January 3, 201412 yr hello everyone! posting here to hopefully get some help for esx gurus! i am trying to setup esx as a desktop using pci passthrough so far i got my video card and sound card (and sas card to unraid) to pass through without issues. the problem i am running into is i cant get the keyboard and mouse to pass through successfully. when i try and add a usb device the only thing i see is a usb stick (that is connected through a usb hub) if i try and pass through one of my usb controllers i get an error inside the windows 7x64 vm "code 10 unable to start" if my only option is to buy a 1x pcie usb card are there any cheap options out there that are tested to work with esx 5.x is there a way to "unfilter" the usb devices attached to the machine so i can just add the keyboard and mouse to the vm. in the future i plan to add another video card to connect to a tv for media use. system specs: asrock z87 extreme4 i7 4770 power color radeon 6450 Supermicro MV8 thanks, -Chris
January 5, 201412 yr Have you tried ESXi 5.0? I know there use to be problems with 5.1 and USB pass through that may also exist with 5.5. I've never tried a keyboard or mouse in ESXi 5.0 but I do have USB devices like the unRAID USB key and the APC UPS cable being used without problems.
January 5, 201412 yr Author my unraid usb key does work.. i may try and downgrade to 5.0 if its not too much of a pain.
February 5, 201412 yr if my only option is to buy a 1x pcie usb card are there any cheap options out there that are tested to work with esx 5.x This is your only option. I pass through my onboard USB3 controller along with a GPU (HD6450). Unfortunately, since I use the extra onboard controller, I don't have a standalone pci-e card to recommend.
February 5, 201412 yr why do you need to pass though Keyboard and mouse in the first place? aren't those devices exist by default ? I mean aren't they passed into VM from the Host system, or from the client you are connecting from?
February 10, 201412 yr I would also give windows 8.1 a try, I find it works better with hardware pass-through.
February 10, 201412 yr Author why do you need to pass though Keyboard and mouse in the first place? aren't those devices exist by default ? I mean aren't they passed into VM from the Host system, or from the client you are connecting from? I'm not remoting in. I am using esxi as a workstation. I ended up ordering a cheap usb3 card from amazon that I passed through without issue. When people use the PC they don't even realize everything that is going on behind the scenes.
February 17, 201412 yr I can tell you that this card works perfectly for passthrough. http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=107412 I am passing through the whole card to Win8. (which I also passed through a GPU) I connected up a USB hub to it and I have my USB soundcard, kb, and mouse all going to it without any issues. Only two of the ports seem to work. Also if I disconnect anything from the card itself, I have to reboot the VM before it'll work again. That being said if I use a USB hub, I can unplug and replug anything from the hub without issue so long as I keep the hub plugged in.
February 17, 201412 yr I can tell you that this card works perfectly for passthrough. http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=107412 I am passing through the whole card to Win8. (which I also passed through a GPU) I connected up a USB hub to it and I have my USB soundcard, kb, and mouse all going to it without any issues. Only two of the ports seem to work. Also if I disconnect anything from the card itself, I have to reboot the VM before it'll work again. That being said if I use a USB hub, I can unplug and replug anything from the hub without issue so long as I keep the hub plugged in. It most likely is showing up as 3 objects on the pass through display of ESXi. If you pass all three of those objects you will get all ports working. That is why I like the USB 3.0 cards I'm using with ESXi 5.0. It only shows as one object in the pass through screen of ESXi so I only have to use one PCI pass through device to the VM thus saving 2 more devices for that VM.
March 18, 201412 yr Check out the New version of 5.5 Update 1 11 March 2014 https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-esxi-55u1-release-notes.html
March 21, 201412 yr I'm using a SYBA PEX20140 for USB passthrough of keyboard/mouse on a Windows 8VM, it uses an ETRON usb controller. It passes through without issue for me on ESXi 5.1 and 5.5. http://www.amazon.com/Syba-External-19-Pin-Header-SY-PEX20140/dp/tech-data/B009LIPFEI
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.