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Pragmatist
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Got USB working in Fusion 11, now USB 3 flash drive shows up as unrecognized device

Super simple goal: Use a USB 3 flash drive connected to internal USB 3 port in MacBook Air inside a Fusion VM running Fusion 11 on Mojave

Life was simple and good under High Sierra with Fusion 8.5 where USB 3 device worked fine on internal USB 3 ports.  Then later 10.13 revs broke external displays, so I upgraded to Mojave and Fusion 11.    Finally got thru getting USB devices to appear properly with Security and Privacy settings.

Unfortunately now my USB flash drive shows as an unrecognized device, until I plug it into an external powered USB2 hub - giving me Fusion 5 flashbacks.

How can i configure this so that the device works properly under Fusion 11 without needing to carry around an external USB hub?  I've now paid VMWare twice for that privilege so would really appreciate it if i can achieve what was previously possible under Fusion 8.5.

What do I need to do to get my USB 3 flash drive recognized properly in Win7 on an internal hub - just like it was working properly under Fusion 8.5 pre-upgrade to Fusion 11?

Appreciate your help!

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RickShu
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Hi Pragmatist,

Based on the outcome error message: 2.  Fusion: "The device <brand Flash Drive> was unable to connect to its ideal host controller."  <i saw this on earlier versions of Fusion>

It seems you are using USB 2.0 controller in your Windows 7 VM while you attempting to connect a USB 3.0 device to the VM, so you got this error.

So, I would suggest you try with the following steps:

1) Power off the Windows 7 VM, open Settings panel and click USB & Bluetooth.

2) Expand 'Advanced USB Options', change the USB Compatibility to USB 3.0

3) Power on your Windows 7 VM, install the USB 3.0 driver for Windows 7.

4) Plug your USB 3.0 device to your Mac host, then choose Connect to Windows when arbitrator dialog box prompts.

Hope it helps.

-Rick

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Technogeezer
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One thought. Per VMware KB 2128105  did you install the Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver (linked to in the KB article) in your Windows 7 virtual machine, and then enable USB 3 compatibility in your virtual machine settings?

- Paul (Technogeezer)
Editor of the Unofficial Fusion Companion Guides
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ColoradoMarmot
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That's likely it - Win 7 doesn't support USB 3 natively.

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Pragmatist
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Appreciate replies.  i installed the Intel USB host controller driver previously and it worked like a charm in VMWare Fusion 8.x, as recently as Fusion 8.5 last week before I upgraded to Fusion 11.  Would upgrading to Fusion 11 uninstall the intel driver on the same Win 7 VM?   

It worked properly last week in Fusion 8.5 now oddly does not in Fusion 11 after upgrading.  If I connect the flash drive thru an externally powered USB 2 hub, I can use the flash drive - like I did on Fusion 5.x.    Other suggestions so that I get the same Fusion 8.5 functionality without an external USB hub?

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RickShu
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Hi Pragmatist,

Please refer to this similar thread and see if it helps: USB devices no longer recognised on VMWare Fusion 10

Regards,

-Rick

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Pragmatist
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Appreciate help  I have done the Security and Privacy steps including re-installing Fusion 11 once, clicked "allow" and get prompted for which OS to connect the USB flash drive to using Fusion 11.  That part basically works as it did when I started this thread.

(After that), What still does not work under Fusion 11 (w/ the same VM that did work under fusion 8.5) was connecting a USB 3 flash drive to the USB 3 internal hub in my MacBook Air.   Win 7 sees it as an unrecognized device  The one thing that concerns me about the thread you referred me to was upgrading the vm hardware to version 14 - as i did upgrade the VM before i got the security and privacy allow prompts working properly.  Not clear to me that "upgrade" is helping though not clear if/how i can undo it at this point.

The dialogs/error messages that result in this outcome are:

1.  Which os do you want to connect this device to Mac OS or Windows

    I chose Windows

2.  Fusion: "The device <brand Flash Drive> was unable to connect to its ideal host controller."  <i saw this on earlier versions of Fusion>

3. Windows: "USB Device Not Recognized. One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.  For assistance in solving this problem, click this message"

I am puzzled by why Fusion 11 behaves differently than Fusion 8.5 with the same VM - that also had VMWare tools auto-run.   

Can you please elaborate on if hardware version is a potential culprit and solution options?

Thanks

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RickShu
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Hi Pragmatist,

Based on the outcome error message: 2.  Fusion: "The device <brand Flash Drive> was unable to connect to its ideal host controller."  <i saw this on earlier versions of Fusion>

It seems you are using USB 2.0 controller in your Windows 7 VM while you attempting to connect a USB 3.0 device to the VM, so you got this error.

So, I would suggest you try with the following steps:

1) Power off the Windows 7 VM, open Settings panel and click USB & Bluetooth.

2) Expand 'Advanced USB Options', change the USB Compatibility to USB 3.0

3) Power on your Windows 7 VM, install the USB 3.0 driver for Windows 7.

4) Plug your USB 3.0 device to your Mac host, then choose Connect to Windows when arbitrator dialog box prompts.

Hope it helps.

-Rick

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Pragmatist
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When I go to Fusion's USB & Bluetooth Settings > Advanced USB Options menu - I do not have the ability to change USB compatibility - it is greyed out.  What steps do i need to take to change that?  thanks!

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RDPetruska
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Is the guest OS shut down, and VM powered off, or just suspended?

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Pragmatist
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Yes - I missed that part.  Now working!

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vmferrari
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I have this same issue however, my guest is Windows 10 Prom and my VM USB settings are set to USB 3.0.

MAC OS Ver = 10.14.3

VMWare Fusion Ver = 11.0.2

Any other suggestions.

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RickShu
VMware Employee
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Hi ,

Did you connect a USB 3.1 device to your Windows 10 VM?

Regards,

-Rick

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vmferrari
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Yes it is a 3.1

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RickShu
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Well, that's the problem. We don't support USB 3.1 device officially yet.

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Toniware
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Is there any support to USB 3.1 right now?

I'm facing this exact problem with an external SSD 3.1 (Sandisk Extreme PRO). A Windows 10 VM is not recognizing the external USB 3.1 disk using Fusion 11.5.1 on a Macbook Pro 16" with OS Catalina 10.15.2.

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ColoradoMarmot
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They made major changes to the USB subsystem in the new tech preview - might be worth a try (but make a backup first of course).

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lalee123
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Toniware​ are you still experiencing this problem?

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Toniware
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I was given a hint to workaround the connection problem from VMWare support consisting of a specific line in VMX file.

Now the drive shows up in the VM but the performance is barely usable (100 times slower than direct connection to the host).

I was told to wait for the next major release, several months ahead 😞

I just purchased the SSD hardisk and the VM license... I felt so disapointed that I checked out other choices, but I've read that the same is happening to other products like Parallel Desktops.

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