VirtualBox - how to mount USB flash memory

trentlad

trentlad

trentlad

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I'm using the most current version of VirtualBox with 'Guest Additions' installed and can't seem to mount my USB Flash Memory sticks.

I can clearly see the option in Devices -> USB Devices (shown below) and the memory stick appears on the list. However, after clicking on the device it doesn't do anything and no additional drive appears in 'My Computer'.

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(image is a print screen found online)

I'm not finding any useful results from Google on this issue. Could anyone provide suggestions or explain how they setup this mount.
 
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trentlad said:
Is this something to do with having to buy the full version, so the open source edition has purposefully disabled USB mounting?
Click to expand...

No, the personal user license version has full USB support, it's the OSE edition that lacks it. If you're using the OSE then thats probably why. But the PULE edition is free as well. See link below.

Have you checked that your virtual machine specific settings have the USB 2.0 controller(s) enabled?

Failing that test it with another flash drive and see if that works? I've seen it be fussy with a couple of devices before.

Also trentlad, upgrade. You're using an old version. Here
 
Hi tntcoder! Thank you very much for your reply.

Maybe if I'd asked about what wallet I should buy, or if people here rinse dishes before putting them into a dishwasher, I'd also have three pages of replies. All recent threads at OcUK.

*shakes head at diminishing tech experience*

So I figured out how to enable the mount of USB devices in Virtualbox and wanted to share with any others who may stumble upon this. When tntcoders asked if I had enabled the USB controller in my virtual machine specific settings, I pondered over to double check.

Enabling the virtual machine specific USB Controller is only the first part of the solution, I already had mine enabled with no results. The next step is to "Add Empty USB Filter", which provides an actual USB filter mechanism and allows you to filter out particular USB devices or if left empty it will allow all USB devices. Once you do that, it should work perfectly.

To get to this particular window select your specific virtual machine (make sure you've shut it down) and then click 'Settings', choose 'USB' from the list on the left, and you will be at the screen under discussion.

So now when you're VM is running, physically plug in the USB device in to your PC and then right click on the USB symbol at the bottom right of your VM window and choose the USB device (in my case an 8GB flash drive). Your VM OS should then find the USB device just like a normal OS would.

Hope this helps anyone else who has had this problem and wasn't able to find helpful results from Google.
 
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