Can't exit capture mode

[Claire]

Hello,

I started using Virtualbox today (I'm using it for Ubuntu) and noticed that, as soon as I plug any USB device (flash drive, mouse, whatever), I suddenly stop being able to exit capture mode. I assigned windows key as shortcut, and checked it worked before plugging it in. Whenever I press the host button, I can only see a search box in Ubuntu. This also happened with the default host key; I hoped to have it solved changing the input, but no avail. I also tried taking out the device with identical result. I can only go back to normal by manually rebooting my computer (reset button).

I'm running Virtualbox 4.3 on a Windows 7 SP1 machine.

Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you.

[Peter Kuykendall]

I have recently run into this as well, in many circumstances which don't involve USB . I'm using VirtualBox 4.3.6 r91406 on Linux Mint 13.

The only way to escape it is to SSH into the host machine, run ps -A, and kill the process. The host machine's mouse and keyboard are captured so that machine is paralyzed for local access. Thus the need for SSH (remote access).

[Perryg]

Sounds like the keyboard and or mouse have had a USB filter assigned in the guest settings or you have setup a blank filter which will attach just about anything at boot.
The hosts keyboard and mouse are a shared resource and should not have a filter.

[Peter Kuykendall]

Thanks for the suggestion. I disabled USB support in the VM. No help; it's still capturing the mouse and keyboard and won't let them go.

Thanks - Pete

[Perryg]

With guest running and in a host terminal run the following

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VBoxManage list runningvms --long 

Also post the guests log file ( as an attachment )

[Peter Kuykendall]

Thanks for the help Perry!

I started the VM, clicked inside it, got the mouse and keyboard captured and held hostage.

Next I connected to the host via SSH from another machine. Results:

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pete@pete-Latitude-D630 ~ $     VBoxManage list runningvms --long
Name:            PXE test client
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Linux 2.6 / 3.x
UUID:            c363dea0-facd-422b-8a81-e03cba8e9206
Config file:     /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/PXE test client/PXE test client.vbox
Snapshot folder: /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/PXE test client/Snapshots
Log folder:      /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/PXE test client/Logs
Hardware UUID:   c363dea0-facd-422b-8a81-e03cba8e9206
Memory size:     512MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       5MB
CPU exec cap:    100%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             off
Long Mode:       on
Synthetic CPU:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Network
Boot Device (2): Not Assigned
Boot Device (3): Not Assigned
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          off
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             UTC
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     off
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
State:           running (since 2014-02-02T01:18:47.550000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE Controller
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
Storage Controller Name (1):            SATA Controller
Storage Controller Type (1):            IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  30
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      1
Storage Controller Bootable (1):        on
Storage Controller Name (2):            Floppy
Storage Controller Type (2):            I82078
Storage Controller Instance Number (2): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (2):  1
Storage Controller Port Count (2):      1
Storage Controller Bootable (2):        on
IDE Controller (0, 0): /home/pete/shared/CD-images/systemrescuecd-x86-3.8.0.iso (UUID: ac91f34a-8c71-4864-890f-22afda1dc5fb)
SATA Controller (0, 0): /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/PXE test client/PXE test client.vdi (UUID: a804e820-8342-4287-aff3-a6fa5878dbe1)
Floppy (0, 0): /home/pete/shared/docmem3_11_beta/docmem.img (UUID: 03a4f7e6-58d8-4ca2-9db2-eb8ecc17837c)
NIC 1:           MAC: 0800279F14BE, Attachment: Host-only Interface 'vboxnet0', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79C970A, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandwidth group: none
NIC 2:           disabled
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
Pointing Device: PS/2 Mouse
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: PulseAudio, Controller: AC97)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Drag'n'drop Mode: disabled
Session type:    GUI/Qt
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             disabled
EHCI:            enabled

USB Device Filters:

Index:            0
Active:           yes
Name:             SMI Corporation USB DISK [1100]
VendorId:         090c
ProductId:        1000
Revision:         1100
Manufacturer:     SMI Corporation
Product:          USB DISK
Remote:           0
Serial Number:    1209080804004649

