USB external hard disk appearing disabled/greyed out

[yaaang]

(Please translate all the DOTs I write below into actual dots—getting hampered by the no-URLs-from-new-members policy.)

I've been doing a bunch of research including reviewing past posts and reading articles, e.g.:

• Googling "site:forums DOT virtualbox DOT org/ usb disk grayed | disabled | greyed mac host" (since forum search feature isn't as good and doesn't even admit the "usb" term as it's too few chars)
• davidoluwatimi DOT wordpress DOT com/2012/07/06/macosx-vbox-host-fix-ubuntu-usb-access/
• frank DOT heydlauf DOT de/jm2c/archive/80/virtualbox-on-os-x-host-howto-mount-an-external-usb-drive but super old and I'm not going to e.g. unload the host's USB kernel module

I'm using 4.2.16r86992 (both VirtualBox and Extensions) on a Mac OS X 10.8.4 host, and I'm trying to use my external hard disk (USB) to work in either of my VMs (tried both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04).

I see four USB devices listed in the menu, two of which are grayed out, including the disk.

Code: Select all

$ VBoxManage list usbhost
Host USB Devices:

UUID:               afd05c85-7325-4d0a-9176-b91dc8607035
VendorId:           0x05ac (05AC)
ProductId:          0x0259 (0259)
Revision:           2.36 (0236)
Port:               2
USB version/speed:  0/1
Manufacturer:       Apple Inc.
Product:            Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Address:            p=0x0259;v=0x05ac;s=0x000419d9ffd44b7b;l=0x1d182000
Current State:      Unavailable

UUID:               58365008-cff9-4c27-bb0d-8ff2598a15e1
VendorId:           0x05ac (05AC)
ProductId:          0x828c (828C)
Revision:           1.0 (0100)
Port:               3
USB version/speed:  0/1
Manufacturer:       Apple Inc.
Product:            Bluetooth USB Host Controller
Address:            p=0x828c;v=0x05ac;s=0x000419da16a0bb29;l=0x1d181300
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               92e67661-7638-4f2a-8c81-9f4b85a240ba
VendorId:           0x05ac (05AC)
ProductId:          0x8510 (8510)
Revision:           128.37 (12837)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  0/2
Manufacturer:       Apple Inc.
Product:            FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
SerialNumber:       CC2C9C0AS7DN9KE0
Address:            p=0x8510;v=0x05ac;s=0x000419d9dbbb4c7d;l=0x1a110000
Current State:      Busy

UUID:               6e90142f-1588-4c6d-84a3-b453bf8c14e6
VendorId:           0x1058 (1058)
ProductId:          0x1140 (1140)
Revision:           16.22 (1622)
Port:               1
USB version/speed:  0/2
Manufacturer:       Western Digital
Product:            My Book 1140
SerialNumber:       3558573158533836
Address:            p=0x1140;v=0x1058;s=0x00042b4dc78e43b9;l=0x1d110000
Current State:      Unavailable

When I try to enable the Host Controller device (one of the non-grayed menu options), I get an error saying that it's in use.

I verified via support DOT apple DOT com/kb/HT5172#10 that I'm not using USB3 (instead on Hi-Speed i.e. 2.0).

I verified that the machine settings show USB and EHCI enabled.

I tried adding an all-blank filter (to the otherwise empty list) for shits and giggles.

I tried unplugging and re-plugging the disks.

Any other ideas? Happy to supply any additional info.

[mpack]

Please provide a VM log file. For details see Minimum information needed for assistance.

[rpmurray]

[Solved] USB device (gamepad) greyed out, can't be selected.
[SOLVED] Using a KeySpan USA-19HS Serial to USB adapter.

[yaaang]

rpmurray: In my original post I mentioned that I tried creating a catch-all filter.

[Peebee]

You tried clicking on the blue usb icon to create a "new filter 1", and then delete anything else?

This works for me.

[rpmurray]

rpmurray: In my original post I mentioned that I tried creating a catch-all filter.

Yes, you said a "catch-all" filter with all blank fields. How about trying a filter for your specific USB device like they talked about in the links I provided, where you have just the vendor and product IDs.