USB device can not get connected to Guest OS - AM4 Chipset Host

[patkim]

I have VMWare Workstation 14 on Windows 7 Host PC on MSI B450M AMD AM4 Motherboard.

As far as what I best understand, on AM4 chipset all USB 2 as well as USB 3 ports are essentially controlled by xHCI controller.

I create a Windows 10 64 Guest OS and now no matter what is the xHCI hand off setting in Host BIOS, any USB mass storage device connected to USB 2 ports is not detected in VM. It does not even show up under Removable device menu. All VM Ware services are running and set to Automatic start.

Now a USB pen drive connected to USB 3 port on Host is somehow detected in VM--> Removable Devices Menu, but when I try to connect,  VM  says

Connection was unsuccessful. Host is currently using the device. Close applications that might be using the device.

Well nothing from the USB pen drive is in use on the Host. I have made repeated tries with a few pen drives (USB 2 as well as 3) and the error is consistent.

Have I hit a roadblock? Is there some incompatibility between AM4 xHCI and VMWare Workstation 14?

What else can I try to fix this issue?

Since Windows 7 does not have any native USB/xHCI support,  Windows 7 Host USB ports on the MSI AM4 Board are all driven by AMD 3 / 3.1 xHCI controller drivers.

Thanks in advance.

[wila · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I think you summed it up in your conclusion:

Since Windows 7 does not have any native USB/xHCI support,  Windows 7 Host USB ports on the MSI AM4 Board are all driven by AMD 3 / 3.1 xHCI controller drivers.

Windows 7 does not have inbox drivers for USB3. In order to be able to use those at host level you had to install special drivers.

Apparently VMware Workstation is not able to communicate properly with those special drivers.

The solution would be to upgrade (or change) your host OS to one that does support USB3 drivers out of the box.

Another thing you might try is to look and see if there are newer Windows 7 drivers for your motherboard or newer firmware updates and hope that they will resolve your issue.

--

Wil

[patkim]

Hi Wil,

Thanks for your answer. Yes, I was suspecting that. However is there any information available as to what host USB 3 drivers & hardware chips VMWare Workstation 14 is compatible with, when it comes to Windows Host OS? Is there any official support page or knowledge base article available on VMWare site?

Is VMWare Workstation 14 currently compatible with only Microsoft In-Box USB 3 (xHCI) drivers? That would mean compatibility with only Windows 8.1 or 10 running as host on AM4 Chipset motherboards.

I think it does support Intel USB drivers for Windows 7. When I try to enable USB 3 support in Windows 7 guest, it does show a link informing the user to download Intel USB 3 guest drivers.

e.g. this link.  Does this mean that you need to have a motherboard with specified USB 3 chipset as host hardware for this to work?

Thanks.

[wila]

Hi,

Good call.

There's this kb article on only supporting the general xHCI driver from Microsoft:

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2041591

but it is an article for Workstation 9.

Then there is this KB article about installing the driver into the Windows 7 guest.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2128105

But it is for Windows 7 only and only within the guest.

You are trying to use a Windows 10 guest which carries the inbox driver already.

I am not aware of other KB articles for this area, nor was I able to locate another one that details your specific use case.

You are correct that for Windows you would need a Windows 8 or Windows 10 host to be able to use those drivers.

Another alternative would be to run a recent Linux as your host OS.

--

Wil

[patkim]

It's now clear that VMWare relies on Host's Inbox native drivers to enabled USB 3 passthru.

I am not too sure if it's appropriate to comment this on this forum, however I did give Oracle VirtualBox on Windows 7 Host a try.

I was surprised to find that it indeed was capable of making USB 3 passthru despite I have AMD USB 3 drivers on Windows 7 host.

A successful connection to USB 3 pen drive could be established and I could mount the USB 3 pen drive connected to Windows 7 Host on to the Guest OS thereafter.

Seems Virtualbox has enabled support for third party USB 3 drivers. I am not too sure about the various other drivers/vendors but at least my on AM4 board's AMD USB 3 controllers it worked.

Regards.

[wila]

Hi,

No worries about the reply and using VirtualBox as a solution instead.

If it helped solve your problem then it is appropriate.

We're just glad to hear you found a solution that worked for you.

--

Wil