb1-port2: unable to enumerate USB device

From VBoxManage list usbhost

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UUID:               bc5bb9ca-3348-4e05-a980-a09b8a2a0bde
VendorId:           0x13fe (13FE)
ProductId:          0x5500 (5500)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  3/High
Manufacturer:
Product:
SerialNumber:       07016CA603CE6E58
Address:            {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0080
Current State:      Unavailable

[wand3r3r]

Also.... For testing I brought the VM into VMWare Workstation Player 12. And both USB flash drives work fine.

[michaln]

So why does your Seagate HDD work? What are you doing differently with it?

[wand3r3r]

I wish I knew. NTFS vs FAT32 maybe..

[michaln]

No, that's not it. But I really don't know what it is. And it's not like you're the only VirtualBox user with Windows 7 and USB3 devices. Your system seems to be pretty typical and the devices aren't so strange either. So... who knows.

[metoo]

Hi,
My problem is almost identical.

Windows 8.1 Host
Ubunutu 16.04.02 LST Guest
Virtual Box 5.1.22

I have the issue (same error messages from the 'dmesg' command, then drive not mounting) with a USB 3.0 thumb drive (PNY) but not with an external USB 3.0 disk (Western Digital).

Changing port doesn't make a difference (all ports are usb 3 on my laptop).
The drive isn't broken and another identical drive (exterior appearance, brand, model, capacity etc.) has the same issue.
They both work on Ubuntu live and Windows, outside VirtualBox, on the same laptop.
Using a usb 2.1 cable between usb 3 port and usb 3 flash drive makes it work, but not at maximum speed (the led blinks slower too).

The only difference I noticed with wond3r3r's case is that, in my case, 'VBoxManage list usbhost' says (among the other output) "version/speed: 3/High" instead of "3/Super".

When I plug in my external "MyPassport" Western Digital hard drive, dmesg says "usb 2-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd".
Then it works as a USB 3.00 device ('cat /sys/bus/usb/devices/2-1/version')

When I plug in the PNY USB 3.0 flash drive, dmesg returns the same messages and errors found by wand3r3r:
'usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 3using xhci_hcd'
'usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18'
[...]
'usb usb1-port2: unable to enumerate USB device'

I hope this helps you guys to find where the issue lies.

[metoo]

Update:

I noticed that, if I run

VBoxManage list usbhost

before "plugging" the thumb drive into the virtual machine, version/speed=3/Super

If I run it after, then version/speed=3/High

Is this normal?

Please remember the messages from the dmesg:

device descriptor read/64, error 18
[...]
Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9

It must provide some clue.

Shall I open a ticket?

[socratis]

Shall I open a ticket?

If you searched for a ticket and there is none, then open a new ticket. But I believe that you'll find a lot of similar tickets already open...

[jkister]

device descriptor read/64, error 18
[...]
Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9

It must provide some clue.

Shall I open a ticket?

i realize it's been a long time. but did you open a ticket? I'm in the same boat. Windows7 host w/ Debian8 guest on VirtualBox 5.2.8. WD Elements 2TB disk and Thinkpad E560

disk connected into any usb port on the laptop. disk is recognized and works fine under the windows host. once i connect the disk to the virtualbox guest, windows correctly stops seeing it and the guest shows:

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[ 1786.262759] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
[ 1786.486278] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[ 1786.775519] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[ 1787.063049] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 8 using xhci_hcd
[ 1787.247705] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[ 1787.535498] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error 18
[ 1787.818462] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 9 using xhci_hcd
[ 1787.835491] usb 1-2: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
[ 1788.018588] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 1788.035487] usb 1-2: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
[ 1788.036814] usb usb1-port2: unable to enumerate USB device

virtualbox list usbhost when the device is not connected to the virtualbox guest

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UUID:               91f87b8b-5c6c-4318-b582-48e82af85f67
VendorId:           0x1058 (1058)
ProductId:          0x25a2 (25A2)
Revision:           16.33 (1633)
Port:               15
USB version/speed:  3/Super
Manufacturer:       Western Digital
Product:            Elements 25A2
SerialNumber:       575853314539373957304D4D
Address:            {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0008
Current State:      Busy

.. and virtualbox list usbhost when the device is connected to the virtualbox guest

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UUID:               d4973955-0c60-418e-bd19-29d060869977
VendorId:           0x1058 (1058)
ProductId:          0x25a2 (25A2)
Revision:           16.33 (1633)
Port:               15
USB version/speed:  3/High
Manufacturer:       Western Digital
Product:            Elements 25A2
SerialNumber:       575853314539373957304D4D
Address:            {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0009
Current State:      Unavailable

the device does not show up in /dev/sd* at all
lsusb does not show the device

the guest is configured for USB3 in virtualbox settings and the guest does have the usb3 drivers loaded.

when I use a USB2 extension cable between the disk and the laptop, the device works in the virtualbox guest.

[michaln]

USB version/speed: 3/High

That is a problem for sure. But how you got there or how to reproduce the problem I don't know. Does this happen with all USB3 devices you have? All hosts you have?

[jkister]

USB version/speed: 3/High

That is a problem for sure. But how you got there or how to reproduce the problem I don't know. Does this happen with all USB3 devices you have? All hosts you have?

It does not happen with all USB3 devices. I have a Plugable USB3-SATA-UASP1that works perfectly.

I tried the same disk in my Lenovo T440 with Windows10 and a Debian7 guest, it behaves the same way with the same error. Using a USB2 extension cord also makes that VM happy with the disk.