Hi,
I have a USB WiFi adapter that I would like to pass through to a virtual machine.
But I am not able to make this work correctly.
My setup is like this:
ESXi 5.1.0.799733 running on a Supermicro X9SRW-F
The Guest OS is Windows 7 Professional.
I have tried with 2 different USB adapters:
TP LINK TL-WN722NC
Alfa Network AWUS036NHA
Both give simmilar results.
The USB device is directly connected to the ESXi host.
When the device is connected, the device is discovered by ESXi, and I can see the device in the "lsusb" list:
~ # lsusb
Bus 02 Device 03: ID 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc.
Bus 02 Device 02: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp.
Bus 02 Device 01: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 01 Device 03: ID 0557:2221 ATEN International Co., Ltd
Bus 01 Device 02: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp.
Bus 01 Device 01: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
To assign the device to the guest PC, I then add a USB (EHCI+UHCI) controller to the Virtual Machine, and then add a USB device.
The WiFi adapter is displayed OK in the list of devices available for assignment, and I add it to the Virtual Machine.
The problem starts when I power on the Virtual Machine.
The event log on the ESXi host starts to fill up with messages like this:
And in the vmkernel.log, I get entries like this:
2013-01-04T15:47:53.514Z cpu4:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:47:53.598Z cpu4:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
2013-01-04T15:47:53.893Z cpu4:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
2013-01-04T15:48:01.715Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
2013-01-04T15:48:01.853Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device firmware changed
2013-01-04T15:48:01.853Z cpu0:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, address 3
2013-01-04T15:48:01.865Z cpu0:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: unregistered usb0203
2013-01-04T15:48:01.950Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
2013-01-04T15:48:06.951Z cpu6:4576)<3>usb 2-1.3: world 4576 timed out on ep0in len=0/64
2013-01-04T15:48:06.951Z cpu6:4576)ALERT: URB timed out - USB device may not respond
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=48
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Product: UB91C
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: ATHEROS
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 12345
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: registered usb0204
2013-01-04T15:48:07.092Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:07.630Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:07.713Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
2013-01-04T15:48:07.973Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
2013-01-04T15:48:09.033Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
2013-01-04T15:48:09.173Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device firmware changed
2013-01-04T15:48:09.173Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, address 4
2013-01-04T15:48:09.185Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: unregistered usb0204
2013-01-04T15:48:09.270Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
2013-01-04T15:48:14.271Z cpu6:4576)<3>usb 2-1.3: world 4576 timed out on ep0in len=0/64
2013-01-04T15:48:14.271Z cpu6:4576)ALERT: URB timed out - USB device may not respond
2013-01-04T15:48:14.411Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271
2013-01-04T15:48:14.411Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=48
2013-01-04T15:48:14.411Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Product: UB91C
2013-01-04T15:48:14.411Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: ATHEROS
2013-01-04T15:48:14.411Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 12345
2013-01-04T15:48:14.412Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: registered usb0205
2013-01-04T15:48:14.412Z cpu8:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:14.952Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:15.037Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
2013-01-04T15:48:15.275Z cpu10:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
2013-01-04T15:48:16.297Z cpu4:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
2013-01-04T15:48:16.437Z cpu0:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device firmware changed
2013-01-04T15:48:16.437Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, address 5
2013-01-04T15:48:16.449Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: unregistered usb0205
2013-01-04T15:48:16.533Z cpu6:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
2013-01-04T15:48:21.535Z cpu2:4576)<3>usb 2-1.3: world 4576 timed out on ep0in len=0/64
2013-01-04T15:48:21.535Z cpu2:4576)ALERT: URB timed out - USB device may not respond
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=48
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Product: UB91C
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: ATHEROS
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 12345
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: usbfs: registered usb0206
2013-01-04T15:48:21.672Z cpu0:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:22.160Z cpu1:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: device is available for passthrough
2013-01-04T15:48:22.243Z cpu1:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
2013-01-04T15:48:22.491Z cpu1:6384)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
2013-01-04T15:48:23.491Z cpu1:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
2013-01-04T15:48:23.631Z cpu1:6377)<6>usb 2-1.3: device firmware changed
2013-01-04T15:48:23.631Z cpu4:4576)<6>usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, address 6
So it looks like the USB is constantly disconnected and rediscovered at a new bus address...
I have tried different BIOS settings like VT-d and EHCI Hand-off. But there is still no improvement.
Does anyone know what could be causing this issue?
Or do you have any input to how I can proceed in troubleshooting this?
Thanks and regards,
Ivar