Unable to enumerate USB device under virtualbox

Question

I have a new Dell XPS 13 (9350) laptop running Windows 10 as host and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as a guest under Oracle VirtualBox 5.0.20. I installed the Extension Pack and also the Guest Additions for Linux.

I've got a PNY 128 GB USB 3.0 drive. When I plug it in, Windows detects it and I can access files. When I try to access it through the VM (Devices -> USB -> PNY USB 3.0 FD), the Windows host releases it, but it does not become available in the client. When I use dmesg, I get output like this:

usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci
usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64 error 18
usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64 error 18
usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-pci
usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64 error 18
usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64 error 18
usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 8 using ehci-pci
usb 1-1: invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 9 using ehci-pci
usb 1-1: invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
usb usb1-port1: unable to enumerate USB device

For this particular instance, I have the USB settings for the VM set to USB 2.0. I seem to get essentially equivalent results if I set for USB 3.0.

I also have an older Dell XPS desktop computer running Windows 7 and the same configuration of VirtualBox and Ubuntu. On that machine, the same USB drive works perfectly on host and in the Ubuntu guest. In addition, I have a very old Gateway laptop running a recent version of lubuntu (no VirtualBox), and it also handles the same USB drive without problem. This makes me think there is nothing wrong with the drive itself.

At this point, I'm not sure if my problem is with Windows 10 as the host or with the laptop. I searched for others with this problem, but I've been finding older posts that date before USB 3.0 was supported in the 5.0.20 version of VirtualBox. (The error that I'm seeing looks to me like it's the same that people were getting on the older versions of VirtualBox, but I don't claim a lot of expertise here.)

Any advice for debugging or correcting this problem?

Solution 1

In case you stumbled on this trying to find help with VMware Fusion or VMware workstation (I'm an ex-VMware employee, so I prefer it over VirtualBox), a similar answer works here. I am on a MacBook Pro with thunderbolt ports, and I had troubles with a USB 3.0 Card Reader from Genesys Logic:

slogan@slogan-virtual-machine:~$ lsusb
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 05e3:0748 Genesys Logic, Inc. 
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0e0f:000b VMware, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0008 VMware, Inc. 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

which generated the same error messages as seen with VirtualBox in the question.

To resolve this, I shutdown my VM, went Virtual Machine -> USB & Bluetooth -> USB & Bluetooth Settings -> Advanced USB Options, and switched the USB compatibity from 2.0 to 3.0. Then everything worked fine after rebooting my VM and connecting the device.

Solution 2

What kind of port are you plugging the USB-stick into? VirtualBox can't handle stuff plugged into USB 3.0 ports in my experience (running VirtualBox 5.0.26 with extentions). Trying to attach USB 3 devices in a USB 3 port throws an error, connecting the same device into a USB 2 port (or into a USB 3 port via a USB 2 hub) works just fine.

Solution 3

I have this exact same problem on a Dell Latitude 7480, and a WD 15 dock. I am using Windows 10 for the host OS, and Ubuntu 18.04 as guest. My VirtualBox is 5.2.18, set to emulate USB 3.0 (xHCI) within the VM.

All the ports on the laptop itself do not work, giving the error 18 and enumeration problems shown by the OP. There are also two USB 3.0 ports on the WD 15 dock which do not work. They are on the same side of the dock as the headphone jack. I also tried with USB 1.0 and 2.0 emulation in VirtualBox.

On the back of the WD 15 dock, between the power input, and the Ethernet port, are two USB 2.0 ports. Those work without a problem using USB 1.0 emulation. Setting USB back to 3.0 in VirtualBox allowed these ports to continue to work.

The answer seems to be to use USB 2.0 hardware ports if you want to use USB within an Ubuntu 18.04 guest. The USB emulation setting does not matter.

Comments

[ArunMKumar]

Thanks a lot, This advice worked.. seriously considering giving up virtual box environment.. to dicey to work in peace..

[Brent Bradburn]

After hours of searching and hacking, I finally resolved the error 18 issue (as reported by the OP) by using a USB 2 hub as suggested here. This was with a LUKS-encrypted USB 3 drive. Interestingly, after I got it working with the hub I tried again without and it worked once, but then not the second time. Maybe the USB 3 support only sort-of works in VirtualBox.

[Slipp D. Thompson]

Bummer. The only ports I have are USB 3 ports (Type C).

[Micah Henning]

Exactly what I needed. Thanks!

[vempo]

Connecting a USB 2.0 device via a USB 3.0 port also works.

[Iceberg]

Thank you for sharing. I was nearly about to downgrade the vmware workstation 16 to vmware workstation 12 until I found this post. In my situation, the issue happened when I upgraded the windows7 to windows10, with vmware workstation 12 to vmware workstation 16.