Interesting development: While searching the Virtual Box forum, I noticed a post referring to the kernel that a distro was using.
I took that clue and rebooted my computer to the original kernel. I had been using the .pae kernel so that all of my 4 gig's of ram would be available. I found that in the process the Virtual Box module had to be compiled for this older kernel.
After bootup I find that now my usb devices are not greyed out. Could it be that the install process for VB did not properly compile the module? Or is there a problem with the .pae kernel?
MCP
I just wonder, do you need the .pae version of the kernel to use 4 Gb RAM? I always understood that the "standard" kernel could handle a maximum of 4 Gb. (Correct me if I am wrong).
As for "not properly compiled", you can easy find that one out by re-installing the previous kernel once more.
As I understand it, all of the kernels will utilize upto 4 gig ram. The .pae kernel will address upto 64gig ram. I find that PCLOS reports 3.2 gig ram under the standard kernel but reports 3.8 under the .pae kernel. So I get a little more using it.
Since it looks as though the solution to my problem lies with the kernel. I'm going to load a couple more to test and see which one works the best.
MCP
UDATE: I loaded another kernel to try out and it did the same thing. Loaded the virtualbox driver module and now I have usb. So I'm marking this as solved.
Hi - I had similar problems..... went off to the VB forum, looked at and tried all their suggestions - still NO.
Then I came across a note related to Mandriva and an earlier reported (and fixed) bug in VB. (Mandriva forum thread
http://forum.mandriva.com/viewtopic.php?t=114182)
That thread - in turn, pointed to another VB forum thread.
ANYWAY ---- I followed the suggestions about commenting some of the /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit script.
It got me to thinking.....
The problem was - that the rc.sysinit script has code in it for a feature called "speedboot". So does PCLOS.
The speedboot default is set to auto - which means (as far as i can gather) that it runs once and probes for changes and then stores changes and future boots are "speed"-ier.
But it mounts the usbfs in this script with a group id corresponding to the group name "usb" (in /etc/group - default number 43) and permissions which SOMEHOW (I don't understand why) prevent VB from looking in /proc/bus/usb?
I found that by firing off a command to remount the usbfs with a group id corresponding to the group name vboxusers - hey presto! VB USB devices were no longer greyed out..
SO......maybe your "changing kernel" thing - only temporarily solves the problem because 2nd and subsequent boots will use the "speedboot" logic which will reset the group to NOT be "vboxusers"?
I don't mean to worry you - and your problem may have been different from mine.
But, the more I look at it - the more it seems to me that this "speedboot" thing can be problematic.
It used to be the the mount info for usbfs was in /etc/fstab.
But, there are (apparently) "VERY GOOD REASONS" as to why it has been removed from there and plonked into rc.sysinit.
It seems to me, that as long as there is a mount command somewhere that forces the gid to NOT be vboxusers - that there will always be a problem.
I read in the VB forum that VB "no longer uses /proc/bus/usb" but, that you can force it to use this (now outdated) method by invoking it from the shell with an environment variable set to "USBFS" thus -
"VBOX_USB=USBFS VirtualBox"
But, VB 3.2.10 seems (for me in PCLOS 2010) to be using the outdated method and NOT the new method (whatever it is).
Maybe I have got it completely back2front???
But, for me - the mandriva forum suggestion - editing rc.sysinit - fixed my problem - until the next update of VB/PCLOS/Whatever
Dave
