HOWTO: Enable USB 2.0 support in VMware Player 2.0.5

[Snowhog]

This worked for me.

Ever since I installed VMware Player (I'm using 2.0.5 currently), it always informed me when connecting my external USB HD, that a high-speed device was connected to a low-speed USB (1.1) port. Hmm, said I. My USB ports are 2.0. So I enlisted the help of our old friend Google and came across the following information:

To enable USB 2.0 support in VMware Player, add the following lines to your .vmx file:

scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "18"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "19"

If the first line above is already present - it was in my file - you add just the other three lines. I saved the file and then fired up VMware Player. Voila! It recognized the high-speed hub, looked for and installed the drivers (it found them), and when I connected to my USB HD, it was mounted as the 2.0 device it actually is. Pretty cool.

[dibl]

Re: HOWTO: Enable USB 2.0 support in VMware Player 2.0.5

Cool -- thanks Snowhog. I too have USB 2.0 ports on the motherboard, and that insulting little message comes up in Win XP in the VM. I'm looking forward to fixing it! 8)

[baucha15]

Re: HOWTO: Enable USB 2.0 support in VMware Player 2.0.5

I confirm that this trick worked for me very well. I have VMware Player 2.5.2 and I was being unable to use USB drives (pendrive or HDD) in my guest OS window 7 RC even after installing the VM Tools. After adding these four lines, windows 7 installed the drivers n instantly my USB is recognized now.

Thank you soooo much..

[Guest]

Re: HOWTO: Enable USB 2.0 support in VMware Player 2.0.5

Thanks a bunch! This solution worked like a charm for me with VMWare Player 3.1.5, and it allowed me to FINALLY sync my iPhone 4 to iTunes 10 by installing it on a Windows XP virtual machine...after months of battling with iTunes on my main Windows 7 machine.

It's already looking like a happy new year!