renzhi

Like a lot of people who use Linux as the main desktop, but still need to sync with a mobile device, I have to maintain a Windows XP guest OS inside VirtualBox. This is especially true for people who use Windows Mobile device. For all its stability and qualities, Linux’s support for mobile devices and data syncing mechanism have a lot to be desired.

You would spend days and days to make your mobile device to sync in Linux, but as soon as you do an upgrade, sometimes only a small patch, everything is broken, and your weekends are spoiled again.

Finally, you would just give up, and have the mobile device sync with a guest Windows OS inside VirtualBox.

When you plug in your Windows Mobile device, Linux would recognise it as RNDIS capable device, and would try to allocate IP address and make a network connection. The guest Windows inside VB would not see it. To pass the mobile device to the guest OS, you need to create a blacklist configuration file. Create the following file:

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rndis.conf

Or use another file name you prefer, then add the following contents:

blacklist rndis_host
blacklist rndis_wlan
blacklist cdc_ether

Save the file, then reboot Linux. Start up your virtual machine, plug in the mobile device. It should be picked up by the guest OS, and you can now sync with ActiveSync normally.