USB 3.0 Device Support Behavior

[John Mackoy]

Synopsis: VirtualBox should do a better job of exposing USB 3.0 devices as USB 2.0 devices to guests.

Problem: When using a device/peripheral that supports USB 3.0, connecting using a USB 3.0 cable, to a USB 3.0 port on a laptop/desktop/etc., the host operating system will properly detect the device and connect to it via the operating system's USB 3.0 device support mechanisms. When that same device is attached to a VirtualBox guest (via Devices/USB Devices/<USB Device Name>) VirtualBox successfully binds that device to the guest, however; the guest does not receive any relevant information on the device (DeviceID, ManufacturerID, etc.) in order to properly install drivers.

Desired Behavior: While VirtualBox does not currently support recognition of USB 3.0 devices, it should be able to take the information provided to it via the host operating system so that when a device binds to a VirtualBox guest, it is exposed as a USB 2.0 device.

Workaround: Since it doesn't appear that VirtualBox does this translation today, the easiest way to work around the problem is to substitute the USB 3.0 cable for a USB 2.0 cable. This will force the device to connect to the host operating system as a USB 2.0 device and when bound to a VirtualBox guest, will successfully pass the information needed to the guest OS to facilitate driver detection and installation. Some have discovered that connecting a device like this to a USB 2.0 port will work, however; some may not know which ports on their devices support USB 2.0 only or 2.0 and 3.0. In those cases, using a USB 2.0 cable is the only way to ensure that the device negotiates a connection to the host system using USB 2.0 connection protocols.

Background: I ran across this behavior while trying to get a Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500 device (supports USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1) to successfully bind to a Windows 7 guest VM running on a Fedora 20 host operating system. When using the USB 3.0 cable, after binding the device to the VM, the guest OS would detect the addition of a USB device, but it could not detect what the device was (error: 10). Upon closer examination of the unknown device in the guest OS, it did not register the DeviceID, ManufacturerID, or other information that would allow Windows to detect the device and install drivers for it. I had an old USB 1.0 cable laying around and decided to try it - and much to my surprise, after attaching the device to the guest OS it worked. The device was successfully detected and driver installation completed successfully.

I've read through other posts regarding USB 3.0 support, and I'm not pressing for it (although, it would be nice). That said, until that support is in place, it would be nice to have this workaround documented in the VirtualBox online documentation so that other users of USB 3.0 devices can find a way to get their devices functioning in VirtualBox guests - albeit at reduced USB 2.0 or 1.1 speeds. Doing so might help others whom have encountered this problem from giving up on VirtualBox and/or returning perfectly functioning USB 3.0 devices.

[JsT]

Sadly, but my laptop is also exclusive about USB 3.0 ports. I don't have any USB 2.0 ports and this prevents me from connecting firmware updating tool correctly (Linux host, Win guest).

[Frank Mehnert]

Full USB 3 support was added with VBox 5.0.x.