Esxi 8 on intel nuc 13 - can't pass through usb ports. Not Capable

[Roveer]

So I run Esxi 8 on an intel NUC13ANKi7 with a few windows vm's that do certain things. I have a need for one of the vm's to access a single USB port on the NUC. So I started googleing on how to pass-thru to the windows 10 OS. I don't use vsphere so I just do all my config through the web portal. When I went into Host/Manage/Hardware I found all the USB's greyed out and the words "not capable" next to them. More googling said USB 3.0 or better. The NUC is 3.1 on the A's and I think 3.2 on the C's. Trying to add a USB controller to the VM gives an error saying there are no host devices available. More googling and some posts about having to disable them from the host so they can be used on the VM's. Tried all that and it didn't seem to work. (but ther was some weirdness about things not showing up correctly, but working in some of those posts).

If anyone has tackled this or has any good insight, please share. I'd love to get this to work as it's why I created this system to begin with.

Thanks, so much for the help. Roveer

 

[Roveer]

I went back to the setup and was able to get it to work. I think I got confused with trying to do "pass-thru" vs just plugging in a USB to the host and being able to see it in the VM. After adding a USB DEVICE to the VM with something connected to the host I was able to see the usb key. Now I'm going to plug in my USB device to the host and see if that appears in the vm. If it does I'm all set, no pass-thru needed.

Thanks.

 

[zachj]

You’re not going to enjoy passing through individual usb devices except something like a keyboard or mouse. Data transfer speeds suck so nothing like a usb thumb drive or mic/headset will be a good experience. Sometimes it “works” (but sucks) and other times it outright doesn’t work even though it passes through successfully.

So depending on your use case you’ll much prefer to pass through the entire controller.

To make the controllers capable of pass through you can play with the reset mode.

Edit /etc/vmware/passthru.map and play with different modes for your device (bridge, d3d0, link, etc.).

For some reason usb controllers in my experience tend to not pass through very happily to macOS VMs but your experience with windows VMs will likely be better.