Slackware 13.0, VirtualBox and USB Flash Drive Works (Sorta)

tronayne · 10-19-2009, 12:36 PM

After a lot of fooling around (and some good advice from some folks), I've discovered that this entry in /etc/fstab will allow VirtualBox to "see" a flash drive plugged into a USB port (and a guest WinXP installation sees it and connects to it):

Code:

none             /proc/bus/usb    usbfs       devgid=102,devmode=664 0 0

On the downside, Slackware 13.0 can't see it anymore, but you can't have everything, I s'pect. I suppose I can just edit /etc/fstab whenever I want to use a flash drive then edit it back again so the automagic mount will happen ... or just add a mount point in /mnt and manually mount it when I need it.

Ah, progress.

catkin · 10-19-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tronayne

After a lot of fooling around (and some good advice from some folks), I've discovered that this entry in /etc/fstab will allow VirtualBox to "see" a flash drive plugged into a USB port (and a guest WinXP installation sees it and connects to it):

Code:

none             /proc/bus/usb    usbfs       devgid=102,devmode=664 0 0

On the downside, Slackware 13.0 can't see it anymore, but you can't have everything, I s'pect. I suppose I can just edit /etc/fstab whenever I want to use a flash drive then edit it back again so the automagic mount will happen ... or just add a mount point in /mnt and manually mount it when I need it.

Ah, progress.

The solution may be to use devgid=83 (where 83 is plugdev) and to ensure the user of VirtualBox VMs is in group plugdev.

tronayne · 10-19-2009, 01:41 PM

With sincere thanks to catkin, changing the /etc/fstab entry to

Code:

none             /proc/bus/usb    usbfs       devgid=83,devmode=664 0 0

(where 83 is the GID of the plugdev group) works on both the Slackware side and the VirtualBox side.

Domine · 11-11-2009, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tronayne

With sincere thanks to catkin, changing the /etc/fstab entry to

Code:

none             /proc/bus/usb    usbfs       devgid=83,devmode=664 0 0

(where 83 is the GID of the plugdev group) works on both the Slackware side and the VirtualBox side.

Hello guys,
i have the same problem with my usb webcam. I have Slackware13 64 and Virtualbox with Slakcware13 32 inside. I found as well that one must edit fstab. I did as Catkin advised but no luck. When i start Virtualbox it starts and the moment the lilo shows up the mouse and keyboard die. Then only reset button works

Btw i added myself to the groups of virtualbox and plugdev. I also enabled USB and added the usb devices in the settings for the VM.

Any ideas will be appreciated.

Domine · 11-11-2009, 09:29 PM

Hi again,
i solved the problem with the mouse and keyboard but i still cant use my webcam in virtualbox. That is strange though. Mouse and keyb are usb and are working why not the webcam?
I dont get it.

Please help!

mrselfpwn · 11-30-2009, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Domine

Hi again,
i solved the problem with the mouse and keyboard but i still cant use my webcam in virtualbox. That is strange though. Mouse and keyb are usb and are working why not the webcam?
I dont get it.

Please help!

How did you solve your problem? So someone else can know if they have the same issue.

catkin · 11-30-2009, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Domine

Hi again,
i solved the problem with the mouse and keyboard but i still cant use my webcam in virtualbox. That is strange though. Mouse and keyb are usb and are working why not the webcam?
I dont get it.

The mouse and keyboard are USB devices but they should not be attached to the VM as USB devices or they would no longer work on the host. AFAIK VirtualBox "borrows" the host's mouse and keyboard when the virtual machine needs them and is thus able to use them regardless of how they are connected to the host -- USB, PS/2, serial ...

When you are running the virtual machine and attach the web cam, does it show when (not in full screen mode) you click on the window's Devices->"USB Devices"? If so you can select it there and it should be connected to the virtual machine; this you can test with the lsusb command.