USB crashes Virtual Box and causes kernel panic
Posted: 16. Dec 2011, 11:35
I am a keen user of VBox. It is a great bit of kit. However, I have been having a hell of a time trying to get USB drives to work in VBox.
At first nothing would work. I eventually found a forum post explaining there is bug which prevents USB working if there are 2 or more CPUs. So, I reduced the System/Processor setting to 1 CPU. I then (after saying the magic words) got access to a USB thumb drive. It worked well but as other forum posts have explained, the host can block access and so the drive must be ejected from the host. The manual says that VBox can use the USB filters to take over control of a USB drive. I don't understand why it can't do that on my iMac.
Anyway, nothing I have tried has enabled VBox to access my Seagate portable "Expansion" drive. I thought maybe the problem was with using NTFS-3g to format the drive. So, I backed it up and reformatted with FAT. The result was no better. The VBox VM has crashed completely twice (once it caused a kernel panic which locked up my iMac. I had to power down and reboot the iMac, something I've only done three times before in two years.
Usually, however, VBox doesn't crash but, it might as well. It never finds the Seagate automatically via the USB filter. When I try to access the Seagate via the device menu, I get a VBox dialog saying "Failed to attach the USB device Unknown device to the virtual machine." After that, the VM seems less stable and every sub-menu in the VBox "Devices" menu is blanked out. Also, the USB settings dialog in VBox is empty. I can't post an image as yet but, it's the USB tab in "Ports" settings dialog. It is completely blank except for three buttons: Help, Cancel and OK. Only the OK button works.
Lastly, here is a crash log (thread 1 crashed so, I've left out the rest):
Process: VirtualBoxVM [5760]
Path: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VirtualBoxVM
Identifier: VirtualBoxVM
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time: 2011-12-16 19:41:27.901 +1100
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000000001cd1b840
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0 Crashed: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0xffff0820 __memcpy + 128
1 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2cd99b CGAccessSessionGetChunks + 318
2 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2ce54e partial_get_bytes + 399
3 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2cdaa4 CGAccessSessionGetChunks + 583
4 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a198ca9 img_raw_read + 375
5 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a188b4d img_data_lock + 9137
6 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a185b4a CGSImageDataLock + 172
7 libRIP.A.dylib 0x96057751 ripc_AcquireImage + 2446
8 libRIP.A.dylib 0x960553c6 ripc_DrawImage + 1245
9 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a1857c4 CGContextDrawImage + 450
10 VirtualBox.dylib 0x01297da2 TrustedMain + 2645010
11 VirtualBox.dylib 0x0121387b TrustedMain + 2103019
12 QtGuiVBox 0x0190f977 QWidget::event(QEvent*) + 2295
13 QtGuiVBox 0x01ca8558 QFrame::event(QEvent*) + 40
14 QtGuiVBox 0x01d392d6 QAbstractScrollArea::viewportEvent(QEvent*) + 38
15 QtGuiVBox 0x01d3b8e5 QAbstractScrollAreaFilter::eventFilter(QObject*, QEvent*) + 53
16 QtCoreVBox 0x0168dd2f QCoreApplicationPrivate::sendThroughObjectEventFilters(QObject*, QEvent*) + 143
17 QtGuiVBox 0x018b6d13 QApplicationPrivate::notify_helper(QObject*, QEvent*) + 147
18 QtGuiVBox 0x018bda87 QApplication::notify(QObject*, QEvent*) + 327
19 QtCoreVBox 0x015af06c QCoreApplication::notifyInternal(QObject*, QEvent*) + 108
20 QtGuiVBox 0x018b7a1c qt_sendSpontaneousEvent(QObject*, QEvent*) + 60
21 QtGuiVBox 0x0185fad5 -[QCocoaView drawRect:] + 1125
22 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e826f1 -[NSView _drawRect:clip:] + 3721
23 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e7fdbd -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 2217
24 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
