Identify USB device connections/controller tree

[Eds89]

Hi,

I have a USB 5G modem I want to passthrough to a VM, but am struggling to determine what USB controller it's connected to, and whether it is safe to pass through the whole controller to the VM.

In my hardware device list, I can see two Intel USB controllers.

The physical server has two USB ports on the rear, two on the front and one or two internals. My ESXi boot drive is a USB drive connected to one of the internal ports, and looks to be on bus 002.

Whether I connect the USB modem to the front or rear ports, it also looks to be on bus 002.

I assume therefore, it would not be prudent to passthrough controller 2 to the VM, as it will cause ESXi to lose connectivity to the USB boot drive, but I am unable to find any port that shows as bus 001.

Is there a way I can identify which controller each port is connected to and which controller I need to pass through?

Cheers

Eds

[Eds89]

I've had a look at the manual for the X9SRL-F Supermicro board I have, and it looks like both controllers are on the C602 PCH controller.

I think ports 0-8 are on controller 1, and port 9 is on controller 2. I think I confirmed this by moving my front USB ports onto the port 8/9 USB header, and one of the ports now shows Bus 001 and the other 002.

Annoyingly, the internal USB header is on one controller, and the USB support for the IPMI interface is on the other, so I cannot actually pass through either controller to my VM, and the device isn't supported for direct attach to a VM.

My issue is now a physical motherboard limitation and seems only solvable my new/replacement hardware.

Cheers

Eds