USB devices not detected in Windows Guest on Debian Stretch host

[jlinkels58]

After a new installation of Debian Stretch, using my existing VDI files, USB devices were not detected anymore.
VirtualBox 5.2.24

This is a very common error. Most obvious reasons:

1. User not a member of the vboxusers group
2. Guest addition not installed or not the correct version

That was not my problem.

The usual command to show devices detected by VBox, eliminating permissions issues:

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sudo VBoxManage list usbhost

showed no devices.

As a matter of fact, /dev/vboxusb/ contained no devices at all.

Whenever a device is plugged in, this script handles the correct node creation in /dev: /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh
This location is in Debian different from many other distros.
This script should be called from etc/udev/rules.d/60-vboxdrv.rules whenever a USB device is plugged.
The udev rule was not there and did not exist on the entire system.
The contents of this file must be:

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cat /etc/udev/rules.d/60-vboxdrv.rules 
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", ACTION=="add", RUN+="/usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh $major $minor vboxusers"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", RUN+="/usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxCreateUSBNode.sh $major $minor vboxusers"

I have no clue as to why this rule was not installed. It was a fresh install of Debian Stretch. I do not recall whether I installed VirtualBox from the Debian repos or from the VirtualBox website.

Anyway, after installation and running

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sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

devices showed up in my guests after replugging.

jlinkels

[socratis]

A couple of points about mistakes, errors and omissions.

This is a very common error. Most obvious reasons:

• 2. Guest addition not installed or not the correct version

The Guest Additions have nothing to do with USB. The Extension Pack on the host does. So, have you installed the ExtPack? Matching version?

Speaking of versions...

I do not recall whether I installed VirtualBox from the Debian repos or from the VirtualBox website.

So, what do you propose? That we start guessing? Please post the complete output of:

• 
  VBoxManage -version

VirtualBox 5.2.24

The latest is 5.2.30, get it while it's fresh.

sudo VBoxManage list usbhost

Why the 'sudo' in there? Everything should be working without the need for the 'sudo'.

Finally, please read the following thread: 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, #8: Asking for help and post the information requested.

[jlinkels58]

A couple of points about mistakes, errors and omissions.
The Guest Additions have nothing to do with USB. The Extension Pack on the host does. So, have you installed the ExtPack? Matching version?

The "most obvious reasons" is what is being mentioned in dozens of forums. Not what I found. And it did not solve my problem anyway. But you are right, I forgot to mention the Extpack. I did check it though, it was the correct version.

Speaking of versions...

So, what do you propose? That we start guessing? Please post the complete output of:

No, you don't have to guess. It is extra information I added. I am not asking anyone for a solution.

Why the 'sudo' in there? Everything should be working without the need for the 'sudo'.

The sudo is there because in the case of a permissions problem, nothing shows up without sudo, and the devices do show up with sudo. That is why I mentioned eleminating permissions issues. Should I have ran the command once with sudo and once without sudo to show there were no permissions issues?

Finally, please read the following thread: USB basics and troubleshooting, all of the posts.

Eventually, I think I did pretty well on troubleshooting

If you still have a problem after reading through the whole thing, please follow the advice of the last post, #8: Asking for help and post the information requested.

I think I have read through enough posts and especially your self-righteous and pompous answer. Which clearly shows that you did NOT read my post.
As it might not be apparent to you, I had a problem with USB device recoginition. None of the posted solutions anywhere was the cause of the problem.
Instead, I did my research and troubleshooting. When I solved the problem, I posted the errors and the solution here for the benefit of other users.
But apparently people like you, half-reading through my solution do not appreciate that.

jlinkels