Summary

This article describes the combinations of USB ports and devices supported by Moka5 Windows 7 LivePCs on Windows, Mac, and BareMetal hosts.

Applies to

• Moka5 3.18 and later

Table of Contents

Important information for computers with Haswell processors
Determining if your computer has a Haswell processor
Supported USB 2.0/3.0 Combinations
Unsupported Combinations
Troubleshooting USB 3.0 Connectivity Issues
Frequently Asked Questions

Important information for computers with Haswell processors

The following requirements apply to computers with Haswell processors:

• Mac hosts: Moka5 3.18 or later (integrated with VMware Fusion 6 and 7)
• Windows hosts: Moka5 3.19 or later (integrated with VMware Player 6)

If these requirements are not met, USB devices will not work properly on computers with Haswell processors.

Determining if your computer has a Haswell processor

Fourth-generation Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors are referred to as “Haswell” processors. When you look at your computer’s hardware specs, you can verify that it has a Haswell processor by looking for the following processor specs:

• i3-4xxx
• i5-4xxx
• i7-4xxx

For example, MacBook Air models from mid-2013 have 1.3 GHz (i5-4250U) dual-core Intel Core i5 with 3 MB shared L3 cache, or 1.7 GHz (i7-4650U) dual-core Intel Core i7 with 4 MB shared L3 cache. You can tell both of these models have Haswell processors because of the i5-4xxx and i7-4xxx designations.

Supported USB 2.0/3.0 Combinations

Note: USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports often coexist on the same machine. They look similar, but the USB 3.0 connector often has a blue insert.

USB 2.0 device into a USB 2.0 port	Compatible; runs at USB 2.0 speed
USB 2.0 device into a USB 3.0 port	Compatible; runs at USB 2.0 speed
USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port	Compatible; runs at USB 2.0 speed
USB 3.0 device connected to a USB 2.0 converter that is plugged into a USB 3.0 port	Compatible; runs at USB 2.0 speed

A USB 2.0 converter can be any of the following:

• A USB 2.0 male to female extension cable (recommended)
• A USB 2.0 hub
• A USB 2.0 adapter

After testing, we determined that USB 2.0 cables are the easiest way to connect USB 3.0 devices to USB 3.0 ports. Cables work better than USB 2.0 hubs or other adapters, because cables do not require loading an extra USB hub driver. Additional drivers can complicate the USB device detection process.

Unsupported Combinations

USB 3.0 device into a USB 3.0 port

Plugging a USB 3.0 device into a USB 3.0 port is currently unsupported.*** If you have a USB 3.0 device, you can use a USB 2.0 converter to connect it to a USB 3.0 port.

Troubleshooting USB 3.0 Connectivity Issues

My LivePC isn’t registering my USB 3.0 device!

Try connecting with a USB 2.0 adapter.

My USB 3.0 device isn’t showing up in Windows Explorer!

Be patient! The connection times between your device, your host machine, and your LivePC can vary widely from device to device. In testing, we experienced connection times of up to three minutes.

If you’re concerned that your device has failed to register, you can check the status by looking at your external drives. Often a device that appears after a delay in Explorer will appear first as an external drive, complete with assigned drive letter (H:\, J:\, etc).

Do not unplug your device from your LivePC and then try to connect it to your host while the LivePC is still recognizing the device. This can lead to disk recognition errors (see following issue).

I got an error message that said my disk needed formatting! Help!

Don’t be afraid! This error message appears when you switch a device from the guest to the host, or vice versa, before the device has been fully recognized in Windows Explorer. For example, if you plug a USB storage device into your LivePC, wait for it to appear, and then decide to switch the device to the host, the “disk formatting” error message will appear in the LivePC at the same time the device appears in the host.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I have a USB 3.0 device?

You can plug the USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port. The device will run at USB 2.0 speed.

Why can’t I just plug my USB 3.0 device into my USB 3.0 port?

Moka5 uses a VMware hypervisor to simulate the hardware in the LivePC. This virtual hardware includes an emulated USB controller.

This emulated USB controller is incompatible with the USB drivers that ship with Windows XP and Windows 7. VMware Tools does not provide any additional drivers for USB controllers.

In our investigation of this issue, we also tested third-party USB drivers (eg, Renesas) in the VMware environment. Third-party drivers are not compatible with the emulated USB controller.

Without a compatible driver, Windows XP and Windows 7 LivePCs are not compatible with USB 3.0 devices plugged in to USB 3.0 ports.; This behavior is the same in VMware Fusion 5 - 7.

What should I do if my computer only has USB 3.0 ports (no USB 2.0 ports)?

You can plug a USB 2.0 device into a USB 3.0 port. The device will run at USB 2.0 speed.

You can also use a USB 2.0 converter to connect a USB 3.0 device to the port. Plug the converter in a USB 3.0 port, then plug it into the USB 3.0 device. The device will run at USB 2.0 speed.

Which USB 2.0 converters will work?

We successfully tested a USB 3.0 Western Digital external hard drive while it was plugged into:

• Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub
• Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub
• Sabrent HB-UMLS 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub
• CablesToGo FlexUSB Adapter
• Several generic USB 2.0 (male to female) extension cables

We expect USB 3.0 devices to work with a wide variety of USB 2.0 converters, but we have only explicitly tested the above configurations.

How can I use my USB 3.0 device without an extra cable or hub?

• You can plug your USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port
• You can disable USB 3.0 features in your host’s BIOS or UEFI. This approach is not recommended, because it will prevent USB 3.0 devices from running at optimal speeds on your entire host, not just in a LivePC.

How does my BareMetal machine handle USB 3.0 devices?

BareMetal hosts treat most USB 3.0 devices the same way that Type 2 hosts treat them. USB 3 devices work at USB 2.0 speeds when attached with a USB 2.0 cable or hub.

Where can I find more information about the VMware hypervisor limitations with USB 3.0?

To learn more, read the VMWare Knowledge Base article on host and guest OS USB 3.0 support.