Windows XP guest, no USB (A work-around)(Solved)

[rolgiati]

My first posting here, I beg your indulgence as I dont even know whether I should have posted here in Linux Hosts or Windows Guests ;-3).

On a Debian Wheezy host, I have installed a Windows XP guest for my first attempt at VB.

Searching this forum, and Reading The Fine Manual, I have got the networking, accessed the shared directories and CD; the only thing that I could not get to work are the USB pendrives and others, plugged into the host; I find no way to have them appear as volumes in the guest.

Since the main reason I have been dual-booting for over 15 years, and I now venture into VB, is to use some progs that do not work under Linux, and most of those today relate to hardware that connects through USB (cellphones, GPS, cameras) so this was a Bad Thing for me.

Happily, I have found a work-around I share with you, in case it may help others stuck in the same situation:

I have configured a shared directory for /media/ and mounted it in the host (Full, Automount, Permanent) and can in this way access all my USB connections, until the day when I shall find how to get at them to appear natively in XP, in a more normal way.

[Perryg]

USB access with a Linux host is probably the easiest of all. There are only two requirements that must be met.

1) the Extension pack must be installed that matches the version of VirtualBox you have installed.
2) your user name must be added to the vboxusers group followed with a reboot of the host.

Note: this is only guaranteed if you install the version from VirtualBox.org

[rolgiati]

I have installed both Virtualbox, the Guest Additions and the Extension Pack, all release 4.3.30 (*), downloaded from VirtualBox.org.

My user belongs to the vboxusers group, both hosts and guest have been rebooted several times since.

I have enabled both the USB controller and the USB 2.0 controller, and created two USB filters, with blank fields.

I have run out of ideas, my gast is utterly flabbered...

* I tried release 5.0.0, but gave it up as the font rendering in XP was not very nice ;-3(

[Perryg]

You don't need filters and blank ones may cause you a problem. Remove the filters and then start the guest. Use the device tab at the top or the USB icon at the lower right to activate the device and see if Windows will install the driver for it.

Post the results of the following from the hosts terminal:

id
VBoxManage list extpacks && VBoxManage list usbhost

and post the guests log file ( as an attachment )

[rolgiati]

OK I have followed your advice, removed the USB filters and my share to /media/, rebooted both host and guest, and it works, many thanks; only remained to check the devices in Devices => USB Devices, reboot the guest, and the USB drives now show up in My Computer.

Grateful thanks.

Probably no longer useful, but here are the infos you asked for.

Code: Select all

ron@ron:~ $ id
uid=1000(ron) gid=1000(ron) groups=1000(ron),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),104(scanner),109(bluetooth),110(netdev),124(vboxusers)

ron@ron:~ $ VBoxManage list extpacks
Extension Packs: 1
Pack no. 0:   Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
Version:      4.3.30
Revision:     101610
Edition:      
Description:  USB 2.0 Host Controller, Host Webcam, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM with E1000 support.
VRDE Module:  VBoxVRDP
Usable:       true 
Why unusable: 

ron@ron:~ $ VBoxManage list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               d1cb3208-af42-4a2a-9d3b-7d57b4387eaf
VendorId:           0x03f0 (03F0)
ProductId:          0x2504 (2504)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               3
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       HP
Product:            Deskjet F4200 series
SerialNumber:       CN88D252XW05BR
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.1/usb4/4-4//device:/dev/bus/usb/004/002
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               72339445-90a0-4d77-a75e-f09774332fb4
VendorId:           0x046d (046D)
ProductId:          0xc408 (C408)
Revision:           20.0 (2000)
Port:               4
USB version/speed:  1/1
Manufacturer:       Logitech
Product:            USB Trackball
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/usb6/6-5//device:/dev/bus/usb/006/003
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               f0204697-2401-4509-be77-3d26de28aff5
VendorId:           0x058f (058F)
ProductId:          0x6362 (6362)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               5
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       Generic
Product:            Mass Storage Device
SerialNumber:       058F63626476
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.1/usb4/4-6//device:/dev/bus/usb/004/003
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               ea3ce2c5-73d3-499d-a97b-2233ce74db64
VendorId:           0x0781 (0781)
ProductId:          0x5530 (5530)
Revision:           1.38 (0138)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       SanDisk
Product:            Cruzer
SerialNumber:       200524441007E38082EC
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-5/5-5.2//device:/dev/vboxusb/005/007
Current State:      Captured

UUID:               8f592343-0782-42ea-975d-00edd566c9b0
VendorId:           0x1b3f (1B3F)
ProductId:          0x8301 (8301)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               3
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       ЉeGenir cSU BaMssS otaregD veci
Product:            eEGENARPLUL-SSMC
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-5/5-5.4//device:/dev/vboxusb/005/009
Current State:      Captured

