Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 10:08:02 +0000 From: Manish Jain <bourne.identity@hotmail.com> To: Mario Lobo <lobo@bsd.com.br>, "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Has anyone had any success installing VirtualBox extension pack under FreeBSD ? Message-ID: <VI1PR02MB12005BB4949BEF717484F2ABF6BC0@VI1PR02MB1200.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com> In-Reply-To: <20170727190543.673eeff6@Papi> References: <VI1PR02MB1200D1CD986F5F8A62889069F6B90@VI1PR02MB1200.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com> <cb283d87-659f-cdb4-b912-558614a4ed76@nosheep.fr> <VI1PR02MB1200D980BBC1B379D89DA44CF6BE0@VI1PR02MB1200.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com> <ff9ba8b6-5eb3-5b81-6f68-9a03c29ecab4@nosheep.fr> <20170727190543.673eeff6@Papi>
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On 07/28/17 03:35, Mario Lobo wrote: > On Thu, 27 Jul 2017 22:59:56 +0200 > Grégory Reinbold <gregory@nosheep.fr> wrote: > >> On 27/07/2017 05:17, Manish Jain wrote: >>> >>> On 07/26/17 15:13, Grégory Reinbold wrote: >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> Did you try it? >>>> https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/virtualization-guest-virtualbox.html >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 26/07/2017 11:16, Manish Jain wrote: >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> I would, possibly like many others, like to install VirtualBox >>>>> extension pack under FreeBSD. Currently, the VB::USB situation is >>>>> so messy that no device other than keyboard/mouse work, not even >>>>> as OHCI. >>>>> >>>>> I tried to open a discussion for this at VB forums : >>>>> >>>>> https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=83928 >>>>> >>>>> There response is so pathetic that it essentially leaves no hope. >>>>> >>>>> The only hope seems to be hacking the extension packing with the >>>>> Linuxulator, getting the extension pack to think that the OS >>>>> actually is Linux. Has anyone had any success with such an >>>>> approach / something else ? >>>>> >>>>> Thanks for any pointers. >>>>> Manish Jain >>> Hi Gregory, >>> >>> Thanks for replying. >>> >>> I think the URL you referred to caters essentially to Guest >>> utilities. Not to FreeBSD host in general, and in particular USB >>> functionality under the host in particular. >>> >>> While my VB post got a lot of evasive/contradictory statements from >>> the VB developers (stuff like initial assertion - later corrected - >>> that VB extension pack is not platform specific), one interesting >>> statement of the folks there is that OHCI functionality is provided >>> out-of-the box and not platform-specific implementation. >>> >>> Since OHCI only works for keyboard/mouse under FreeBSD, is it >>> possible that FreeBSD porters actually disable OHCI at our end (in >>> the process of porting the VB sources for FreeBSD) ? >>> >>> Thanks for any information. >>> Manish Jain >>> >> https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/virtualization-host-virtualbox.html#virtualization-virtualbox-usb-support >> >> TheVirtualBox™extension pack is not available for FreeBSD hosts. >> Without the extension pack, the FreeBSD host cannot passUSBports >> through to guest operating systems. >> >> So, on VB website we can see this: >> https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html#intro-installing >> >> And we can download the extension pack here: >> http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.1.26/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.1.26-117224.vbox-extpack >> >> So, how to install it? Maybe this can help you? >> https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#vboxmanage-extpack >> > > A while back, I wrote directly to Frank Mehnert - Oracle Software > Development Director about this issue. > > > He replied as follows: > > > --------------------------------------------- > > Hi Mario, > > just saw your other mail and I just saw this mail again. Sorry for the > late response! > > On Thursday 02 June 2016 16:06:01 you wrote: > >> I've been using VB with my beloved FreeBSD since its early days, when >> USB 1.0 used to be the standard. >> >> Now a days, it is no longer viable, even if we downgrade the USB >> connection through the OS to usb 1.0. The device shows up on the guest >> but that is as far as it goes. It simply doesn't work. >> >> I see that you have pre-compiled extension packs for Windows and Linux >> hosts. VB compiles and works great through the ports in FreeBSD. The >> highest available official version 4.3.38 but through the works of >> Jung-uk Kim, I am running 5.0.20 right now! If it wasn't for this USB >> issue, VB would be completely operational on FBSD! >> >> You probably have been asked about this a lot, but do you see a >> possibility anywhere in the future, of providing a pre-compiled >> extension pack for FreeBSD? I never understood why Windows and Linux >> have it and FreeBSD doesn't. Is there a particular reason for it? >> >> Is there anyway I can help with this matter? Anybody in particular I >> can plead for this? >> >> Again, my apologies for barging in, and thank you for reading and for >> your time. > > hard to say. I guess if the USB devices worked in the past then this > was probably because the due to the missing Extension Pack the devices > were forced to use the USB 1 mode. > > Providing Extenicode for FreeBSD is not impossible but would require > some effort. The most important part is probably to find a compatible > build environment. > > I don't say "No" in general but we need to think about this in more > detail. > > Kind regards, > > Frank > Hi Mario, So nice to notice with my [serious] concern is not an individual issue - there are folks, some of them senior/core developers, who feel the pinch of the issue largely much the same. My views of the USB situation exactly match yours - and I actually feel that EHCI/XHCI have played spoilsport - at least for FreeBSD, whereunder VB USB was functional earlier on. I do not know what to make of Frank's response - encouraging ? discouraging ? But surely not deprecating - which was the attitude of the VB developers who posted replies to my message. Out of frustration with their attitude, I even mentioned the possibility for charging a per-user license fee under FreeBSD for the extension pack - like Sublime Text does (albeit ST is not FreeBSD-specific). They went into a heap of ridiculous prevarications, and I simply closed the issue out of my mind. Thanks for your reply. I am fairly certain that in the days to come there will be some progress somewhere - either OHCI becomes functional or the extension pack flowers under BSD. Or better still, bhyve comes at a par with VB. Would anyone have any idea whether bhyve can now host an XP vm ? That probably is the only vm that I will ever need. Thanks again. Manish Jain
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