[solved] "Failed to attach the USB device to the VM"...

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
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Grogster
Posts: 2
Joined: 9. Dec 2021, 02:04

[solved] "Failed to attach the USB device to the VM"...

Post by Grogster »

Hello :)

Linux Mint 20, VB 6.1.30, Extensions pack installed on the XP SP3 VM. (no errors)

sudo usermod -aG vboxusers {my username here} run at terminal. Reboot the Mint machine.

VB sees the USB flash drive, and I can select it in the USB settings.
Reboot the XP VM, and I get the message in the title.
On another laptop, the same version of VB and the extensions, with the same XP SP3 iso VM, and the USB flash-drive is picked up just fine.
I'm trying to do this again on an Intel NUC machine running Mint 20.
Virtualization enabled in the NUC BIOS.

I have setup a shared folder in the XP VM to a folder on Mint and that is working, so I can move files across that way no problems, I am just curious why the USB flash drive won't work on this NUC.
"Failed to attach the USB device {flash-drive name here} to the VM XP SP3" - does not tell me much about WHY that failed, only that it did.
Is there a log file I can perhaps look at to help find out why this isn't working?
As I say - not a biggie as I have a shared folder that works fine, but the USB flash-drive ability would be nice to have, and it worked on the laptop setup but not on the NUC for some reason...

Thanks for any help.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: "Failed to attach the USB device to the VM"...

Post by scottgus1 »

Carefully go through USB basics and troubleshooting. If you finish all the steps 1-7 and cannot get your USB device into the guest OS, carefully post the outputs of the commands in step 8 as text, not screenshots. Zip and post the logs step 8 call for, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.
Grogster
Posts: 2
Joined: 9. Dec 2021, 02:04

Re: "Failed to attach the USB device to the VM"...

Post by Grogster »

Hello. :)

I have figured out what was going on here.
The flash-drive I was trying to attach to the XP VM was a 64GB flash-drive formatted as exFAT.
Windoze XP SP3 32-bit does not know how to talk to that format, so it was rejected.

If I plug a lower-capacity flash drive formatted as FAT32 into the Mint box, and reboot the XP VM, the VM filter picks up the drive and assigns it a letter in the XP VM fine.

Fixed.

How do I tag this thread as SOLVED?
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: "Failed to attach the USB device to the VM"...

Post by scottgus1 »

Glad you found the problem! I'll mark this one solved.
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