virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

russianwizard · 2009-03-27 01:05:15

I got usb configured and enabled, but whenever i try to mount the device (an ipod touch in this case) it is greyed out and unselectable in the usb devices menu. Ive done all the steps in the wiki under usb.

Barghest · 2009-03-27 08:32:44

Hi,

do you have adjusted the ids according to the ids on your sysem? Did you remount /proc/bus/usb/ (or even restarted?)?

Last edited by Barghest (2009-03-27 08:34:10)

kgas · 2009-03-27 09:18:32

As for as I know the recent ipod touch works with iTunes only and even under windows it could not be accessed as a hard drive (images can be viewed). Jail broken ipods can be accessed with ssh.

Llama · 2009-03-27 10:17:26

russianwizard wrote:

I got usb configured and enabled, but whenever i try to mount the device (an ipod touch in this case) it is greyed out and unselectable in the usb devices menu. Ive done all the steps in the wiki under usb.

Seconded. Exactly the same trouble, no iPod involved . Something's changed, probably after an upgrade (I use Vbox only occasionally). fstab checked, vboxdrv checked, groups checked. I can supply the configs, if necessary.

russianwizard · 2009-03-27 17:03:08

Barghest wrote:

Hi,
do you have adjusted the ids according to the ids on your sysem? Did you remount /proc/bus/usb/ (or even restarted?)?

I know how to remount, but how do I mess around with the ids?

Last edited by russianwizard (2009-03-28 01:15:17)

russianwizard · 2009-03-28 03:53:14

It's a permissions problem for me. The root account can connect to my ipod perfectly.

Llama · 2009-03-28 06:59:21

I've had a look into my configs and they look very suspicious (alexey is the user of VirtualBox):

/etc/group

root::0:root
bin::1:root,bin,daemon
daemon::2:root,bin,daemon
sys::3:root,bin,alexey
adm::4:root,daemon
tty::5:alexey
disk::6:root
lp::7:daemon
mem::8:
kmem::9:
wheel::10:root,alexey
ftp::11:
mail::12:
log::19:root,alexey
smmsp::25:
games::50:
network:x:90:
video:x:91:alexey
audio::92:alexey
optical::93:hal,alexey
floppy:x:94:hal,alexey
storage:x:95:hal,alexey
power:x:98:
nobody::99:
users::100:
locate:x:21:
uucp:x:14:
ntp:x:87:
dbus:x:81:
avahi:x:84:
hal:x:82:
http:x:33:
scanner:x:96:
camera:x:97:alexey
kvm:x:78:
tex:x:109:
policykit:x:110:
vboxusers:x:108:alexey

$ groups
sys tty wheel log video audio optical floppy storage camera users

$ id
uid=1000(alexey) gid=100(users) groups=3(sys),5(tty),10(wheel),19(log),91(video),92(audio),93(optical),94(floppy),95(storage),97(camera),100(users)
$

I can't even interpret this. Any ideas?

#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,busgid=108,busmode=0775,devgid=108,devmode=0664 0 0

Last edited by Llama (2009-03-28 07:02:04)

Llama · 2009-03-28 13:28:00

Reboot helped... Though I coud swear that since VirtualBox upgrade/adding myself to vboxusers group I rebooted more than once...
russianwizard, if this is the solution, please mark the thread as [SOLVED].

russianwizard · 2009-03-29 14:45:00

No luck with getting my account to work with virtualbox, so I just logged into super user in the terminal and then I launched Virtualbox from there. (type in "su" then "Virtual Box" in the terminal.) It's a pretty insecure workaround, but I have usb capability without logging into root and thus creating more security issues.

Last edited by russianwizard (2009-03-29 14:46:14)

Sjoden · 2009-05-03 21:46:08

I'm having the exact same problem. I was looking at getting an iPod Touch, so I decided to install VirtualBox, the one from the AUR, and I can't get any usb devices to work. Neither my Western Digital Passport drive or my Ipod Nano 2nd gen, both work fine in Arch.

Sjoden · 2009-05-04 18:42:12

I just ran VirtualBox as root and I could connect and reat/write to a flashdrive here at work with the Vista VM on my laptop. I guess this is a decent work around until we figure out what to do with the permissions.

Sjoden · 2009-05-04 18:58:20

I was doing some googling and was reading something on the fedoraforums.org site about the same problem we're having and I think I solved it.

I just ran 'vbox_build_module" as root, let it run, and restarted my machine. I logged in and started VirtualBox, plugged in my flashdrive and it installed the drivers and work fine. I never bothered running that before because I hadn't upgraded my kernel since the install, but I guess you should run it after installation since the module hasn't been built against the current kernel, so its still like an upgrade to it. Hopefully this will work for everyone else.

Also here is my fstab line for usb;

none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=108,devmode=664 0 0

The only problem I have with this is that the Vista session steals my mouse from X11, and pressing the host key doesn't release it. It release my touchpad, but the mouse is still stuck in there. I think there is a solution to this on the Arch wiki, but for what I want to use it for this isn't much of an issue.

Here is where I was reading, and it looks like there might be a couple more solutions/workarounds, http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/i … 62084.html.

Last edited by Sjoden (2009-05-04 19:08:05)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-03-27 01:05:15

virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#2 2009-03-27 08:32:44

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#3 2009-03-27 09:18:32

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#4 2009-03-27 10:17:26

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#5 2009-03-27 17:03:08

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#6 2009-03-28 03:53:14

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#7 2009-03-28 06:59:21

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#8 2009-03-28 13:28:00

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#9 2009-03-29 14:45:00

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#10 2009-05-03 21:46:08

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#11 2009-05-04 18:42:12

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

#12 2009-05-04 18:58:20

Re: virtual box wont let me use usb devices after enabling usb

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