USB on ESXi 6

[Verdi21]

Hello all,

I found a lot of interesting posts in this forum, about USB issues on ESXi. I’ve tested several solution, but none has worked.

My problem is that I can’t attach an USB disk on a VM client.

I have 2 issues:

- xhci driver don’t work

- ehci driver seems to work, but a Linux (debian 10) client don’t detect the disk

Here are the errors :

- VM Event on Esxi web gui:

The device “Western Digital Elements 10B8” could not connect to its ideal host controller. The system will attempt to connect this device to the best available host controller. This can cause undefined behavior for this device.

- On the client Linux Debian 10:

Could you please help me ?

Thank you !

—————

My configuration:

- ESXi version (fresh install) : 6.7.0 Update 1 (Build 10302608)

- Intel Nuc, 2 CPUs x Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4010U CPU @ 1.70GHz

- ESXi server installed on an USB key

- usbarbitrator running

[NathanosBlightc]

Hello and welcome to the community

Can you answer these questions please:

1. Did you install VMware tools for that VM, when you change the driver type?

2. Does this problem happen inside other VMs with other guest OS type?!

3. Did you check the vmware.log file for more detail on your corresponding VM?

4. When you choose the EHCI driver, please run the following commands and give the result:

lsusb

cd /sys/bus/usb/devices/

and search for any related USB device maybe existed in your Linux VM ... then maybe we can find another solution based on your Linux type/version

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

This error is typical when trying to connect a USB3 device to a virtual computer that does not support it.

However from the screen, you have selected "USB Controller" set to "USB 2", while your "Western Digital Elements 10B8" HDD is "USB 3".

So you can try setting your controller to "USB 3" mode, if your virtual machine's operating system supports it.

What operating system does your virtual machine have?

ARomeo

[Verdi21]

Thank you Amin for your quick reply.

1. I have the same result with and without VMWare tools (2 guests with Linux Debian 10)

2. I haven't another OS to test with

3. Below an extract which looks like interesting

4. No mention of my USB disk (western digital)

# lsusb

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

# ls /sys/bus/usb/devices/

1-0:1.0  2-0:1.0  2-1  2-1:1.0  2-2  2-2:1.0  usb1  usb2

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125: VUsbUpdateVigorFieldsAndAutoconnect: New set of 1 USB devices

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vcpu-0| I125: Intel VT: FlexPriority disabled.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125: USB: Found device [name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 version:3]

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vcpu-0| I125: Intel VT: VPID enabled.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125: USB: Autoconnecting device "Western Digital Elements 10B8" matching pattern [vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 autoclean:1] prefer usb

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125: USB: Connecting device desc:name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk autoclean:1 serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 version:3 id:0x10000001105810b8

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125: MsgHint: msg.usb.hcAutoConnect

2020-03-22T08:47:09.603Z| vmx| I125+ The device 'Western Digital Elements 10B8' was unable to connect to its ideal host controller. An attempt will be made to connect this device to the best available host controller. This might result in undefined behavior for this device.---------------------------------------

2020-03-22T08:47:09.605Z| vcpu-0| I125: Intel VT enabled.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.667Z| vmx| I125: USB: Port mismatch for USB 3.0 bulk-only mass storage device and USB 2.0 port.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.667Z| vmx| I125: USB: Config entry to mangle USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 speed is not set. Please set usb.mangleUsb3Speed = TRUE in the config file.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.667Z| vmx| I125: USBG: Created 10000001105810b8

2020-03-22T08:47:09.669Z| vmx| I125: USBGA: device 10000001105810b8 arrived

2020-03-22T08:47:09.669Z| vmx| I125: VUsbUpdateVigorFieldsAndAutoconnect: New set of 1 USB devices

2020-03-22T08:47:09.669Z| vmx| I125: USB: Found device [name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk virtPath:ehci:0 serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 ownerdisplay:Plex version:3], connected to ehci port 0.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.669Z| vmx| I125: USB: Device [name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk virtPath:ehci:0 serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 ownerdisplay:Plex version:3] should already be connected

2020-03-22T08:47:09.670Z| vcpu-0| I125: MemSched (MB): min: 19 sizeLimit: 1024 swapInitialFileSize: 110 prealloc: FALSE.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.670Z| vcpu-0| I125: MemSched (MB): min: 19 sizeLimit: 1024 swapInitialFileSize: 110 prealloc: FALSE.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.670Z| vmx| I125: VUsbUpdateVigorFieldsAndAutoconnect: New set of 1 USB devices

2020-03-22T08:47:09.670Z| vmx| I125: USB: Found device [name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk virtPath:ehci:0 serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 ownerdisplay:Plex version:3], connected to ehci port 0.

2020-03-22T08:47:09.670Z| vmx| I125: USB: Device [name:Western\ Digital\ Elements\ 10B8 vid:1058 pid:10b8 path:0/1/10 speed:super family:storage,storage-bulk virtPath:ehci:0 serialnum:575833314136344A46414348 arbRuntimeKey:1 ownerdisplay:Plex version:3] should already be connected

2020-03-22T08:47:09.801Z| vcpu-0| I125: UHCI: HCReset

[Verdi21 · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

I found the solution.

The OS of my VM is Linux Debian 10. But I have to declare "Other Linux 3.x (64bits)" like guest system, in the configuration of the VM. "Debian gnu / Linux 10 (64 bits)" is not the right way.

And then I can add a xhci controller and the USB disk appears...

Thank you for your help !

[Alex_Romeo]

Great! thanks for sharing it will be useful to other people.

ARomeo