Virtualbox 6 Failed to attach USB Device to virtual machine

[Floriszz]

After years of perfect functioning with Windows 10 Host and Windows 10 Guest on Virtualbox 4.x till 5.2.22, I got the error "Failed to attach USB Device Realtek 802.11 NIC to virtual machine". And also other USB devices would not be captured anymore. I guess that I updated either the VirtualBox or Expansion Pack or Guest Additions to version 6. I can't remember exactly what I updated. The reason was that using multiple high resolution screens does not work in 5.2.22, because the mouse pointer will be 'off the grid'.

My host is protected with lots of anti virus software shit from MacAfee and GPO, that I can NOT control(turn off/on). But I do have local Administrator rights, though.

After backwards update to version 5.2.22, USB on the guest worked fine again.(including Extension Pack 5.2.22)
Then I upgraded(in elevated mode, of course) Virtualbox to version 6.0.14r133895, keeping the 5.2.22 extension pack and 5.2.22 guest additions in the guest OS. After this the extensions pack gives an error, of course and USB will not be working.

Now, do NOT uninstall/remove the 5.2.22 extension pack, but just install the 6.0.14-133895 extension Pack and Virtualbox will do an upgrade.(Run Virtualbox in elevated mode)

If I uninstall/remove the 5.2.22 extension Pack first, I get an error on the 6.0.x extension Pack installation. Probably due to MacAfee or strikt GPO.

Lastly you can upgrade the guest additions to keep versions the same.

Floriszz

[scottgus1]

I upgraded(in elevated mode, of course) Virtualbox to version 6.0.14r133895, keeping the 5.2.22 extension pack

This is wrong, The extension pack version must always be the same as the Virtualbox version.

do NOT uninstall/remove the 5.2.22 extension pack, but just install the 6.0.14-133895 extension Pack and Virtualbox will do an upgrade.(Run Virtualbox in elevated mode)

Having two Oracle Extension Packs on a host PC may just confuse Virtualbox and may not be possible. The Oracle Extension Pack has always been just one version, the matching version. Uninstall all non-matching versions of the EP first before installing the matching EP.

FWIW it is OK to have older Guest Additions in the guest, as long as you are not using 3D acceleration, and no errors occur in other Guest Additions services.

I get an error on the 6.0.x extension Pack installation. Probably due to MacAfee or strikt GPO.

The main Virtualbox window must be started right-click-run-as-administrator to get permissions to install the Extension Pack. The EP goes in "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks" folder, which requires Run-As-Admin privileges.

If AV or GPO is getting in the way, you'll have to get IT to ease up for the install. Alternatively, there is a way to install the EP manually. If you can't disable AV for the install, then try this:

Disable any automatic-start Virtualbox guests and reboot your host. There should be no Virtualbox processes or services running.

The extension pack is just a gzip file. Open the EP as an archive in a program capable of extracting gzips. 7-zip is a free Windows archive program that can handle gzips, rars, etc, on Windows hosts.

Inside the EP archive is a folder called ".", which contains the EP folders & files:

extpack files.png (7.85 KiB) Viewed 1019 times

Extract all these folders and files to a folder called "Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack".

Move this folder to "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks". The full path will now be:

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\ExtensionPacks\Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack"

You may need admin privileges to do this move.

Start Virtualbox. The EP should now be installed.