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BlueCola
Contributor
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USB Device / ACR122u RFID reader 'is currently in use'

This week I bought a new laptop, a Dell Inspiron 15R. I did install VMware workstation 9 and opened up a couple of my VMs. Everything worked perfectly and run smooth, expect connecting removable devices. On my ubuntu machine which I use to read/write to RFID (mifare) card's,

Technical information:

-Dell Inspiron 15r (i7, 8GB ram)

-Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

-VMware Workstation 9.0

-I only have USB 3.0 ports

I'm getting pretty frustrated about connecting an USB device to my VM. Since a couple of days I'm trying to connect my ACS ACR122u RFID reader to my Ubuntu 11 machine, which I want to use for RFID purposes. Unfortunately I can't connect it. Everytime I try to connect the reader I get the following message "The device is currently in use". Also my Creative Fatal1ty headset, and logitech unyfing receiver (I don't know why I would connect it anyway, but just for testing) won't connect with the same error.

I tried many, many things and spent more than just a couple of hours going trough KB's article's, community discussions and google results. For example, I tried all the 'solutions' of this KB article, tried all the different drivers for the reader on my host, tried all the possible combinations of USB settings in the bios, and I also tried to kill all the processes (with Process Explorer) which had anything to do with smartcard's or the reader. Also disabling device's in Device manager doesn't work. Whatever I do, I still get the same error.

I also complete uninstalled VMware (clean) and reinstall it again. Did the same with workstation 8, didn't maked any difference.

Attached is the logfile of booting the machine, try to connect the reader, and power off the machine and a image of my Device Manager with the reader and all USB-hubs.

Does anyone have an idea of what else I can try?

Thanks in advantage,

BlueCola

27 Replies
eblanchard
Contributor
Contributor

I'm having exactly the same problem with a new Asus G75V laptop that also ONLY has usb 3 ports.

If you read this:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&e...

you will see: "Each USB 3.0 vendor implements their own drivers. VMware only supports NEC XHCI drivers."

The Asus has Intel XHCI drivers.

I suspect the same is true for your Dell.

I think we are both, uh, "sol" until such time that VMware supports the Intel XHCI drivers.

It would be nice to have confirmation that they will (some day) support it, or even know that they won't - so I can dump this laptop and get one with USB 2 ports.

If you're luck enough to have an ExpressCard port on your laptop, you can buy an ExpressCard-to-usb 2.0 adapter, and probably solve your problem.

Cheers,

EdB

BlueCola
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your reply.

I just checked, you're right, the most of my USB-hubs in Device Manager runs on Intel Drivers (however no XHCI).

How can we ask VMWare if there's coming support for the Intel Drivers? Making a support ticket (€49,-) is a bit expensive to get an answer on this very simple question.

Unfortunately I don't have an expresscard port. I have an SD-card reader with an realtek usb 2.0 driver, maybe it's worth a try to buy a SD to USB adapter.  SD-ports aren't powered, USB-ports are. This would not work, unless you have a USB device which doesn't need any power.

While I did some research, I saw a topic that could help you: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3910800/usb-and-vmware-workstation-on-windows-7-x64. What they're advising is to disable the USB3.0 function in your BIOS ("BIOS Setup -> System Configuration -> Miscellaneous Devices and uncheck the USB 3.0 option"). My Dell didn't had this option, but maybe your Asus does.

Cheers,

Marijn

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eblanchard
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for pointing that out - I'd seen that stack overflow answer as well.

Also, I've seen responses in various places that suggest changing legacy mode and anything else USB related in BIOS.

<shrug>

I tried every combination of the mulitple settings in my two USB options (in BIOS) - nothing made any difference.

I've just come across another issue - my Arduino IDE in a guest is useless - it needs USB to program the controller.

I'd *really* like to know if there's an expectation that this will be resolved Real Soon Now.

EdB

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BlueCola
Contributor
Contributor

This really sucks. I just raised a support ticket about if and when they're gonna support it.

I'll keep you posted.

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mandrago
Contributor
Contributor

I just hit the same wall.

Did you already get a reaction from Support?

This is what I found in the knowledge database :

Solution

To  work around this issue, connect the USB device through a USB 2.0  or USB  1.1 host controller. For machines that only have a Extensible  Host  Controller Interface (xHCI) host controller, and that are using  VMware  Workstation 7.x and earlier, install a USB 2.0 extension card  and host  controller to use the USB function in virtual machines.

In Workstation 8.x, USB 2.0 devices can be connected through an xHCI   controller on the host machine and passed to the virtual machine.

Location ad full description:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=102595...

I am anyhow still lost. Is there any product that fits the bill that you can just stick into the existing USB 3.0 port to somhow bridge the device? (an adapter of some sort?) Sorry if technical terms are wrong, I hope you get my meaning. My problem is that I can not put an additional card into my notebook, so I would need something that can be connected externally and will make it work.