Bandwidth groups:  <none>

Shared folders:

Name: 'shared', Host path: '/home/pete/shared' (machine mapping), writable

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/PXE test client/PXE test client.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB


Name:            Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Ubuntu
UUID:            0a46de78-50cf-4b29-9a1c-306abf4c7e19
Config file:     /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04.vbox
Snapshot folder: /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04/Snapshots
Log folder:      /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04/Logs
Hardware UUID:   0a46de78-50cf-4b29-9a1c-306abf4c7e19
Memory size:     512MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       12MB
CPU exec cap:    100%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             on
Long Mode:       off
Synthetic CPU:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): DVD
Boot Device (2): HardDisk
Boot Device (3): Not Assigned
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          off
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             UTC
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     off
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
State:           running (since 2014-02-01T22:01:42.831000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
Storage Controller Name (1):            SATA
Storage Controller Type (1):            IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  30
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      1
Storage Controller Bootable (1):        on
IDE (1, 0): Empty
SATA (0, 0): /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04/Snapshots/{3749b588-4d11-4b22-b07c-6a49efef5670}.vdi (UUID: 3749b588-4d11-4b22-b07c-6a49efef5670)
NIC 1:           MAC: 08002770B733, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'wlan0', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny, Bandwidth group: none
NIC 2:           MAC: 0800270A260B, Attachment: Host-only Interface 'vboxnet0', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: 82540EM, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny, Bandwidth group: none
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
Pointing Device: USB Tablet
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           disabled
Clipboard Mode:  disabled
Drag'n'drop Mode: disabled
Session type:    GUI/Qt
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             enabled
EHCI:            enabled

USB Device Filters:

<none>

Bandwidth groups:  <none>

Shared folders:  <none>

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       /home/pete/.VirtualBox/Machines/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04/Clonezilla Ubuntu 12.04.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB

Snapshots:

   Name: Minimal Ubuntu 12 server updated (UUID: ebc1e4ec-35ee-4deb-a8f7-8ac99594ec51) *

pete@pete-Latitude-D630 ~ $

Now I must kill the guest in order to regain local control of the host so I can grab the log file.

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pete@pete-Latitude-D630 ~ $ ps -A | grep Virtual
 3313 ?        00:01:07 VirtualBox
 3463 ?        00:07:19 VirtualBox
14843 ?        00:08:29 VirtualBox
pete@pete-Latitude-D630 ~ $ kill 14843
pete@pete-Latitude-D630 ~ $

VM log file is attached.

Thanks again!

[Perryg]

Install the guest additions (in the guest) or use the host key to release the capture.

[Peter Kuykendall]

That's the problem. Most of the time the host key won't release it. Occasionally it does, maybe 10% of VM starts.

I've looked for an option to change the host key, in case that might help, but it doesn't seem to be configurable.

One other wierd note, perhaps this sheds some light. I noticed that the other running VM, the Clonezilla server, is showing the "USB Tablet" as the pointing device. I don't own a tablet, nor do I want USB enabled on either VM. It seems odd that such a configuration would show up.

Thanks

[Perryg]

The host key is configurable in the preference section.

[Peter Kuykendall]

OK this is interesting. I went into the File/Preferences/Input/Virtual machine. "Host Key Combination" was set to Right Ctrl. I tried back spacing, no joy. I pressed the Right Alt key and it changed. Then I tried to change it to something else, but it wouldn't change. OK, so now it's Right Alt.

I then started the VM and now the Right Alt releases the keyboard and mouse, just like Right Ctrl normally does, except when it doesn't.

So this seems to have fixed it, at least in this VM start. I'll try a few dozen starts to see if it keeps working.

Are there any logs I might look at, either on the host or the VM? I'm wondering if the host machine's keyboard mapping is getting messed up somehow. For example, if the Right Ctrl key got somehow mapped to some other hex code, I'd never know it, because I never use it, except to release control from a VM.

Thanks again for all the help.