virtualbox.org

Hi,

I've spent the better part of a day trying to get a USB webcam to work.
I'm running into virtually the same problem mentioned in http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=43220.

Host: Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard - 64 bit
Guest: Windows XP SP3 - 32 bit
CPU: Intel (not AMD)

Everything, host and guest OSes, VirtualBox, Guest Extensions, and Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack are all freshly installed and have current updates.

I've tried two different webcams (a Logitech failed completely).
A PC VGA Camer@ Plus (from VGA SoC PC-Camera Manufacturer) works marginally "better".
Preinstalled the drivers on the guest.
Disabled the devices on the host.
Started the guest VM with the webcam disconnected.
Plug in the webcam.
My Computer, shows the camera in the Scanners and Cameras group, with the correct name, and type of "Digital camera".
Properties shows correct details.
Clicking the Test Camera button in the properties dialog says the device successfully completed the diagnostic test.
The USB device still says unknown on both the VM's devices menu and the status bar's USB icon.

Opening the camera (or running AmCap) freezes the guest.
Nothing from the Machine menu (Reset, ACPI Shutdown, Close) has any effect.
The close box on the VM does nothing.
If I have left the VirtualBox Manager open it has completely frozen too.

End Process in the Task Manager on the host will close the VirtualBox Manager.
End Process on the host will also appear to make the Guest window disappear.
But the Guest process will not go away.
At this point a complete restart of the host is required.

Upon restarting the VirtualBox Manager, it lists the guest as having Aborted.

If USB webcams do not work on VirtualBox Windows guests, please add this information to the FAQs and put a sticky topic on the appropriate fora.

On the other hand, if they can be made to work, please tell us all how, and add this information to the FAQs, etc.

Thanks,
David

did you try vb 4.1. This seemed to fix some USB problems. It may also be wise to, before you install VB and the additions, to log out of any other active users, and make sure that virtualbox is not running under any users, and once finished installing the additions, reboot. USB started working for me with 4.1 at least. although it seems with virtualbox one thing is fixed but they break something else. VB is notorious for its instability and flakiness, you can never be sure if it will not break something when upgrading. i certianly wish they would be more careful not to break older VMs.

Hi,

As I said, VirtualBox, Guest Extensions, and Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack are all current:
Version 4.1.0 r73009

Also, host is W Server 2008 R2 64 bit,
guest is W XP SP3 32 bit.
Intel CPU.
Solutions particular to Linux or AMD cannot be used.

Thanks,
David

All,

Given the lack of any solutions I have to say that a USB webcam in Windows Guest OS on Windows Host does NOT work in Version 4.1.0!

(There also appear to be problems with Windows Guests on non-Windows hosts, but I cannot confirm that.)

I'll keep looking for a specific fix reported in the release notes of new versions.

Thanks,
David

I would read through this Topic. Misha is working on the USB sub system and you might have some luck with the test download. Not to mention that they have several other fixes in version 4.1.2, so you should update. Don't forget the guest additions and Extension pack updates as well.

Duplicate thread removed from Windows Guests. Cross-posting is not allowed here.

Perryg,

I just upgraded to 4.1.2r73507 yesterday (both the manager and guest extensions).
It doesn't work any better.
I tried everything I could find on these forums as of 22 July.

I haven't seen anything posted since then that has been presented as a "new" solution.

I've tried on both XP and W7 guests.
My basic test is to go to my computer and open the camera.
The guest VM freezes and task manager on the host can't get rid of the VM process. (The VM's UI goes away, but the process sticks around.)
If I want to run another VM or rerun that VM I need to reboot the host.

Is Misha's stuff in the 4.1.2 upgrade? Or should I look at it separately?

Thanks,
David

Perryg wrote:I would read through this Topic. Misha is working on the USB sub system and you might have some luck with the test download. Not to mention that they have several other fixes in version 4.1.2, so you should update. Don't forget the guest additions and Extension pack updates as well.