25 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
26 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
27 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
28 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
29 com.apple.AppKit 0x97f1e8ef -[NSNextStepFrame _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 311
30 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e7bc96 -[NSView _displayRectIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:] + 3309
31 com.apple.AppKit 0x97ddc84b -[NSView displayIfNeeded] + 818
32 com.apple.AppKit 0x97d9060d -[NSNextStepFrame displayIfNeeded] + 98
33 com.apple.AppKit 0x97da5b64 -[NSWindow displayIfNeeded] + 204
34 QtGuiVBox 0x01863d74 -[QCocoaWindow displayIfNeeded] + 276
35 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dd707e _handleWindowNeedsDisplay + 696
36 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x925e1dd2 __CFRunLoopDoObservers + 1186
37 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259dced __CFRunLoopRun + 557
38 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259d3c4 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 452
39 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259d1f1 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 97
40 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55e04 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 392
41 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55bb9 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 354
42 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55a3e BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode + 81
43 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dad595 _DPSNextEvent + 847
44 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dacdd6 -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 156
45 com.apple.AppKit 0x97d6f1f3 -[NSApplication run] + 821
46 QtGuiVBox 0x018719e1 QEventDispatcherMac::processEvents(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 1505
47 QtCoreVBox 0x0168d3b1 QEventLoop::processEvents(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 65
48 QtCoreVBox 0x0168d6fa QEventLoop::exec(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 170
49 QtCoreVBox 0x0168ed76 QCoreApplication::exec() + 182
50 VirtualBox.dylib 0x01012a7c TrustedMain + 2284
51 VirtualBoxVM 0x000035dc start + 3036
52 VirtualBoxVM 0x00002ab1 start + 177
53 VirtualBoxVM 0x00002a36 start + 54
Hardware-Software: Seagate portable expansion drive 5,400rpm, USB powered; VBox 4.1.6; iMac 27" Core i5; Mac OS X 10.6.8 host; Windows XP guest.
Garry
At first nothing would work. I eventually found a forum post explaining there is bug which prevents USB working if there are 2 or more CPUs. So, I reduced the System/Processor setting to 1 CPU. I then (after saying the magic words) got access to a USB thumb drive. It worked well but as other forum posts have explained, the host can block access and so the drive must be ejected from the host. The manual says that VBox can use the USB filters to take over control of a USB drive. I don't understand why it can't do that on my iMac.
Anyway, nothing I have tried has enabled VBox to access my Seagate portable "Expansion" drive. I thought maybe the problem was with using NTFS-3g to format the drive. So, I backed it up and reformatted with FAT. The result was no better. The VBox VM has crashed completely twice (once it caused a kernel panic which locked up my iMac. I had to power down and reboot the iMac, something I've only done three times before in two years.
Usually, however, VBox doesn't crash but, it might as well. It never finds the Seagate automatically via the USB filter. When I try to access the Seagate via the device menu, I get a VBox dialog saying "Failed to attach the USB device Unknown device to the virtual machine." After that, the VM seems less stable and every sub-menu in the VBox "Devices" menu is blanked out. Also, the USB settings dialog in VBox is empty. I can't post an image as yet but, it's the USB tab in "Ports" settings dialog. It is completely blank except for three buttons: Help, Cancel and OK. Only the OK button works.
