VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
mpack
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by mpack »

kapitainsky wrote:But given that VB alternatives handle USB access without such issues is saying.
It's not saying much. VirtualBox devs are not required to share the priorities of competing platforms. If I was in charge we would have abandoned the always small and now rapidly diminishing Intel-based MacOS market long ago.
scottgus1
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by scottgus1 »

kapitainsky wrote:given that VB alternatives handle USB access without such issues is saying.
And again keep in mind that the devs did ask Apple, so they are working on a solution.
JonH
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by JonH »

DukeJockey wrote: 12. Nov 2022, 01:27 Also note that when new VM log files are created, they will be owned by root. This may be a minor problem the next time you start up the VM as yourself rather than as root. Just chown the root-owned log files back to yourself, or delete them if you don't care about their contents.
I consider it more than just a minor problem. Trying to start my WIN10 guest on my Mac host from the Vbox app like I always used to won't work in v7.0.8 after starting it w/ sudo because *.vbox also gets owned by root. OK, I can use chown and did to change it all back to user:staff as it was as installed. Probably should have used the -R switch. I appreciate your posted method and don't mean to be critical about the post. I have noted it for future use. My above is meant to alert future readers that there is a bit more to it than the Logs being altered.

Unfortunately, after all this, it won't read my stick, sez it's corrupt. Same stick reads fine in Win10 guest on Linux Host. I rarely use Win10 so I'll live without usb until it gets fixed. There are other alternatives to getting data too & fro, it's just more work.

Vbox isn't the only app having issues w/ Apple's increasing security changes. I have several apps that don't get along well due to Apple's security changes. I also find it annoying that Apple has made backing up of mobile devices to iTunes more difficult. Every.Single.Time I backup I'm asked to "trust" Apple's iMac (destination) on Apple's mobile device (source). So now I only back up every few weeks. Thanks Apple for decreasing my security.
kapitainsky
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by kapitainsky »

VBox does not have any issues with accessing USB devices (sudo vbox workaround) - it has problem with how it executes its own binaries. Obviously some part needs to be launch with elevated privileges and it is not. It is very normal for many applications to run their parts as `sudo` - when you see app asking for extra permission to install so called helper it is part of app being run later as `sudo`. All issue and time it takes to resolve it points rather at very limited dev resources for vbox project.
seveneleven_711
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by seveneleven_711 »

I do use the sudo-workaround here but I just saw that there ist a new Version of VB available. So I started my VB to update it. But without 'sudo'. Now I receive this error and wonder, how to get rid of it?

"Runtime error opening '/Users/chef/Documents/VirtualBox VMs/Windows 10 64Bit/Windows 10 64Bit.vbox' for reading VERR_ACCESS_DENIED (Access denied."

Is it a chmod thing as I used 'sudo' to boot the VM the last times?
ejstubbs
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by ejstubbs »

Just wanted to say: thank heavens for this thread! I've been tearing my hair out (what little I have left) trying to get my USB Blu Ray drive to connect to my Windows VMs under VB 7.0.8 (on Monterey 12.6.8), and now I discover that it doesn't actually work. At least, not without running VB as root, which I shall have a go at shortly.

Here's a thing, though: somehow, I did manage to use that USB drive to install Windows 7 64-bit on a bare VM a few days ago. It was very hit-and-miss, and I've no idea what happened, or what I did, to make it work but, simply put, after a deal of random fiddling, the disc appeared on the VM and the Windows install ran through without a hitch. In fact, I now remember that something similar happened when I wanted to install some printer drivers from DVD to one of my existing Win10 VMs - again, it was all very random and I couldn't repeat the exercise.

