virtualbox.org

I am running Windows Vista and Vista guest. I have been trying all day to print from my Samsung ML 2510 Laser Printer. I have enable it for share but still nothing. I have tried sharing the Printer with Virtual PC 2007 also but no luck. I tried virtualbox for the USB support and been messing with the Devices > USB all day. It gives me the option to choose the printer when I want to print something but nothing happens. The printers responds as its out of paper! WTF when I click the printer from Device USB it says it busy?

Not all USB Devices work properly.

You can try to use Windows Shares. Printing via network always works, if the host support the printer.

Your profile indicates that you are using an OSE version of VirtualBox.

The OSE version does not support USB devices in the guest.

Forget the USB and setup a network printer. Share the printer from the host and install a network printer on the guest. Works better than trying to go with the USB install. That way you can print from the guest and the host even though the guest may be running.

For anyone trying to print from Windows guest to a Samsung ML-2510 printer:

Under VirtualBox 5.0.4, I was able to print from a Windows XP 32-bit guest to a Samsung ML-2510 printer connected to Mac host, but I had to use the SPL driver instead of the Universal Print Driver. (On Samsung's driver download page, Universal Print Driver is the default option, so you have to click "See More" to get the SPL driver.) Nowadays, using VirtualBox OSE isn't a problem because it was merged with the other edition some time ago. However, you do need to download and install the closed-source VirtualBox Extension Pack before you can enable the USB controller.

(This is thread is one of the first hits on Google for using this printer in VirtualBox, so I hope this answer is useful enough that I can be forgiven for bumping such an old thread. )

KateTheAverage wrote:using VirtualBox OSE isn't a problem because it was merged with the other edition some time ago.

Yes, but as you say, you are bumping a six year old thread from a time before the VirtualBox main branch went fully GPL.

Also, the subject of this thread is slightly different: you are talking about installing the driver, the OP was asking about how to attach the printer at a basic level.

Answer: forget USB. Attach the printer as a network printer owned by your host. Let the host care about the type of physical connection. You may still need to install a driver in the guest to access printer features, that rather depends on whether the guest can find a driver automatically.