VirtualBox Installation and Required Extras

[kesetyan]

Hi kema77,

Thanks for your useful input. Slowly I am making progress. Following your advice I have now been able to create a shared folder. The method was an adaption of the advice you gave because in my Xubuntu 20.04 system (with the XFCE desktop manager) the folder right click menu does not include 'local network share' - however within 'Permissions' I was able to set 'read and write' for all users which seems to have done the trick.

It would be nice if I could get usb devices working so easily but for data storage, at least, I can now use my shared folder in the host system as a midway house. It remains to be seen if I can get the scanner operating. I know I can install the driver and related software in XP but will I be able to get XP to recognize when the scanner is connected via usb?

Thanks to all of you who have come to my aid: I've got to the point now where it seems worthwhile to install some of those old MS programs that have been stored away for a few years and I look forward to that. If I can get the scanner working that will really be the icing on the cake.

Cheers.

[kema77]

I assume you have guest additions and the extension pack already. With the VM powered off, select a USB controller from the settings>USB menu. From settings>storage you can attach the PC's optical drive to the VM. Then use your driver CD if you have one to install the scanner software. (I'm not sure if this step is necessary if XP comes with a driver, but it can be installed that way if you must. It worked for me when installing a printer driver and related software that I wanted to run from my Windows VM.) In any event, it sounds like you have that worked out already anyway based on your last post.

Then with the the scanner plugged in to the PC and turned on, and the VM powered on, from the Virtualbox Manager machine settings select 'USB'. Then on the right side where you see the USB icons, left click on the second one from the top (with the + over it) for adding a new USB filter for devices that are attached to the PC. See if the scanner shows up. If so, click the box.

windows-vm-usb.png

[kesetyan]

Thanks Kema77,

I found installing software via the dvd drive a problem so cheated by copying the appropriate files to a shared folder (I've now set up several thanks to your advice) and installed from there. I puzzled as to why XP wouldn't let me install direct from the CD as with my first attempt at installing VirtualBox there was now problem and the installation started automatically. I will update on my progress either later today or tomorrow after trying what you have advised regarding the scanner.

Cheers.

[kesetyan]

UPDATE:

@kema77, Your helpful advice has enabled me to get XP to recognize the CD/DVD drive so I was able to install the scanner driver and software. Unfortunately I am still having problems with USB and I have been unable to get XP to recognize any usb devices including the scanner, memory sticks, an old usb floppy drive and card reader. It looks like I may have to give up on the scanner as my experience would seem to match SeijiSensei's comment "I've found USB connectivity pretty hit or miss". Perhaps the usb drivers in XP are just not suitable for the host's usb system.

XP is too old to for my printer so I will always have save files to a shared folder print files via the host system.

Unless there is some sort of solution for my usb woes, I will mark this thread partially solved. Not the perfect ending but nevertheless this has been a worthwhile learning situation for me and I am in a far better position than I was before I opened this thread so thank you kema77, ajgreeny and SeijiSensei.

Just in case one of you can guide me to resolve this usb issue, I will not uninstall the scanner driver etc. for the time being but will do so later to save space if there is no possible resolution.

Cheers.

[kema77]

Sorry to hear that kesetyan. I am no expert by any means and probably got in over my head trying to help you. I will just leave this link as my last gasp. I forgot about the need to add yourself to the vboxsf group. But then maybe you have already tried that. Good luck.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/3777...able-usb-usage

[kesetyan]

Hi kema77,

Whether or not you are an expert your help has been invaluable. Unfortunately I still cannot get the XP guest to recognize usb connected peripherals so it looks like my wish to use my old Canon scanner will not be fulfilled. However there are plenty of things I can do with the virtual system including running ancient software so I feel quite positive about it all. The scanner does work with my Windows 7 system which I have dual booting with a Linux OS on another desktop so the issue is not crucial and I can run Windows software not compatible with Windows 7 and later on the other desktop now.

I don't know if the usb problem is any way related to the fact that the host system is itself booting on a usb external hdd.

It's time to mark this thread as partially solved - thanks again for your help and persistence, it was all very much appreciated.

Cheers.

Update: Apparently I cannot mark it 'partially solved' so it will now show as solved.

[CelticWarrior]

I don't know if the usb problem is any way related to the fact that the host system is itself booting on a usb external hdd.

I isn't.
What happens exactly when you pass the scanner to the guest OS? The comment above - "I've found USB connectivity pretty hit or miss" - is mostly about USB storage devices, peripherals usually work. Once passed to the guest they should behave exactly the same as if connected to a bare-metal installed OS.

[kesetyan]

Hi CelticWarrier,

Thanks for your interest. When I try to pass the scanner to the guest operating system by using 'Select source' in 'Import' in my 'PhotoPlus' software, I get an error message 'There are no twain devices available.' If I run the Canon Toolbox software I get the error 'Unable to open Twain source,. Please check connection then restart Toolbox.' The connections are fine but when I check the 'Device Manager' in XP no usb controller drivers are installed. XP is deliberately not connected to the internet and seemed unable to find the drivers on the installation cd.

[CelticWarrior]

Not entirely unexpected that you don't understand what passing a USB device to the guest means.
It is a Virtualbox feature: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewto...p?f=35&t=82639

Please understand that you need to select the device to use via a Virtualbox menu before you can use it in the guest OS. By default a VM works only with the basic set of (virtualized) hardware. USB devices are in use by the host OS at all times until the user selects them to be passed to the guest OS.

[kesetyan]

Hi CelticWarrior,

This is proving rather more complicated than I first imagined. Thanks for the link - It's a bit difficult to understand but I will work at it. I do have some preliminary questions though:
1 - How do I select the device in a VirtualBox menu?
2 - Which menu?
3 - The section in your link on usb filters (usb filters section 3) and the text box to complete - I don't know 'Vendor ID' or 'Product ID' so where do I get that information?
4 - I've uninstalled the Canon drivers - should I reinstall them in XP before attempting the above?
5 - Should select the device in the VirtualBox menu with XP unloaded?
4 - Both my desktop computer and my external hdd Xubuntu system are 64bit whereas my XP installation is 32bit, would this have any impact on what I am trying to do?
5 - I'm not sure if I have an option to choose 64 bit on my installation cd, if I have (and I was considering doing a fresh install of XP to tidy things up), would that be advantageous?

Sorry if I seem a bit clueless but this is very new to me.