Gratefully I have found answers to my questions 1, 2, and indications that the answer to my question 3 will likely be yes.
Answers to questions 1 and 2
I started VirtualBox 4.3.6 r91406 and clicked on its “Settings,” or else “Machine, Settings” and then on “USB” on the left-hand side of the ensuing window. Then I connected the USB connector at the end of the IEEE-1284, parallel-to-USB adapter's USB cable to one of my computer's USB ports. Then on the right-hand side of that window by clicking on the blue image looking like a USB connector with a “+” over it I could see some lines of text and/or characters, one of which read
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”.
There seemed to be some problem with what should have been the character “o” in the above word Prolific. By clicking on that line an entry was placed under “USB Device Filters” reading
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”
with a check mark in the check box on the left-hand side of that line. And I probably clicked on an “OK” “button” after that. After a later start of VirtualBox on that same window I had the line
“Conexant USB Modem [0100]”
added there with a check mark in the check box on the left-hand side of that line.
After starting openSUSE 13.1 as the virtual “machine” in VirtualBox and logging into it, a window was automatically opened for the openSUSE operating system to use. In that window I clicked on “Devices, USB Devices” and saw the line
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”
probably without a black check mark on the left-hand side of it. I think that a check mark in such a place may be intended to indicate that the indicated device has been attached to the openSUSE operating system by VirtualBox. So the absence of a check mark there would have meant no success yet in attaching the device labeled as
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”.
By clicking on that entry I was notified in an ensuing window entitled “VirtualBox – Error”,
“Failed to attach the USB device Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200] to the virtual machine openSUSE Linux. USB device Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller with UUID {c470bead-eff6-4b2c-989e-c1262647cd03} is busy with a previous request. Please try again later.” After clicking on the “Details” hyperlink within that same window I saw
Result Code: E_INVALIDARG (0x80070057)
Component: HostUSBDevice
Interface: IHostUSBDevice {173b4b44-d268-4334-a00d-b6521c9a740a}
Callee: IConsole {8ab7c520-2442-4b66-8d74-4ff1e195d2b6}
, which unless I made a mistake in the above letters and digits, is what overlaps with what numerous other people have reported seeing in VirtualBox, online community forums. Among those online forums I have noticed three different kinds of solutions to this problem, but for circumstances that don't completely match my own circumstances:
a) one by Nayasis on
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=39104 involving deleting an UpperFilters entry in a registry key in the 32-bit, Windows-7, Home Premium Edition “host;”
b) one by kurts-forum on
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=57946 in a 64-bit, Windows-8.1, Professional Edition “host” and a Windows XP, Service-Pack-3 “guest” involving temporarily I suppose disabling the appropriate entry in a Windows “host's” “Device Manager;” and
c) one by Wayne Zhang on
viewtopic.php?f=6&start=15&t=57946 in a 64-bit, Windows-7, Enterprise Edition “host” involving obtaining a USB drivers folder and running “Install” for the file VboxUSBMon.inf, all from VirtualBox 4.2.16 with otherwise VirtualBox 4.3.6 r91406 installed on the computer.
I found the registry path mentioned in “a” also in 64-bit Windows 8.1. But in my case in 64-bit Windows 8.1 there was no UpperFilters entry immediately in the right-hand pane after clicking on that path. In “b” assuming that by deactivating it was really temporarily disabling the appropriate entry in “Device Manager,” which in my case I think was “USB Printing Support,” method “b” did not work for me with instead an openSUSE “guest” operating system and a 64-bit, Windows-8.1 operating system. I tried something similar to method “c.” But in order to not disturb my VirtualBox-4.3.6 r91406 installation on a 64-bit, Windows-8.1-loaded computer I installed VirtualBox 4.2.16 on a different, Windows XP Home Edition-loaded computer, obtained the directory C;\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\drivers\USB from that computer, compressed it to a USB.zip file, and e-mailed that USB.zip file to my electronic-mail account. Then on my Windows-8.1-loaded computer I opened that attached,file USB.zip, extracted its USB folder by likely double-clicking or clicking on the file USB.zip, and proceeded to follow Wayne Zhang's instructions starting with the file VboxUSBMon.inf in the filters subdirectory of the folder USB that I e-mailed to myself. But unfortunately that procedure did not work for me either in 64-bit Windows 8.1.---After starting VirtualBox and openSUSE 13.1 in the window for openSUSE 13.1 I clicked on “Devices, USB Devices” and read “No USB Devices Connected.” I stopped openSUSE and VirtualBox and then started VirtualBox, clicked on its “Settings, USB,” on the right-hand portion of that window placed the touchpad arrow over the blue, USB-connector-looking image with a “+” on it, and either clicked on it or immediately read in the context-sensitive menu “<no devices available>”.
