virtualbox.org

I am running VirtualBox 2.2.2 on a CentOS 5.3 64-bit host. I have a guest machine built for 32-bit Windows XP Professional. I have only a few Windows programs, one of which is HoboWare from Onset Computer Corp..

HoboWare is the data download and analysis tool for data loggers manufactured by Onset. I collect data from the loggers in the field using a U-DTW-1 Data Shuttle. The shuttle has a USB port on it which connects to the computer running HoboWare for download.

The problem I am having is getting the Windows guest machine to recognize the data shuttle. Linux certainly recognizes it. When I run "lsusb -v", I get the following output:

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Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0f1b:0a04 Onset Computer Corp. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0         8
  idVendor           0x0f1b Onset Computer Corp.
  idProduct          0x0a04 
  bcdDevice            3.05
  iManufacturer           1 Onset Computer Corp
  iProduct                2 HOBO Waterproof Shuttle U-DTW-1
  iSerial                 3 01037062
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           41
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 No Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 None
      iInterface              0 
        HID Device Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType        33
          bcdHID               1.01
          bCountryCode            0 Not supported
          bNumDescriptors         1
          bDescriptorType        34 Report
          wDescriptorLength      29
         Report Descriptors: 
           ** UNAVAILABLE **
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0008  1x 8 bytes
        bInterval               1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0008  1x 8 bytes
        bInterval               1

I set up a USB filter in VirtualBox with the following properties:
Name = Onset Computer Corp HOBO Waterproof Shuttle U-DTW-1
Vendor ID = 0F1B
Product ID = 0A04
Remote = Any

All other fields in the filter are blank.

Plugging in the shuttle produces entries in the host machine /var/log/messages. Hovering over the USB icon on the status bar of the guest window produces a message that no USB devices are attached.

Other USB devices also do not recognize into the Windows guest. I tried a Logitec headset and several different thumb drives. Linux sees all of them, Windows sees none.

Any ideas?

Bill Gee

Welcome to the VBox forums Bill,

Have you tried a blank filter in the VBox USB settings?

A Blank Filter (.) will allow almost everything to work but once you boot the guest you must unplug the device and plug it back in to allow the guest to get focus. The (+) or fixed filter makes it available to the guest as soon as it boots but has problems.

Also some have had success in not using the filters at all and simply (once the guest is booted) selecting it from the device tab in VBox. I have not had a lot of success with this though and use the blank filter as described above.

In addition, not all USB devices work as you might expect. Some don't work at all. A perfect example is Apple's iPod. Some work, but there are even reports that a newer version of the same device has a different effect.

Thanks for the kind replies. I figured this out thanks to a lucky Google hit ...

The root problem was permissions on the usbfs file system. I found a modification to the rc.sysinit script which extends 664 permissions to the vboxusers group. Rebooted and now USB devices including the data shuttle work perfectly in a Windows guest.

For future edification, here is the change. Add the text shown in red. The number "501" is the groupid of the vboxusers group. Check your system and use the appropriate group id number. This should work on Centos 5.x and Fedora Core releases. Any other distro is unknown.

Reboot is required.

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if [ ! -d /proc/bus/usb ]; then
	modprobe usbcore >/dev/null 2>&1 && mount -n -t usbfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb [color=#FF0000]-o devgid=501,devmode=664[/color]
else
	mount -n -t usbfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb [color=#FF0000]-o devgid=501,devmode=664[/color]
fi

Bill Gee

virtualbox.org

USB problem device

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