USB Wifi,makes USB unavailable on guest

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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GiPiKay
Posts: 3
Joined: 23. Jun 2009, 14:12
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows XP

USB Wifi,makes USB unavailable on guest

Post by GiPiKay »

Hope someone can help me.
This is something I've noticed on two different machines, and could get a workaround on one of them.

One is a laptop, with a Wifi mini pci-e card, that is recognized internally as connected by USB, the model is RTL8187b, with Vista SP1.
The other one is a desktop for testing purposes, and I use a generic USB Wifi dongle (if it matters, is a Ralink RT73), with Win7.

The error is that on both computers, USB is unavailable on guest, saying that the device is busy with previous request.
My workaround is, on the desktop, that I must unplug the Wifi dongle, before launching Vbox, this is to make all the USB availables for the guest, and after the guest is launched, I can plug it again, and I have both Wifi (on host), and USB (on guest).
The only problem is that I can't "unplug" the Wifi card, on the laptop, and even weirdier yet, is that the problem doesn't happen on Linux (Ubuntu) host.

I've seen that the RTL8187b, causes a lot of issues on Vista (disconnection at launch of Vbox guest,which I got, but isn't my concern for the moment as I'm using Ubuntu for that matter), but I'll like to know if it's something that can be fixed via Settings.

PS: Sorry for the bad english, i'm from latin-america, and I usually speak spanish
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: USB Wifi,makes USB unavailable on guest

Post by Perryg »

Do you have any filters defined in the USB section in the guest settings?
GiPiKay
Posts: 3
Joined: 23. Jun 2009, 14:12
Primary OS: Ubuntu other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows XP

Re: USB Wifi,makes USB unavailable on guest

Post by GiPiKay »

No, but I've never used them, when I want to use USB devices, I just select them from the Menu.
Do you have something in mind?
Perryg
Site Moderator
Posts: 34369
Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
Guest OSses: *NIX

Re: USB Wifi,makes USB unavailable on guest

Post by Perryg »

Actually I have found that adding filters if the host is Linux works really well. Here is a link to the FAQ http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic. ... 669#p33944.
Just remember to not put a filter in for your keyboard, mouse, or the network USB device. You actually map to the wifi device with a virtual network adapter.
As for your network problem what is the mode you are using? Bridged, NAT, Etc.?
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