USB

[royal_one]

my host is solaris express and my guest is winXP.

i was not able to have my USB device on WinXp,


any ideas ....


Royalone

[aribi]

Hi, Royalone

We would like to help you, but need more info.
Are you using VBox version 1.6?
What kind of usb device (storage/printer/...)

kind regards, Arie Bikker

[Roger]

I am using VBox 1.6 on OpenSolaris B70. I want to use my HP 8038 USB printer in my Windows XP under VBox.

I have tried USB filter with different ways - but found nothing. Have tried start VBox as root or normal user, no difference.

My printer works well under Solaris. Not sure what is missed here.

[aribi]

If your USB printer is used by the host, it is unwise to directly access this USB device also from another source (VM). The VirtualBox manual warns you not to do that.
I'me not sure, but wouldn't be surprised that Solaris actually prevents you from double accessing the USB device.

I see 2 options:
1 print via the (virtual) network - this can be a hassle because communication from guest to host is not trivial
2 access the VM with rdesktop -r printer:myprinter - just an idea, never done it myself

kind regards, Arie Bikker

[royal_one]

i am using USB/Storage , VirtualBox 1.6

[pete_l]

I'm in the same position (Solaris - fully patched/updated, VB 1.6) I can't get a guest XP to see any USB activity either[1]. Therei s a message pops up when I click on a guest that says

The USB proxy Service has not yet been ported to this host

which I guess is just a long-winded way of saying that USB doesn't work - I wish they'd just say that, if it's the case.

On a similar note, the documentation has an error. Page 99 (8.1 VBoxManage) reckons there's a list option called "hostusb". There isn't, it's called usbhost. On Solaris, it just returns <none>, even when dmesg shows that Solaris can see a plugged in USB stick.




[1] Yes, USB & USB2 _is_ enabled in the VB settings

[janmaat]

I would like to know the meaning of: "The USB proxy Service has not yet been ported to this host"

Which of the other host Oses has a fully functional USB Proxy Service running?
Is there a roadmap for the "USB proxy Service" on solaris?
Will this "USB proxy service" work with USB devices attached to Sun Ray thin clients?
I would be very interested in combining Sun Ray USB ports with Windows XP on a VirtualBox.
Who has more information on this kind of development?

Kind regards,

Ivar

[aribi]

Hi janmaat,

Here's my 2cents worth opinion:
From reading the sourcecode it seems that USBProxyService listens to system events that mark the insertion or deletion of USB devices. Ofcourse this is highly OS-dependent and doesn't seem to be worked out for Solaris yet.

But you want to go a step further: USB on SunRay. I'me quite sure that is going to far, very far away. Being a SunRay user myself I know that the USB events for a SunRay do not follow the normal event path. For SunRays there is a special daemon that listens to the network events the SunRay produces on insertion an deletion. This daemon does its own device plumbing apart from the normal kernel action.

The closest you can probably get is by using SharedFolders on the mountpoint your Sunray uses (typically /tmp/SUNWut/mnt/$USER)

kind regards, Arie Bikker

BTW. Nice to see I'me not alone in the battle getting SunRays working with VirtualBox: this would be a Killer-App!

[janmaat]

Hello Aribi,

I was looking at VirtualBox because its functionality looks a bit like Win4Solaris from Virtual Bridges.
I have been running Windows on Linux with Win4Lin for customers for years but because of the nice features of Solaris I would like to move to Win4Solaris.
Running Windows isn't enough anymore though. Pheripheral support needs to work to. Think about smartboards in schools and other special USB devices which don't act as a storage device.
What is the use of investing in VirtualBox if Sun is not going to fix USB suppport for Solaris and Sun Rays?
If Sun really is in the market for a Total Virtual Desktop solution on Solaris servers then USB and multimedia are part of the deal!

The Sun Ray uses libusb. With libusb I can see the devices on the Sun Ray usb connectors. If only I could connect them to Windows Windows could use its drivers to access the usb device.

I don't see why Sun wouldn't be able to make beter USB solutions with the Sun Ray than companies like Digi, Belkin, keyspan make with usb over ip hubs. If Sun would fix the USB problem they would be way ahead of the competition!

Why not go for it?

[pete_l]

I wouldn't be too hard on them (Sun). VB for Solaris is quite a new version and as has been said already, USB is kinda tricky. All we know is that USB doesn't work YET.
So far as deploying VB in real, live commercial situations I'd say we're still at the "early adopter" phase. Its OK if you have a strictly limited set of basic functions - and you don't want to push the envelope, but it'll be a while until all the bells 'n' whistles are ready.

From a server perspective, it's probably OK for running web services or for consolidating small database servers onto a single platform.

Give it a while to mature and get features added. Personally, I'm planning to check out Solaris/VB again in about Q4 - hopefully I'll have a nice surprise!

[janmaat]

I like Sun products a lot but I am always pushing to make things better

I will keep an eye on VirtualBox to see the developement.
Our implementaions are in the very acid enfirement called primairy education. Which means: Audio, Multimedia, high cpu load, 16 bit Windows apps, lots of them....get my drift?
Still the Sun Ray is unbeatable.


Ivar

[pavelt]

Hi All,

There is no standard way to redirect Sun Ray USB port to WinXP machine.
However, there is a thirdparty solution from russian company UBTec, which is called NETUSB Workstation.

This software comes in two parts - one is installed on Solaris, where SRSS is, and the second installed on WinXP machine.
This two parts communicates over network, and implements raw USB stream passthrough from Sun Ray USB port to WinXP machine.
This work in the same way as you connect USB device directly to physical WinXP machine, i.e. you can use native Windows drivers for the device connected to SunRay.

However, there are some limitations on the devices imposed by Sun Ray itself - it is USB1.1 and it doesn't support isochronous USB (most of web cameras, headsets, many Bluetooth adapters and similar). This is not software, but Sun Ray hardware limitation.
The product is commercial and has some costs, but it solves most of USB issues.

[Ramshankar]

VirtualBox 1.6 and Solaris b70 are both far too old for any reasonable USB support. Upgrade to VBox 2.2.4 (recommended - or the possibly more unstable latest beta) and upgrade your host to something snv_106+.

[pavelt]

But even with VBox 2.2.4 you will not get Sun Ray USB working... So if we are talking on the support of server's USB ports by VBox this is one thing, the support of Sun Ray's USB ports under WinXP (either virtual or physical) is another story. NETUSB I talked about intended for the last case.

[janmaat]

I will wait and see what Sunray server 4.2 and Virtualbox 3.0 will bring.
Virtualbox 3.0 beta is already available at:
http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/3.0.0_BETA2/
Sunray 4.2 should follow soon.

Ivar