Come to think, the above sort-of successes may have been while I was running VB 7.0.10, before I reverted to 7.0.8 because of the starting-from-saved-state-with-TPM-enabled bug in 7.0.10 (viewtopic.php?t=109956). The only thing I can see about macOS hosts in the changelog for 7.0.10 is "Introduced general improvements in the installer area", which may or may not be relevant - but even if it is, it's no help to me if starting from saved is broken... (I did notice that VB was showing a version 7.0.10a, which makes me wonder whether they maybe slipped out a wee update to 7.0.10 without really telling anyone?)
scottgus1
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by scottgus1 »

ejstubbs wrote: 17. Aug 2023, 15:22 somehow, I did manage to use that USB drive to install Windows 7 64-bit on a bare VM a few days ago.
If the host OS remains in control of the USB connection to the DVD drive, then Virtualbox will merely see it as a host DVD drive, mirror the inserted disc into the VM's CD drive, and allow the VM to boot from the host DVD drive. Virtualbox will allow the VM to pass a host CD/DVD drive into the VM's CD drive regardless of how the drive is connected to the host. This is not USB Filtering, so doesn't require the Virtualbox 7.0 & Apple USB sudo glitch going on for now.
fth0
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by fth0 »

ejstubbs wrote: 17. Aug 2023, 15:22 I did notice that VB was showing a version 7.0.10a, which makes me wonder whether they maybe slipped out a wee update to 7.0.10 without really telling anyone?
The VirtualBox 7.0.10 macOS installer created several files with wrong access rights, making it impossible to run the VirtualBox Manager for a lot of users. The affected users were told. ;)
ejstubbs
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by ejstubbs »

scottgus1 wrote: 17. Aug 2023, 17:12
ejstubbs wrote: 17. Aug 2023, 15:22 somehow, I did manage to use that USB drive to install Windows 7 64-bit on a bare VM a few days ago.
If the host OS remains in control of the USB connection to the DVD drive, then Virtualbox will merely see it as a host DVD drive, mirror the inserted disc into the VM's CD drive, and allow the VM to boot from the host DVD drive. Virtualbox will allow the VM to pass a host CD/DVD drive into the VM's CD drive regardless of how the drive is connected to the host. This is not USB Filtering, so doesn't require the Virtualbox 7.0 & Apple USB sudo glitch going on for now.
Aha: I can see the host drive in the list under the "Devices" menu, and the list provided by the UI 'mini icon'. However, selecting the host drive from either of those menus has no effect - the 'mini icon' stays grey, and no disc shows up in the guest VM's CD drive. But if I select the host drive via the Settings interface on the VB GUI (which you can do 'on the fly' i.e. without having to power off the VM) it appears on the guest VM (and disappears from the host desktop) and works just fine. Which strikes me as being a little odd, but at least there is a more or less painless way to get it to work.

Oh, except that it's now stopped working: this time around, when I try to connect to the drive via the GUI with the guest running, I'm getting:

Code: Select all

Failed to save the settings.

The object is not ready.

Result Code:E_ACCESSDENIED (0X80070005)
Component:MediumWrap
Interface:IMedium {ad47ad09-787b-44ab-b343-a082a3f2dfb1}
Callee:IMachine {300763af-5d6b-46e6-aa96-273eac15538a}
The DVD is sitting there on my Mac desktop, so it looks ready to me, but obviously not to VB.

FWIW I was getting the same error when trying to connect the drive via the GUI when the guest was powered off.

So unless I'm missing something obvious that I'm doing wrong, I'd say that it's still somewhat, er...temperamental. No wonder I couldn't remember how I'd got it to work before, is it doesn't actually seem to do it reliably...

The guest is Windows 10 32-bit, the host is macOS Monterey 12.6.8 and the VB version is 7.0.8r156879. Log of the last session is attached: EDIT TO ADD: Seems to be working again now, having quit the VB GUI and restarted it. With the guest powered off I attached the host drive to the guest CD drive in the GUI and started up the guest. It actually asked whether I wanted it to boot from the DVD, which was kind of a welcome surprise. I let it continue to boot from the vdi and there was the DVD all mounted and ready to use - and disappeared from the host desktop. I was able to remove the DVD from the virtual drive via the Devices menu - at which point it reappeared on the host desktop - and attach it again via the 'mini icon' menu. So basically it all seems to be working properly now. Looks like one of VB, macOS, or me, got their knickers in a twist before...
lookingforward
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Re: VB 7 - can't connect any USB device

Post by lookingforward »

So it is version 7.0.10 and the problem is still there... The "sudo" trick works though.
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