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DylanShadowlock
Contributor
Contributor

vmware with BT5 R2

I am running Windows 7 and I have installed the latest vmware. I created a virtual machine with BackTrack 5 R2. I am attempting to connect my USB device realtek rtl18187_wireless. Normally I would click "Connect (Disconnect from host)" from the Virtual Machine bar at the top. When I click it, I get the message, "The connection for the USB device 'Realtek RTL18187_Wireless was unsuccessful'. The device is currently in use.

How do I make it "not in use" so that I can use it in my virtual environment? I am having trouble finding what is using it and how to stop it from being in use. Every time I plug it in, windows will obviously be using it, and every time I unplug it, it wont be using it. I cannot find the processes that are running it, other than the ALFA software. I used end process tree on the main process to shut that down, and am not sure what else to do here, it's getting frustrating - ive been messing around with this for hours now. I even tried disabling the adaptor from inside the device manager, and the vmware still says its in use (not that it would be a solution, but still!)...

Would greatly appreciate some help on this.

Thanks,

Dylan.

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7 Replies
DylanShadowlock
Contributor
Contributor

Nobody has any ideas? Smiley Sad

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Hi
yep - the Alfa is a nice USB wireless device for Backtrack ... but not inside a VM.
I had limited success with it using backtrack but only on hosts that never had the alfa drivers installed.

We discussed the problem here maybe 2 years ago and had similar problems.
Some users also reported that the device was unstable when used inside a VM

Sorry for bad news - I stopped using the Alfa a year ago - because of that problems - and never tried with Workstation later than 7


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

DylanShadowlock
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the insight.

I won't waste anymore time then...

I'll just run a multi-OS system instead of using vmware! :smileygrin:

Cheers,

Dylan

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

yep - to make full use of Backtrack it really should be used natively


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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Scissor
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

I am using an ALFA USB WiFi device Model: AWUS036H successfully in this configuration (Windows 7 x64 Host, VMware Workstation 8).  My BT5 R2 Guest is able to successfully take control of the USB WiFi adapter.

However, I never installed any additional ALFA software in my Windows 7 Host.  Only plugged it in, let Windows install whatever it needed, and the connected it to the Guest.  I do not use this USB WiFi adapter from my Host at all.

=-=-=

I have since upgraded to VMware Workstation 9.  I also notice that BT5 R3 was released earlier this month.  Let me test and see if this configuration still works for me...

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jokke
Expert
Expert

I can also confirm it working (several months ago), although not perfectly. My setup was version H, Windows 7 x64 and WS8. I did not install any driver or software for the device on the host.

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thisdriverwontw
Contributor
Contributor

This issue may be hardware specific. OP do you have an Asus G75 laptop?

I am using the same Alfa adaptor with the current version of VMWare workstation on Windows 7 64-bit and I am getting the same error about the device being in use when I attempt to connect it to the VM. This is on an Asus G75 laptop which has USB 3.0 ports.

Now, the same exact set-up on my iMac works perfectly. In Windows 7 64-bit, with the current edition of VMWare, the device connects properly.

This is an error with VMWare I would like to get fixed. I assume it has to do with the USB 3.0 ports.

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