FTDI USB to Serial Module

[Abbott]

I am having a hard time getting the UM232H-B USB to serial module to show up correctly in my guest OS. I am running Win7 Pro x64 as the host OS and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x64 (I know it's old, but my superior specifically requested this version) as the guest OS. The USB device shows up correctly in Win7 and is assigned COM21. When I capture the USB 'on the fly' or with a filter, the driver correctly changes to 'Virtualbox USB' with no errors, but there is nothing sent to dmesg and lsusb doesn't show the device.

I have also tried emulating a Serial port, but if I try to start the VM, I get an error that states VBox couldn't find COM21.

The device seems to work fine out of the box on Win7 and should work out of the box on Ubuntu as well, according to their website, but I can't get the device to show up at all.

What else can I try?

[socratis]

Please read the following: USB basics and troubleshooting, all of the posts. If you still have a problem after reading through the whole thing, please follow the advice of the last post.

[Abbott]

Here is the output of the USB troubleshooting commands:

Code: Select all

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe -version
5.1.22r115126
PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list extpacks
Extension Packs: 1
Pack no. 0:   Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
Version:      5.1.22
Revision:     115126
Edition:
Description:  USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 Host Controller, Host Webcam, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM, Disk Encryption, NVMe.
VRDE Module:  VBoxVRDP
Usable:       true
Why unusable:
PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               fbffb8d2-f0d1-41f3-b869-b12c14782264
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x3012 (3012)
Revision:           67.1 (6701)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Optical Mouse
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0045
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               a3bf821d-eafa-4578-b7f3-148884040528
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x3012 (3012)
Revision:           67.1 (6701)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Optical Mouse
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0045
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               a3bf821d-eafa-4578-b7f3-148884040528
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x2107 (2107)
Revision:           1.21 (0121)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  1/Full
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Entry Keyboard
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0003
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               04493f76-e099-4e24-91d5-26ec8c269cc0
VendorId:           0x0403 (0403)
ProductId:          0x6014 (6014)
Revision:           9.0 (0900)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       FTDI
Product:            UM232H-B
SerialNumber:       FT0K5KD3
Address:            {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0038
Current State:      Busy

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list usbfilters
Global USB Device Filters:

<none>

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe showvminfo Ubuntu
Name:            Ubuntu
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Ubuntu (64-bit)
UUID:            7f41f109-c9f9-48eb-b678-7625a5fd6c30
Config file:     C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.vbox
Snapshot folder: C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Snapshots
Log folder:      C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Logs
Hardware UUID:   7f41f109-c9f9-48eb-b678-7625a5fd6c30
Memory size:     1024MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       16MB
CPU exec cap:    100%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             off
Long Mode:       on
Triple Fault Reset: off
APIC:            on
X2APIC:          on
CPUID Portability Level: 0
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          on
BIOS APIC mode:  APIC
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             UTC
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     on
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
Paravirt. Provider: Default
Effective Paravirt. Provider: KVM
State:           powered off (since 2017-06-22T20:32:20.000000000)
Monitor count:   13D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
Storage Controller Name (1):            SATA
Storage Controller Type (1):            IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  30
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      1
Storage Controller Bootable (1):        on
IDE (0, 0): Empty
SATA (0, 0): C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.vdi (UUID: 9afdf118-f97d-476c-86f3-d563a30e0fc2)
NIC 1:           MAC: 0800273F480B, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny, Bandwidth group: none
NIC 1 Settings:  MTU: 0, Socket (send: 64, receive: 64), TCP Window (send:64, receive: 64)
NIC 2:           disabled
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
Pointing Device: USB Tablet
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
UART 3:          disabled
UART 4:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: DSOUND, Controller: AC97, Codec: AD1980)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Drag and drop Mode: disabled
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             disabled
EHCI:            disabled
XHCI:            enabled

USB Device Filters:

Index:            0
Active:           yes
Name:             FTDI UM232H-B [0900]
VendorId:         0403
ProductId:        6014
Revision:         0900
Manufacturer:     FTDI
Product:          UM232H-B
Remote:           0
Serial Number:    FT0K5KD3

Bandwidth groups:  <none>

Shared folders:  <none>

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB


PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>

[socratis]

Did you just read the last post? Please read the whole thing again, a little bit more carefully this time, especially part #4: USB Filters, where it talks about the values.

And could you explain to me why you have 2 (two) Dell mice?

Code: Select all

Host USB Devices:

UUID:               fbffb8d2-f0d1-41f3-b869-b12c14782264
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x3012 (3012)
Revision:           67.1 (6701)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Optical Mouse
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0045
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               a3bf821d-eafa-4578-b7f3-148884040528
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x3012 (3012)
Revision:           67.1 (6701)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Optical Mouse
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0045
Current State:      Busy

[Abbott]

I went back through the USB troubleshooting page and have run into more problems. I tried following 7a, 7b, and 7c from post #7 of the USB troubleshooting page, but after deleting and reinstalling the drivers for UpperFilters, I can no longer get VirtualBox to filter the USB device and give it a VirtualBox USB driver. I have tried both manually installing the drivers located in C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\drivers\USB\filter and installing the drivers again by uninstalling and reinstalling VirtualBox completely. I could not find any AMD or other 3rd party USB drivers that would be conflicting with the Windows drivers, and the drivers installed are the normal Windows ones and cannot be rolled back.

I have tried filters with only the VendorID and ProductID but the device still isn't being filtered.

