can usb be seamlessly accessed by both host and guest?

[nick47]

I am running a Windows 7 host and have installed Virtualbox 4.3.24r98716 with extensions. The host is Windows 10 with Guest additions installed. I am operating in seamless windows mode and can go back and forth between the Host apps and Guest apps...no problem there.

A USB printer is attached to my host machine and I can print to it from my Host machine when the Guest is not running. When I boot the Guest it is able to access the printer, so that works ok. The problem I am having is that the Guest has *exclusive* access to the the printer (and all other USB ports), so it is no longer seen by the host. If I shut down the Guest, then the Host can again access the printer.

Should the Host and Guest both have access to the printer? If so, how do I make that happen?

[Perryg]

USB is a one-to-one device and can not be shared. If you need for both to print you should stop using USB and use shared printer function in the host.

[nick47]

When I shut down the Guest OS the printer can then be accessed again by the Host. I can live with that, but was just hoping there was an easier way. Thank you for the information.

[scottgus1]

Perry's way is the easiest way. Don't use the Virtualbox USB filters to connect your printer to the guest. Just let the host OS handle the printer, then share the printer in the host. If you set up networking between your host and guest, your guest will be able to find and use the shared printer at the same time as your host can use it.

[nick47]

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't pick up on that in Perry's response, although re-reading it I see that I should have. I made that change as you both suggested and it works fine.

[aer0usa]

Sorry to intrude, but might this be the reason why the mouse and keyboard stop responding on the host if I plug something else (my smartphone) into USB on the host while running VirtualBox?

The host is Win7 64-bit, the guest is Linux Mint Debian Edition, and VirtualBox is version 4.3.12. Please let me know if you need more info.

Thanks!
Eric

[michaln]

Should the Host and Guest both have access to the printer? If so, how do I make that happen?

Not via USB. Maybe if you set up a shared network printer on the host and accessed it from the guest (over the network, not USB) it would work. But USB devices are either captured by the guest or used by the host, not both.

[michaln]

Sorry to intrude, but might this be the reason why the mouse and keyboard stop responding on the host if I plug something else (my smartphone) into USB on the host while running VirtualBox?

No.

[aer0usa]

Sorry to intrude, but might this be the reason why the mouse and keyboard stop responding on the host if I plug something else (my smartphone) into USB on the host while running VirtualBox?

No.

Fair enough. Can you or someone expand on that a bit?

[michaln]

Fair enough. Can you or someone expand on that a bit?

No, because I have no idea why it should be happening, and it certainly isn't on any of my systems. All I know is that it's different from this topic, so you should start a new topic and describe your setup and exactly what is going on.