Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 235
Chapter 8 Configuring Devices
Using USB with a Windows Host
When!a!particular!USB!device!is!connected!to!a!virtual!machine!for!the!first!time,!the!
host!detects!it!as!a!new!device!named!VMware!USB!Device!and!installs!the!appropriate!
VMware!driver.
On!a!Windows!Server!2003!host,!User!confirmation!is!required!in!the!Found!New!
Hardware!Wizard.!Select!the!
default!action!!Install!the!software!automatically.!Once!
the!software!is!installed,!the!guest!operating!system!detects!the!USB!device!and!
searches!for!a!suitable!driver.!
When!you!are!synchronizing!a!PDA,!such!as!a!Palm!handheld!or!Handspring!Visor,!to!
a!virtual!machine!for!the!first!time,!the!total!
time!required!to!load!the!VMware!USB!
device!driver!in!the!host!and!the!PDA!driver!in!the!guest!might!exceed!the!device’s!
connection!timeout!value.!This!causes!the!device!to!disconnect!itself!from!the!computer!
before!the!guest!can!synchronize!with!it.!If!this!occurs,!let!the!guest!finish!installing
!the!
PDA!driver,!dismiss!any!connection!error!warnings,!then!try!synchronizing!the!PDA!
again.!The!second!attempt!should!succeed.
Replacing USB 2.0 Drivers on a Windows 2000 Host
To!use!VMware!Server!on!a!Windows!2000!host!that!has!USB!2.0!ports,!you!must!use!
the!Microsoft!USB!2.0!drivers!for!the!USB!controller!in!the!host!operating!system.!If!
your!host!operating!system!is!using!a!thirdparty!driver!!a!driver!supplied!by!your!
motherboard!vendor,!for
!example!!you!must!replace!it.
Take!the!following!steps!to!check!the!provider!of!your!driver:
1Go!to!the!Device!Manager.!Rightclick!My!Computer,!choose!Properties,!click!the!
Hardware!tab,!then!click!Device!Manager.
2 Expand!the!listing!for!Universal!Serial!Bus!controllers.
3Rightclick!the!listing!for!the!controller
!and!choose!Properties.
4Click!the!Driver!tab.!If!the!driver!provider!shown!on!that!page!is!Microsoft,!you!
have!the!correct!driver!already.
If!the!driver!provider!is!not!Microsoft,!download!the!latest!USB!driver!for!your!host!
operating!system!from!the!Microsoft!Web!site!and!follow!the!Microsoft!instructions!to
!
install!it.!Details!are!available!in!Microsoft!knowledge!base!article!319973.
Using USB with a Linux Host
On!Linux!hosts,!VMware!Server!uses!the!USB!device!file!system!to!connect!to!USB!
devices.!In!most!Linux!systems!that!support!USB,!the!USB!device!file!system!is!at!
/proc/bus/usb.!If!your!host!operating!system!uses!a!different!path!to!the!USB!device!