USB-C optical drive not in devices list

[BQuirky]

Sorry, folks, I've spent a fair amount of time searching here because this would seem like a straightforward thing, but I've had to break down and open a new topic. I'm on a Mac Mini running Big Sur 11.6. I've created a Windows 10 VM. I have a USB-C CD/DVD drive directly (not through a hub) connected to the Mini that doesn't appear in the devices list. I understand why it wouldn't be under storage, but it isn't in the list of USB things attached either. Any hints on how I can get it to show up?

[scottgus1]

Click the VM's Optical Drive, and the popup menu should show the CD drives on the host as "Host Drive (something)". Does the drive appear there?

[BQuirky]

Nope, thanks, but the optical drive's popup only has the ability to load a disk image.

[scottgus1]

That sounds, as a guess, like there's some permission that needs to be extended in the Mac OS to allow Virtualbox to use the CD drive.

[BQuirky]

That's certainly possible, but since I have no idea where or how I would have thought virtual box would help me or prompt me or...