SM X10SDV USB Controllers (which is which?)

[JimPhreak]

My SuperMicro X10SDV-TLN4F board has two USB 3.0 ports on the back and there are two USB 2.0 headers on the motherboard. VMware is reading that there are two USB controllers on the board so I'm trying to determine which ports are connected to which controllers since I need to pass one of them through to a VM. I've tried passing USB Controller #1 through the VM and it passes all ports (both USB 3.0 ports on back panel + both front panel connected via MB header) through to the VM.

I don't see it in the documentation anywhere in the manual.

 

[tigweld0101]

I had this issue. I just experimented.

 

[JimPhreak]

I had this issue. I just experimented.

Well I've tried. I passed controller #1 through to the VM and all 4 ports I can plug into (2 on back, 2 on front) get passed through with that controller. I then thought, "Ok the other header on the MB must be on Controller #2" so I passed that through but nothing I attached to that header shows up in the VM I pass the controller through to. So I'm not really sure where to go from here.

 

[markarr]

According to the block diagram it looks like there are two internal headers. and the back. Looks like the 3.0 are part of the chipset and the 2.0 are an external controller. Page 10 is what i was looking at.

 

[JimPhreak]

According to the block diagram it looks like there are two internal headers. and the back. Looks like the 3.0 are part of the chipset and the 2.0 are an external controller. Page 10 is what i was looking at.

I saw that but my testing doesn't seem to match that conclusion. If I pass through the USB EHCI #1 like int he above picture, it passes through both USB 3.0 ports on the back and both USB 2.0 ports connected to one of the MB headers.

I want to pass through either the USB 3.0 ports or the USB 2.0 ports but not both otherwise I can't use any of the other ports once I pass the controller through to a VM.

 

[jasonlitka]

According to the block diagram in the manual, all the ports are on a single controller. The internal USB 2.0 ports are attached to a USB hub. You won't be able to pick just one set.

 

[JimPhreak]

According to the block diagram in the manual, all the ports are on a single controller. The internal USB 2.0 ports are attached to a USB hub. You won't be able to pick just one set.

I see. So what are the two USB EHCI chipsets that VMware shows?

 

[jasonlitka]

The PCH supports 4 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0, likely as 2/2 and 2/2. My guess is they chose to not use the second controller and that's why you have the hub to provide the extra header ports.

 

[JimPhreak]

The PCH supports 4 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0, likely as 2/2 and 2/2. My guess is they chose to not use the second controller and that's why you have the hub to provide the extra header ports.

Damn. So that makes the remaining USB ports I don't need for this one VM useless [emoji17].

 

[jasonlitka]

Damn. So that makes the remaining USB ports I don't need for this one VM useless [emoji17].

What device are you trying to pass through anyway? I've always avoided VT-d because it prevents vMotion.

 

[JimPhreak]

I have to passthrough a bootable USB for my unRAID storage server. I don't use vMotion since I only have a single node at home.

I normally would haven't to passthrough the controller but the newest unRAID OS runs off the latest Linux 4 kernel and there is some bug in there that causes USB resets on non-passed through USB ports. Until that's fixed my only solution is to passthrough the controller.

 

[jasonlitka]

Ah, ok. I've never used unRAID.