New USB on Linux hosts

CautionToTheWind · Post by **CautionToTheWind** » 22. Jan 2009, 14:27

Hi, i love Virtualbox. Before Virtualbox i used to think virtualization had to be slow.

Now that that is out of the way, what is the correct procedure to use USB devices on Virtual Machines inside Linux hosts?

The new version changelog mentions doing away with usbfs, but the manual still (and only) says the user needs rw access to usbfs.

In all this i am a bit lost, and would like to find the complete procedure to take, lets say a new intrepid install and make the USB devices work in Virtualbox.

Hopefully it will be as easy as host interface networking is now.

jasonmichel · Post by **jasonmichel** » 22. Jan 2009, 16:17

yeah i'd like to know too, before i could click on devices/usb and select which USB device i wanted to connect...since i upgraded i can't..i can see them listed but they are greyed out and won't let me select

NoraaC · Post by **NoraaC** » 22. Jan 2009, 20:16

You didn't mention which distro you are using.

Here is a link to a pretty good howto for Ubuntu.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1015763

Hope this helps.

I have had options greyed out or not working after an upgrade if I didn't remember to install the upgade version of guest additions.

Post by **Sasquatch** » 22. Jan 2009, 22:56

The VirtualBox FAQ notes just what you need to do. I haven't used USB in 2.1.2, but I was always able to use USB with the added line from the FAQ.

pstahle · Post by **pstahle** » 23. Jan 2009, 04:37

Hi,

I am still having problems with any usb device I have tried, I guess except for the mouse which just worked out of the box. I have Fedora 10 host and have installed both Windows 7 32 bit guest and Windows Vista 64 bit guest. I have followed the instructions from the FAQ, and I am able to select my usb device. I see windows access the device but it does not know how to load a driver for it. I either get the following issues:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)
or
No drivers are installed for this device.

I have tried 3 different Ipods:
- iPod mini 2nd gen
- iPod photo
- iPod video

I have also tried USB external hard drive, and a usb game pad. When I initially did the gamepad it said it found a driver but when I looked into device manager it wasn't there.....

The only other problem I am having is on the vista guest, it can't find a sound driver for the sound, ironically that works on windows 7......

Anyways if anyone has some suggestions for me to try I would like to here it? The really only reason I want to run Windows in a virtual machine is so I can put audible downloads onto my ipod.....

Thanks,
Patrick

plindeman · Post by **plindeman** » 24. Jan 2009, 14:57

Same issue here with Virtualbox 2.1.2 on Ubuntu Intrepid 64bit and Windows XP 32bits as a client

My iPhone 3G and iPod Touch will sync without a problem however

Post by **Sasquatch** » 24. Jan 2009, 16:44

Some iPods won't work. Blame Apple for creating those damned devices, they all use some kind of protocol to communicate through the USB port. And instead of them to all use the same, they each have a different one. For a programmer, it's a real nightmare. Especially if it isn't open source.