absolutely NO USB use in MS XP vbox session- HELP

[tonyps]

Morning,

Well, after way too much reading, poking around and trying every item mentioned in numerous postings, I am still at a loss as to why the USB devices/ports are not available.
Setup:
Opensuse 11.0
vbox for Linux (PUEL) 2.2.2r46594
Guest OS: MS XP Pro, SP3
Lenovo T60p

I was finally able to see and select the USB devices by activating, before installing XP as a guest the feature: IO APIC
This at least allows the selection of each of the USB devices BEFORE starting the guest, as well as following the below listed steps...
However, after the guest is started, all of the devices remain "grayed out" and not available for use.
Instructions from an old post I followed:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postby Frisal » 5. Dec 2007, 16:33
Hi Xenia,

1. Start VB
2. SELECT the guest - BUT do NOT start the guest
3. Insert the USB device
4. Click on Details / General
5. Check "IO APIC"
6. Click on USB
7. Check "Enable USB Controller"
8. Click on USB Icon with the Plus sign (Add from)
and select desired USB devive and press OK
9. Start your guest

On subsequent starts of the guest, you can insert the USB device
anytime.

Note : If the USB device is inserted and VB is not running, the USB device
will be owned by the host (as usual). When you start VB and the guest, the USB
will be "unmounted" on the host and "mounted" on the guest.
After stopping the guest, the USB device "returns" the host (in most cases
If not, simply unplug/plug the USB device.

Hope this helps, Fritz

Frisal
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, my current fstab file looks like:
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_HITACHI_HTS7220090220DP0270DPGU6W5C-part1 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_HITACHI_HTS7220090220DP0270DPGU6W5C-part2 / ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_HITACHI_HTS7220090220DP0270DPGU6W5C-part5 /home ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_HITACHI_HTS7220090220DP0270DPGU6W5C-part6 /vm ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 2
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
#none /sys/bus/usb/drivers usbfs devgid=1000,devmode=664 0 0
#usbfs /sys/bus/usb/drivers /proc/bus/usb usbfs devmode=664,devgid=1000 0 0
#none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=46,devmode=664 0 0
/dev/sda7 /data2 ext3 defaults 1 0
#usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
/sys/bus/usb/drivers /proc/bus/usb usbfs devmode=664,devgid=1000 0 0

The lines with a "#" before them are attempts made with info from posts I have read..
The last line is what works in SLED10,SP2, running the latest Vbox, also with a MS XP PRO guest..
One note to mention is that when I list the USB devices in Linux,, they all have a status of busy. Not sure if this has any bearing on the issue, but .....
Sooo, if anyone has any other suggestions or ideas as to how this may be fixed, please let me know!!

Thanks,
Tony ...
tony_strother@ncsu.edu

[vbox4me2]

Empty usb filter Guest, start Guest VM, click on VM, plugin usb device.

[tonyps]

Thanks for the tip. NO GO.....When I place the mouse over the USB icon on the bottom right,a grayed out list of the four devices pops up. Three of the devices are built in, the fourth is a USB flash drive that I am attempting to access (which by the way, pops up in the host OS almost instantly, when pluged in).....
Thanks!!

[stefan.becker]

For Suse 11:

Code: Select all

/sys/bus/usb/drivers /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=1001,devmode=664 0 0

And over /etc/rc.d/boot.local a "mount -a" or "mount usbfs" command at startup.

[tonyps]

I will certainly try that... fyi, while reading another post here on the site, I came across a fellow with the issue. The responder had him start vbox as the root user than proceed with the steps of starting the Xp session, plug in the USB device and see if it is detected...
I have tried the same and it works when I issue the start command VirtualBox as root.. does this help identify anything?
Thanks!!!
Tony ...