virtualbox.org

I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 and have Windows XP running as guest. I've installed virtualbox additions, but after rebooting my ethernet controller still will not install. It says the drivers cannot be found. The odd thing is that I've had XP installed before and it worked perfectly. Is there a generic device driver that I can download and install?

What are the exact guest settings?

The driver you need is listed in the VM settings. You can select what type of NIC VB should emulate for that VM. From all the available NICs, XP doesn't have the Intel/Pro1000MT driver.

"From all the available NICs, XP doesn't have the Intel/Pro1000MT driver"
that's great news.. for the most part. i've been wrestling with vb and my wireless nic for a few days now.
during initial troubleshooting i discovered many people having problems when using the PcNet PCI II/III adapters, so i opted for the intel desktop one.
finnnnnally got it working, even though it only worked for about 2 minutes and then 'broke' again.

however, for anyone else's benefit, i'm using
vb 2.2.4
XP pro sp3 as guest and host (wanted to try vb in the most familiar environment first, then iron the creases when running ubuntu later)
guest additions installed
belkin usb wireless adapter

in the guest settings, i've activated all attached usb devices, including mouse, keyboard, external hard drives, and the wifi adapter.
(the hard drives, i've found, only work when disconnected before booting up guest os, then plugged in after guest os is up and running again)

guest network settings are/were:
Adapter 1
Intel/Pro1000MT driverMT Desktop / NAT / (no name)
Adapter 2
Intel/Pro1000MT driverMT Desktop / Bridged Adapter / Belkin USB (etc)

when i'd had the guest network settings on intel/pro1000mt, i got the New Hardware Found dialogue upon starting up the os (after much trial and error, mind you, and many many resets).
the New Hardware tried to install the best drivers and found none. i (foolishly) tried the wifi adapter's driver cd (mounting the disc, etc), but of course got the Cannot Install Hardware again (because it was looking for the Intel/Pro drivers).

then i found this post! "From all the available NICs, XP doesn't have the Intel/Pro1000MT driver" (thx, sasquatch!)
shut down guest, changed guest network settings from the intel adapters over to pcnet-pci III, rebooted guest, and for a couple minutes i had internet on both guest and host!

i'm guessing maybe i have to manually set the ip inside the guest, or something along those lines, as they're probably both trying to get internet off the same dhcp-assigned ip. will have a fool around with it, but for now i'm so happy that the whole network "everything" on the guest and host aren't crashing out entirely, the way they were with VB 3.0

if anyone has any tips on how to get more than 2 minutes of joy out of this setup, i'd appreciate it greatly.

also, any pointers on this similar setup running ubuntu as a guest.

happy days!

*update* using pcnet-pci II adapter instead of III now, and so far everything's hunkey dorey. .. still can't access the workgroup from guest, or access guest's workgroup from host, but at least they show up, and internet still works on guest/host, without having to manually configure ip

Your main problem is that you put every USB device from the Host to the Guest. That is asking for trouble. The mouse and keyboard work just fine without the USB capturing, just like the network adapter. The Guest uses the connection of the Host to communicate with the physical network. You can access files on the Host using Shared Folders after installing the Guest Additions.

good to know, thx. .. would you recommend removing all the devices from the list except for the wifi controller?
the networking/workgroup attempt wasn't too too important, just wanted to see if it would work cos i was reading someone else's post about getting it working.. though they used host-only instead of bridged.

internet's cutting out on gust and host again, but i'll try to ixnay the 'natively' supported usb stuff. thx.

Putting the wifi USB you use for both the Host and Guest to the Guest only will give you your problem. How do you think the Host would get on the wireless, if the device is suddenly gone? Just use Bridged and select the Wifi adapter from the Host.

yes, i've done that now, as well as removing the Adapter 1 with NAT and just using Bridge now.. plus doing some better reading of some tuts and faqs i found the instruction to set the MAC of the guest bridge to the same as the host's physical MAC. so far so good.. though i've said that a few times before thx for the input.

Don't set the VM MAC the same as the Host MAC. That can cause serious problems. There's a reason they have to be unique, just like IP addresses.

hmm, well i found that in an xp guest tutorial on this forum, and things are workin for now. .. so i'll go with a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' policy for now.. but if it fails at some point i'll remember that advice