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Table Of Contents
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Chaining hubs together increases the chance of port and hub error, which can cause the device to
lose connection to a virtual machine.
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Certain hubs can cause USB device connections to be unreliable, so use care when you add a new
hub to an existing setup. Connecting certain USB devices directly to the client computer rather than to
a hub or extension cable might resolve their connection or performance issues. In some cases, you
must remove and reattach the device and hub to restore the device to a working state.
The USB arbitrator can monitor a maximum of 15 USB controllers. If your system includes controllers that
exceed the 15 controller limit and you connect USB devices to them, the devices are not available to the
virtual machine.
For compound devices, the virtualization process filters out the USB hub so that it is not visible to the
virtual machine. The remaining USB devices in the compound appear to the virtual machine as separate
devices. You can add each device to the same virtual machine or to different virtual machines if they run
on the same host.
For example, the Aladdin HASP HL Drive USB dongle package contains three devices (0529:0001 HASP
dongle, 13fe:1a00 Hub, 13fe:1d00 Kingston Drive). The virtualization process filters out the USB hub. The
remaining Aladdin HASP HL Drive USB dongle devices (one Aladdin HASP dongle and one Kingston
Drive) appear to the virtual machine as individual devices. You must add each device separately to make
it accessible to the virtual machine.
Procedure
u
To add a USB device to a client computer, connect the device to an available port or hub.
What to do next
You can now add the USB device to the virtual machine.
Add a USB Controller to a Virtual Machine
USB controllers are available to add to virtual machines to support USB passthrough from an ESXi host
or from a client computer to a virtual machine.
You can add one virtual xHCI controller, one virtual EHCI controller, and one virtual UHCI controller per
virtual machine. With Hardware Version 11, the supported number of root hub ports per xHCI controller is
eight (four logical USB 3.0 ports and four logical USB 2.0 ports).
The conditions for adding a controller vary, depending on the device version, the type of passthrough
(host or client computer), and the guest operating system.
Table 59. USB Controller Support
Controller type
Supported USB Device
Version
Supported for Passthrough
from ESXi Host to VM
Supported for Passthrough from
Client Computer to VM
EHCI+UHCI 2.0 and 1.1 Yes Yes
xHCI 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 Yes (USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1
devices only)
Yes (Linux, Windows 8 and later, and
Windows Server 2012 and later guests)
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