My USB Drive is not detected by VMware Workstation...

[Mario64bit]

My USB Drive is not detected by VMware Workstation, it simply does not list the drive and does not auto-connect the drive to the guest; The drive works fine in the host machine.

[voidp]

Is your VM configured with a USB controller?

If so, do you see any USB device icons listed in the VM's status bar or the "VM | Removable devices" menu?

[Susie201110141]

Could you upload vm-support data from "Help->Collect Support Data..." ?

[Mario64bit]

Yes, my VM is configured with a USB Controller, but I do not see any USB icons listed in the VM's status bar or the "VM>Removable Devices" menu.

[voidp]

Note that a vmware employee (Susie201110141) has replied to your question and asked that you send a diagnostic log.

[Mario64bit]

Here is the vm-support data...

[bonnie201110141 · Accepted solution]

From services.txt, "VMUSBArbService" is stopped, which is the reason why you cannot see any devices in Removable Devices. This service depends on VMware Workstation Server. In your system, VMware Workstation Server does not start either.

VMware Workstation Server uses port 443 by default (you can check this in Edit > Preferences > Shared VMs). Are there any other applications on your host that is using this port? If so, VMware Workstation Server won't start.

[filesINthecompu]

I had this same problem and can confirm that the VMUSBArbService and VMware Workstation Server services were not running (services.msc listed them as having a Startup Type of 'Automatic', but they weren't started yet even though VMware Workstation was running).  Starting them manually and then restarting VMware Workstation allowed the USB devices to be identified successfully.  Thanks!

[WhiteKnight]

Starting these services manually cannot be the answer to this issue.

I am sharing the same problem, but I don't want to always start some services manually over and over again.

Here's what I get from the Windows event log:

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
 - <System>
   <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7031</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2019-01-01T12:56:54.818382900Z" />
    <EventRecordID>12319</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="948" ThreadID="4228" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Security />
    </System>
 - <EventData>
    <Data Name="param1">VMware Workstation Server</Data>
    <Data Name="param2">1</Data>
    <Data Name="param3">60000</Data>
    <Data Name="param4">1</Data>
    <Data Name="param5">Restart the service</Data>
    <Binary>56004D00770061007200650048006F007300740064000000</Binary>
   </EventData>
  </Event>

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
 - <System>
   <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7023</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2019-01-01T12:57:35.187402300Z" />
    <EventRecordID>12399</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="952" ThreadID="1632" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Security />
    </System>
 - <EventData>
    <Data Name="param1">VMUSBArbService</Data>
    <Data Name="param2">%%2</Data>
    <Binary>56004D0055005300420041007200620053006500720076006900630065000000</Binary>
   </EventData>
  </Event>

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
 - <System>
   <Provider Name="Service Control Manager" Guid="{555908d1-a6d7-4695-8e1e-26931d2012f4}" EventSourceName="Service Control Manager" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="49152">7001</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8080000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2019-01-01T12:57:35.187402300Z" />
    <EventRecordID>12400</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="952" ThreadID="3984" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Security />
    </System>
 - <EventData>
    <Data Name="param1">VMwareHostd</Data>
    <Data Name="param2">VMUSBArbService</Data>
    <Data Name="param3">%%2</Data>
    <Binary>56004D00770061007200650048006F007300740064000000</Binary>
   </EventData>
  </Event>

The error reason in user friendly words is:

Service "VMware Workstation Server" has unexpectedly stopped. This already happened 1 time. Following measures will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

Service "VMUSBArbService" has stopped with following error: The system could not find the file specified.


Service "VMwareHostd" depends on service "VMUSBArbService" which failed to start due to the following reason: The system could not find the file specified.

.

VMware, please find a solid solution to this issue.

[bonnie201110141]

Hello, everybody,

Usually such USB arbitrator service not starting issue is caused by a broken installation of VMware Workstation (due to hcmon, vmusb driver) or a conflict between VMware Workstation and other VMware software such as vSphere client. Both should be resolved by a complete uninstall and reinstall of Workstation as a workaround.

1. Remove VMware Workstation

2. Please stop related services if any by "sc stop serviceName" in cmd with administrative with priviledge

service stop VMwareHostd

service stop VMUSBArbService

service stop hcmon

service stop vmusb

service stop vmx86

service stop vmci

3. Remove drivers:

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\hcmon.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmci.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmx86.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmusb.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmkbd.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vsock.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmnet.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmnetadapter.sys

del C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmnetbridge.sys

del C:\Windows\system32\drivers\vmnetuserif.sys

4. Remove registry:

reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc." /f

reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VMware, Inc." /f

5. Reboot again

6. Reinstall Workstation.

Let me know if it works for you.

[WhiteKnight]

After performing all the steps you mentioned (i.e. manually deleting the drivers and re-installing VMware Workstation) the VMware Workstation Server server is listed as "deactivated" in the list of services:

Is this by intention? If not, what kind of starting option should I set it to? (And why is it set to the "deactivated" starting option anyway?)

Your help is very much appreciated.

[bonnie201110141]

In Workstation menu Edit > Preferences > Shared VM, if you try to enable sharing, what would it do?

[WhiteKnight]

Ah, I see ... But if this is by intention, why is an error generated for this service in the Windows event log each time VMware Workstation is starting?

[bonnie201110141]

This is not by intention. Shared VM should be automatically started after host boots up. It is possible that during Workstation installation, it detects port conflict, which prevents it from starting. Anyway, if the problem assists, please attach installation logs  so that we can take a look.

[WhiteKnight]

Actually, I disabled Shared VMs, by intention:

But doing so should not raise an error in the Windows event log, I suppose.

[WhiteKnight]

Still not working.

When VMware Workstation starts, the VMware USB Arbitration Service is not getting started:

From my perspective, this is a bug to be fixed with the next update. Remember: Shared VMs is disabled by intention and through Preferences GUI.

[bonnie201110141]

From the screenshot in comment10, USB arbitrator is already running. So you mean after some time, the service stopped working again? Please then attach C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-SYSTEM \vmware-usbarb-*.log. Please make sure the timestamp in the log is the latest and if not, please attach C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-SYSTEM-*\vmware-usbarb-*.log. Thanks a lot!

[WhiteKnight]

Hi Bonnie,

I sent you the logs in a PM because they may contain sensitive data.

Thanks for having a look at it.

Cheers,

Axel

[bonnie201110141]

We looked at the log, and it is due to usb arbitrator cannot connect to hcmon.sys (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\hcmon.sys). Usually a fresh installation after removing the hcmon.sys driver can resolve the issue.

So to confirm, when this issue occurs, you can still manual start usb arbitrator service from Windows Services?

[bonnie201110141]

Can you do this?

1. Confirm C:\Windows\System32\drivers\hcmon.sys exist.
2. Run “sc query hcmon” to check whether hcmon is running.
3. Check if hcmon is running after reboot. If not, run “sc config” to set hcmon run automatically after reboot.
4. If hcmon is running and can run automatically after reboot, then the error should go.