Willing wheels

First of, bad news, usb support is NOT available on virtualbox-ose (ose = open-source-edition) => you will need the closed source version.

Good news is that it’s still free for personal use.

1. download and install full virtualbox closed source version:  http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
2. remove conficting virtualbox-ose (if already installed): sudo apt-get remove virtualbox-ose
3. install downloaded file: sudo dpkg -i <path_to_downloaded_file>/virtualbox*.debNOTE: At the end of package installation, I had the following error message:
   

   * Starting VirtualBox kernel module
   * modprobe vboxnetflt failed. Please use ‘dmesg’ to find out why

   dmesg returned the following errors:

   [ 1305.319993] vboxnetflt: disagrees about version of symbol SUPDrvLinuxIDC
   [ 1305.319997] vboxnetflt: Unknown symbol SUPDrvLinuxIDC

   Solution for this was to run: sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setupand then reinstall .deb package

4. now follow instructions as listed in this post: http://www.davidgrant.ca/virtualbox_usb_windows_xp_guest_ubuntu_hardy
5. Run virtualbox: Virtualbox &
6. click on your virtual machine / settings / usb (on left menu)
   1. activate usb support
   2. enable ehci (usb 2.0) support (without it usb keys were not recognized at all)
   3. clik add (right icons) to add corresponding usb devices (this will save you from manually enabling/disabling them each time you plug them in)
7. save changes, start your virtual machine and enjoy usb ports!

NOTE: usb devices did not work properly until I installed virtualbox guest additions and rebooted

sources

• http://www.davidgrant.ca/virtualbox_usb_windows_xp_guest_ubuntu_hardy
• http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Editions
• http://stikiflem.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/enable-usb-support-in-virtualbox/
• http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17432 (solution on vbox error message upon installation)
• http://www.qc4blog.com/?p=680 instructions on how (and why) it’s important to install virtualbox guest additions