virtualbox in ubuntu 9.10 question
 

I am running VB on ubuntu 9.10 and have a winxp system.

1. issue i am having is how can I get a usb to mount

2. Sometimes when typing in the screen the keys wont register. I am in the screen working then it stops typing. I have to hit the key several times and it will start typing again.

3. I have an application to monitor my security camera system and it keeps crashing. I think it has to do with the video or something because this is in VB.

I am using a q-see system so if anyone has idea on how to get this to work that would be great. I only need the xp system to view the camera systems and some other minor tasks. I want to get away from carrying a winxp disk with me just to view my cameras.

It needs IE not mozilla. has to use activeX

Anyone have any incite on this?

Im really at a loss. I tried several things. Now I am trying to build just a winxp/ubuntu 9.10 disk to see if that will work. I really would like to have Vb working so I can keep Ubuntu up.

This thread might progress better if it focussed on one problem and gave more information about it.

Ignoring q-see because I don't know anything about it and the problems with it might anyway be triggered by the hardware problem(s) ...

1. "issue i am having is how can I get a usb to mount": Does that refer to one particular device? If so, what is it? Are any other USB devices being mounted OK? If you haven't tried other USB devies then it might provide useful information to do so.
2. "Sometimes when typing in the screen the keys wont register. I am in the screen working then it stops typing. I have to hit the key several times and it will start typing again": Which screen? On host or guest? If on guest does same keyboard work OK on host? Is keyboard USB? Is it configured as a USB device for the VM (it should not be)? Does this happen in all circumstances -- for example with USB device(s) attached and not attached, with various loads on the host and on the guest?

Which version of VirtualBox are you using? Where did you install it from?

Have you tried any of the usual WXP stability improving techniques like CHKDISK (spelling?), de-fragmentation, re-installing problem applications ...? These would, of course, be off-topic for LQ but as far as they are directly related to this problem ...

Have you tried any of the VirtualBox stability improving techniques -- turning off all unnecessary features such as more than one virtual processor, CPU virtualisation features (and turn off in BIOS, too just to be on the safe side), turning off ACPI (but not if it was on when you installed WXP), turning off USB 2.0 controller ...

I am using the VB that can be installed in Ubuntu9.10 from the package manager. 3.0.8_OSE r53138 from the help screen.

I do not know what you are refering to here :

"turning off all unnecessary features such as more than one virtual processor, CPU virtualisation features (and turn off in BIOS, too just to be on the safe side), turning off ACPI (but not if it was on when you installed WXP), turning off USB 2.0 controller ..."

I dont have any of this turned on as far as I know. I have 512M memory and 1 CPU listed in the system screen. See below



As for the USB devices. Nothing works. I plug in a memory stick, usb drive etc and it registers to the Host ubuntu OS but not in the XP machine.
The XP system works fine and this is a new clean install so no issues with chkdsk etc

General
Name:

winxp
OS Type:

Windows XP


System
Base Memory:

512 MB
Processor(s):

1
Boot Order:

Floppy, CD/DVD-ROM, Hard Disk
VT-x/AMD-V:

Enabled
Nested Paging:

Disabled


Display
Video Memory:

12 MB
3D Acceleration:

Disabled


Hard Disks
IDE Primary Master:

winxp.vdi (Normal, 26.67 GB)


CD/DVD-ROM
Not mounted




Floppy
Not mounted




Audio
Host Driver:

PulseAudio
Controller:

ICH AC97


Network
Adapter 1:

PCnet-FAST III (NAT)


Serial Ports
Disabled




Shared Folders
None

USB devices are not supported by the OSE version of VirtualBox. If you want USB support you must install the PUEL version, downloadable (in a format to suit ubuntu 9.10) from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads. Searching LQ for VirtualBox would have found several posts with this information.

well i made some progress on this but still have the no typing issue.

I can see the usb ... well at least windows asks me to install the drive for it now but i cannot get the driver to install.

I did manage to get the cd rom to be seen now too.

The screen keeps popping up asking to press the host key to make the screen active (xp) No idea which key that is. I click on the screen and i can do stuff in xp but the courser never goes active in the screen.

In my old VB system the right ctrl button got me out of the screen but i just had to click the mouse to get into it. So I am working on resolving what key it thinks it wants.

Yes I did and I found several install procedure on google as well. I did switch out the code. Still working out issues with it.

Ill post the most informative link i found later on. Have to find it again :)

Have you installed VirtualBox GuestAdditions yet? It makes using VirtualBox's guest display much easier and has several other benefits.

i can see my usb now... progress is being made ;)

Ya I think i found that out. Was not really sure what it was all about but I did install it. :)

Read several posts on other sites that said to do that.

I still have the typing issue in IE and firefox.. strange

On the guest, right? Is it happening in any other apps on the guest? Is it happening in any apps on the host? What sort of keyboard is it and how does it connect? Can you try a different ("known good") keyboard?

this is a laptop and the host ubuntu os is fine. Just seems to be the xp client.

It seems to be working now. Not sure what I did but its working.

New question...

When I am on a hard wired or wireless network(cable modem) I can connect to things google. yahoo etc.

I can connect to a remote DVR camera site I watch fine.

When I try to connect to my Version modem it connects but behaves strange.

Host OS is fine. See everything site just fine.
The winxp in VB will see one of the camera sites I monitor but not google or the other one. not even Yahoo will come up.

If I use the IP of google it works fine.
So why isnt DNS resolving using the VB sw?

i installed the vz access manager locally to the xp system and it sees the modem and works fine. No dns issues. I wonder why it wont work using the Linux host os connection

What I would like to do is find some software like PdaNet for windows for Linux so I can tether my droid.

So I got the VB system working but it will only give me 1 choice for display.

I got the DVR sw to load but no cameras come up. I think this is due to the display. The native XP system works fine.

I also got my VZ modem and Droid tether to work.

VZ modem only seems to work while loaded using the VB client system but I can live with that for now. What I mean is if Linux is on the modem and connected the VB client wont connect to the net. But if I use the native vzaccess manager sw in the client it works fine.

When using my Droid as a modem in Linux the VB client see the modem just fine. Go figure.

So now am back to finding a driver or something to make my display so i can change it. Right now when I right click i only see 32bit colors and 800x600 pixels. I need something higher than that.

ok correction... If I do full screen mode It allows me to see the app but still not seeing the cameras..

I wonder if it has to do with ports resolving back. I go out on port 80 then switch to another port on the router.

I wonder if the VB system cannot display because of that.
But the application comes up just fine.
Just no video feeds.