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BlueCola
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Contributor

For what I know, there is no other way than an ExpressCard to add some USB 2.0 ports to your notebook.

It's not looking like VMware is taking this issue very serious. I made a support tickets about 2,5 week ago, but still got no answer (in the meantime, the ticket is assigned acros multiple people). So, I'm still waiting for a response and when I have one, I'll keep you updated.

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BlueCola
Contributor
Contributor

Recertification, VMware just contacted me finally :)!

VMware Support:

"In any case, I wanted to let you know that one of my engineers will be following up with you on this."
Since it is unsupported at this time, I cannot guarantee a fix.
However, we will be working with engineering to see we can an add a fix and be able to support it in the upcoming versions.
In the meantime, we will do our best to find you a workaround."

I'll be in touch with the engineer soon, and let you guys know if we'll find a workaround (or don't).

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ArnoBosch
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Contributor

I have the same problem with a "HP EliteBook 2570p". It only has external USB-Ports that are USB 3.0 and it uses the Intel Chipset.

I tested using an external USB 2.0 hub attached to an internal USB 3.0 port but that did not change the behaviour.

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ArnoBosch
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Contributor

@BlueCola: is there any news on your support-case? It would be interesting to know even if there is no fix.

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w3by
Contributor
Contributor

Hello everyone,

after researching all afternoon about this issue I finally got it working (I have Dell 15R notebook, with USB 3 ports).

The solution was to update USB 3.0 drivers with newest (1.0.6.245) from Intel download center: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3467&DwnldID=21129&keyword=host+contro...

and now I can connect USB devices to guest OS.

Hope this helps anybody, I registered just for this issue Smiley Happy.

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AlexKa
Contributor
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I didn't work for me. The same issue.

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ArnoBosch
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Contributor

Updating VMWare Workstation to 9.0.1 did not solve the problem.

The Intel driver update did not work for me too.

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w3by
Contributor
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Another thing I did is I turned off "USB Emulation" in BIOS.

What kind of CPU do you have?

I have Intel HM77 chipset, and you have QM77. Maybe that makes a difference.

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w3by
Contributor
Contributor

Update on the issue: today I started VMWare and USB devices again stopped working! I figured out that this happened after rebooting the notebook. So I reinstalled the XHCI drivers (without rebooting) and USB worked again.

So this fix only works after installing the Intel driver and until the next reboot it seems.

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ArnoBosch
Contributor
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Installing the new driver does not help me at all. It does not change the behaviour - rebootet oder not. My BIOS does not provide the option you mentioned

My hardware is a HP EliteBook 2570p notebook.

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ArnoBosch
Contributor
Contributor

I have to report an update. I installed

- Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver Version 1.0.6.245 released 10/16/2012

  from http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3467&DwnldID=21129&keyword=host+contro...

  as requested by w3by

- VMWare Workstation Version 9.0.1 Build 894247 released 11/06/2012

  from https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/details?downloadGroup=WKST-901-WIN&productId=293&rPId=3081

But the problem still remained.

Then I replaced a USB 2.0-Hub which was attached to my computer by accident with a USB 3.0 Hub because I needed the older one someplace else. After this replacement I have a "clean" USB 3.0 configuration. There is no port and no hub with a smaller USB version number attached to my computer.

From this time on I recognized that USB-devices started to attach to running VMs again. Today I checked all devices and everything works for me as it did with my older hardware. The problems are gone. Hopefully forever.....

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BlueCola
Contributor
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I discovered a workaround by accident.  I reinstalled a fresh Window 7 OS on my Asus G75 and installed all the drivers from Asus *except for* the USB drivers.  I let Windows use its native drivers and 'lo and behold', my VMWare guests now seem to recognize my usb devices.

That said, I don't know if I'm getting true 3.0 speeds but I've tried a USB stick advertised as 3.0 and it is recognized just fine in a Linux guest.

I do hope that a future update will fix the issue with the manufacturer drivers but for now, this seems to be working for me.

-Best of luck

Got this quote from another post. Still busy with VMware support, seems there isn't comming a fix. Keep you guys posted.

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mralien
Contributor
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@w3by just wanted to know if you did anything else other than updating the drivers? I have the same laptop and have been doing what I can with the knowledge base but still can not connect.

Can you document what you did please?

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rocklinsuv
Contributor
Contributor

Hey guys, I've been using ACER S5 and also faced the problem.

VMware 9.0.1 with WIN7 64bits. I installed Ubuntu 11.10 on VMware, but my  ultrabook only has got 2 usb3.0 ports.

Today I updated the Intel USB 3.0 controller driver to 1.0.6.245, and all  the usb devices in Ubuntu can be used.QQ截图20121219233557.png

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