[Solved] Keyboard not passed back to host

[JohnDoe]

Hi

I'm running Virtualbox 3.0.6 r52128 on an Ubuntu host. Currently Karmic because I upgraded from Jaunty to try to fix this problem. My Hardware is a MacBook Pro 2.2

My Problem...

I set up virtualbox with Windows XP as the Guest OS. I installed the Guest Additions and everything was working perfectly. I set the right Apple Key as the Host Key (shows up as Right WinKey in the input preferences). I ticked Auto Capture Keyboard (though subsequently I can untick and tick it to my heart's content, but it makes no difference as far as I can tell. I could access Full-Screen and Seamless modes. Let me reiterate, everything worked (near) perfectly.

(I had some issues with Networking and USB pass through because I was tinkering with settings - all since resolved, though the Device Manager in Windows has three Yellow Exclamation Marks which I've been unable to resolve. 2 USB, 1 PCI. One is definitely the IR - which I don't need. I also can't get the iSight camera to work in Windows (or Linux) despite installing the drivers).

Then one day I came back from lunch and my screen-saver (Linux) was frozen. Nothing would shift it and I had to hold the power-button and reboot. Since then, I've had the following that I haven't been able to fix.

- I can't change the Host Key in Input Preferences. I've seen 1000 posts about this. I've tried to manually edit the XML. Nothing works. It's stuck where it is. (Although as I said, I can tick and untick the Auto Capture KB with no apparent effect).
- I can't access Full Screen and Seamless modes. Holding down the Right Win/Right Apple key (whatever you want to call it - the one I used to use), does not function as such. For example, if I hold it and F, I get a Find dialogue in the Guest OS (in most instances, Outlook forwards, etc.). The point is, it's now being interpreted as a CTRL key.
- By far the most annoying issue is the fact that as soon as Virtualbox is running, I'm unable to use my trackpad and keyboard.
................................. - The trackpad is not available in either Host or Guest. I have to plug in an external USB mouse (which is available in both Host and Guest).
................................. - The laptop keyboard is available in the guest, but not the host. (Took me a while to work this out and disable the password prompt on the host screen-saver If I plug in an external USB keyboard it is available on both Host and Guest. If I want to use the laptop keyboard with the Host, I have to stop the virtual machine (pausing doesn't work - I actually have to shut the virtual machine down).

In the end these are mostly annoyances than major blocks (I can still operate the Host mostly with mouse, and an external mouse is a lot less effort to carry than an external kb. But it does keep me from doing what I want to do - which is run two OSes side-by-side utilising both their strengths.

If I knew which logs to post, I would.


Please help me.

[Sasquatch]

Disable the screensaver on the Guest, it gives nothing more than trouble. When that one kicks in, and after that the Host's while the VM has focus, the whole keyboard looses it's input until a power cycle (what you had to do).

For the current problem, disable USB for the Guest. I'm guessing that the keyboard is somehow send to the Guest through USB. You can easily check the current Host key and it's functionality by checking the bottom right corner of the VM window. The icon will look pressed when you press the Host key.

[JohnDoe]

Disable the screensaver on the Guest, it gives nothing more than trouble. When that one kicks in, and after that the Host's while the VM has focus, the whole keyboard looses it's input until a power cycle (what you had to do).

For the current problem, disable USB for the Guest. I'm guessing that the keyboard is somehow send to the Guest through USB. You can easily check the current Host key and it's functionality by checking the bottom right corner of the VM window. The icon will look pressed when you press the Host key.

Sasquatch, The Host Key has been Green or Grey - but only depending on whether the Auto Capture Keyboard was ticked or not...

Well, wouldn't you know it... I was sceptical about disabling the USB for the Guest - I mean, after all how would I be able to read pen drives, etc.. But there's no point in asking for help if you don't want it - so I went to take your advice and as I right-clicked on the USB icon in the virtualbox window, I noticed that the external mouse and keyboard weren't ticked.. I unticked the keyboard/trackpad and two things happened Windows started to find new hardware, but more importantly I can now use my use my mouse and trackpad in Ubuntu again! Thank you so much!

[JohnDoe]

I wish I could mark this resolved..

[Perryg]

Your wish has been taken care of.
Next time all you need to do is edit the first post and add [Solved] to the beginning of the subject line.