turn8 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment
BobPhoenix Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment
turn8 Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 my unraid usb key does work.. i may try and downgrade to 5.0 if its not too much of a pain. Quote Link to comment
distracted Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment
vl1969 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 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? Quote Link to comment
Dephcon Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I would also give windows 8.1 a try, I find it works better with hardware pass-through. Quote Link to comment
turn8 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment
kwiksilver Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment
BobPhoenix Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment
Falcon Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment
arbitrary Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment
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