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Table Of Contents
Troubleshooting USB Redirection Problems
Various problems can arise with USB redirection in Horizon Client.
Problem
USB redirection in Horizon Client fails to make local devices available on the remote desktop, or some
devices do not appear to be available for redirection in Horizon Client.
Cause
The following are possible causes for USB redirection failing to function correctly or as expected.
n
The device is a composite USB device and one of the devices it includes is blocked by default. For
example, a dictation device that includes a mouse is blocked by default because mouse devices are
blocked by default. To work around this problem, see “Configuring Device Splitting Policy Settings for
Composite USB Devices,” on page 158.
n
USB redirection is not supported for Windows 2008 systems or for session-based RDS-hosted remote
desktops.
n
Webcams are not supported for redirection.
n
The redirection of USB audio devices depends on the state of the network and is not reliable. Some
devices require a high data throughput even when they are idle.
n
USB redirection is not supported for boot devices. If you run Horizon Client on a Windows system that
boots from a USB device, and you redirect this device to the remote desktop, the local operating system
might become unresponsive or unusable. See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021409.
n
By default, Horizon Client for Windows does not allow you to select keyboard, mouse, smart card and
audio-out devices for redirection. See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011600.
n
RDP does not support the redirection of USB HIDs for the console session, or of smart card readers. See
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011600.
n
Windows Mobile Device Center can prevent the redirection of USB devices for RDP sessions. See
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1019205.
n
For some USB HIDs, you must configure the virtual machine to update the position of the mouse
pointer. See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1022076.
n
Some audio devices might require changes to policy settings or to registry settings. See
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1023868.
n
Network latency can cause slow device interaction or cause applications to appear frozen because they
are designed to interact with local devices. Very large USB disk drives might take several minutes to
appear in Windows Explorer.
n
USB flash cards formatted with the FAT32 file system are slow to load. See
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1022836.
n
A process or service on the local system opened the device before you connected to the remote desktop.
n
A redirected USB device stops working if you reconnect a desktop session even if the desktop shows
that the device is available.
n
USB redirection is disabled in View Administrator.
n
Missing or disabled USB redirection drivers on the guest.
Solution
n
If available, use PCoIP instead of RDP as the desktop protocol.
Setting Up Desktop and Application Pools in View
268 VMware, Inc.