Lastly, here is a crash log (thread 1 crashed so, I've left out the rest):
Process: VirtualBoxVM [5760]
Path: /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VirtualBoxVM
Identifier: VirtualBoxVM
Version: ??? (???)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [1]
Date/Time: 2011-12-16 19:41:27.901 +1100
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
Report Version: 6
Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x000000001cd1b840
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0 Crashed: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0xffff0820 __memcpy + 128
1 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2cd99b CGAccessSessionGetChunks + 318
2 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2ce54e partial_get_bytes + 399
3 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a2cdaa4 CGAccessSessionGetChunks + 583
4 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a198ca9 img_raw_read + 375
5 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a188b4d img_data_lock + 9137
6 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a185b4a CGSImageDataLock + 172
7 libRIP.A.dylib 0x96057751 ripc_AcquireImage + 2446
8 libRIP.A.dylib 0x960553c6 ripc_DrawImage + 1245
9 com.apple.CoreGraphics 0x9a1857c4 CGContextDrawImage + 450
10 VirtualBox.dylib 0x01297da2 TrustedMain + 2645010
11 VirtualBox.dylib 0x0121387b TrustedMain + 2103019
12 QtGuiVBox 0x0190f977 QWidget::event(QEvent*) + 2295
13 QtGuiVBox 0x01ca8558 QFrame::event(QEvent*) + 40
14 QtGuiVBox 0x01d392d6 QAbstractScrollArea::viewportEvent(QEvent*) + 38
15 QtGuiVBox 0x01d3b8e5 QAbstractScrollAreaFilter::eventFilter(QObject*, QEvent*) + 53
16 QtCoreVBox 0x0168dd2f QCoreApplicationPrivate::sendThroughObjectEventFilters(QObject*, QEvent*) + 143
17 QtGuiVBox 0x018b6d13 QApplicationPrivate::notify_helper(QObject*, QEvent*) + 147
18 QtGuiVBox 0x018bda87 QApplication::notify(QObject*, QEvent*) + 327
19 QtCoreVBox 0x015af06c QCoreApplication::notifyInternal(QObject*, QEvent*) + 108
20 QtGuiVBox 0x018b7a1c qt_sendSpontaneousEvent(QObject*, QEvent*) + 60
21 QtGuiVBox 0x0185fad5 -[QCocoaView drawRect:] + 1125
22 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e826f1 -[NSView _drawRect:clip:] + 3721
23 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e7fdbd -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 2217
24 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
25 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
26 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
27 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
28 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e80750 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 4668
29 com.apple.AppKit 0x97f1e8ef -[NSNextStepFrame _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 311
30 com.apple.AppKit 0x97e7bc96 -[NSView _displayRectIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:] + 3309
31 com.apple.AppKit 0x97ddc84b -[NSView displayIfNeeded] + 818
32 com.apple.AppKit 0x97d9060d -[NSNextStepFrame displayIfNeeded] + 98
33 com.apple.AppKit 0x97da5b64 -[NSWindow displayIfNeeded] + 204
34 QtGuiVBox 0x01863d74 -[QCocoaWindow displayIfNeeded] + 276
35 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dd707e _handleWindowNeedsDisplay + 696
36 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x925e1dd2 __CFRunLoopDoObservers + 1186
37 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259dced __CFRunLoopRun + 557
38 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259d3c4 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 452
39 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9259d1f1 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 97
40 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55e04 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 392
41 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55bb9 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 354
42 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x91c55a3e BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode + 81
43 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dad595 _DPSNextEvent + 847
44 com.apple.AppKit 0x97dacdd6 -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 156
45 com.apple.AppKit 0x97d6f1f3 -[NSApplication run] + 821
46 QtGuiVBox 0x018719e1 QEventDispatcherMac::processEvents(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 1505
47 QtCoreVBox 0x0168d3b1 QEventLoop::processEvents(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 65
48 QtCoreVBox 0x0168d6fa QEventLoop::exec(QFlags<QEventLoop::ProcessEventsFlag>) + 170
49 QtCoreVBox 0x0168ed76 QCoreApplication::exec() + 182
50 VirtualBox.dylib 0x01012a7c TrustedMain + 2284
51 VirtualBoxVM 0x000035dc start + 3036
52 VirtualBoxVM 0x00002ab1 start + 177
53 VirtualBoxVM 0x00002a36 start + 54
Hardware-Software: Seagate portable expansion drive 5,400rpm, USB powered; VBox 4.1.6; iMac 27" Core i5; Mac OS X 10.6.8 host; Windows XP guest.
Garry