Windows VM won't start unless usb device plugged in

[clanger]

Hi guys, I'm having an issue with one of my Windows 10 VMs, everything works correctly but when booting the VM, it gets stuck at the OMVF bios screen. It will only proceed if a usb device is plugged into the ports being passed to the VM.

 

I'm trying to run this VM headless as it will only ever be accessed remotely so having to have a keyboard or mouse plugged into it all the time isn't the best option. I've checked to see if there's an option I've missed in the OMVF bios but didn't see anything relevant to booting with/without a keyboard. Am I missing a flag or something in the VM config, is there an option I can add to the xml file?

 

Searching for similar issues hasn't come up with much in terms of solutions.

[bastl]

@clanger Why are you passing trough a USB controller to a VM, if you're not connecting any device to it?

 

Whatever, never heared someone reporting such an error. Just as an idea, plug in a cheap old USB thumb drive which you don't need and see if that works.

[clanger]

@bastl Good point, I guess I should have rephrased my original post and stated the VM will be predominantly used remotely. It's actually a VM for my wife to log into and either game or do some modelling in Sketchup from her laptop. I'm leaving the option open for her to use as a desktop replacement as well but at the moment have no devices to attach to it, hence needing the VM to boot past the bios without any devices connected. I'll attempt the USB thumb drive and see how it goes.

[bastl]

@clanger For your info: same as with newer AMD GPUs some USB controllers are also not able to reset if a VM is restarted. It's not that common, but people already reported it. Try to restart your complete server and try again if it works without a device connected. If it works on first boot of the VM after restart of the server and not on the second it's an controller reset issue and you can't really do something against it. Try to use another USB controller for the VM if possible.

[clanger]

@bastl So I've tried all of your suggestions and still no success. After a fresh reboot the VM won't start without getting stuck at the bios in either auto start mode or manually through the web interface.

 

Also tried the usb key and no success there either, it seems to only boot when an input device is attached. For the time being I'm just going to attach a spare mouse until I can find a better solution.

 

I should also mention I'm running 6.9.0 beta1, not sure if it could be related to this issue but FYI if anyone else runs into this issue.

[clanger]

Just an update, I managed to resolve this. The USB controllers I was passing through were tied to a third device (see below). I originally wasn't passing through the first device and the VM had no issues beyond the weird boot/bios issues. Once I added the first device, the VM boots with no issues and no requirement for an input device to be attached.

•  AMD Starship/Matisse Reserved SPP | Non-Essential Instrumentation (09:00.0)
•  AMD Matisse USB 3.0 Host Controller | USB controller (09:00.1)
•  AMD Matisse USB 3.0 Host Controller | USB controller (09:00.3)