UUID:               36ba708c-c80e-4020-a52f-6f22d4f31ff8
VendorId:           0x1e4e (1E4E)
ProductId:          0x0102 (0102)
Revision:           0.2 (0002)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       Etron Technology, Inc.
Product:            USB2.0 Camera
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-2//device:/dev/bus/usb/005/002
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               f20f8043-6ed9-4312-98aa-e164075551a6
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x2107 (2107)
Revision:           1.120 (01120)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  1/1
Manufacturer:       DELL
Product:            Dell USB Entry Keyboard
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/usb6/6-2//device:/dev/bus/usb/006/002
Current State:      Unavailable

[Raleigh Littles]

OK I have followed your advice, removed the USB filters and my share to /media/, rebooted both host and guest, and it works, many thanks; only remained to check the devices in Devices => USB Devices, reboot the guest, and the USB drives now show up in My Computer.

Grateful thanks.

Probably no longer useful, but here are the infos you asked for.

Code: Select all

ron@ron:~ $ id
uid=1000(ron) gid=1000(ron) groups=1000(ron),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),104(scanner),109(bluetooth),110(netdev),124(vboxusers)

ron@ron:~ $ VBoxManage list extpacks
Extension Packs: 1
Pack no. 0:   Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
Version:      4.3.30
Revision:     101610
Edition:      
Description:  USB 2.0 Host Controller, Host Webcam, VirtualBox RDP, PXE ROM with E1000 support.
VRDE Module:  VBoxVRDP
Usable:       true 
Why unusable: 

ron@ron:~ $ VBoxManage list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               d1cb3208-af42-4a2a-9d3b-7d57b4387eaf
VendorId:           0x03f0 (03F0)
ProductId:          0x2504 (2504)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               3
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       HP
Product:            Deskjet F4200 series
SerialNumber:       CN88D252XW05BR
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.1/usb4/4-4//device:/dev/bus/usb/004/002
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               72339445-90a0-4d77-a75e-f09774332fb4
VendorId:           0x046d (046D)
ProductId:          0xc408 (C408)
Revision:           20.0 (2000)
Port:               4
USB version/speed:  1/1
Manufacturer:       Logitech
Product:            USB Trackball
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/usb6/6-5//device:/dev/bus/usb/006/003
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               f0204697-2401-4509-be77-3d26de28aff5
VendorId:           0x058f (058F)
ProductId:          0x6362 (6362)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               5
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       Generic
Product:            Mass Storage Device
SerialNumber:       058F63626476
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.1/usb4/4-6//device:/dev/bus/usb/004/003
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               ea3ce2c5-73d3-499d-a97b-2233ce74db64
VendorId:           0x0781 (0781)
ProductId:          0x5530 (5530)
Revision:           1.38 (0138)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       SanDisk
Product:            Cruzer
SerialNumber:       200524441007E38082EC
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-5/5-5.2//device:/dev/vboxusb/005/007
Current State:      Captured

UUID:               8f592343-0782-42ea-975d-00edd566c9b0
VendorId:           0x1b3f (1B3F)
ProductId:          0x8301 (8301)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               3
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       ЉeGenir cSU BaMssS otaregD veci
Product:            eEGENARPLUL-SSMC
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-5/5-5.4//device:/dev/vboxusb/005/009
Current State:      Captured

UUID:               36ba708c-c80e-4020-a52f-6f22d4f31ff8
VendorId:           0x1e4e (1E4E)
ProductId:          0x0102 (0102)
Revision:           0.2 (0002)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  2/2
Manufacturer:       Etron Technology, Inc.
Product:            USB2.0 Camera
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:08.0/0000:01:06.2/usb5/5-2//device:/dev/bus/usb/005/002
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               f20f8043-6ed9-4312-98aa-e164075551a6
VendorId:           0x413c (413C)
ProductId:          0x2107 (2107)
Revision:           1.120 (01120)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  1/1
Manufacturer:       DELL
Product:            Dell USB Entry Keyboard
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/usb6/6-2//device:/dev/bus/usb/006/002
Current State:      Unavailable

Off-topic question, but that USB device you have with vendor ID 0x1b3f, product ID 0x8301, name eEGENARPLUL-SSMC; what _actually_ is it?

[mpack]

The question is not only off-topic, it's also necro posting. The thread above is from 2015, and the person you address has not visited since 2019. If you comes back with a response he can PM you, meanwhile it's time to lock this topic.