Fortunately I could return VirtualBox to the better state of it by restoring the data on my computer's internal hard-disk drive using the Windows-8.1 restoration program and a backup of that hard drive I had previously written using Windows 8.1's backup program. In 64-bit Windows 8.1 the beginnings of the backup and restoration options could be reached via typing something like “File History” on the “apps” or start screen, clicking on “File History” that was found, and then for a restoration clicking on “Recovery” or to make a hard-drive backup clicking on “System Image Backup.” To make a restoration from a backup on an external hard-drive I found that the”route” through “Troubleshoot, Advanced options” instead of “EFI USB Device” was the “route” to take because, as Microsoft Corporation's Omar told me, one cannot “boot” a computer from a backup written by the Windows-8.1 backup program onto an external hard-disk drive. On the window reading “Choose additional restore options” after clicking on the “Advanced” “button” by accepting the default options of check marks in the check boxes beside “Automatically restart this computer after the restore is complete” and “Automatically check and update disk error information,” gratefully the restoration could proceed without an error message.
After my computer was restored to the state in which VirtualBox 4.3.6 r91406 was installed on it without any contribution from VirtualBox 4.2.16 in it, I eventually started VirtualBox, connected the USB connector from the IEEE-1284 adapter to my computer. Within VirtualBox's “Settings, USB” that connection to my computer added the entry “Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” in the list of detected devices.--That list of detected devices could be seen after clicking on the blue, USB-connector-looking image with a “+” on it located on the right-hand side of the USB window. From the Internet I learned that 067B was the vendor identification for “Prolific Technology, Incorporated;” and the product number 2305 was likely associated with a parallel-to-USB adapter. From the Internet I suppose that this device has a PL2305 “chip” or integrated circuit within it and guess that “PL” within that identification might stand for “Prolific.”. Clicking on that entry added under “USB Device Filters” the line reading “Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” with a check mark in the check box on the left-hand side of it. My list then under “USB Device Filters”included not only that line, but also the lines reading
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]” and
“Conexant USB Modem [0100]”,
each with check marks in the check boxes on the left-hand side of each of those lines. On that same window the check box beside “Enable USB Controller” had a check mark in it, all in black (Sometimes those characters were in a grey color.). After starting the virtual “machine” openSUSE 13.1, previously configured to work with VirtualBox, and clicking on openSUSE's window's “Devices, USB Devices,” I could see that the entries
“Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” and
“Conexant USB Modem [0100]”
each had black check marks on the left-hand sides of them. Thankfully that black check mark on the left-hand side of “Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” likely meant that the Prolific Technology, Incorporated, IEEE-1284, parallel-to-USB adapter was software-wise attached to openSUSE 13.1!
Next via “Devices, USB Devices” I clicked on “Conexant USB Modem [0100]”. That removed the check mark on the left-hand side of it and had the result that “Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]” was displayed there with a black check mark beside it.
Continuing there, I found by experimenting that right after I clicked on “Conexant USB Modem [0100]” without a check mark on the left-hand side of it at that time that I lost my dial-up Internet connection to the Internet in Windows 8.1! That clicking probably put a check mark on the left-hand side of that line. Clicking that line again, which should have removed that check mark, I could again connect to the Internet. With the check mark there beside “Conexant USB Modem [0100]” and in Windows 8.1 I could attempt to have dialed a local access telephone number to connect to my dial-up Internet Service Provider (ISP). But that resulted in the following message being displayed in Windows 8.1:
“Your modem is in use by another program. Please quit all other programs on your computer and try connecting again.”
I have seen that someone else wrote in a VirtualBox online forum about losing a connection to the Internet I suppose using VirtualBox under some circumstance. The list of devices software-wise attached to openSUSE can be seen in a context-sensitive menu when the touchpad arrow is over a blue, USB-connector-looking image near the bottom-right-hand corner of that window for openSUSE.
