VMWare Fusion 7.1.1 (latest version) with a Windows 7 guest and USB 3.0?

[riahc3]

Hello I see a lot of talk and debate about this but Im trying to plug a USB 3.0 to SATA bridge into a virutal machine guest running Windows 7 on VMWare Fusion so I can Access a external SATA SSD at USB 3.0. I wanted to know if I could get full USB 3.0 speeds when selecting USB 3.0 host. I wanted to know not only if it is posible but is there any limitations? I know Microsoft did not include a USB 3.0 driver (because USB 3.0 wasnt really out when Windows 7 came around) so drivers from other need to be used. Can someone help me out? Thank you

[wila]

Hi,

Not possible, won't work at USB3 speed, there simply are no drivers.

As you mention you have read the earlier responses the following is not for your benefit, but for others bumping into this thread.

Unfortunately Windows 7 itself does not come with USB3 support (this is sometimes referenced as windows 7 not having an inbox driver for USB3).

While some devices come with extra drivers for USB3 support under Windows 7, these drivers are not guaranteed to work when running under VMware Fusion. At this time VMware Fusion does not provide a Windows 7 specific USB3 driver to the guest.

In order to use a USB3 device under VMware Fusion you have the following options:

- Use an operating system with USB3 support (eg. Windows 8.x or similar)

- Use a USB2 hub or USB2 cable between your computer and the USB3 device you want to use to downgrade the USB3 interface to USB2

- Connect to a USB2 connector on your computer if your computer provides such a connector.

- You can try setting the USB compatibility under menu Virtual Machine -> Settings -> USB & Bluetooth -> Advanced -> Compatibility -> USB2

--

Wil

[riahc3]

There seems to be a confusion on my part. "While some devices come with extra drivers for USB3 support under Windows 7, these drivers are not guaranteed to work when running under VMware Fusion. At this time VMware Fusion does not provide a Windows 7 specific USB3 driver to the guest. " What I actually need is the driver for the virtual port, not the actual USB3 device. Something like a "Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller" driver, not a "WD My Passport Essential SE USB 3.0" driver. Wouldnt Apple provide this? Since I could not get it to work, I made a raw disk mapping. From what I understand, this should use the OS X USB 3.0 drivers (since it is plugged into OS X) and give me near native speeds. But I actually see horrible speeds..... I used this: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=209740... It does catch my eye that you dont recomend this. Currently, what is being used, is downgrading the virtual port to USB 2.0 but of course, no USB 3.0 speeds....

[wila]

Hi,

Sorry very busy day here.

There's no driver for Windows 7 like the one you are looking for AFAIK and I really be happy to hear otherwise.

So far not heard about anyone with success on that area while running on Fusion.

re. using Raw Disk Mapping, not recommended for a removable disk.

You might get file corruption if you unplug by accident, it might even cause issues on your guest OS itself due to the guest OS itself becoming totally unresponsive when you disconnect the USB disk.

Didn't know the speed was bad, would have expected to be able to use it at reasonable speeds, but I've no experience with creating a RDM on an USB disk.

Updating to a guest OS that supports USB3 via an inbox driver is in my opinion the best solution for using USB3 devices.

--

Wil

[TimG201110141]

Unfortunatly, VMWAre doesn't care to allow USB3 to function under Windows 7.

It's not that it cannot be done.. Parallels and Oracle's VirtualBox run USB3 under Windows 7 just fine. In fact, Parallels has had this down for years now. Parallels simply made the USB3 VM Host Bridge compatible with Intel's USB 3 Host bridge driver and that works just fine. They didn't even need to make a driver..

This is as it is because of VMWare doesn't care.. plain and simple. Sadly, my place of employment, like many, are avoiding Windows 8, so I need to keep with their corporate image and thats Windows 7. Sucks that VMWare, a 'corporate' focused company is so out of touch of what it's own customers are likely to need. Businesses, for the most part, have avoided Windows 8. With Windows 10 toward the end of the year, I'm hoping I can at least upgrade then..

This to me just says how out of touch (years worth) VMWare is. We shouldn't even need to be asking for this; USB 3 simply should have been built in. /shrug