USB Devices in VMWare

[bkreulen]

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but I'm here so I thought I'd ask.

I'm using VMWare server (v1.0.4, as the repository version doesn't install). Everything works fine, except that I can't seem to get USB devices to work. I've installed USB support for the VM, I've installed VMWare Tools on my VM (WinXP Pro), but when I go to VM->Removable devices->USB to use my USB key, there's nothing there to attach. I've tried unmounting the USB key on my Linux host, but that doesn't seem to have any effect.

Looking at the VMWare docs, I found this web page:
http://pubs.vmware.com/server1/vm/ww...nhost_gsx.html

which says that VMWare looks for USB devices in /proc/bus/usb, and to change it, just modify the VM options and set the Path to usbdevfs option. The problem is that this folder exists on my computer, but it's empty, and even if I found the correct location (/sys/bus/usb/devices I think), this option doesn't exist in the VM config screen.

What am I missing? Thanks!

[bkreulen]

Re: USB Devices in VMWare

Ah ah! Found the problem! (Well, I found the webpage that had a solution...)

If anyone is interested, go here:

http://www.electrictoolbox.com/vmwar...-opensuse-103/

Basically, you need to mount usbfs into the folder /proc/bus/usb, which isn't setup during the install.

1) As root, edit /etc/fstab, and add the following line at the end, if you don't already have something similar:

usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto 0 0

2) Mount the new usbfs:

mount /proc/bus/usb

3) The folder /proc/bus/usb should now be filled with your differenct USB devices. When I did this and then went back to the VM, my devices were there. I didn't actually try to use any of the devices, as I was late for work, but it seems reasonable to assume that the problem has been solved....

[Fintan]

Re: USB Devices in VMWare

There is also this:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...cseen#msg84096

which may or may not be of use.

Let us know how your solution pans out

[bkreulen]

Re: USB Devices in VMWare

Well, it seems to be working fine, as I can read and write to USB Keys in my WinXP VM. It doesn't seem to matter whether or not the usb key is mounted in the Linux host, which seems strange because the documentation hinted that it would give an error if the usb device was already mounted in the host.

Also, is VMWare Server limited to USB 1.0? My VM complained that there was no high-speed USB ports available, and that everything would run at lower speeds. I installed the latest VMWare tools in WinXP, bu that didn't change anything.

[Fintan]

Re: USB Devices in VMWare

ASFAIK high speed usb only works in vmware workstation 6.0. $$$. I would try using the latest version of vmware player to "run" your guest system. First it is faster and second I believe it supports fast usb. at least it does with mine. But I "made" my guest with vm workstation 6.0. If only for the speed it is worth it. You can install it the same way you installed vmserver.
Download here:
http://www.vmware.com/download/player/