VMware Cloud Community
Vargs36
Contributor
Contributor

USB Device Passthrough ESXi 6.7 - Unknown USB Device (Invalid Device Descriptor)

Hello

I am currently running ESXi 6.7  Update 2 (Build 13006603) and having issues with passing any USB devices on 2 new servers I recently deployed. Both servers are Lenovo ST250's.

In this case the customer requires a USB drive to be plugged in, and the drive comes up normal in ESX:

pastedImage_0.png

But in Windows I have this:

pastedImage_1.png

I have confirmed:

-VMWare tools is installed on the VM (Complete Install)
-Lenovo support confirmed there are no issues with hardware

-Latest firmware has been installed for all server hardware

Guest OS is Windows Server 2019.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

7 Replies
DarthHoward
Contributor
Contributor

Did you ever solve this issue? I am having the same problem and can't seem to find a good solution.

Reply
0 Kudos
KERRvmware
Contributor
Contributor

Same here - noticed you're using the same Seagate RSS Expansion drive as me.

I found that a USB stick worked just fine.

I wonder if it's just the Seagate RSS Expansion device?

Reply
0 Kudos
MarcRamsay
Contributor
Contributor

I also have a 2 Seagate RSS devices that are not working. They did work until mid-June then stopped. They work fine on a laptop. Any ideas for resolving this? I am on 6.7 U3 on a Dell PowerEdge T440.

Reply
0 Kudos
PiMatrix
Contributor
Contributor

Hi there,

I ran into the same issue today and I found a workaround. 

In Esxi 6.7, when you add a host USB device, it will create a USB 2.0 controller by default, which I think is the root cause of the issue. My workaround is to manually create a USB 3.0 controller before you add any USB device, then the host USB device added afterwards will be mounted under the USB 3.0 controller you created, which can be recognized by the VM's OS correctly.

If you have already added a host USB device, pls remove it before you try my workaround.

Hope this solution can help someone out, cheers

hasanm3
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you for the solution. It worked for me right away.

Reply
0 Kudos
D_G_Tal
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi , 

first remove USB controller from VM and then create a USB 3.0 controller before you add any USB device.

 

Reply
0 Kudos
Decode5909
Contributor
Contributor

Logged in to say this worked perfectly fine! thanks for your solution

Tags (1)
Reply
0 Kudos