USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

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chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

Hi, I've been here before with this problem on a previous version of VMbox which was solved by adding in the 'hard to find a download' Guest Additions.
However, a couple of updates later and things have ceased to work again :-/
To recap, I am running Ubuntu 21.10 on a Dell 6250 laptop. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 as guest.
Previously, with Ubuntu 20.04 I had an issue with the USB connection not working. This was with VMbox 6.1.19 and was solved by installing the Guest Additions for that version. So at this stage both USB and CDs were working.

A few months ago I updated to VM 6.1.26, along with extensions and GAs for that version. All seemed to be well - or at least I thought it was. I may have been wrong as I don't remember using USB or CDs in that time. The GAs were installed using a virtual drive on the .iso file.
However, the other day, I realised neither USB nor CD drive were working. An attempt to get things working led me through viewtopic.php?f=7&t=104808 got the CD drive working again but not the USB.

So, I decided to update to 6.1.32 - which is where I messed up by combining a Ubuntu version with a newer oracle version. Fortunately, this https://www.linuxuprising.com/2019/12/h ... ories.html solved that for me and I regained the CD drive and the USB drive became visible - however, neither were usable. Aha! I thought, I need the guest additions as before? So, a scurry around to find the right GAs (why are they so well hidden?), installed them so I currently have VM 6.1.32 with matching Extensions and Guest Additions - BUT no USB or CD drive access! The CD drive is visible but unusable (ie it doesn't recognise there is a CD in there) and the USB drive is not found at all!

Help please - but keep it simple cos whilst I have used windows since V1.0, I am a newbie with linux.

TIA, Chris
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
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Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by mpack »

chrisnd wrote:the 'hard to find a download' Guest Additions.
The GAs download is "hard to find" because it doesn't really exist, being as the GAs were bundled with the main VirtualBox download (the download you found is a location where the standard bundle is broken into its elements so that people can e.g. download the user manual by itself).

p.s. We only deal with VirtualBox here, not third party forks. You should visit the appropriate forkers website if you want to discuss their work.
chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

mpack wrote:
chrisnd wrote:the 'hard to find a download' Guest Additions.
The GAs download is "hard to find" because it doesn't really exist, being as the GAs were bundled with the main VirtualBox download (the download you found is a location where the standard bundle is broken into its elements so that people can e.g. download the user manual by itself).

p.s. We only deal with VirtualBox here, not third party forks. You should visit the appropriate forkers website if you want to discuss their work.
Really? I am somewhat taken aback because I was previously led to believe that the Guest Additions had to be installed separately if required? Certainly that fixed things before! Anyway...

I am not quite sure what fork I should be looking at? If, following an update, VirtualBox has stopped recognising my USB ports and DVD drive, how is that someone else's problem?

Sorry, but I'm genuinely mystified as to what I should do, or have done wrong in bringing this here?

Chris
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by mpack »

chrisnd wrote: Really? I am somewhat taken aback because I was previously led to believe that the Guest Additions had to be installed separately if required?
First, we were discussing downloading, not installing. These are separate steps, the first of which is not required for the GAs. Installation inside the guest OS, on the other hand, is obviously required if you want the guest to have additions! (e.g. shared folders, mouse integration, accelerated graphics, shared clipboard, drag&drop).

The feature that has a separate download is the Extension Pack, the HOST software plugin. An entirely different feature. And not hard to find either - it's always right beside the main download. And it's this plugin that adds new capability to the host software, including USB2/USB3.
chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

mpack wrote:
chrisnd wrote: Really? I am somewhat taken aback because I was previously led to believe that the Guest Additions had to be installed separately if required?
First, we were discussing downloading, not installing. These are separate steps, the first of which is not required for the GAs. Installation inside the guest OS, on the other hand, is obviously required if you want the guest to have additions! (e.g. shared folders, mouse integration, accelerated graphics, shared clipboard, drag&drop).

The feature that has a separate download is the Extension Pack, the HOST software plugin. An entirely different feature. And not hard to find either - it's always right beside the main download. And it's this plugin that adds new capability to the host software, including USB2/USB3.
Aha! I understand you now. As it happens, I never had a problem finding the Extension Pack.
But yes, I now realise the GAs are installed into the guest system - a subtle point which I had missed.
Unfortunately, whilst they are recommended in the 'Note:...' early on in the downloads page at https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads there is no indication of where to find them. This, I maintain, is an omission.

