USB Printer fails to attach to guest

[smilingfrog]

This is a frustrating bug for me. I have researched for the last two days to come up with a solution.
My problem is very similar to this: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=46001&hilit=8440. I left a message there, but the thread is old.

I have been running Virtualbox on Ubuntu 10.04 as host, with Windows 2000 as guest. I use accounting software on the guest, and I need to print files and cheques from my printer, which is a Brother MFC 8440 printer/scanner. The printer/scanner works in the virtual machine most of the time, but sometimes it too suffers from this bug.

I need to update my OS, as the LTS for 10.04 will not last forever. Unfortunately, whenever I update to a new distro, I run into problems with VirtualBox attaching the printer. I then go back to the old distro in frustration.

I have recently tried again:
I have a clean install of Mint 14, with VirtualBox v4.2.6 r82870 installed from binaries downloaded from virtualbox.org.
I have added my user to the vboxusers, lp, and lpadmin groups.
I have downloaded and installed the guest additions 4.2.6r82870
I can access USB mouse, and drives from the virtual machine, but not the printer. I get the following error when I do:

Code: Select all

Failed to attach the USB device Unknown device 04F9:015F [0100] to the virtual machine Windows2000.
Failed to create a proxy device for the USB device. (Error: VERR_READ_ERROR).

Result Code: 
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: 
Console
Interface: 
IConsole {db7ab4ca-2a3f-4183-9243-c1208da92392}

Here are some parameters I have seen requested in other posts:

Code: Select all

george@diego ~ $ groups
george adm lp cdrom sudo dip plugdev lpadmin vboxusers scanner sambashare
george@diego ~ $ ls -Rl /dev/vboxusb/
/dev/vboxusb/:
total 0
drwxr-x--- 2 root vboxusers 60 Feb 26 08:31 001
drwxr-x--- 2 root vboxusers 80 Feb 26 08:31 002

/dev/vboxusb/001:
total 0
crw-rw---- 1 root vboxusers 189, 2 Feb 26 17:27 003

/dev/vboxusb/002:
total 0
crw-rw---- 1 root vboxusers 189, 131 Feb 26 08:31 004
crw-rw---- 1 root vboxusers 189, 132 Feb 26 08:31 005
george@diego ~ $ VBoxManage list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               af360c2a-7674-41e5-a1c2-6554e0f29f93
VendorId:           0x046d (046D)
ProductId:          0xc025 (C025)
Revision:           152.2 (15202)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/1
Manufacturer:       B16_b_02
Product:            USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.8/2-1.8.1//device:/dev/vboxusb/002/004
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               282f010a-5e39-4f22-8504-2598a1972b4d
VendorId:           0x04f9 (04F9)
ProductId:          0x015f (015F)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               0
USB version/speed:  2/2
SerialNumber:       000D5J512528
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1a.0/usb1/1-1/1-1.1//device:/dev/vboxusb/001/003
Current State:      Held

UUID:               54b97b22-7d43-42f4-a67c-20ba2c34fc73
VendorId:           0x0518 (0518)
ProductId:          0x0001 (0001)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               2
USB version/speed:  1/1
Manufacturer:       Plus More Enterprise LTD.
Product:            USB-compliant keyboard
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.8/2-1.8.3//device:/dev/vboxusb/002/005
Current State:      Busy

george@diego ~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f9:015f Brother Industries, Ltd MFC-8440
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 050d:0414 Belkin Components 
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 046d:c025 Logitech, Inc. MX500 Optical Mouse
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0518:0001 EzKEY Corp. USB to PS2 Adaptor v1.09

My confusion is that it works in Ubuntu 10.04, but not whenever I try to srart a new distro. I must be missing something simple.
Any help is appreciated.
I am also opening a bug tracker.

[mpack]

Attaching a USB printer directly to the guest really isn't the best way to do things. Share the printer on the network instead, that way it's accessible to the host and to all running VMs - at the same time.

[smilingfrog]

Thanks for the reply; I'll look into that.

Just for fun, I reinstalled a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04 into an empty partition, to see if I could generate the same error. Unfortunately, no error encountered on clean install. I don't know if it something to do with Mint, or config files outside of my control, but I was expecting an error on a clean install.

I also installed a clean copy of Linux 9, which is based on 10.04, and the printer attaches cleanly there as well.

[smilingfrog]

So I set up the printer as a network printer, but this simply poses different problems.
The network printing works fine from my laptop, but does not print at all from the virtual machine.
I cannot use the scanner the from the virtual machine either.

I think when it is attached via USB the native Windows drivers are able to control the hardware, and this is fast. But for what ever reason, the printer server says the documents are being sent and completed, but nothing prints.

I would rather connect this printer directly to the virtual machine via the USB. Any other suggestions?

[mpack]

No, no further suggestions except: if you can't get it to work over a network, I doubt you'll find it easier, faster or more reliable with USB.

[Gurtz]

Smilingfrog,

I realize this was quite a while ago, but did you ever solve this. I believe I have almost the exact same problem. I'm trying to attach a Brother MFC 8840D to a Windows XP guest from a Mint 13 host. I'm getting the same error. I'm quite desperate to find a solution.

BTW, does your PC support USB 3? Though I have the printer plugged into a USB 2 port, I wonder if somehow the USB 3 is interfering.

Thanks,
Greg

[smilingfrog]

No, I still haven't figured it out.
I am still using Ubuntu 10.04, because I haven't had the time to sort out this bug, and I need the printer.
I'm sure it has something to do with the USB connectivity. I am not using USB3.
If you find out anything, please post it here.
Thanks.

[Gurtz]

That's disappointing. But thanks for the info.

Please see my post here. I have attempted to summarize the situation for both of us:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=57984&p=269851

I have also linked to your post from mine. And I'll try to remember to post here if a solution is found.

Thanks,
Greg

[smilingfrog]

Better late than never, but I finally did get a solution to this problem.
More of a work around, actually. I went and bought a used network card, and accessed the printer/scanner from the network. Problem solved- sort of!

[Gurtz]

Glad you were able to get it sorted out. I eventually found a solution, too: I sold the printer