Hi all,
I'm troubleshooting the lack of USB connectivity in my Ubuntu 13.04 guest under Fusion 6.0.2, running on OS X 10.8.5. I'd like some suggestions on what else to try, or a confirmation that USB 3 hardware are simply not supported AT ALL under linux guests, regardless if they are connected USB3 or USB2 compatiblity mode. I don't care if it's supported in either mode, I just need access to the disk.
I've got a USB3 external hard disk (Pluggable SATA HDD Docking Station, manufacturer supported under linux). It works fine on the host, and also works fine if I boot the host into Ubuntu 13.04 off a live CD. So I think I can say it's not a hardware problem.
The first time I connected the disk, I got a message from Fusion warning "The device (…) was unable to connect to its ideal host controller" which I'm assuming means a USB 3 controller in the guest.
I found an article discussing limited USB 3 support in Workstation 9 on windows hosts( http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2041591) but it doesn't address other host platforms. It lists a workaround of using a USB 2 cable and or hub. Apparently Fusion and Wks9 share some code, so I'm not sure this even completly applies to Fusion, but maybe it does.
So I tried it. I used a USB 2 cable, and set USB Compatibility to 2.0 in the VM's settings. I don't have a hub to try. Same error message, still didn't recognize the disk. In the ubuntu live CD environment, this cable combination DOES result in a successful USB 2 link (ahci not xhci kernel modules are automatically loaded). So I think I've got a USB 2 compatible setup.
As seen in the logs below, it appears linux is talking to the disk controller, but not the disk itself. I usually hear it spin down when the drive is connected to the VM.
Here's the guest /var/log/syslog when the disk is connected with a USB 3 cable:
Jan 16 05:59:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 261.203979] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:59:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 261.452184] usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64, error 18
Jan 16 05:59:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 261.803256] usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64, error 18
Jan 16 05:59:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 262.163219] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:59:45 ubuntu kernel: [ 262.409959] usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64, error 18
Jan 16 05:59:45 ubuntu kernel: [ 262.761745] usb 1-1: device descriptor read/64, error 18
Jan 16 05:59:45 ubuntu kernel: [ 263.121456] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:59:45 ubuntu kernel: [ 263.142057] usb 1-1: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
Jan 16 05:59:46 ubuntu kernel: [ 263.421593] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:59:46 ubuntu kernel: [ 263.440892] usb 1-1: Invalid ep0 maxpacket: 9
Jan 16 05:59:46 ubuntu kernel: [ 263.462297] hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
Here's the guest /var/log/syslog when the disk is connected with a USB 2 cable:
Jan 16 05:57:43 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.058344] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.419726] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.419728] usb 1-1: Product: USB3-SATA-UASP1
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.419730] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: Plugable
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.419731] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 123456789017
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu mtp-probe: checking bus 1, device 2: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/0000:02:03.0/usb1/1-1"
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu mtp-probe: bus: 1, device: 2 was not an MTP device
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.615965] Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.621470] scsi33 : usb-storage 1-1:1.0
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.621906] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
Jan 16 05:57:44 ubuntu kernel: [ 141.621908] USB Mass Storage support registered.
Jan 16 05:58:06 ubuntu kernel: [ 164.102488] usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:58:17 ubuntu kernel: [ 174.844396] usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:58:34 ubuntu kernel: [ 191.560883] usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:58:35 ubuntu kernel: [ 192.307002] usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:58:45 ubuntu kernel: [ 203.025701] usb 1-1: reset high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
Jan 16 05:58:46 ubuntu kernel: [ 203.383944] scsi 33:0:0:0: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery
Other USB 2 devices (like flash drives) work fine in the guest OS.
I'm using Ubuntu 13.04 because it's listed as an officially supported guest. I have also tried 13.10 with identical results.
Any help, ideas, or clarification would be appreciated. As I said before, I don't care about USB 3 speed (although it would be nice). I just need access to the disk in the guest via USB. (Note: the filesystem is ext3 so I would prefer not to mount it on the host and share the folder to the guest os).
Thanks!