USB Dongle in VMWare Workstation 4.0.5

[Andreas Peters]

Hello,
I use VMWare Workstation 4.0.5 under a Windows XP Host System. I
installed a Windows 2000 SP4 Virtual Machine Guest System. Everything
works fine except my USB Dongle. When I plug an Alddin USB Dongle to
my Host system I can use it with no problems. Now I start the VMWare
Windows 2000 Guest system and the Dongle is not installed. In order to
use it I have to unplug and plug it in again - and this is everytime I
start the Guest system not only for the first time. Then after the
Dongle is working in the Guest system I can no longer use it in the
Host system. I have to unplug and plug it in again as well.
Does anyone have the same problem. Can anybody help me?

Thanks a lot in advance

Andi

[Clay Calvert]

Post by Andreas Peters
Hello,
I use VMWare Workstation 4.0.5 under a Windows XP Host System. I
installed a Windows 2000 SP4 Virtual Machine Guest System. Everything
works fine except my USB Dongle. When I plug an Alddin USB Dongle to
my Host system I can use it with no problems. Now I start the VMWare
Windows 2000 Guest system and the Dongle is not installed. In order to
use it I have to unplug and plug it in again - and this is everytime I
start the Guest system not only for the first time. Then after the
Dongle is working in the Guest system I can no longer use it in the
Host system. I have to unplug and plug it in again as well.
Does anyone have the same problem. Can anybody help me?
Thanks a lot in advance
Andi

That is "by design". From:

http://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/devices_usb_ws.html

Who Has Control over a USB Device?

Only one computer — host or guest — can have control of a USB device
at any one time.


Device Control on a Windows Host

When you connect a device to a virtual machine, it is "unplugged" from
the host or from the virtual machine that previously had control of
the device. When you disconnect a device from a virtual machine, it is
"plugged in" to the host.

========

You may see this as a limitation, but VmWare is the only product,
AFAIK, that can even allow USB pass through to virtual machines.

Clay Calvert
***@Wanguru.com
Replace "W" with "L"