virtualbox usbfilter command options

2handband · 01-21-2010, 12:45 PM

I'm running virtualbox on a headless Debian Lenny server and am trying to enable a usb device. Here's the device:

Code:

UUID:               fb51fadf-cf5c-4d44-9490-442018019ce3
VendorId:           0x0403 (0403)
ProductId:          0x6001 (6001)
Revision:           4.0 (0400)
Manufacturer:       FTDI
Product:            USB <-> Serial
Address:            sysfs:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:03.2/usb3/3-2//device:/dev/bus/usb/003/002
Current State:      Busy

Here's the command I'm using:

Code:

gene@robert:~$ VBoxManage usbfilter add 0 --target global --name homescan --action hold --active yes --vendorid 0403 --productid 6001 --revision 0400 --manufacturer FTDI --product "USB <-> Serial" --remote yes

And here's the error message:

Code:

VBoxManage usbfilter        add <index,0-N>
                            --target <uuid>|<name>|global
                            --name <string>
                            --action ignore|hold (global filters only)
                            [--active yes|no] (yes)
                            [--vendorid <XXXX>] (null)
                            [--productid <XXXX>] (null)
                            [--revision <IIFF>] (null)
                            [--manufacturer <string>] (null)
                            [--product <string>] (null)
                            [--remote yes|no] (null, VM filters only)
                            [--serialnumber <string>] (null)
                            [--maskedinterfaces <XXXXXXXX>]


Syntax error: Mandatory options not supplied

Mandatory options not supplied. Which options? The only ones I'm missing are serialnumber and maskedinterfaces. No serial number is given and I don't even know what masked interfaces is. Can somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong?

catkin · 01-22-2010, 11:20 PM

That's weird; according to the syntax shown in the error message, only target, name and action are mandatory (although no default value is shown for maskedinterfaces; likely just an oversight).

Perhaps VBoxManage is being confused by the unusual characters in "USB <-> Serial"; you could try omitting that or giving it a simple dummy value.

Alternatively you could try specifying all the optional arguments, giving empty strings for serialnumber and maskedinterfaces:

Code:

VBoxManage usbfilter add 0 \ 
  --target global \ 
  --name homescan \ 
  --action hold \ 
  --active yes \ 
  --vendorid 0403 \ 
  --productid 6001 \ 
  --revision 0400 \ 
  --manufacturer FTDI \ 
  --product "USB <-> Serial" \
  --remote yes \
  --serialnumber '' \
  --maskedinterfaces ''

In case it helps, here's part of the output from VBoxManage showvminfo <name> (version: 3.0.10r54097. There are no global usbfilters on the example machine)

Code:

USB Device Filters:

Index:            0
Active:           yes
Name:             Prolific Technology Inc. USB Mass Storage Device [0100]
VendorId:         067b
ProductId:        2517
Revision:         0100
Manufacturer:
Product:
Remote:           no
Serial Number:

Index:            1
Active:           yes
Name:             USB Mass Storage [0100]
VendorId:         04cb
ProductId:        0177
Revision:         0100
Manufacturer:
Product:
Remote:           no
Serial Number:

Index:            2
Active:           yes
Name:             Canon,Inc. MF5750
VendorId:         04a9
ProductId:        265e
Revision:         0000
Manufacturer:
Product:
Remote:           no
Serial Number:

2handband · 01-23-2010, 07:33 AM

Okay, I was able to run the command without syntax errors by removing the options remote, serialnumber, and maskedinterfaces. If I put any one of those in without the others I get the "mandatory options not supplied" error. The dummy values don't work; it says they're unrecognized. Now for the big problem...

Even though I ran the command without errors, here is the output of showvminfo:

Code:

USB Device Filters:

<none>

So no errors, but no filters created either. Any thoughts?

2handband · 01-23-2010, 08:07 AM

Got it! I got rid of the global target and used the uuid for my WinXP vm. That worked, and I was also able to use the remote option. I haven't tested the device remotely yet, but it works when plugged into the server. Thanks!

2handband · 01-23-2010, 11:24 AM

It did work... until I unplugged the device and plugged it back in. Now more problems. Enough of this. Virtualbox is terrific for local operation with the GUI (I've been using it for over a year) but it sucks for headless operation. I'm going to try xen.