Here is my attempt to make sense of the above losing and regaining a connection to the Internet by doing some reasoning with some guessing in this paragraph. I suppose that the “host,” Windows operating system gets its dial-up connection to the Internet via my external modem, but that the “guest,” openSUSE operating system may get its connection to the Internet via VirtualBox's “Settings, Network, Adapter 1” tab, “Attached to: NAT”, and with a check mark beside “Cable Connected.” And let's call that “cable” a virtual “cable” with VirtualBox “making openSUSE think” that or “act like” openSUSE is connected to the Internet by means of a physical cable, even though it is not directly so real-cable-connected. Furthermore from the above message from the ISP's computer program I suppose that that computer program and another computer program in openSUSE can't both be using the real, external modem at the same time. So, in summary, I suppose that in order to connect to the Internet via a dial-up Internet connection in both “host” Windows and “guest” openSUSE at the same time, it is necessary to let my ISP's dial-up program in Windows use the real modem and then for openSUSE to get its connection to the Internet via NAT and the virtual “cable” I mentioned in VirtualBox.
In addition, recently the following order seemed be important when desiring to connect to the Internet in the “guest,” openSUSE operating system via a dial-up Internet connection:
1) Connect to the Internet via the dial-up Internet connection in 64-bit Windows 8.1.
2) Start VirtualBox in Windows.
3) Within VirtualBox's main window start VirtualBox and then within the window VirtualBox provides for the “guest,” openSUSE operating system to use, log into openSUSE 13.1. (I have been using the Lightweight X Windows System, version-11 [X11] Desktop Environment [LXDE].)
Sometimes there was one thing or were two special things I had to do to get the IEEE-1284, parallel-to-USB adapter software-wise attached to openSUSE:
1) In the window for openSUSE sometimes I needed to click on “Devices, USB Devices” and then click on
“Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” or
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”
to get a black check mark on the left-side of it there, probably indicating a software-wise attachment of that device to openSUSE. It appears to me that those entries are very likely for the same, IEEE-1284, adapter or device.
2) If neither of the above two entries was listed after clicking on “Devices, USB Devices,” while VirtualBox and maybe openSUSE were running I needed to disconnect and reconnect to a USB port of my computer the USB cable coming from the IEEE-1284 adapter. I think it is Windows which “kindly” produced some sounds to indicate to me both that the USB electrical connection was made or disconnected and that some Windows software was arranged accordingly.
On February 14, 2014 here were some related settings in VirtualBox 4.3.6 and openSUSE 13.1 when I had the IEEE-1284 adapter software-wise attached to openSUSE and could connect to the Internet in openSUSE 13.1:
In VirtualBox 4.3.6's “Settings, USB”:
“Enable USB Controller” with a check mark in the check box on the left-hand side of it and all in black.
Under “USB Device Filters”
“Unknown device 067B:2305 [0200]” and
“Pr(“the right-hand portion of a Japanese hiragana character pronounced as "ha")”lific Technology Inc. IEEE-1284 Controller [0200]”,
each with a check mark in the check box on the left-hand side of it and all in black. (It might be possible to eliminate one of the above “[0200]”-containing lines, since they likely refer to the same device.)
And again on VirtualBox 4.3.6's “Settings, Network, Adapter 1” tab:
“Attached to: NAT”, and
with a check mark beside “Cable Connected.”
So the message in the “guest,” openSUSE operating system's window when using VirtualBox 4.3.6 r91406 and when attempting to attach the parallel-to-USB adapter which began with ““Failed to attach the USB device …..” could eventually gratefully be avoided in 64-bit Windows 8.1. And my computer uses USB-3.0 ports and circuitry, which did not appear to be a problem for the Prolific Technology, Incorporated, IEEE-1284, parallel-to-USB adapter.
The answer to my question 3 in my earlier posting in this thread appears likely to be yes. In openSUSE 13.1 a printer connected to my IEEE-1284 adapter was “detected” by Yet another Setup Tool 2's (YaST2's) “Printers” after clicking on an “Add” button. My printer was reported as a Lexmark inkjet 4100 printer (The Compaq IJ300 printer is equivalent to the Lexmark Z11 and 4100 designations for all essentially the same printer, according to
http://download.driverguide.com/driver/ ... 14431.html.). That program just could not “find” a driver for my printer.
Without no driver for my Compaq IJ300 or equivalent printer certain to work in 64-bit Windows 8.1 and with 64-bit openSUSE 13.1 not including a driver for it, it appears that taking source code for this printer and compiling and linking it somehow may be a way to enable that printer to be used with my relatively new computer. Not having done that sort of thing to make a device work in openSUSE, I hope to find some help on that somehow using the Internet, possibly including posting one or more questions relating to this matter in an online, openSUSE forum.