virtualbox.org

I have installed a USB printer on my host, accessable from the network.

How can I print from the Vbox Host on this printer ?

I have read a lot of communications in the forum, but they are all very rudimentary.

Can anyone give me an explicit description how I can use the printer ?
Do I have to print via the network or directly to the USB post, etc. ?

Anton

I have installed a USB printer on my host, accessable from the network.
How can I print from the Vbox Host on this printer ?

the printer is installed on the host? so you should be able to print from the host

With no indication from you about host or guest operating systems used, explicit instructions are hard to provide. I suggest you complete your profile, and/or ask in an appropriate forum next time (i.e. Windows or Linux Guest/Host as required).

However, the only VBox thing you really need to do is use a suitable networking mode (i.e. not NAT, as that would block unsolicited transmissions from the guest), after that it's standard network setup fare - and the big wide web can be searched for info on setting up a network printer with your host/guest OS combo.

Of course a made an mistake when I wrote "can I print from the host"

Again :
The printer is not a network-printer. It is connected to the host by USB but can be used from other computers in my Home-Network.

My Vbox shares files in a host-directory in the Networkbridge mode.
How can I use the printer using the networkbridge ?

I have also tried to install a USB filter for the printer. When I try to connect the guest to the USB connection I get the error-message attached.

My Host works with Windows 7 64 bit,
the guest with Windows XP

Anton

tenkros wrote: Again :
The printer is not a network-printer. It is connected to the host by USB but can be used from other computers in my Home-Network.

? Your statements there seem to contradict each other. It's not a network printer but then it is?

In any case: any printer is a "network printer", if you enable printer sharing on one PC, and that PC is connected to a network. And indeed that's what you normally must do if you want to print from a guest, i.e. the guest must be added to the network that the printer is on. This can be a virtual network set up between host and guest, or it can be a physical network. It doesn't make any difference.

Yes, attaching a USB printer directly to the guest is possible, but that would disconnect it from the host which is probably not desirable in your case (the USB connection is not shared).

Like I said before, you should google for general information on setting up printer sharing over a network. The "virtual" part of this is pretty much irrelevant - it's basic network know-how that you need.

I have googled a lot, read a lot, tried a lot but still I can not print on my Host-printer.

I could install the Host-printer on the VirtualBox as a network printer with the adress \\Hostname\Printername
(It installed itself on a Virtual USB Printer port)
I also could install also the driver when I was asked for it after installing the printer.

However when I try to print a test page I get a message that it could not be printed.

My Host is a Windows 7 installation, my client a Windows XP installation.
May this cause the problem ?

Anton

tenkros wrote:My Host is a Windows 7 installation, my client a Windows XP installation.
May this cause the problem ?

I wouldn't have thought so (lots of mixed Win7/XP networks out there), but I suppose it's possible - but again this is info you would find out a networking support discussion site. About the only special thing you must do as a direct result of using VirtualBox is - don't use NAT, since detecting and sending data to a printer requires two-way communication, not easy with NAT.

Can you access the internet from the guest? Can you access network shared folders from the guest (not Guest Additions shared folders). If you can answer yes to both of those questions then basic networking must be working ok, it should be a simple step from there to add printer redirection/sharing.

I should mention that one of your comments did disturb me a bit...

tenkros wrote:(It installed itself on a Virtual USB Printer port)

For the life of me I can't understand how/why one PC on a network can know or care that a remote printer attached to some other PC on the same network - is using USB to talk to that other PC. If you can answer the question - why is USB relevant - then you can also probably identify what feature you have not configured correctly to get a working printer.

tenkros wrote:I have installed a USB printer on my host, accessable from the network.
How can I print from the Vbox Host on this printer ?

What is meant by VBox Host?
Remember that VBox is an application running on a computer and that computer runs an Operating System that controls the computer and any attached devices and that OS has How-Tos for controlling printers - print data, files, etc.