Cameras seem to be an issue in windows hosts to guest.
I think this should be reported to bugtracker. You will need to setup an account there as it is on a different system.
It would also help if you can post the ticket number here so other can see the progress, add information, or see the final results.

I have a similar issue: my PC Camer@ web cam works fine with 4.0.12, but when I upgraded to 4.1.2 then using the webcam causes the virtual machine to freeze.

More info:
Host: Windows 7 64 bit, i7-930 processor, 12G RAM
Guest: Windows XP SP3
Application: Skype.

The webcam works fine in Skype in 4.0.12, but crashes everything in 4.1.2 the moment I try to use the webcam in Skype. I had to go back to 4.0.12 and recreate a new virtual machine from the virtual disk. I tried this twice in case I'd done something wrong.

Just upgraded to VirtualBox 4.1.4, and my PC Camer@ web cam still crashes VirtualBox. When I run Skype, as soon as Skype accesses the webcam, the VM freezes. Works on 4.0.12, but not on 4.1.anything.

Anyone any ideas?

More info:
Host: Windows 7 64 bit, i7-930 processor, 12G RAM
Guest: Windows XP SP3
Application: Skype.

I can confirm this bug on Virtualbox 4.1.6.

More info:
Windows 64 host
Linux Debian 64-bit, Linux Ubuntu 64, Linux Sabayon 64 guests
intel i7-920 6GB
any application accessing one of the following will freeze/hang the VM:
-USB webcam Logitech B500
-USB Logitech Headset G330

If you want I can also test with a Logitech Keyboard, a Logitech mouse, and a Logitech joypad, so we find out if VirtualBox really hates Logitech HW

There seems to be an assumption in this thread that the problem must be USB support.

Bear in mind that a video camera may require overlay support (2D acceleration) inside the guest, and there's no telling how elegantly some random selected driver will deal with the lack of this: i.e. the problem may not be to do with USB at all.

kattle87 wrote:I can confirm this bug on Virtualbox 4.1.6.

@kattle87: note that the title of the thread says "Windows Guest OS". You can hardly "confirm the bug" with an entirely different scenario. A Linux guest will use a different driver stack from top to bottom.

mpack wrote:There seems to be an assumption in this thread that the problem must be USB support.

Bear in mind that a video camera may require overlay support (2D acceleration) inside the guest, and there's no telling how elegantly some random selected driver will deal with the lack of this: i.e. the problem may not be to do with USB at all.

As I stated, the same happens with a USB headset. It has nothing to do with video drivers, for sure. Perhaps it *might* be related to some audio/video driver on Windows host, (DirectShow?) because my USB printer worked without any problem.

mpack wrote: @kattle87: note that the title of the thread says "Windows Guest OS". You can hardly "confirm the bug" with an entirely different scenario. A Linux guest will use a different driver stack from top to bottom.

Ok perhaps you are right but I wanted to point out that I experience the same identical problem, on another guest. This probably means there's something wrong in VirtualBox software on Windows Host. That's why I "confirmed" the bug

FWIW, I'm running VB 4.1.6 under Ubuntu Linux 11.10 and have configured Windows XP as a guest OS. Everything works fine, except the LogitechUSB HD Pro Webcam C910. I have the Guest Additions installed in XP, and I added my user name to the vboxusers group in Linux, and have configured the virtual machine to use the webcam. I also enabled the 2D and 3D accelerations for this vm, and cranked the video memory to 128MB. I downloaded and installed the Logitech Webcam Software with Vid HD Software Version: 2.30.1396.0; the web site was even able to correctly auto-detect the webcam under XP. The camera then appears in the XP "Device Manager" by name, but shows "This device cannot start. (Code 10)". The webcam software reports that no camera is connected. The webcam works fine using Camorama from the host Linux OS. My entire reason for installing VirtualBox and XP was so I could use the Windows version of Skype and be able to shut it down or remove it without letting it poke around in my Linux installation, considering the fact that their EULA is longer and more complicated than several home mortgages I've signed. So I guess I'm "confirming" the bug too, in my own special way...