And could you explain to me why you have 2 (two) Dell mice?

I had been messing around with USB devices all of last Thursday and occasionally devices would show up twice, but only temporarily. Reboots would always fix it. I should have posted the output of a fresh attempt, I apologize for adding to the confusion.

This is my most recent output of the same commands:

Code: Select all

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe -version
5.1.22r115126
PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list extpacks
Extension Packs: 1
Pack no. 0:   Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
Version:      5.1.22
Revision:     115126
Edition:
Description:  USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 Host Controller, Host Webcam, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM, Disk Encryption, NVMe.
VRDE Module:  VBoxVRDP
Usable:       true
Why unusable:
PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               7099e8c9-43a4-47ba-ae4f-698113e86451
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x3012 (3012)
Revision:           67.1 (6701)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Optical Mouse
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0045
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               08f1da82-2cd2-4fca-90b1-f083a187cee8
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x2107 (2107)
Revision:           1.21 (0121)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  1/Full
Manufacturer:       Dell
Product:            Dell USB Entry Keyboard
Address:            {745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da}\0003
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               b0abd287-6dbe-4de2-8d63-1a14b31bab3f
VendorId:           0x0403 (0403)
ProductId:          0x6014 (6014)
Revision:           9.0 (0900)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/High
Manufacturer:       FTDI
Product:            UM232H-B
SerialNumber:       FT0K5KD3
Address:            {36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000}\0038
Current State:      Busy

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe list usbfilters
Global USB Device Filters:

<none>

PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox> .\VBoxManage.exe showvminfo "Ubuntu"
Name:            Ubuntu
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Ubuntu (64-bit)
UUID:            7f41f109-c9f9-48eb-b678-7625a5fd6c30
Config file:     C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.vbox
Snapshot folder: C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Snapshots
Log folder:      C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Logs
Hardware UUID:   7f41f109-c9f9-48eb-b678-7625a5fd6c30
Memory size:     1024MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       16MB
CPU exec cap:    100%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             off
Long Mode:       on
Triple Fault Reset: off
APIC:            on
X2APIC:          on
CPUID Portability Level: 0
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          on
BIOS APIC mode:  APIC
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             UTC
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     on
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
Paravirt. Provider: Default
Effective Paravirt. Provider: KVM
State:           powered off (since 2017-06-26T13:11:44.000000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
Storage Controller Name (1):            SATA
Storage Controller Type (1):            IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  30
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      1
Storage Controller Bootable (1):        on
IDE (0, 0): Empty
SATA (0, 0): C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.vdi (UUID: 9afdf118-f97d-476c-86f3-d563a30e0fc2)
NIC 1:           MAC: 0800273F480B, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Report
ed speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny, Bandwidth group: none
NIC 1 Settings:  MTU: 0, Socket (send: 64, receive: 64), TCP Window (send:64, receive: 64)
NIC 2:           disabled
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
Pointing Device: USB Tablet
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
UART 3:          disabled
UART 4:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: DSOUND, Controller: AC97, Codec: AD1980)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Drag and drop Mode: disabled
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             disabled
EHCI:            disabled
XHCI:            enabled

USB Device Filters:

Index:            0
Active:           yes
Name:             FTDI UM232H-B [0900]
VendorId:         0403
ProductId:        6014
Revision:
Manufacturer:
Product:
Remote:           0
Serial Number:

Bandwidth groups:  <none>

Shared folders:  <none>

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       C:\Users\abbottdx\VirtualBox VMs\Ubuntu\Ubuntu.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB


PS C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>

[socratis]

You shouldn't need to go to the troubleshooting yet, but since you did, I don't think I like the symptoms you're describing...

But, what happens is that after you've setup your filter (which you have) you start the VM and *then* you plug the device. What happens if you do? Use "lsusb" to see if the device is recognized in your guest.

[Abbott]

I set up the filter, booted the console, and plugged in the USB device, but the device does not get the VirtualBox USB driver, and does not show up in the guest machine with lsusb or dmesg. I have attached my logs in hope that you can see what is going on.

Edit: I tried getting another USB device to work in its place and have attached those logs too.

[socratis]

Nothing, I got nothing. It's like no USB devices make it through...

One last idea. Do you have any other software that might interfere with your USB setup? A known culprit is for example WireShark. Others (which actually you might have) are possibly antivirus that want to grab and scan a device before releasing it to the host, something akin to what the VirtualBox filter does. That's a real possibility, so can you disable and/or uninstall the extra antivirus that you have (MalwareBytes) or check to see if there is an aggressive policy towards USB devices.

PS. I don't need all four logs, just the VBox.log, but the VBoxHardening.log was very helpful in this case.

[Abbott]

I did, in fact, have Wireshark and Malwarebytes installed. I removed both of them (and USBPcap that shipped with Wireshark), uninstalled Virtualbox, re-installed it, and it seems like Virtualbox is still unable to capture devices.

What I have noticed is that a lot of devices use the CmgPCS.sys driver that is provided by Dell Data Protection | Encryption, including the USB devices. I think this driver is getting between Virtualbox and the devices, but I am unsure about how to re-order which drivers are used, or which program can capture the device first. Because so many devices use this driver, and the LAST thing I want to do is somehow mess up the disk encryption sweet and lock myself out of the computer, I would really like to keep the driver installed. I also doubt that I would be allowed to remove the encryption from the computer entirely, seeing as this is a work machine.

Any ideas how to get around CmgPCS.sys?