Is it possible to dedicate an USB port to a guest VM ?

[letstry2011]

Hello,

I have very new to Virtualbox but familiar with virtualisation. I found Virtualbox recently and found it very efficient and functional. But my target is no clearly using my old scanner with my new computer. I have searched through forum about this issue, I saw many people suffering about this problem, some have solution some have not. Logically, I think in order to use a device in a guest should be first available in the host, but this does not make me stop for looking for a solution.

Sorry for opening a new thread for this, I want to ask from another point of view like "Is it possible to dedicate an host USB port to a guest VM for using unsupported devices in the host ?"

If any help and guidance, I will be appreciated.

My Virtualbox is 3.2.10
Host : Windows 7 - 64bit
Guest : Windows XP - 32bit - SP3
Scanner : Mustek Bearpaw 4800TA Pro

Win7 does recognise the scanner and identify it as 4800 scanner, but could not find any driver for it. In the VM USV devices it is shown as 4800 scanner also and status is captured. When I click on the device it displays a Virtualbox error like Invalid Arg or says device busy.

I have installed Bearpaw XP drivers in the guest but nothing is changed.

Is there any way use this scanner in the guest with bypassing the hosts situation, I mean is there any way to dedicate an USB port to guest operating environment without bothering with the host ?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Regards,

Okn.

[stefan.becker]

Try USB Filters.

[letstry2011]

wow that is great !

Thanks for the hint, you saved me from some couple of money to buy a new scanner or a new all-in-one device, instead now I can use my Mustek Bearpaw 4800TA Pro in my guest.

By the way, the simplicity of the implementation with Virtualbox is great. Both the command line and GUI is available but I have preferred the command line path as follows:

1. When the scanner connected to Windows 7 Host 64-bit but Virtualbox is not running(both the hipervisor and guest), from CMD command prompt window, changed the folder to C:\Program Files\Oracle\Virtualbox and run the command

vboxmanage list usbhost

Output like this:
UUID: a42900fbb
VendorId: 0x055f (055F)
ProductId: 0x1000 (1000)
Revision: 1.1 (0101)
Product: 4800 Scanner
Address: \/
Current State: Available

This command lists the usb devices connected to HOST. In the list of many devices, scanner is shown as Available, Vendor ID 055F, Product ID 1000, Product 4800 Scanner. You will get VendorID and Product ID of the device that you wish to filter to HOST.

2. Now it is time to filter scanner to HOST. Do not forget Virtualbox and Guest is not running.

vboxmanage usbfilter add 0 --target "yourVMname" --name yourdevicename --vendorid 055F --productid 1000

Please put your VM name for target and specify any name for your device and put your vendorid and product id you have learnt from list command.

3. Start the virtualbox hipervisor, if you run the list command again, you will see the Current State is changed to Captured.

4. In order to install the drivers properly, please disconnect the scanner cable from the host and start the GUEST XP 32-bit.

5. From the Mustek site you can download the latest driver files which are dated as 2005-01-20 (versions 2.1,2.1 and 1.5). Both 3 of the files are required. The installation procedure is documented in Mustek site http://www.mustek.com.tw/support with selecting the correct device model. The procedure is strictly mandatory in order to run the scanner in XP otherwise it is documented as no way to operate the scanner.

6. After installation completed (after some restarts), I have been able to scan from Bearpaw program or Windows Scanner program itself.

Thanks to Oracle Virtualbox and thanks to Stefan Becker for the help. I do not know if this procedure will help/run other users/devices but wanted to share my experience.

Regards,
Okn.