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Joe E.

VMWare USB weirdness

7 posts in this topic

I posted this on the VMWare forum last week but haven't gotten a reply. Running VMWare Player v3.1.4 build 385536 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 host. Guest OS is also Windows XP Pro SP3. We have a bunch of "legacy" software programs that we can't yet migrate away from and that don't always play well together, so we've built them each a sandbox where they won't bother anyone else. The problem we're having is when using a USB flash drive. Here's the sequence of events: Auto-Logon to host as userPlug in USB drive, shows up properly, all is well Start VM, USB drive stays attached to host, as expected Connect(Disconnect from host) USB drive and do stuff "Safely Remove" from guest Disconnect (Connect to host) from VM menu Host sees device properly "Safely Remove" from host Unplug USB drive So far, so good Plug USB drive back in Drive mounts to host, not guest, even though "Automatically connect new USB devices" is checked (This behavior is not 100% consistent: sometimes it will connect as expected) Connect(Disconnect from host) USB drive from VM menu if it didn't automatically Drive mounts properly to guest "Safely Remove" from guest Disconnect (Connect to host) from VM menu Drive "disappears". No longer present in VM removable devices menu, doesn't show up in host at all. Unplugging/replugging has no effect. Plugging in a different USB drive or other USB device has no effect. Close VM (save state, etc.) Logoff user from host, then log in, no change, drive not visible to host (VMWare NOT running) Logoff user from host, then log in to admin account, no change, drive not visible to host (VMWare NOT running) Refresh hardware list in host's device manager, no change, drive not visible to host (VMWare NOT running) Kill host's vmware usb arbitration service, no change, drive not visible to host (VMWare NOT running) Reboot host computer entirely, logging into user acct, USB device mounts OK when plugged in, then connects to guest properly when told Process starts over USB mouse keeps working fine through all of this. An alternative would be to set up a share, and if I were the one using the computer that would be usable but inconvenient. The folks using the computer in real life will be technicians, some of whom aren't the most computer-savvy bunch, so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. They will need to connect other USB devices (various communications adapters) so the connect/disconnect menu will become familiar to them. Any ideas?

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Have you tried using a different USB drive, from another vendor?

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Yes. Several. I also tried an external hard drive. The behavior isn't 100% repeatable but is often enough to be a problem.

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Joe, I'm running the same VMplayer. But with win7_x64 host. Havn't had the problem happen to me on my XP_SP3 VM. with this: "Plug USB drive back in Drive mounts to host, not guest, even though "Automatically connect new USB devices" is checked (This behavior is not 100% consistent: sometimes it will connect as expected) Connect(Disconnect from host) USB drive from VM menu if it didn't automatically" I have found that is connects to the host or VM that has the input capture even if auto connect is checked.

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The problem is that it connects to neither. I plug it in and its light blinks like it's trying to do something but nothing shows up in either the host or the guest. It's like it's not even plugged in. I should point out that this behavior isn't 100% consistent either. Sometimes it works OK, sometimes not.

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Some updates on this. The thread on the VMWare forums got some views but no replies until very recently someone suggested stopping/starting the VMWare USB arbitration service, which I had already tried. I have found something that appears to work: uncheck "Show all USB input devices" under the USB controller settings. Not sure why it matters, but it all appears to be working properly now. Very curious.

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Actually, never mind. A reboot later and the problem is back. If either the host or the VM has a USB drive connected, then I can connect/disconnect another drive normally. I only have trouble when the drive I'm disconnecting from the VM is the only one physically plugged into the computer.

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