[Wylug-discuss] Help USB devices under Virtualbox

[Paul Brook]

> Apologies if people think this should go to wylug-help, but I've seen
> so little traffic on that list over the last year that I've got the
> impression that it is somewhat derelict.
> 
> I've recently broken a long-standing gadget abstinence vow and bought
> myself a Tacx Bushido VR Cycle Trainer.
> 
> Obviously, the software is Windows-only, but people have reported it
> working under VirtualBox.

Unfortunately my experience is that USB pass-through generally doesn't work.

The problem is that USB is a horrid system. In theory there are multiple 
layers separating logical (steam/endpoint) semantics from the electrical 
(packet/bus) interface (c.f. TCP v.s. ethernet). In practice many proprietary 
devices blatantly ignore this, and break if you don't meet low-level timings 
which are impossible to achieve in a virtual environment.

Paul