virtualbox-4.0 usb-2.0 pass through grey out

[sancheztavo]

I'm having exactly the same problem. It worked with ubuntu 10.4 and VBox 3.2.
My machine doesn't support virtualization, so I can't enable that in my bios, as someone suggested...

[garyjmellor]

If I've understood correctly, I have got the VirtualBox OSE (4.0.2 r69518 ) application running on a Win7 64-bit host. I have a 32-bit Ubuntu Maverick guest. I have got my USB stick working fine but only via editing the guest OS's settings. So, to begin with, if you have your guest running, shut it down (don't save the state as doing so will not allow you to alter the settings - actually power it down).

Download and install the correct extension pack for your host (in my case this was Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.0.2-69518.vbox-extpack). Install this as follows:

1. In VirtualBox Manager, click 'File' > 'Preferences'.
2. In the left-hand pane, click the Extensions item (blue diamond icon).
3. In the right-hand pane ('Extensions'), click the 'Add' button (blue diamond with an upside-down orange triangle).
4. Browse to where you downloaded your extension pack to and click the 'Open' button. This should now install the extension pack and mark it as active (green tick) in the Extensions pane.
5. Click 'OK' to close the VirtualBox 'Settings' window.

Next...

1. In the VirtualBox Manager interface select your guest machine.
2. Click 'Settings' in the toolbar.
3. In the 'Settings' window that has now appeared, click the 'USB' in the left-hand window.
4. Ensure the 'Enable USB Controller' checkbox is checked.
5. Ensure the 'Enable USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller' checkbox is checked.
6. Plug in your USB device if it isn't already attached to your host.
7. In the right-hand side, click the icon that looks like a USB plug with a green plus sign next to it (tooltip is 'Add Filter From Device').
8. You should be able to see you device in the pop-up that has appeared - select this.
9. Your USB device should now be added to the 'USB Device Filters' pane.
10. Click 'OK' on the 'Settings' window to save your changes.

You should now be able to boot your guest OS and see that the USB device is visible in it. In my case it was a USB pen drive. I did have a small issue of the host mounting the device first, which seemed to cause a problem initially (the guest couldn't see the device). A subsequent reboot sorted this out. The host would see the device first, then, when the guest was booted, the host lost ownership of the device and the guest then saw it. If you experience problems still, you can click on the USB icon in the bottom right tray on your guest OS and see what devices it thinks it has access to. If you see yours, click it. This will either mount it or give you an error message which you can further use to Google possible solutions.

I hope this has helped somebody.

EDIT: I forgot to add, my host machine does not support virtualisation (I wanted a 64-bit Maverick guest) but I still got this working. I did not need to add myself to the vboxusers group either and, as mentioned used the OSE not the paid-for version of VirtualBox.

[Spyderkid]

I don't have an extensions button...

[balucio]

Same problem!!!
I removed the ppa version and installed the DEB directly from oracle website and the usb now work. I also added my user to vboxusers group.

Tanks mkupsta

Saul