[all variants] HOWTO: Ipod Touch Sync in Virtualbox & Intrepid Ibex

[Baji]

After days of trying to get the ipod touch working in ubuntu (ad-hoc wireless sync / wine itunes / qemu + winxp / kvm + winxp / virtualbox-ose + xp) I finally have it working using:

Virtualbox-2.0.4 (PUEL)
Recompile usbcore (Modify MAX_USBFS_BUFFER_SIZE to 128K in drivers/usb/core/devio.c) see VirtualBox ticket #491
This is a workaround --A fix is scheduled for Virtualbox 2.1.

Ill share it here please respond with suggestions/improvements/comments. It should also work for the iPhone.

1. Install VirtualBox-2.0
2. Configure Ubuntu for VirtualBox-2.0
3. Usb Filesystem fix
4. Kernel usbcore fix
5. Install Windows XP in VirtualBox
6. Running VirtualBox
7. Troubleshooting
8. Sources

1. Install VirtualBox-2.0

Add repository to /etc/apt/sources.list

echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian intrepid non-free" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

Add sun public apt-get key

 wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Install VirtualBox-2.0

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install virtualbox-2.0

Beware: the virtualbox module vboxdrv conflicts with kvm. See troubleshooting for more info.


2. Configure Ubuntu for VirtualBox-2.0

Add yourself to the vboxusers group

sudo gpasswd -a `whoami` vboxusers

Startup vboxdrv module on boot by appending it to /etc/modules

echo "vboxdrv" | sudo tee -a /etc/modules

3. Usb Filesystem fix

Get the vboxusers group id

cat /etc/group | grep vboxusers

vboxusers:x:128:spirit

Edit /etc/fstab to add these two lines and replace the devgid with the vboxusers group id

#usbfs for virtualbox
none /proc/bus/usb usbfs devgid=128,devmode=664 0 0

4. Kernel usbcore fix

check your current kernel version

uname -r

2.6.27-7-generic

Get the sources for your kernel and fix usb/core/devio.c

sudo apt-get build-dep linux-source-2.6.27
sudo apt-get install linux-source-2.6.27 build-essential
tar -jxvf /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.27.tar.bz2
cd linux-source-2.6.27/drivers/usb/core
perl -pi.bak -e 's/16384/131072/' devio.c
make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/ M=`pwd` modules
strip --strip-debug usbcore.ko
sudo install -m644 -b usbcore.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/usb/core
sudo depmod -ae
sudo update-initramfs -u

Reboot your system and check if vboxdrv is running

lsmod | grep vbox

vboxdrv 72472 0

5. Install Windows XP in VirtualBox

Start VirtualBox using Applications->System Tools->Sun xVM Virtualbox or type "VirtualBox" in a terminal
Install Windows XP (SP2+) in a virtual machine.
This guide gives a rough idea howto. It is pretty much straightforward.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox


6. Running VirtualBox

• Enable usb and usb2 in the settings for you virtual machine
• install itunes inside the vm
• connect the ipod touch
• cancel f-spot
• in the top of the vm box click Devices and activate the apple ipod
• Run iTunes inside vm

7. Troubleshooting

vboxdrv cannot load because kvm is loaded
purge the kvm package

sudo dpkg --purge kvm
sudo rmmod kvm
sudo modprobe vboxdrv

howto rebuild the vboxdrv module

sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

after upgrading it stopped working
You need to apply the kernel usbcore fix again, and rebuild the vboxdrv module (see above)


8. Sources

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VirtualBox
[SOLVED] Virtual box ipod touch / iphone sync
http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/491

[rickatnight11]

This looks great! I'm going to test this out tonight! Thanks for the hard work.

[ger_macaco]

Did you try with iPod Touch 1G or 2G?

[Baji]

Originally Posted by ger_macaco Did you try with iPod Touch 1G or 2G?

I tried it with the iPod Touch 8GB but it should work with the iPhone aswel

[ger_macaco]

Originally Posted by Baji I tried it with the iPod Touch 8GB but it should work with the iPhone aswel

But was it an iPod Touch 1G (no speaker) or 2G (with speaker)? I am asking because there is no driver for linux (and no way of accesing it yet) for 2G.

[obloxeon]

Tried it and no dice...

[huanix]

I wrote a script that's working pretty well to allow people to sync pods in virtualbox:

http://www.huanix.com/2008/11/03/fix...ng-windows-xp/

[AndThenWhat]

I tried it and it didn't work. I have Intrepid with the same uname as you. I followed all steps but still get the error in iTunes about not being able to read the iPhone "" because of an unknown error.

[Baji]

Originally Posted by AndThenWhat I tried it and it didn't work. I have Intrepid with the same uname as you. I followed all steps but still get the error in iTunes about not being able to read the iPhone "" because of an unknown error.

Just to check, could you report the results of the following commands here:

grep 'vboxusers' /etc/group
grep '/proc/bus/usb' /etc/fstab
ls -al /proc/bus/usb/001/
lsmod | grep vbox
dpkg -l \* | grep virtualbox

If you have updated the kernel, you have to reapply the usbcore fix. Could you try reconfiguring the vboxdrv module (sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup) and restarting?

What iphone/ipod touch are you using? is it jailbroken?

[b3n87]

So can anyone confirm if this works with the iPhone 3G?