Is it possible to update USB headset firmware in Windows VM?

ThePerfectSandwich@programming.dev to Linux 101 stuff. Questions are encouraged, noobs are welcome!@lemmy.world – 12 points – 12 months ago

Hi all, I'm running Fedora 39 KDE on my machine and I would like to update the firmware on my Poly USB headset charge case. The firmware needs to be updated through its proprietary Lens application on Windows through a USB connection.

I don't have a Windows machine, so I'm wondering if it is possible to spin up a Windows VM using VirtualBox in my Fedora machine, enable it to detect USB devices on the Fedora machine and then update the case firmware inside the VM using the physical USB connection?

Thanks a lot.

Sure, set up a VM and use passthrough. https://www.net-usb.com/virtual-usb/virtualbox-usb-passthrough/

This looks like exactly what I need. Thanks!

I'm not sure if this would work through a VM, but you might be able to do it from Windows PE (think Linux Live USB bootable media except Windows).

I did something like this before, it was kind of a pain as the device I was connecting would restart and then the software would not detect it.

I think I plugged in a usb hub and passed the hub through first or something. But it was still a pain. I did this ages ago.

I’ve tried advanced stuff like that in virtual box. As best I can tell, the usb pass through is really so you can access flash drives and not for access to other sorts of devices.