Unfortunately, none of this clarification has helped me get my USB and CD/DVD disk working - despite having VB, Extension Pack and Guest Additions all with version 6.1.32 running otherwise happily :-(

Chris
mpack
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Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by mpack »

chrisnd wrote: Unfortunately, whilst they are recommended in the 'Note:...' early on in the downloads page at https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads there is no indication of where to find them. This, I maintain, is an omission.
It would certainly be an omission if you are ever need to find the GAs, which you do not. Just follow the user manual instructions when you need to install the GAs.
chrisnd wrote: Unfortunately, none of this clarification has helped me get my USB and CD/DVD disk working - despite having VB, Extension Pack and Guest Additions all with version 6.1.32 running otherwise happily :-(
You can establish all those statements to be true by providing a VM log. Make sure the VM is fully shut down, then right click it in the manager UI. Select "Show Log" and save "VBox.log" (no other file) to a zip file. Attach the zip here.

You can also read USB Basics and Troubleshooting.
chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

UPDATE! - I've got the USB working!
- actually really simple - I just needed to change the USB type from 1 to 2 :-)
Quite why I didn't have this problem with the previous installation I don't know - but at least it works.

However, I still CAN'T access my CD/DVD drive. It is reported correctly as being there but when I insert a disk it cannot be read.
The Ubuntu host has no problem with it so, is this the problem? - that Ubuntu is controlling it thereby preventing VirtualBox from accessing it correctly?

I've just seen your response to my earlier message. Thanks for that and here is the zip you requested which will presumably include my clumsy efforts above
Win7-32-2022-01-28-16-47-03.zip
(33.31 KiB) Downloaded 4 times
TIA

Chris
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by mpack »

Trying to access a host CD drive by taking control at a USB level is... unusual.

More usual would be to map a virtual CD to a physical host drive using the Storage settings.

Or, you can access any host folder as a shared folder.

Getting USB to work on Linux hosts is dealt with in the FAQ I linked earlier. I don't use Linux hosts myself so can't add to what the FAQ says.

Just make sure you don't try to access the CD drive as a host device while also assigning ownership at USB level. That never turns out well.
chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

mpack wrote:Trying to access a host CD drive by taking control at a USB level is... unusual.

More usual would be to map a virtual CD to a physical host drive using the Storage settings.

Or, you can access any host folder as a shared folder.

Getting USB to work on Linux hosts is dealt with in the FAQ I linked earlier. I don't use Linux hosts myself so can't add to what the FAQ says.

Just make sure you don't try to access the CD drive as a host device while also assigning ownership at USB level. That never turns out well.
Thank you for your attention on this. I have spent time over the last three days on this and now appear to have not just the USB working but also data CDs. The only thing that doesn't work is audio CDs for some reason? - but I can live with that and I attach the latest log file for interest and in the hope it may help someone else. In short, things are fixed and usable - but I remain curious:

1. I hadn't realised that I was trying to access the CD at USB level - in fact I am not really sure what this means or how it happened? Maybe the log file attached will explain if this is still true? What I had not realised previously is that restarting VMbox and the guest OS was not sufficient. I also had to reboot the host Ubuntu OS too for changes to properly permeate.
2. I tried going via a shared folder. This worked but did not seem reliable. Settings did not 'stick'.
3. I used the USB FAQ previously thanks - this helped.
4. Regarding your final line, I removed everything and started again to get where I am now :-)

Finally, I think the audio CD issue is because Ubuntu is 'grabbing' the CD before Windows gets to read it - although it can see it. This doesn't matter to me since I will use Ubuntu for playing audio anyway but getting data CDs to be recognised was important

Cheers, Chris
*where 'CD' includes DVDs too :-)
Attachments
Win7-32-2022-01-31-17-03-21.zip
(32.52 KiB) Downloaded 2 times
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by mpack »

chrisnd wrote:The only thing that doesn't work is audio CDs for some reason?
You need to understand that audio CD was made for CD players, not computers. Then someone noticed that you could treat one or more music tracks as data sectors, but this would require them to be formatted with a filesystem: ISO-9660.

VirtualBox requires that ISO-9660 filesystem (or later derivatives) to exist, hence it will see an audio CD as unformatted. Likewise other non-ISO formats such as videoCD and photo-JPEG.
chrisnd
Posts: 10
Joined: 3. Jun 2021, 12:21

Re: USB & CD/DVD drive stopped working

Post by chrisnd »

mpack wrote:
chrisnd wrote:The only thing that doesn't work is audio CDs for some reason?
You need to understand that audio CD was made for CD players, not computers. Then someone noticed that you could treat one or more music tracks as data sectors, but this would require them to be formatted with a filesystem: ISO-9660.

VirtualBox requires that ISO-9660 filesystem (or later derivatives) to exist, hence it will see an audio CD as unformatted. Likewise other non-ISO formats such as videoCD and photo-JPEG.
Ok, that makes sense. As I said in my previous post, I can live with things now :-)
Many thanks

Chris D
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