Virtualbox USB support and vboxusers user account access

[afz12]

I've recently updated my notebook to Oneiric 11.10 from 11.04 and am quite happy with the overall improvements. However I cannot get Virtualbox to recognize USB now. Previously, other Ubuntu versions requires access to vboxusers in "user accounts" and placing a tick in the access box. However 11.10 doesn't seem to allow this. I open "user accounts" and unlock as administrator. However I cannot access any of these accounts - nothing opens up. How do I do this on Oneiric 11.10 so that I can add USB support to Virtualbox? Is there some special keystroke combination for opening the various options?

Although this issue affects USB usability on Virtualbox it seems like a 11.10 bug as its "user access" function doesn't seem to function. Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

[howefield]

Open a terminal and use the following command..

sudo adduser username vboxusers

Substitute username with the correct user name.

[haqking]

Open a terminal and use the following command..

sudo adduser username vboxusers

Substitute username with the correct user name.

+1

also make sure you have the extensions pack, and after adding yourself to group you will need to log out and back in

[afz12]

Thanks haqking and howefield. As said, this is not a Virtualbox setup issue as Ubuntu doesn't open its user account. This is not part of Virtualbox of course. In any case, extension packs are installed and otherwise Virtualbox is fine. Also username and passwords are correct. The issue is that Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't open up its user accounts. Therefore I cannot add myself to "vboxusers". Also, as before, previous Ubuntu versions allowed this easily. So I ask, what is the "trick" or is this a bug awaiting a solution?

[haqking]

Thanks haqking and howefield. As said, this is not a Virtualbox setup issue as Ubuntu doesn't open its user account. This is not part of Virtualbox of course. In any case, extension packs are installed and otherwise Virtualbox is fine. Also username and passwords are correct. The issue is that Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't open up its user accounts. Therefore I cannot add myself to "vboxusers". Also, as before, previous Ubuntu versions allowed this easily. So I ask, what is the "trick" or is this a bug awaiting a solution?

the commands were already given to allow you to add yourself

sudo usermod -a -G vboxusers username

[howefield]

The issue is that Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't open up its user accounts. Therefore I cannot add myself to "vboxusers".

The command above is the terminal method of achieving what you want given that the GUI method is unavailable to you.

It will add your user to the appropriate group.

As to why the GUI method isn't there, I can only guess.

[afz12]

Thanks again

I opened a terminal and entered the syntax. Ubuntu seemed to accept the command and password. I closed Virtualbox and reopened. It repeated the same error message that USB is unavailable and "refer to manual". Oneiric is a fresh install on this notebook and works fine otherwise. Also Virtualbox works fine otherwise. I have run versions from 8.04 through to 11.10 and previous to 11.10, Virtualbox has always worked fine with USB support. Also I have always been able to add myself to vboxusers. Therefore it seems that 11.10 is at issue here. The graphical UI for user accounts seems dysfunctional. Also the terminal approach seems to fail. Perhaps I should ignore USB support in this version. Interestingly, Virtualbox has no issues recognizing SD cards, effectively bypassing USB connectivity. Perhaps Virtualbox should simply incorporate USB support as standard and therefore avoid unnecessary hassles. Given the ubiquity of USB devices, this would seem logical. Apart from this, Virtualbox is excellent, and I like Oneiric 11.10. However, USB support seems to be one of those things that have not been well addressed by both in an integrated fashion and implemented automatically as standard between both camps.

Anyway, rather that following "should work" <=> probably doesn't work, perhaps someone who has experienced the exact same issue could reply with their solution, tested on their machine. Otherwise, it may be inefficient to pursue attempts based on supposed correct software behavior, especially given that all software has peculiarities somewhere in its function.

[howefield]

One needs a reboot for the option to take effect, apologies for not mentioning that in the previous posts. (A logout/login might work - but I'd simply reboot).

[afz12]

Thank you howefield for your patience. I rebooted the notebook and plugged a USB memory stick in. Ubuntu recognized it of course. I ran Virtualbox and tested 2 virtual machines. Each generated the same error message

p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x00004005)
Component:
Host
Interface:
IHost {dab4a2b8-c735-4f08-94fc-9bec84182e2f}
Callee:
IMachine {5eaa9319-62fc-4b0a-843c-0cb1940f8a91}
When running, the USB option was ghosted, corroborating an absence of USB support. So now I left wondering - is this an Oneiric 11.10 bug or a Virtualbox bug? (VB is latest version with extension pack). The terminal syntax "appeared" to work without any error message. Rebooting the notebook didn't activate USB support. Perhaps 11.10 did accept the terminal syntax, perhaps Virtualbox has a USB support bug? It may be impossible to tell which - in any case, if Virtualbox simply included USB support as an integrated standard component, there would never be any issues with USB. After all, folder support works "out of the box" without any problematic OS preliminary setup. I think I'll either wait for some new release as the months go by and perhaps the issue will resolve. Alternatively, someone might post a tested solution. In the meantime I can live without USB support in a VM. Interestingly, Virtualbox USB support works fine on another notebook running Windows 7. This doesn't require any special OS setup. Given this, and the fact that previous Ubuntu releases from 8.04 through to 11.04 have worked re USB support on Virtualbox, I tend to think that this is an Ubuntu 11.10 bug. In support of this conjecture, the "user account" GUI is dysfunctional. Further, your terminal syntax approach appeared to accept the input syntax but failed to action the command. In summary, thanks for your advice howefield but I suspect that any prospective solution may be a long time coming!

[haqking]

Thank you howefield for your patience. I rebooted the notebook and plugged a USB memory stick in. Ubuntu recognized it of course. I ran Virtualbox and tested 2 virtual machines. Each generated the same error message

p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } Result Code:
NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x00004005)
Component:
Host
Interface:
IHost {dab4a2b8-c735-4f08-94fc-9bec84182e2f}
Callee:
IMachine {5eaa9319-62fc-4b0a-843c-0cb1940f8a91}
When running, the USB option was ghosted, corroborating an absence of USB support. So now I left wondering - is this an Oneiric 11.10 bug or a Virtualbox bug? (VB is latest version with extension pack). The terminal syntax "appeared" to work without any error message. Rebooting the notebook didn't activate USB support. Perhaps 11.10 did accept the terminal syntax, perhaps Virtualbox has a USB support bug? It may be impossible to tell which - in any case, if Virtualbox simply included USB support as an integrated standard component, there would never be any issues with USB. After all, folder support works "out of the box" without any problematic OS preliminary setup. I think I'll either wait for some new release as the months go by and perhaps the issue will resolve. Alternatively, someone might post a tested solution. In the meantime I can live without USB support in a VM. Interestingly, Virtualbox USB support works fine on another notebook running Windows 7. This doesn't require any special OS setup. Given this, and the fact that previous Ubuntu releases from 8.04 through to 11.04 have worked re USB support on Virtualbox, I tend to think that this is an Ubuntu 11.10 bug. In support of this conjecture, the "user account" GUI is dysfunctional. Further, your terminal syntax approach appeared to accept the input syntax but failed to action the command. In summary, thanks for your advice howefield but I suspect that any prospective solution may be a long time coming!

as for bugs I have used VBox on 11.10 and with USB support just fine.

it only failed to action the command if you are not in the group ?