How does the USB controller work? *Warning - VMWare issue*

[motorbortniker]

When running HS in an XP Pro VMWare window, he senses the USB port(s) and VMWare owns it as he should. Only thing is that the indicator light for the port blinks, like to indicate it's being accessed. On for a few seconds, off for some seconds, on for an instant, off for several seconds - it's not regular. Problem is that when the light is off, the entire virtual machine is locked. Aside from being annoying, it's almost impossible to talk to HS.

I've tried setting the poll to 1 second, reloading drivers, re-installing the controller, setting the host and guest OS's to not turn off the USB ports to save power, and myriad other things. I've plugged a different USB device in (a webcam is all I have) and it does not lock things up.

So, is there something I can do to keep the port/controller selected so it just stays on? Any other ideas?

Life on the bleeding edge.
Jeff

[electron]

Those were the kind of USB problems I was having when I was connecting my Palm to my virtual machine, maybe someone on the VMware forums has a solution for this.

---
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http://www.CocoonTech.com

[motorbortniker]

Good idea, I put the question to them.

I posted here because the controller is a pretty esoteric device and maybe somebody here has specific insight.

Jeff

[motorbortniker]

Here's an update:

I've played with process priorities, searched event logs and cussed up a storm. All to no avail. In doing a deep dive into USB protocals I found a trial version of a trace utility. I couldn't make heads nor tails of it but here's the link in case someone can't sleep tonight:

http://www.sourcequest.com/

The trial only allows 200 log entries per execution so you have to plan when you turn it on and off. It does work well.

In the mean time I read that some devices are power hogs and my Dell might not put enough juice on the USB ports for them. So my next step is to get a powered USB hub and plug the ZWave into that.

Jeff

[motorbortniker]

Here I am talking to myself again but the news is good. I downloaded the newest version of VMWare, 4.5.1 build 7568, and lo and behold the USB port stays selected and P1 and I can talk without interruption.

VMWare - go for it!!!

Jeff